History
The White Earth Nation was formed by joining multiple Ojibwe, Chippewa bands from north central Minnesota. They had been displaced by European-American settlement and consolidated onto a Indian reservation, reservation in Mahnomen, Becker, and Clearwater Counties. Six Minnesota Chippewa bands enroll members separately today, but they combine numbers when identifying the entire tribe. According to the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe council, the White Earth Band had 19,291 enrolled members in July 2007, making it the largest Anishinaabe tribe in the state. On March 19, 1867, the U.S. Congress established the White Earth Indian Reservation for the Mississippi Chippewa Indians in Minnesota, following the ratification of a treaty between them and the United States. Congress had several session agreements regarding the White Earth Band of Ojibwe. After hearing many complaints about the Pillager Chippewa, Pillagers, who were then landless, Congress authorized the relocation of the western Pillagers to the White Earth Indian Reservation. They were not included in the Treaty of Washington (1855)#Treaty with the Chippewa, 1855 Treaty of Washington (), which was made with the eastern Pillagers at the Mississippi River headwaters. Eventually, the Otter Tail Pillager Band of Chippewa Indians and Wild Rice River Pembina Band of Chippewa Indians also came to settle alongside the Mississippi Chippewa at White Earth Reservation and effectively became part of the White Earth Band. These historic bands were: * Gull Lake Band of Mississippi River Chippewa * Removable Mille Lacs Indians * Rabbit Lake Band of Mississippi River Chippewa * Rice Lake Band of Mississippi River Chippewa. Until the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, the six bands living on the White Earth Indian Reservation acted independently of each other. After the Reorganization Act, the six wrote a constitution forming the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. Minnesota was divided into six tribal districts uniting all Ojibwe bands not associated with the Red Lake Indian Reservation, Red Lake Band of Chippewa, and the Pembina band. Both refused to relocate to White Earth, thus maintaining their individual identities. The tribe was involved in a case about how much compensation the descendants of the Pembina Chippewa should receive from the taking of land by the U.S. government during the early 1800s. The third and final settlement payment in 2022 of $59 million was split among the tribe, the Little Shell Chippewa, the Chippewa Cree, and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, Turtle Mountain Tribe of North Dakota, along with the 39,000 individual beneficiaries. Previous settlements in the case were in 1964 and 1980.Notable citizens
* Kathleen Annette, physician, health administrator * Clyde Bellecourt, social activist * Vernon Bellecourt, activist and early leader of the American Indian Movement, founded in Minneapolis * Chief Bender, Charles Albert Bender – athlete and baseball pitcher, elected in 1953 to Baseball Hall of Fame * Peggy Flanagan, lieutenant governor and former Minnesota State Representative (D-46A) * Joe Guyon, Professional Pro Football Hall of Fame, Football Hall of Fame, College Football Hall of Fame * Gordon Henry Jr., poet, writer * Clara Sue Kidwell, Director of the American Indian Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill * Winona LaDuke, founder of the White Earth Land Recovery Project in 1989, to purchase land for the tribe within the reservation boundaries, work for reforestation, and market traditional products, including wild rice; also two-time Green Party vice presidential nominee. * Robert Lilligren, first American Indian tribal member to serve on the Minneapolis City Council * Anne McKeig, Lawyer, attorney and judge, appointed in June 2016 as the first Native American on the Minnesota State Supreme CourtShaymus McLaughlin, Melissa Turtinen and Simeon Lancaster, "Anne McKeig: The 1st American-Indian on the MN Supreme Court"See also
* ''Superchief (film), Superchief'', a film about an election for White Earth tribal chairmanReferences
Further reading
* *External links