Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians
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Ojibwe, Potawatomi and other Algonquian peoples |
The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians (
The tribal offices are in Peshawbestown, Michigan. As of June 2023, the current GTB Tribal Council consists of: Chairman David Arroyo, Vice-Chair Robert Kewaygoshkum, Treasurer Donna M. Swallows, Secretary Theresa M. Marshall, Councilor Tina A. Frankenberger, Councilor Brian S. Napon, and Councilor Jane Rohl.[2] The tribe owns and operates the Leelanau Sands Casino, the Turtle Creek Casino and Hotel, and the Grand Traverse Resort & Spa.
It is one of three federally recognized tribes of
Names
Referring to themselves as Anishinaabeg or
Federal recognition
Under the Indian Reorganization Act, they applied for federal recognition in 1934 and 1943 and were denied. However, in 1978 Dodie Harris Chambers led an effort for recognition and on May 27, 1980, the tribe was formally recognized. The Grand Traverse Band is the first federally recognized tribe of Odawa in Michigan. They were one of the first tribes in the United States to own a casino, under new gaming laws passed in the 1980s.[3]
History
Ottawa, Chippewa and Potawatomi Indians are Algonquian-speaking peoples who gradually migrated from the Atlantic coast, settling around the Great Lakes throughout Canada, and the Midwest of what became the United States: Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Today they have federally recognized reservations of communal land only in Canada, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. During the 19th century, they were forced to cede most of their land to the governments of Canada and the United States under pressure from European-American and Canadian settlement.
Ottawa Tribe
The name Ottawa, or alternatively "Odawa" or "Odawu," is believed to derive from an Algonquian word for the term "trader." It was incorrectly recorded as meaning "people of the bulrush," for which there is a specific Odawa term referring to a particular band.
Historically, the members of this tribe are descendants of and political successors to nine Ottawa bands who were party to the treaties of 1836 and 1855, related to the total of 19 bands listed as Grand River Band Ottawa. After the 1855 Treaty, all of the Ottawa Bands located from the Manistee River south to Grand River, near or on the eastern shores of Lake Michigan, were relocated to reservation lands in Mason and Oceana counties.
The permanent villages of the Grand River bands of Ottawa, including those nine Bands whose descendants compose the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, were located on the Grand, Thornapple, Flat, White, Père Marquette, and Big and Little Manistee rivers in Michigan's western Lower Peninsula.
The Ottawa and Chippewa Treaty of Detroit was signed in 1855 and created an Ottawa/Chippewa nation for the purposes of settling on a reservation.
Chippewa Tribe
The Chippewa (also "Ojibwe", "Ojibway", "Chippeway", "Anishinaabe") are the largest Native American people north of the
Today
Members are descended from the nine historic bands of Ottawa (Odawa) and bands of Chippewa (known as Ojibwe in Canada) peoples who occupied this territory in northern Michigan and signed treaties with the federal government. They were successors to the 19 bands that have been documented in this territory.
The tribe's government includes an elected governing body consisting of a tribal chair and six tribal council members; they are elected by the enrolled members of the Grand Traverse Band. The band has programming, fiscal and administrative authority. The council also appoints
The water resources within the 1855 reservation area include Grand Traverse Bay, the eastern shore of Michigan, Lake Leelanau, Elk Lake, and their watersheds. Other natural resources of importance include undeveloped forested parcels and areas of traditional and cultural hunting, fishing and plant gathering.
The Grand Traverse Band's Natural Resources Department is made up of a department manager, game wardens, Great Lakes fishery biologists and technician, fish and wildlife biologists and technician, environmental and water quality staff, and an office manager.
Reservation
The territory of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians is the Grand Traverse Indian Reservation (45°01′13″N 85°36′22″W / 45.02028°N 85.60611°W), as established by United States Secretary of the Interior on 27 May 1980, and includes lands acquired by the Band. The Grand Traverse Band's Treaty Ceded Territories from the 1836 Treaty covers an area in a line from the Grand River to the Alpena area north and the eastern portion of the upper peninsula from the Chocolay River east. The majority (almost 55 percent) of the reservation's territory lies within several non-contiguous sections of land in eastern Suttons Bay Township in Leelanau County, Michigan.
There are also five smaller parcels of land in four other counties: one plot in southern
Eyaawing Museum
The Eyaawing Museum and Cultural Center, located in Peshawbestown, Michigan, was opened in 2009 by the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians to serve as a heritage and cultural center.[4] The museum includes a gift shop with works of tribal artists and craftspeople, as well as educational materials, maps and books.[5]
Anthropological study
There has been one major anthropological study of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. Jane Willetts Ettawageshik devoted approximately two years of study in the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians community. Jane Willetts Ettawageshik recorded Anishinaabe stories speak of how the Anishinaabe people related to their land, to their people, and various other means of communicating their values, outlooks and histories in and around Northern Michigan. These stories have been translated into a book "Ottawa Stories from the Springs, Anishinaabe dibaadjimowinan wodi gaa binjibaamigak wodi mookodjiwong e zhinikaadek"[6] by Howard Webkamigad.
Notable tribal members
- Yvonne Walker Keshick, beadwork artist
- Pun Plamondon, White Panther activist, storyteller
- Kathleen R. Johnson, Geologist, Paleoclimatologist
References
- ^ Loraine Anderson "Tribe Elects New Chairman, Councilmembers" in Traverse City Record-Eagle May 25, 2012
- ^ "Tribal Council Members". Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
- ^ Gerth, Ulrika G. "Company Report: Grand Traverse Resort & Casinos" Archived 2010-08-02 at the Wayback Machine, Retail Digital, 1 Feb 2010 (retrieved 31 Aug 2010)
- ^ Jeff Smith (May 28, 2009). "Eyaawing Museum & Cultural Center Opening, Peshawbestown". My North. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
- ^ "Eyaawing Museum". Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
- ^ "Ottawa Stories from the Springs". Michigan State University. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
- Grand Traverse Reservation and Off-Reservation Trust Land, Michigan United States Census Bureau
Further reading
- Matthew L.M. Fletcher, The Eagle Returns: The Legal History of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians Kindle Edition, Michigan State University, 2012
External links
- Grand Traverse Band Official tribal site
- Constitution of the Grand Traverse Band
- Turtle Creek Casino
- Grand Traverse Resort official website
- Eyaawing Museum
- "Native Americans In Michigan Databases", Mainly Michigan, includes Durant Rolls of 1908, which some tribes use in figuring descent for citizenship, and Mt. Pleasant Indian School Register (1893 to 1932)