Lake Superior Chippewa

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The Lake Superior Chippewa (

, this highly decentralized group of Ojibwe includes at least twelve independent bands in the region.

As the Lake Superior Chippewa in the nineteenth century, leaders of the bands negotiated together with the United States government under a variety of treaties to protect their historic territories against land theft by European-American settlers. The United States set up several reservations for bands in this area under the treaties, culminating in one in 1854. This enabled the people to stay in this territory rather than to be forced west of the Mississippi River, as the government had attempted. Under the treaty, bands with reservations have been federally recognized as independent tribes; several retain Lake Superior Chippewa in their formal names to indicate their shared culture.

Origins

At some point before 1650, the Ojibwe split into two groups near what is now Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. They believed this to have been one of the stops in their migration that their prophets predicted; it was part of the westward path of the Anishinaabe from the Atlantic Coast.

Ojibwe who followed the south shore of Lake Superior found the final prophesied stopping place and "the food that grows on water" (

.

Beginning about 1737, they competed for nearly 100 years with the

The Lakota were pushed west, where they eventually settled in the Great Plains of present-day Nebraska and the Dakotas. The Ojibwe successfully spread throughout the Great Lakes region, with colonizing bands settling along lakes and rivers throughout what would become northern Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. La Pointe on Madeline Island remained the spiritual and commercial center of the nation, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Sub-nation

The Lake Superior Chippewa are numerous and contain many bands.

A separate sub-nation, known as the Biitan-akiing-enabijig (Border Sitters), were located between the Ojibwe of the Lake Superior watershed and other nations. The Biitan-akiing-enabijig were divided into three principal Bands:

• St. Croix River
  valley);
• Odaawaa-zaaga'iganiwininiwag (the "Ottawa Lake Men", around Lac Courte Oreilles); and
• Waaswaaganiwininiwag (the "Torch Men", around Lac du Flambeau). Numerous sub-bands also existed.

Treaties and reservations

In a series of

in the mid-nineteenth century, the Lake Superior Chippewa were formally grouped as a unit, which included the

• Mississippi
  ,
• Pillager,
• Bois Forte,
• Muskrat Portage,
• Red Lake
• Pembina and
• La Pointe
  bands. These villages had been politically independent and did not have a centralized tribal authority.

In the winter of 1851, President

(Buffalo) went to Washington, DC to appeal to the government for relief. National outrage had been aroused by the many deaths of the Ojibwe, and the US ended attempts at Ojibwe removal.

The final

.

In Wisconsin, reservations were established at

.

In Minnesota, reservations were set up at

Bois Forte Band

, continued independent negotiations with the US government and ended political affiliation with the Lake Superior Chippewa.

Today

Today the bands are federally recognized as independent tribes with their own governments. They remain culturally closely connected. They have engaged in legal actions concerning treaty rights, such as fishing for walleye. Many bands include "Lake Superior Chippewa" in their official tribal names to indicate their historic and cultural affiliations (Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, etc.)

Historical bands and political successors-apparent are the following:

• Keweenaw Bay Indian Community
  , merged from
  • L'Anse Band
    of Lake Superior Chippewa (historical)
  • Ontonagon Band
    of Lake Superior Chippewa (historical)
• Lac Vieux Desert Band of Chippewa
• La Pointe Band
  of Lake Superior Chippewa (historical): descendants are
  • Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
  • Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians
• Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians
• Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
• St. Croix Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (historical): descendants are
  • Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, merged from
    • Mille Lacs Indians (historical)
    • Rice Lake Band of Mississippi Chippewa (historical)
    • Sandy Lake Band of Mississippi Chippewa (historical)
    • Snake and Kettle River Bands of St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Minnesota (historical)
  • St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin
• Sokaogon Chippewa Community
• Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
• Grand Portage Band
• Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, merged from
  • Lake Vermilion Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (historical)
  • Little Forks Band of Rainy River Saulteaux (historical)
  • Nett Lake Band of Rainy River Saulteaux (historical)

In addition to these political successors-apparent, the

(via the Removable St. Croix Chippewa of Wisconsin of the Gull Lake Indian Reservation) in present-day Minnesota retain minor Successorship to the Lake Superior Chippewa. They do not exercise the aboriginal sovereign powers derived from the Lake Superior Chippewa.

See also

• Findians

References

• Loew, Patty, 2001. Indian Nations of Wisconsin: Histories of Endurance and Renewal. Madison: Wisconsin Historical Society Press.