Homepage

Historical Background

The Leech Lake Reservation was set aside under the Treaty of 1855 with the U.S. Government. In 1887, the Dawes Act (General Allotment Act) allotted 80 acres of land to each individual band member. After the allotting was completed, the remaining land was sold to anyone wishing to homestead. In 1889, the Nelson Act opened the northern white pine forests to harvest by private companies. Within a few years, virtually all of the harvestable white pine had been removed. In 1900 the League of Women Voters petitioned to protect the remaining forest by creating the Minnesota Forest , which later became the Chippewa National Forest .

Also in the nineteenth century, dams were built by the U.S. War Department, now the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Tribal Government

The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Indians (the Band), a constituted band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, is a federally recognized Indian tribe governed by a Constitution and Bylaws adopted by the Minnesota Chippewa tribe pursuant to the Indian reorganization Act of 1934, 25 U.S.C. SS 461, et. Seq ., as revised in 1963.

The Leech Lake Tribal Council is the duly elected governing body of the Band is signatory to the Treaty of February 22, 1855 , 10 Stat. 1165, which established reservations for the pillager and Winnibigoshish Bands on Cass Lake , Leech Lake and Lake Winnibigoshish . The three reservations established by the Treaty of February 22, 1855 (10 Sat. 65 were augmented and connected by Treaties with the Mississippi Bands of Chippewa dated May 7, 1864 (13 Stat. 693) and May 19, 1867 (16 Stat. 719) and were further enlarged by Executive Orders dated October 29, 1873, November 4, 1873, and May 26, 1874.

The Leech Lake Band of Chippewa v. Herbst, 334 F Supp. 1001 (D. Minn. 1971) determined that the Greater Leech Lake Reservation ( the Reservation) continues to exist with in the boundaries established by the aforementioned treaties and executive orders. Under the authority of the aforementioned treaties and executive orders, the Band retains its inherent sovereign authority over its members and the Reservation. The Band takes the position that sovereign authority over the Reservation extends to activities of a nonmember within the Reservation boundaries whenever such activities impact or may impact economic security, political integrity or health and welfare of the Band.

Further historical information on the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe can be found at: www.llojibwe.com

LLDRM Environmental

Leech Lake Division of Resource Management