Fond du Lac Indian Reservation

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The Fond du Lac Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation in northern Minnesota near Duluth in Carlton and St. Louis counties, with off-reservation holdings in Douglas County in Wisconsin. The total land area of these tribal lands is 398.437 km² (153.8375 sq mi). Before the establishment of this reservation, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa were located at the head of Lake Superior, closer to the mouth of the St. Louis River.

The tribe ceded land as part of an 1837 treaty along with other Ojibwa bands, located mainly from east-central Minnesota to north-central Wisconsin. Later, along with other Ojibwa tribes, the Fond du Lac Band ceded large tracts of land in located mainly in the Lake Superior watershed in Wisconsin and western Upper Peninsula of Michigan as part of a treaty in 1842. In addition, the tribe ceded land as part of an 1854 treaty with the Lake Superior Band of Chippewa (largely situated along the northern shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota). With this treaty, the Fond du Lac Reservation was established farther up the St. Louis River at its present location. The original Nagaajiwanaang, as the Reservation is called in the Ojibwe language, was nearly double the current size. However, the treaty discussions clearly promised the inclusion of the Perch and Big Lakes but the original reservation did not, but instead extended westward to the western boundaries of the 1854 Ceded Territory. With an appeal, the Reservation was extended southward to include the two said lakes, but as a concession, the western boundaries were shortened eastward to its present location.

Today, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is one of six members of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. The reservation has its own license plates. In the 2000 census, the reservation recorded a population of 3,728. The largest community on the reservation is the city of Cloquet, although only the relatively sparsely populated western half of the city is on reservation land; that part has a population of 1,204 persons out of the city's total of 11,201. The only community completely on the reservation is Brookston, at the reservation's northern end.

The tribe operates two casinos, the Fond du Luth Casino in Duluth (profits are shared with the city), and the Black Bear Casino and Hotel on the reservation.

[edit] See also

Minnesota Indian Affairs Council

[edit] References

Fond du Lac Reservation and Off-Reservation Trust Land, Minnesota/Wisconsin United States Census Bureau

[edit] External links

v • d • e Lake Superior Chippewa

Full political Successors Bad River \| Bois Forte \| Fond du Lac \| Grand Portage \| Keweenaw Bay \| Lac Courte Oreilles Lac du Flambeau \| Lac Vieux Desert \| Red Cliff \| Sokaogon \| St. Croix
Minor political Successors Leech Lake \| Mille Lacs \| White Earth