Leech Lake Indian Reservation

The Leech Lake Indian Reservation or Gaa-zagaskwaajimekaag in the Ojibwe language, is an Native American reservation located in the north-central Minnesota counties of (in descending order of reservation area) Cass, Itasca, Beltrami, and Hubbard. It is the land-base for the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. As of the 2000 census, it had a population of 10,205, making it the largest Indian reservation in the state by number of residents. Over one-fourth of its territory comprises lakes, as the reservation covers 972.517 sq mi (2,518.806 km²) of land and 337.392 sq mi (873.841 km²) of water. As a result it is the second-largest reservation in Minnesota (to the White Earth Indian Reservation) when viewed in terms of land area, and the largest reservation in Minnesota when viewed in terms of total area. The largest lakes on the reservation include Leech Lake, Lake Winnibigoshish, and Cass Lake.

The core areas of the Leech Lake Indian Reservation were established according to a treaty in 1855 as three smaller reservations for the Pillager Band of Chippewa Indians and modified several times thereafter. Under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, the present "Greater" Leech Lake Indian Reservation was formed from the merger of Leech Lake, Cass Lake and Lake Winnibigoshish Indian Reservations of the Pillager Band, Chippewa Indian Reservation of the removable Lake Superior Band of Chippewa Indians and White Oak Point Indian Reservation of the Mississippi Chippewa.

Most of the reservation land is now taken up by the Chippewa National Forest, and only a very small percentage is owned by tribal members. About 40 area lakes are used for the production of wild rice and the community produces more rice than any other reservation in the state.

Communities

Eleven communities make up the villages of the Leech Lake Indian Reservation, with two additional communities with substantial number of Leech Lake Band members.

• Ball Club
• Bena
• Cass Lake
• Deer River (part, population 0)
• Inger
• Longville (part, population 0)
• Mission
• Oak Point
• Onigum
• Pennington
• Smokey Point
• Squaw Lake
• Sugar Point

See also

References

• Leech Lake Reservation and Off-Reservation Trust Land, Minnesota United States Census Bureau
• Aaniin Ekidong: Ojibwe Vocabulary Project. St. Paul: Minnesota Humanities Center, 2009.
• Treuer, Anton. Ojibwe in Minnesota. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2010.
• Treuer, Anton. Living Our Language: Ojibwe Tales & Oral Histories. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2001.

External links

• Official website
• Cass Lake Leech Lake Issues Forum - Online Discussion