The Nelson Act of 1889 was a United States federal law intended to relocate Anishinaabe people in Minnesota to the White Earth Indian Reservation and expropriate their remaining lands.[1]
Approved into law on January 14, 1889. The Nelson Act was Minnesota's response to the Dawes Act of 1887. The goal of the Nelson Act was to centralize Native Americanss. This was a response to the current state of affairs in White-American Indian relations. Especially after the Dakota Conflict of 1862, Minnesota was eager to consolidate the reservations. Minnesota congressmen Knute Nelson pushed for the allotment of Ojibway lands in Northern Minnesota. Meant to force the Ojibway to relinquish all their reservation lands with the exception of the White Earth band whose land would be allotted to members of the Ojibway people. These actions were illegal via the terms of former treaties, but were ignored. The Red Lake Band of the Ojibway were able to bribe their way into keeping the southern portion of the Reservation.