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The Leech Lake Reservation (Gaa-zagaskwaajimekaag in the Ojibwe language) is an Indian reservation located in the north-central Minnesota counties of Cass, Itasca, Beltrami, and Hubbard. The reservation forms the land base for the federally recognized Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, one of six bands comprising the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, organized in 1934. The Leech Lake Reservation has the second highest population of any reservation in Minnesota with White Earth Nation being the largest Minnesota Ojibwe tribe, Leech Lake Nation has a resident population of 11,388 indicated by the 2020 census.

History

The Leech Lake Reservation was not established in a single legislative act. Rather, it grew from the amalgamation of multiple treaties, executive orders, and various articles of legislation spanning many decades. The core areas of the reservation were established by the 1855 treaty of Washington, which formed three smaller reservations for the Pillager Band of Chippewa Indians at Leech Lake, Cass Lake, and Lake Winnibigoshish. These reservations were reshaped and consolidated by new treaties in 1864 and 1867, when the United States sought with little success to concentrate Ojibwes from other reservations together at a single location. The reservation was further modified by several executive orders in the 1870s, one of which created the White Oak Point reservation of the Mississippi Band.

Under the Dawes Act of 1887 and the Nelson Act of 1889, the United States allotted tribal land on the Ojibwe reservations into private parcels. Some parcels were held by individual tribal members, but much of the reservation was alienated into the ownership of timber companies and white settlers. In addition, the United States established what became the Chippewa National Forest in the early twentieth century on the remaining unallotted tribal land. As a result, by 1934, less than 5% of the reservation was still in Ojibwe ownership.

Following the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, the present "Greater" Leech Lake Indian Reservation was formed from the administrative merger of the Leech Lake, Cass Lake, and Lake Winnibigoshish reservations of the Pillager Band, the Chippewa Indian Reservation of the Lake Superior Band, and the White Oak Point reservation of the Mississippi Band.

Between 1948 and 1959, the U.S. Department of Interior continued to transfer thousands of acres of tribally owned reservation allotments at Leech Lake to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for incorporation into Chippewa National Forest. The Department of Interior discontinued these transfers in 1959 after finding that it had acted illegally by selling allotments without the consent of tribal landowners. In 2020, Congress passed legislation to return approximately 11,760 acres of this illegally taken land from the Chippewa National Forest back to the Leech Lake Reservation. The returned parcels regained trust status as part of the reservation in 2024.

Even after the return of national forest land in 2024, the Leech Lake Band owns a smaller percentage of its reservation than any other Ojibwe nation in Minnesota. The returned land had constituted about 1.75% of the Chippewa National Forest, and about 40% of the national forest continues to occupy reservation land.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the Leech Lake Reservation has a total area of 1,310.36 square miles (3,393.8 km), of which 973.37 square miles (2,521.0 km) is land and 336.99 square miles (872.8 km) is water. In addition, the Leech Lake Band held off-reservation trust land with a land area of 0.083 square miles (53 acres; 0.21 km) in 2020.

About one-fourth of the reservation is covered by lakes. The largest lakes on the reservation are Leech Lake, Lake Winnibigoshish, and Cass Lake. The band uses 40 lakes for the production of wild rice, and the community produces more rice than any other reservation in the state. The reservation is the second-largest in Minnesota (after the White Earth Indian Reservation) in terms of land area, and the largest in terms of total area.

Communities

The reservation consists of eleven villages; two additional communities have a substantial number of Leech Lake Band members. Nearly all Leech Lake communities are located in or near the woods of the Chippewa National Forest. The largest community is Cass Lake, situated on the southwestern shores of the eponymous lake. The next largest settlements are Ball Club, Onigum, Inger, and Bena. In some communities, housing is located along only one road, with each side lined with homes.

• Ah-gwah-ching (part)
• Baker
• Ball Club
• Bena
• Benedict (part)
• Brevik
• Cass Lake
• Deer River (part)
• Dunbar
• Inger
• Longville (part)
• Max
• Mission
• Oak Point
• Onigum
• Oslund
• Pennington
• Ryan Village
• Smokey Point
• Squaw Lake
• Sugar Point
• Whipholt
• Wilkinson

Demographics

As of the census of 2020, the population of the Leech Lake Reservation was 11,388. The population density was 11.7 inhabitants per square mile (4.5/km). There were 7,229 housing units at an average density of 7.4 per square mile (2.9/km).

The Leech Lake Reservation has a significant non-native population due in part to the allotment and sale of reservation lands in the late nineteenth century. In 2020, the racial makeup of the reservation was 49.3% White, 43.8% Native American, 0.1% Black or African American, 0.1% Asian, 0.4% from other races, and 6.3% from two or more races. Ethnically, the population was 1.7% Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Education

There are two tribal schools, Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School and Leech Lake Tribal College.

See also

• Battle of Sugar Point
• Bryan v. Itasca County
• Leech Lake Tribal College
• List of historical Indian reservations in the United States
• List of largest Indian reservations
• Minnesota Indian Affairs Council

References

1. ^ "2020 Decennial Census: Leech Lake Reservation and Off-Reservation Trust Land, MN". data.census.gov. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
2. ^ Carpenter, Leah J. (2008). "Tracking the Land: Ojibwe Land Tenure and Acquisition at Grand Portage and Leech Lake". Retrieved 2022-07-16.
3. "Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe History". www.llojibwe.org. Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
4. Janke, Ronald A. (1982). "Chippewa Land Losses". Journal of Cultural Geography. 2 (2): 84–100. doi:10.1080/08873638209478619. ISSN 0887-3631. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
5. "History". www.llojibwe.org. Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
6. "Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Reservation Restoration Act". ArcGIS StoryMaps. USDA Forest Service. 28 June 2024. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
7. ^ Olson, Melissa (18 July 2024). "Leech Lake band celebrates the transfer of 11,000 acres that represent what was illegally taken". MPR News. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
8. U.S. Forest Service, "Chippewa National Forest; Minnesota; Transfer of Administrative Jurisdiction to Lands To Be Held in Trust by the United States for the Benefit of the Leech Lake Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe Pursuant to the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Reservation Restoration Act," Federal Register 89 FR 53938
9. ^ "Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Reservation Restoration Act Frequently Asked Questions". U.S. Forest Service. 20 June 2024. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
10. "2020 Gazetteer Files". census.gov. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
11. "'We're going to school in a tin can'". Minneapolis Star Tribune. 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2021-08-11.
12. "Leech Lake Tribal College: #ComeFindYourPlace & Apply Today!". Retrieved 16 March 2023.

External links

• Official website

Further reading

• Ekidong, Aaniin (2009). Ojibwe Vocabulary Project. St. Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Humanities Center. ISBN 9780578034645.
• Treuer, Anton (2001). Living Our Language: Ojibwe Tales & Oral Histories. Minnesota Historical Society Press. ISBN 9780873514040.
• Treuer, Anton (2010). Ojibwe in Minnesota. Minnesota Historical Society Press. ISBN 9780873517683.

47°21′19″N 94°15′25″W / 47.35528°N 94.25694°W / 47.35528; -94.25694

v t e Indian reservations in Minnesota
Bois Forte Fond du Lac Grand Portage Ho-Chunk Leech Lake Lower Sioux Mille Lacs Prairie Island Red Lake Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Upper Sioux White Earth
No reservation in the state, trust lands or legal status only

Links to related articles

v t e Pillager Chippewa Full political Successors Leech Lake Minor political Successors White Earth v t e Mississippi Chippewa Full political Successors Mille Lacs White Earth Minor political Successors Leech Lake St. Croix v t 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 Related groups Findians v t e Municipalities and communities of Beltrami County, Minnesota, United States County seat: Bemidji Cities Bemidji Blackduck Funkley Kelliher Solway Tenstrike Turtle River Wilton Townships Alaska Battle Bemidji Benville Birch Buzzle Cormant Durand Eckles Frohn Grant Valley Hagali Hamre Hines Hornet Jones Kelliher Lammers Langor Lee Liberty Maple Ridge Minnie Moose Lake Nebish Northern O'Brien Port Hope Quiring Roosevelt Shooks Shotley Spruce Grove Steenerson Sugar Bush Summit Taylor Ten Lake Turtle Lake Turtle River Waskish Woodrow CDPs Little Rock Ponemah Red Lake Redby Unorganized territories Brook Lake Lower Red Lake North Beltrami Shotley Brook Upper Red Lake Unincorporated communities Gates Corner Hines Island Lake Pennington Pinewood Puposky Rosby‡ Saum Shooks Waskish Indian reservations Leech Lake Indian Reservation‡ Red Lake Indian Reservation‡ Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties Minnesota portal United States portal v t e Municipalities and communities of Cass County, Minnesota, United States County seat: Walker Cities Backus Bena Boy River Cass Lake Chickamaw Beach East Gull Lake Federal Dam Hackensack Lake Shore Longville Motley‡ Pillager Pine River Remer Walker Townships Ansel Barclay Becker Beulah Birch Lake Blind Lake Boy Lake Boy River Bull Moose Bungo Byron Crooked Lake Deerfield Fairview Gould Hiram Home Brook Inguadona Kego Leech Lake Lima Loon Lake Maple May McKinley Meadow Brook Moose Lake Otter Tail Peninsula Pike Bay Pine Lake Pine River Ponto Lake Poplar Powers Remer Rogers Salem Shingobee Slater Smoky Hollow Sylvan Thunder Lake Torrey Trelipe Turtle Lake Wabedo Walden Wilkinson Wilson Woodrow Unorganized territories East Cass North Cass North Central Cass Wahnena CDP Whipholt Unincorporated communities Ah-gwah-ching Brevik Bridgeman Casino Ellis Esterdy Graff Inguadona Leader Leech Lake Mae Mildred Onigum Oshawa Outing Pontoria Raboin Ryan Village Schley Snowball Sylvan Tobique Wabedo Wilkinson Indian reservation Leech Lake Indian Reservation‡ Ghost town Cuba Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties Minnesota portal United States portal v t e Municipalities and communities of Itasca County, Minnesota, United States County seat: Grand Rapids Cities Bigfork Bovey Calumet Cohasset Coleraine Deer River Effie Grand Rapids Keewatin La Prairie Marble Nashwauk Squaw Lake Taconite Warba Zemple Townships Alvwood Arbo Ardenhurst Balsam Bearville Bigfork Blackberry Bowstring Carpenter Deer River Feeley Good Hope Goodland Grand Rapids Grattan Greenway Harris Iron Range Kinghurst Lake Jessie Lawrence Lone Pine Marcell Max Moose Park Morse Nashwauk Nore Oteneagen Pomroy Sago Sand Lake Spang Splithand Stokes Third River Trout Lake Wabana Wawina Wildwood Wirt Unorganized territories Bowstring Lake Deer Lake Effie Liberty Little Sand Lake Northeast Itasca CDPs Ball Club Goodland Inger Other communities Alvwood Bass Lake Bear River Bergville Blackberry Bowstring Dora Lake Dunbar Grattan Houpt Jessie Lake Mack Marcell Martin Max Orth Pengilly Pomroy Rosy Spring Lake Suomi Swan River Talmoon Togo Wawina Wirt Indian reservations Deer Creek Indian Reservation‡ Leech Lake Indian Reservation‡ Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties Minnesota portal United States portal v t e Municipalities and communities of Hubbard County, Minnesota, United States County seat: Park Rapids Cities Akeley Laporte Nevis Park Rapids Townships Akeley Arago Badoura Clay Clover Crow Wing Lake Farden Fern Guthrie Hart Lake Helga Hendrickson Henrietta Hubbard Lake Alice Lake Emma Lake George Lake Hattie Lakeport Mantrap Nevis Rockwood Schoolcraft Steamboat River Straight River Thorpe Todd White Oak CDPs Lake George Hubbard Unincorporated communities Benedict Chamberlain Dorset Emmaville Farris Horton Kabekona Nary Rosby‡ Indian reservation Leech Lake Indian Reservation‡ Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties Minnesota portal United States portal

• American Indian reservations in Minnesota
• Anishinaabe reservations and tribal-areas in the United States
• Populated places in Beltrami County, Minnesota
• Populated places in Cass County, Minnesota
• Populated places in Hubbard County, Minnesota
• Populated places in Itasca County, Minnesota
• Ojibwe reserves and reservations
• Native American tribes in Minnesota
• Leech Lake
• Minnesota populated places on the Mississippi River
• Leech Lake Band