Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians
| Image: Bandera Turtle Mountain.PNG |
| Total population |
|---|
| 30,000 |
| Regions with significant populations |
| North Dakota, United States |
| Languages |
| Religion |
| Related ethnic groups |
The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians (Ojibwe language: Mikinaakwajiw-ininiwag) is a Native American tribe of Ojibwa and Métis peoples, based on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in Belcourt, North Dakota. The tribe has 30,000 enrolled members. A population of 5,815 reside on the main reservation and another 2,516 reside on off-reservation trust land (as of the 2000 census).[1] It is federally recognized and Merle St. Clair is the current tribal president.
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[edit] History
Around the end of the eighteenth century, prior to the advent of white traders in the area, the formerly woodland-oriented Chippewa moved out onto the Great Plains in pursuit of the buffalo and new beaver resources to hunt and trade. They successfully reoriented their culture to life on the plains, adopting horses, and developing the bison-hide tipi, the Red River cart, hard-soled footwear, and new ceremonial procedures. Around 1800, these Indians were hunting in the Turtle Mountain area of present-day North Dakota.
Chief Little Shell I (Ase-anse), a leader of the Pembina Band of Chippewa Indians, signed such documents with the federal government as the 1863 Treaty of the Old Crossing, signed near the Red Lake River, Minnesota, which the Red Lake Band also signed. They ceded their lands in the Red River area to the United States under this treaty.
The history of the Turtle Mountain Band as a contemporary band began on December 21, 1882 when Turtle Mountain Reservation was established in North Dakota under Presidential Executive Order. The Turtle Mountain Band is considered as one of the political Successors Inherent of the Pembina Band.
In the 1890s, Ayabrwaywetung (Thomas Little Shell) disenrolled his group from the tribal rolls of the Turtle Mountain Band (and reservation), and led his people into Montana. There has been a question of whether the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians includes the Little Shell Band of Chippewa Indians (of Montana), which is recognized by that state. Several court cases have ruled that they are separate tribes, given their separate development after some ancestral Chippewa disenrolled from the Turtle Mountain Band and reservation in the 1890s to migrate to Montana.[2]
The courts have recognized three independent units claiming the name Chippewa, and several unassociated members of that band.[3] This case refers to cases of the Indian Claims Commission and United States Court of Claims, which can no longer be found online at their original sources, as the cases are old.[4]
Today three descendant bands are recognized by federal or state governments.
The Chippewa in the northern tier of the United States have been referred to by other names, including Bungi, Saulteaux, Pembina Band (which includes both Red Bear Band and Little Shell Band), Bois Brule, Mitchif, Métis, and Chippewa-Cree.
[edit] Red Bear Band
Members of the Red Bear Band have established the Pembina Descendants Committee under the 1971 Act of Congress Bill H.R. 6072 Report No. 142-92. This committee includes the Signatory Heirs of Ogimaa Muskomukwa (Chief Red Bear), Pembina sub-chief Joseph Montreuil and Pembina warrior Joseph Gornon (Gourneau), all signers of the 1863 "Old Crossing" Treaty.
The Hereditary Chiefs or Signatory Heirs of Chief Red Bear and Joseph Montreuil include Jesse Peltier, Donna M. Patenaude, Bradley J. Vervalen, and Carey Decoteau-Peltier Jr. They hold seats on the established Pembina Descendants Committee. The Signatory Heirs of Chief Red Bear and Joseph Montreuil include Rose Bear, Montreuil, Caribeau, Grandboise, Bushie, Nadeau (One bloodline), Frederick (One bloodline), and Grant (One bloodline), all named family is also direct bloodline of Joseph Montreuil Pembina sub-chief and treaty signer.
Signatory Heirs Jesse Peltier and Bradley Vervalen, along with the researcher Vine Blackfeather Sr., appeared in one of Coleen Rajotte's documentaries about the similarities and differences of American Indians and Aboriginal Indians of Canada. She is a Canadian film maker.
- "A group who were disenrolled from the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Reservation in North Dakota in the 1890s were led into Montana at that time by Chief Thomas Little Shell (Ayabiwewidang: "Sit to Speak")"[5]
[edit] Government
The tribal offices are located in Belcourt, North Dakota. The current Tribal Chairman is Merle St. Claire, who took the office in December 2010.
[edit] Economy
The tribe has founded the Turtle Mountain Community College, one of numerous tribally controlled colleges in Indian Country.
The tribe has established online short-term or "payday lending" as a business to serve under-banked Native Americans. Merle St. Clair, the chairman of the tribe, is also a board member of the Native American Lending Alliance, an association of tribes in the payday loans business. Others include the Chippewa Cree[6], Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, and the Santee Sioux Nation of South Dakota.[7]
Delvin Cree, a writer with The Tribal Independent, classified their high rates charged as predatory lending in an Opinion piece published on Indianz.com in February 2012.[8] A New York Times article said the tribe charged an annualized rate of 360% on some of its short-term loans.
[edit] Notable tribal members
- Louise Erdrich, author
- Albert Lee Ferris, sculptor, painter, 1939–1986
- Leonard Peltier, American Indian Movement member and author
- Mark Turcotte, poet
- Jamie Everett, model/actress
[edit] Historical chiefs and leaders
- Red Bear (Muskomukwa)- Principal chief of the Red Bear Band of the Pembina Chippewa at the time of 1863 "Old Crossing" Treaty.
- Little Shell I, signatory of 1863 Old Crossing Treaty, chief of the Little Shell Pembina Band of the Chippewa
- Little Shell II
- Little Shell III
- Black Duck
- Red Thunder
- Kakenowash
- Kaispau Gourneau
[edit] Significant locations associated with the Turtle Mountain Chippewa
- Belcourt
- Dunseith
- St. Joseph (Walhalla)(Red Bear's Reservation)
- Pembina
- St. John
- Stump Lake (Black Duck's village)
- Grahams Island (Little Shell's Village)
- Round Lake village
- Buffalo Lodge
- White Earth River region
- Trenton / Buford region (TISA)
- Dogden Buttes
- Strawberry Lake
[edit] References
- ^ Turtle Mountain Reservation and Off-Reservation Trust Land, Montana/North Dakota/South Dakota United States Census Bureau
- ^ http://caselaw.findlaw.com/mt-supreme-court/1261100.html Koke v. Little Shell Band of Chippewa of Montana], No. 01-888, April 2003, Montana Supreme Court, accessed 7 March 2012
- ^ See FindLaw
- ^ An internet search for either: Turtle Mt. Band of Chippewa Indians 203 Ct. Cl. 426 (1974) or Turtle mountain Band of Chippewa Indians et al. v United States 490 F.2d 935 (1974) will find references to offline sources for this information. This also applies to the findings of the Indians Claim Commission: 23 Ind. Cl. Comm 315 (1970), 25 Ind. Cl Comm. 179 (1971), 26 Ind. Cl. Comm. 336 (1971)
- ^ Koke v Little Shell (Montana Supreme Court) and United States Department of the Interior proposed finding for Federal Acknowledgement of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana (Federal Register V65 #141 July 21, 2000). Note that the Montana Supreme Court has taken down their online opinions and has no date for the return of online cases. FindLaw does not have the opinion online.
- ^ Volz, Matt (December 26, 2011). "The Guardian". Tribe's high-interest online lending venture booms. AP Foreign (London, England). http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/10012473. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
- ^ Associated Press, "Indian tribes welcome ruling on sovereignty", The Denver Post, 15 February 2012, accessed 7 March 2012
- ^ http://www.indianz.com/News/2012/004651.asp["Predatory lending a cash cow in Indian country", Indianz.com, 17 February 2012, accessed 7 March 2012
[edit] External links
- Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians official site
- Turtle Mountain Chippewa Indian Heritage Center
- Turtle Mountain Community College
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