Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (or Wayekwaa-gichigamiing Gichigamiwininiwag in the Ojibwe language, meaning "Lake Superior Men at the far end of the Great Lake") is an Anishinaabe (Ojibwa) band located near Cloquet, Minnesota. Their land-base is the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation (Ojibwe language: Nagaajiwanaang), located mainly in Carlton and St. Louis County, Minnesota, 20 miles west of Duluth.
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[edit] History
Originally located along the lower-courses of the St. Louis River where the cities of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin now stand, the Wayekwaa-gichigamiing controlled the river access to the both the St. Louis River and the Nemadji River, both a major trade-route during the Fur Trade. In the same area is Spirit Island of the "Sixth Stopping Place", one of the former seven Anishinaabe administrative centers.
The Fond du Lac Band's regional economic influence helped establish the American Fur Company's trading post in what now is the Fond du Lac neighbourhood of Duluth. Two different Treaties of Fond du Lac were hosted by the Fond du Lac Band.
Either Anishinabe people from northern Wisconsin or from northern Ontario or both locations, settled down in what is now the Fond du Lac Reservation region. Once Anishinabe leaders learned that the whites mentioned in the Seven Fires Prophecy had invaded, they reacted by sending their soldiers as far east as Maine and as far south as Florida, to defend Indian land against the white invaders. They also sent their soldiers towards the west to clear a path for Anishinabe people to migrate to as told to do in the Seven Fires Prophecy.
They commenced to fight a long war with the Dakota people. Anishinabe leaders warned the Dakotas about the whites mentioned in the Seven Fires Prophecy but, unfortunately, many of the Dakotas refused to follow prophecy. Some of them actually sided with the whites. Many, however, joined the Anishinabe people in a confederation. They were the more northerly Dakotas who are now known as the Assiniboine, Crow-Hidatsa, and some of the Yankton. The more southerly Dakotas developed a great hatred for their northern kin folk for siding with the Anishinabe people.
After the 1862 war, the Fond du Lac Reservation was eventually established. The United States had no intentions of honoring any treaties they made with Native American Nations. In 1889, the United States passed the Nelson Act. The United States wanted to eradicate all Chippewa Reservations in Minnesota excepting the Red Lake Reservation and White Earth Reservation, and the Chippewa Reservations in Michigan and Wisconsin, and relocate them to the White Earth Reservation.
Then in 1898, the United States passed the 1898 Bankrupcy Act which is also known as the 1898 Nelson Act. The crooked act was not received well by Anishinabe leaders, especially on the Leech Lake Reservation. Anishinabe leaders had known for quite a long time that the United States wanted to eradicate their Reservations. It did agitate them. Chief Gewezance was the first Pillager leader to commence talks of a rebellion. In response, he was assassinated by Indians hired and paid to carry out the cowardly deed.
Chief Bugonaygeshig then became the main Anishinabe leader. The whites had known the Leech Lake Reservation was the focal point of the talks of a rebellion. After all, Leech Lake Reservation was dominated by the military and police totem of the Anishinabe Nation. They are more famously known as the Pillagers. Chippewas from the Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin Reservations involved in the white conspiracy to eradicate them, were probably negotiating together. The United States knew the Chippewas were fearful and planning some form of defensive plan, through spies. Thus, the reason chief Gewezance was assassinated.
Some time in probably 1897, the United States began to follow chief Bugonaygeshig closely. They knew he was the main Anishinabe leader and commenced a plan to stop his rise to power. They arrested Bugonaygeshig on false charges of bootlegging. After Bugonaygeshig was released from jail, he had to walk over 100 miles back to Leech Lake Reservation. He was not going to disappear among the Anishinabe people living on the Leech Lake Reservation. Fearful that an Indian War was going to occur, the United States ordered that chief Bugonaygeshig be arrested again. They did not want an Indian War and thought by arresting Bugonaygeshig they could prevent the war from occurring. In October of 1898, Indian police were ordered to arrest chief Bugonaygeshig but a large crowd of Chippewas forced their way in and forcefully took chief Bugonaygeshig and another Anishinabe man from the Indian police.
The scene resembled the events which led to the assassination of chief Sitting Bull at the hands of Dakota police who were very willing to kill Sitting Bull. However, the Chippewa police refused to disturb the crowd of Chippewas who rescued the Pillager leader. The Indian Agent of Leech Lake Reservation knew the Chippewa police were not reliable and telegraphed for white soldiers to be sent to the Leech Lake Reservation. On October 5, 1898 a force of 78 American soldiers invaded the Leech Lake Reservation. What followed next saved the Chippewa Reservations singled out to be eradicated including the Fond du Lac Reservation.
Chief Bugonaygeshig and his soldiers fled to an island. The 78 white soldiers followed and the Battle of Sugar Point was fought. Pillager soldiers defeated the 78 American soldiers. Over 200 more American soldiers were sent to the Leech Lake Reservation soon after. They may have numbered near 300 in all. Chief Bugonaygeshig and other Chippewa leaders refused to surrender. Though the rebellion was minor, the outcome was significant. In 1899, a delegation of Pillager leaders from the Leech Lake Reservation, visited Washington D.C. They obviously reached an agreement with the United States in which the United States agreed to allow the Chippewa Reservations including the Fond du Lac Reservation, the United States intended on eradicating, to remain.
It is chief Bugonaygeshig the Git-chi-ga-mi-na-bek of the Fond du Lac Reservation can thank for saving the Fond du Lac Reservation. Nabe is another Ah-ni-shin-na-be word for male and man. Ah-ni-shin-na-be means "Spontaneous Man" in the musical Anishinabe Language.
[edit] Today
Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is one of six members of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe (MCT). The tribal government has its own license plates. In the 2000 census, the reservation recorded a population of 3,728 people and in July, 2007, MCT reported 4,044 people enrolled through Fond du Lac. 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] Government
The revised Constitution and By-Laws of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe were approved by the Secretary of Interior on March 3, 1964. The governing body of the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation is the Reservation Business Committee, which is composed of a Chairman, Secretary-Treasurer, and three Representatives: one from District I (Cloquet), one from District II (Sawyer) and one from District III (Brookston). All are elected to four-year terms on a staggered basis with the Chairman and Secretary-Treasurer also serving as members of the Executive Committee of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.
The current members of the Reservation Business Committee are:
- Chairwoman: Karen R. Diver
- Secretary/Treasurer: Ferdinand Martineau Jr.
- District-I Representative: Wally Dupuis
- District-II Representative: Sandy Shabiash
- District-III Representative: Mary Northrup
[edit] Official Address
- Address: Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
1720 Big Lake Road
Cloquet, MN 55720 - Phone: (218) 879-4593
- Fax: (218) 879-4146
- Website: http://www.fdlrez.com
[edit] Notable Fond du Lac Citizens
- Esther Nahgahnub Grandmother, Activist, Writer
- Jim Northrup - Author, "Fond du Lac Follies" columnist, and Vietnam War veteran
- Jeff Savage - Artist
- Karen Savage Blue - Artist
- Thomas David Petite - Inventor
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ Roberts, Kathaleen. "Birch Bark Biting, One of the Rarest of Native American Art Forms, Will Be Featured at Showcase." Albuquerque Journal. 19 Nov 2007. Retrieved 22 Dec 2011.
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[edit] External links
- Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa - Official tribal government website
- Bemaadizing: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Indigenous Life (An online journal)
