Land area
Land of the Blackfoot and Chippewa, Ontonagon band in Montana and Wyoming, recorded 1851 (area 398)
In the record
The area covers about 12 million acres in what is now Montana and Wyoming.
The 1899 record names Chippewa (Ojibwe) as the people of this land.
The record ties this land to 2 agreements: Treaty of Fort Laramie (Horse Creek), 1851 and Lame Bull Treaty (Blackfeet), 1855. Which one ceded it has not been checked yet, so the map dates it by the first.
How it was taken: a treaty or agreement. The treaty text records an agreement among the eight nations and two U.S. commissioners; the cited sources do not describe duress.
Today, Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians of the Bad River Reservation, Wisconsin, Bay Mills Indian Community, Chippewa Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy's Reservation, Montana, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Michigan, Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin, Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and 12 more carry the history of the people named here.
Written from the records linked here; open any of them for its sources.
Shapes come from C. C. Royce’s 1899 maps as georeferenced by the US Forest Service. They are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land. Royce recorded land the United States treated as ceded; the shape does not show a nation’s territory.
Who is doing the work
This history belongs to living nations. Start with them:
- Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians of the Bad River Reservation, Wisconsin
- Bay Mills Indian Community
- Chippewa Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy's Reservation, Montana
- Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Michigan
- Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin
- Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
- Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Michigan
- Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana
Working with these nations
- Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) Nation government Ojibwe treaty rights in ceded territories, natural resource stewardship, manoomin, and a Land Conservancy program… Give on their site Website
- Honor the Earth Native-led Pipeline resistance, sovereignty, energy justice Give on their site Website
- White Earth Land Recovery Project (WELRP) Native-led Recover the original White Earth reservation land base Give on their site Website
- Native Land Conservancy (Massachusetts) Native-led Native-led land conservation Give on their site Website
Land return and Native-led work nearby
- Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) Nation government National Bison Range restoration (about 18,800 acres) Website
- Potlatch Fund Native-led Native philanthropy and grantmaking to Native individuals and Native-led organizations Give on their site Website
Native legal and land defense, nationally
- Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Native-led Litigation and legal advocacy for tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, land and resources Give on their site Website
- NDN Collective (LANDBACK Campaign) Native-led LANDBACK campaign (launched 2020; Mount Rushmore closure and return of Black Hills public lands), Indigenous… Give on their site Website
- Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) Native-led Land recovery and control by tribes and individual Indian landowners Website
- Decolonizing Wealth Project (Indigenous Earth Fund; California Tribal Land Return) Native-led Reparative philanthropy Give on their site Website
Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.
Connections
Links marked “suggested” were matched automatically by name or date and have not yet been reviewed by a person.
Nations named for this land 3, matched by the Forest Service, under review
Agreements recorded for this land 2
- Treaty of Fort Laramie (Horse Creek), 18511851suggested
- Lame Bull Treaty (Blackfeet), 18551855suggested
Located in 2
Sources
- Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1851-09-17primary record
- Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, text for 1851-09-17primary record
- Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1855-10-17primary record
- Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, text for 1855-10-17primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: Montana 1 (Library of Congress)primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: Wyoming 1 (Library of Congress)primary record
- USDA Forest Service, Tribal Lands Ceded to the United States (digitized Royce maps)reference work
The record’s fields
- Area number in the 1899 record
- 398
- Dates in the 1899 record
- 1851-09-17; 1855-10-17
- Kind of instrument
- Treaty or agreement
- Peoples as named in the 1899 record
- Blackfoot; Chippewa, Ontonagon band
- States
- MT; WY
- Counties
- Beaverhead; Broadwater; Deer Lodge; Gallatin; Jefferson; Lewis and Clark; Madison; Meagher; Park; Silver Bow; Teton
- Map sheets in the 1899 record
- Montana 1; Wyoming 1
- Geometry
- Approximate shape from Royce’s 1899 maps
Research notes
geometry_role is 'cession' for every USFS feature: no field in the source distinguishes cessions from reservations.
- Kind
- Land area
- Confidence
- Medium