Land area
Land of the Chippewa of Saginaw, Swan Creek, and Black River in Michigan in Michigan, recorded 1855 (area 464)
In the record
The area covers about 132 thousand acres in what is now Michigan.
The 1899 record names Chippewa (Ojibwe) as the people of this land.
The record ties this land to 3 agreements: Chippewa of Sault Ste. Marie at Detroit, Michigan (1855), Chippewa of Saginaw, Swan Creek, and Black River at Detroit, Michigan (1855) and Chippewa (Saginaw, Swan Creek, and Black River) at Isabella, Michigan (1864). 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 OSU treaty text records a surrender of a fishing right in exchange for an appraised payment; the cited sources do not describe coercion.
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
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.
Agreements recorded for this land 3
Nations named for this land 2
- Chippewa (Ojibwe)as named in the 1899 recordsuggested
- Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michiganmatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
Located in 1
Sources
- Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1855-08-02primary record
- Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, text for 1855-08-02primary record
- Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1864-10-18primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: Michigan 2 (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
- 464
- Dates in the 1899 record
- 1855-08-02; 1864-10-18
- Kind of instrument
- Treaty or agreement
- Peoples as named in the 1899 record
- Chippewa of Saginaw, Swan Creek, and Black River in Michigan
- States
- MI
- Counties
- Arenac; Bay
- Map sheets in the 1899 record
- Michigan 2
- 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