Spirit Lake Nation

What happened

The Spirit Lake Nation's website says the reservation was established by treaty between the United States and the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux bands in 1867, and lies in east central North Dakota. It lists a Tribal Realty Department whose mission is to serve the Tribe, enrolled members and other landowners in land-related matters, working with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. It also lists a Tribal Historic Preservation Office and a Water Resource Management program, and says Devils Lake covers 90,000 acres.

On March 17, 2025 the U.S. Department of the Interior announced that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had completed the transfer of 680 acres to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to be held in trust for the Spirit Lake Nation in Benson County, North Dakota. Interior called it the culmination of a decades-long effort by the Nation.

Minot Daily News reported on February 15, 2025 that the Nation had sought the land for 65 years. It said the land had been classed as submarginal and was excess to the needs of the White Horse Hill National Game Preserve, where the Fish and Wildlife Service had kept it for hay. The paper quoted Chairwoman Lonna Jackson-Street calling the return a significant step toward healing and reconciliation.

A 2026 article is the source; the date is not stated. The federal and local sources place the transfer in early 2025.

Good to know. The land is held in trust by the federal government for the Nation; some local coverage describes it as returned outright.

Summarized with AI assistance from 4 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error