Chippewa (Pillager Band) at Leech Lake (1847)
In 1847 the Pillager Band of Chippewa ceded a tract around Otter Tail Lake and the Crow Wing River for five years of goods.
- Signed
- August 21, 1847
- Senate
- Ratified
- Land given up
- about 805,000 acres
What happened
What happened
On August 21, 1847, Isaac A. Verplank and Henry M. Rice, commissioners for the United States, signed a treaty at Leech Lake with the Pillager Band of Chippewa Indians, through their chiefs, head-men and warriors. In Article 2 the Pillager band sold and ceded all the country within boundaries beginning at the south end of Otter Tail Lake. The line ran south along the Sioux-Chippewa boundary to the Long Prairie River, up that river to the Crow Wing River, up the Crow Wing to the Leaf River, and back to the start. The treaty states no acreage.
Article 3 says the ceded country would be held by the United States as Indian land until otherwise ordered by the President. In Article 4 the United States agreed to furnish the band each year for five years a list of goods: Mackinaw blankets, cloth, prints, twine, thread, combs, needles, looking-glasses, vermilion, kettles, 500 pounds of tobacco and five barrels of salt. At the first payment the band was also to get 200 beaver traps and 75 north-west guns as a present.
The treaty was proclaimed on April 7, 1848. The treaty text does not describe how the council went, and the sources used here do not say what followed.
Summarized with AI assistance from 3 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error
What the sources say, and how this was checked
Well supported by the sources below.
the country hereby ceded shall be held by the United States as Indian land, until otherwise ordered by the President
Treaty with the Pillager Band of Chippewa, 1847 (OSU Tribal Treaties Database)the United States agree to furnish to the Pillager band of Chippewa Indians annually, for five years
Treaty with the Pillager Band of Chippewa, 1847 (OSU Tribal Treaties Database)Beginning at the south end of Otter Tail Lake
Treaty with the Pillager Band, 9 Stat. 908 (govinfo)
Research notes. No acreage is stated. The sources used here do not describe the council or the later history of the Pillager band.
What the treaty did to the land
About 805,000 acres given up. Each shape is a numbered area in the federal government’s 1899 record of land cessions.
ceded to the United Statesabout 805,000 acres
Land of the Chippewa (Pillager band) in Minnesota, ceded 1847 (area 269)
Ceded by the Pillager band of Chippewa in 1847, land in Minnesota.
What happened next
Everything the record holds about this land and this treaty, in order: what earlier agreements said, what this one did, and what the United States, the courts and the nations did afterwards.
Who is doing the work today
The nations connected to this treaty come first, then groups returning land and defending treaty rights. Support goes directly to them.
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.
Sources
Sources
- treaties.okstate.edu/treaties/treaty-with-the-pillager-band-of-chippewa-indians-1847-0569reference work
Treaty with the Pillager Band of Chippewa Indians, 1847 Aug. 21, 1847. | 9 Stat., 908.
Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.