Minnesota Chippewa Tribe - Bois Forte Band (Nett Lake)

About

Bois Forte Band of Chippewa (Ojibwe language: Zagaakwaandagowininiwag, "Men of the Thick Fir-woods"; commonly but erroneously shortened to Zagwaandagaawininiwag, "Men of the Thick Boughs") are an Ojibwe Band located in northern Minnesota, along the border between the United States and Canada. Their landbase is the Bois Forte Indian Reservation, of which the Nett Lake Indian Reservation holdings are the largest of their reservation holdings. The Bois Forte Band is one of six constituent members of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. In 2007, the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe reported having 3,052 people enrolled through the Bois Forte (Nett Lake) Reservation as members of the Bois Forte Band. 

The Bois Forte Band is an amalgamation of three separate groups, of which the Zagwaandagaawininiwag was the largest component, also known on some documents as Zoongaatigwitoonag ("Strong-wooded Ones", reflected in French as "Les Songatikitons"). Others now considered part of the Bois Forte Band includes the Lake Vermilion Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and the southern half of the Little Forks Band of Rainy River Saulteaux. Due to their very peaceful existence, Warren reports they were called the "Rabbit" (Ojibwe language: Waabooz). Under the Treaty of Paris (1783) and the Webster-Ashburton Treaty (1842), the Little Forks Band of Rainy River Saulteaux were divided in half, with the southern half living about the Little Fork River being in the United States. The Lake Vermilion Band went into a treaty relationship with the United States in 1854. In 1866, the Bois Forte Band entered into a treaty with the United States, which also began the amalgamation process of these three historical bands into a single Band of today.

Bois Forte, or “strong wood”, was the French name given to the Indians living in the densest forests of what is now extreme northern Minnesota.

The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, comprised of the Bois Forte, Fond du Lac, Grand Portage, Leech Lake, Mille Lacs, and White Earth reservations, is a federally recognized tribal government that, through unified leadership, promotes and protects the member Bands while providing quality services and technical assistance to the reservation governments and tribal people.

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