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Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe

Gaa-zagaskwaajimekaag — the Ojibwe people of the lakes and wild rice country of north-central Minnesota
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Pillager Ojibwe homeland · 1855 treaty reservation · wild rice, fishing, and hunting rights confirmed in court · most reservation land is now Chippewa National Forest, with less than 5% tribally owned · 11,778 acres restored in 2024

Cass Lake

HEADQUARTERS

North centeral Minnesota

866,645

BOUNDARY ACRES

Reservation Boundaries

4 counties

COUNTIES

Beltrami, Cass, Hubbard, Itasca

9,400+

ENROLLED

Estimated enrolled

5-seat Council

GOVERNMENT

Minnesota Chippewa Tribe

Ojibwe

TRIBAL LANGUAGE

Algonquian

LANGUAGE FAMILY

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Learning Image Gallery

Click each image to learn more.

Brief History

A reservation created by treaty, diminished by allotment, and now in restoration. The Leech Lake Reservation was established by the Treaty of Washington in 1855 for the Mississippi, Pillager, and Lake Winnibigoshish bands of Ojibwe. In the allotment era that followed the Nelson Act of 1889, much reservation land passed out of tribal ownership. The Band reorganized its government in the Indian Reorganization Act era under the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe Constitution, and has continued to govern as a member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe with a five-member tribal council. In 1971, the case Leech Lake Band of Chippewa Indians v. Herbst addressed reservation rights and jurisdiction in federal court in Minnesota. On July 17, 2024, 11,778 acres were transferred back to the Band in a restoration ceremony, described as a first step toward returning land that had been wrongly transferred.

Culture

Language, wild rice, and seasonal life anchor the culture. The Band retains its original language, Ojibwemowin, along with ceremonies, customs, and beliefs, while dealing with modern issues. Community councils, clinics, and elder programs anchor daily life in the reservation's communities. Wild rice, known as manoomin in Ojibwe, has been a central food and cultural tradition in the Great Lakes for centuries. Maple sugar, fishing, hunting, and gathering also shape the seasonal round, with families moving through the year by what the lakes, woods, and rice beds provide. Oral tradition, storytelling, and teaching carry knowledge between generations, alongside formal education today.

Modern Horizons

Education and energy lead the modern story. Leech Lake Tribal College, founded in 1990 and based in Cass Lake, offers associate degrees with credits transferable to other colleges, including Bemidji State University. Solar projects across the reservation, including solar assistance for low-income member homes, are a modern example of the Band building for its own communities. Health, education, and community services, along with tribal government and enterprises, support daily life across the reservation's eleven communities.

Tribal Lands

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866,645 boundary acres, eleven communities, and three great lakes.

The Leech Lake Reservation boundary covers 866,645 acres across Beltrami, Cass, Hubbard, and Itasca counties in north-central Minnesota. Cass Lake is the largest community, and the reservation includes eleven communities in all.

Leech Lake, the third-largest lake in Minnesota, sits largely within the reservation, along with Cass Lake and Lake Winnibigoshish. Most of the land inside the boundary is now Chippewa National Forest.

The reservation's headquarters are in Cass Lake, Minnesota.

Learn More

Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe — tribal website: https://www.llojibwe.org

Minnesota Indian Affairs — Gaa-zagaskwaajimekaag / Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe: http://mn.gov/indian-affairs/tribal-nations-in-minnesota/gaa-zagaskwaajimekaag-leech-lake-band-of-ojibwe.jsp

Minnesota Chippewa Tribe: https://www.mnchippewatribe.org

Leech Lake Tribal College: https://www.lltc.edu

Reference and Sources

A. Fact sources

  1. Minnesota Department of Transportation, Tribal Training — Leech Lake: https://dot.minnesota.gov/tribaltraining/leech-lake.html

  2. Minnesota Indian Affairs — Gaa-zagaskwaajimekaag / Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe: http://mn.gov/indian-affairs/tribal-nations-in-minnesota/gaa-zagaskwaajimekaag-leech-lake-band-of-ojibwe.jsp

  3. U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Indian Energy — Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe 2022 Project: https://www.energy.gov/indianenergy/leech-lake-band-ojibwe-2022-project

  4. U.S. Forest Service — Leech Lake Band celebrates homeland restoration: https://www.fs.usda.gov/inside-fs/delivering-mission/excel/leech-lake-band-ojibwe-celebrates-homeland-restoration

  5. U.S. Senate hearing, S. 2599, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Reservation Restoration Act: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-115shrg31530/html/CHRG-115shrg31530.htm

  6. Treaty of Washington, 1855 — Minnesota Historical Society / MNopedia: https://www.mnopedia.org/treaty-washington-1855

  7. Leech Lake Band of Chippewa Indians v. Herbst, 334 F. Supp. 1001: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/334/1001/1520453/

  8. Ojibwe People's Dictionary — zagaskwaajime: https://ojibwe.lib.umn.edu/main-entry/zagaskwaajime-vai

B. Image credits

  1. Walker Bay, Leech Lake from Shangobee Island — Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cass_county_MN_200_Shangobee_Island_Walker_Bay_of_Leech_Lake_from_south_IMG_1328.JPG

  2. Leech Lake Chippewa delegation to Washington, 1899 — Wikimedia Commons, Public domain: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leech_Lake_Chippewa_delegation_to_Washington_1899.png

  3. Wild rice harvest on Mud Lake, Cass County, Minnesota, September 2015, George Stringham / U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — Wikimedia Commons, Public domain: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wild_rice_harvest_on_Mud_Lake,_Cass_County,_Minnesota,_September_2015.jpg

  4. Wild rice plant, R.A. Nonenmacher — Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zizania_aquatica_-_wild_rice_0200.jpg

  5. Ojibwe woman tapping for sugar maple syrup, Roland Reed, early 1900s — Wikimedia Commons, Public domain: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Detail,_Ojibwe_woman_tapping_for_sugar_maple_syrup_(cropped).jpg

  6. Lake sturgeon — Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Acipenser_fulvescens_29399697.jpg

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