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Preserving Our History and Culture

The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe is a sovereign, federally recognized Indian tribe located in East Central Minnesota. The Band continually works to share its history and culture among the community and preserve its language and traditions for future generations.

About the Mille Lacs Band

• About 500 years ago, the ancestors of the Mille Lacs Band began migrating west from the Atlantic coast of North America. By the mid-1700s, the Ojibwe had established themselves in the region around Mille Lacs Lake in what is today East Central Minnesota.
• The Mille Lacs Reservation was established by the Treaty of 1855, which set aside 61,000 acres as the Band’s reservation on and around the south end of Mille Lacs Lake. Today the Mille Lacs Reservation consists of three districts:
  • District I on Mille Lacs Lake near the city of Onamia, where the Mille Lacs Band Government Center and Grand Casino Mille Lacs are located
  • Districts II and IIa near the cities of McGregor and Isle
  • District III near the city of Hinckley, where Grand Casino Hinckley is located
• The Mille Lacs Band has 4,302 members, including:
  • 1,458 in District I
  • 359 in Districts II and IIa
  • 555 in District III
  • 856 in the Twin Cities metropolitan area
  • 625 in other Minnesota towns
  • 418 across the United States
  • 31 others
• The Mille Lacs Band is a sovereign Indian tribe, meaning that is has the authority to create its own laws and regulations that govern activities on the reservation within a federal framework. These powers derive from the Band’s status as a sovereign nation that existed before the formation of the United States, from treaties with the United States, and from acts of Congress.
• The Mille Lacs Band’s government is based on a separation of powers, similar to the United States federal government. The three branches of the Band’s government – legislative, executive and judicial – ensure through proper checks and balances that no single person or part of the government has absolute and arbitrary power in any particular area.
  • The legislative branch of the Band’s government, known as the Band Assembly, consists of one Representative from each of the reservation’s three districts and a Secretary/Treasurer who presides over the Band Assembly as its Speaker. Each Representative is elected by the people of his or her district to serve a four-year term in the Band Assembly. Band members who live off the reservation select a home district and vote only for a Representative from that district. The Secretary/Treasurer is elected by all Band members.
  • The executive branch’s top official is the Chief Executive, who is elected by Band members every four years. The Chief Executive appoints commissioners, who are ratified by the Band Assembly, to oversee the various departments in the executive branch.
  • The judicial branch includes the Chief Justice and the Court of Central Jurisdiction, which consists of three appellate justices and one district judge.
• The Mille Lacs Band is one of six members of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe; the other members are the White Earth Band, Leech Lake Band, Grand Portage Band, Bois Forte Band, and Fond du Lac Band.
  • “Chippewa,” is another word used to refer to Ojibwe people; the Mille Lacs Band prefers the term “Ojibwe” when referring to its members.
  • “Anishinabe” means “spontaneously created” or “original man” in Ojibwe and is also commonly used; it refers to all Indians who live in North and South America.

Mille Lacs Band culture

• The Ojibwe culture thrives throughout the Mille Lacs Reservation:
  • The Ojibwe Language and Culture Program is part of the curricula for all early education and K-12 students at the Band’s Nay Ah Shing Schools.
  • Assisted living units for Mille Lacs Band Elders provide a way for them to stay in the community and continue sharing the Ojibwe culture.
  • The Band’s Ojibwe Language and Culture Center provides a setting for Ojibwe language classes, ceremonial discussions, and other cultural activities such as wigwam construction and sugarbushing (making maple syrup).
  • Band members continue to participate in traditional Ojibwe ceremonies, including dance, name-giving, and birth ceremonies.
  • Band members also attend powwows, gather wild rice, make birch bark baskets, and participate in drum groups – all traditional Ojibwe activities.
• In 1837, the Mille Lacs Band signed a treaty giving land to the U.S. government on the condition that Band members would always be able to hunt, fish and gather there. Today Band members continue to follow traditional hunting, fishing, and gathering practices while respecting the land. The Band has a conservation code that governs Band members who hunt and fish in the area.