Minnesota Chippewa Tribe | |
|---|---|
| Motto: Nimaamawiinomin We Come Together | |
 Member bands of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe | |
| Administrative headquarters | Cass Lake,Minnesota |
| Type | Tribal governmental authority |
| Enrolled membership | 40,677 |
| Leaders | |
• President | Michael LaRoque |
• Vice President | Faron Jackson, Sr. |
• Executive Director | Joel Smith |
| Establishment | |
• Establishment | June 18, 1934 |
• Recognized by theUnited States Department of the Interior | July 26, 1936 |
TheMinnesota Chippewa Tribe is the centralized governmental authority for sixOjibwe bands inMinnesota. The tribe was created on June 18, 1934. The organization and its governmental powers are divided between the tribe, and the individual bands, which directly operate theirreservations. The bands that make up the tribe are:
As of July 2003, the six bands had 40,677 enrolled members. The White Earth Band was the largest, which had more than 19,000 members. According to the 2010 US Census, the Leech Lake Band had 10,660 residents living onits reservation, the most of any single reservation in the state.
It is projected that the tribe will experience a gradual population decrease in the coming decades, unless it lowers its current membership requirement of at least25% Native ancestry,[1][2] as a consequence of tribal members having children with non-Native Americans (nationwide, 54-61% of all Native Americansmarry non-Natives[3]).
Notably, theRed Lake Band of Chippewa is not part of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. In 1934, it declined to participate, as its citizens did not want to give up the band's system of hereditary chiefs. The Red Lake Band developed its constitution in the 1950s, electing its first chairman in 1959. The Chippewa nation predates the European colonization of the Americas.
The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe provides basic services to each of its six-member Bands, unless the individual Band has signed a compact to provide these services themselves. The services are provided through their offices located inCass Lake, Minnesota.