HISTORY OF OUR
TRIBE
The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians — 30,000 enrolled members strong — carry a legacy of adaptation, resilience, and stewardship stretching back centuries. This is our story.
Languages
English, Ojibwe (Anishinaabe), and Michif — a unique Métis language blending Cree and French — are spoken among tribal members, reflecting the rich cultural fusion of the Turtle Mountain people.
Homeland
The Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation sits in Belcourt, North Dakota. The tribe's ancestral territory once encompassed nearly one-third of what would become North Dakota — over 11 million acres.
Related Nations
The Turtle Mountain Chippewa are closely related to the Chippewa Cree, Ottawa, Potawatomi, and Métis peoples — all part of the broader Anishinaabe family of nations.
A TIMELINE OF RESILIENCE
Origins in the Northeastern Woodlands
The Ojibwe — Anishinaabe people of the Northeastern Woodlands — originally inhabited present-day Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Around the end of the 18th century, they moved onto the Great Plains in pursuit of bison and beaver for hunting and trade. They adapted brilliantly: adopting horses, developing the bison-hide tipi, the Red River cart, and new ceremonies suited to Plains life.
Arrival at Turtle Mountain
By around 1800, the Chippewa were hunting in the Turtle Mountain area of present-day North Dakota. For more than a century — with no international boundary — they moved freely between what would become Manitoba, Canada, and the United States, including Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana. They mingled with Cree and other tribes, forming the rich cultural tapestry that defines the Turtle Mountain people today.
The Sweet Corn Treaty
Running battles with the Dakota over territorial disputes were finally settled in 1858 with the signing of the Sweet Corn Treaty, which described the 11,000,000 acres of the Chippewa domain and provided for reparations. The agreement was signed by Chief Wilkie (Narbexxa) of the Chippewa and witnessed by members of both tribes.
Treaty of Old Crossing
White settlers, seeking to take advantage of the Homestead Act, petitioned Congress to open the Red River valley for agriculture. On October 2, 1863, Chippewa chiefs met with U.S. commissioners at the Old Crossing of the Red Lake River in Minnesota. The government secured all 11 million acres of Chippewa land. The Chippewa signed the treaty under duress — a wound that would shape tribal advocacy for generations.
The Red River Rebellion & Métis Refuge
The 1869–1870 Red River Rebellion began when the Hudson's Bay Company transferred its North-Western Territory franchise to Canada. Louis Riel and his Métis followers seized Fort Garry and attempted to establish a provisional government. When Riel was later tried for treason and hanged in 1885, his followers fled and sought refuge with the Turtle Mountain Chippewa — deepening the Métis-Chippewa bond that persists to this day.
The McCumber Agreement
In 1891, Agent Waugh convened a committee to set new reservation boundaries. Chief Little Shell III sought a 30-square-mile tract but was rejected and abandoned the meeting. The McCumber Agreement of October 22, 1892 granted only two townships — far less than needed. After years of negotiation, Article VI was added in 1904, allowing tribal members unable to secure reservation land to take homesteads on any vacant U.S. land. Congress ratified the final agreement on April 21, 1904.
Resilience Through the Depression Era
In the decades after the McCumber Agreement and through the Great Depression, the Chippewa adapted farming and gardening as survival strategies. They developed a Big Store in 1922 to sell goods and operated a creamery. Under the WPA, men gained construction training and women learned to sew and can goods. Congress approved the first charter of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa in 1932.
Resisting Termination
On August 1, 1953, Congress passed House Concurrent Resolution 108, calling for the immediate termination of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa among other tribes. Termination would have meant the immediate withdrawal of all federal aid, services, and protection. In 1954, Tribal Chairman Patrick Gourneau and a delegation testified in Washington, D.C. — arguing the tribe was not financially prepared, faced high unemployment and poverty, and that termination would be devastating. Based on their testimony, the Chippewa were dropped from the termination list. Louise Erdrich's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "The Night Watchman" (2021) is a fictionalized account of these events.
First Tribe to Ban Hydraulic Fracturing
On November 22, 2011, the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Tribal Council unanimously banned hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to exploit oil reserves — becoming the first tribe in the United States to do so, out of concern for the adverse environmental effects of the practice. The Council directed the Bureau of Indian Affairs to cancel oil and gas bidding on 45,000 acres of tribal land. The BIA cancelled the bids on December 9, 2011.
A Nation Building Its Future
The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians today has 30,000 enrolled members. The tribe has founded Turtle Mountain College, established economic enterprises including BlueChip Financial, and continues to advocate for tribal sovereignty, environmental stewardship, and the well-being of its people. Chippewa Sustainable Solutions carries this legacy forward — channeling generations of resilience into modern technology and business solutions.
VOICES OF OUR NATION
Louise Erdrich
Pulitzer Prize-winning author — "The Night Watchman" (2021)
Heid E. Erdrich
Author and poet
Waubojeeg ("White Feather")
Chief and warrior, c. 1747–1793
Leonard Peltier
American Indian Movement member and author
Patrick Gourneau
Tribal Chairman who successfully fought termination (1954)
Dexter Davis
First enrolled tribal member to receive the Federal Law Enforcement Congressional Badge of Bravery (2019)
Jessica Metcalfe
Art historian and founder of Beyond Buckskin
Barbara K. Charbonneau-Dahlen
PhD RN, nurse and advocate
SIGNIFICANT LOCATIONS
FIRST TRIBE TO BAN FRACKING
On November 22, 2011, the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Tribal Council unanimously banned hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on tribal lands — becoming the first tribe in the United States to do so, out of concern for the adverse environmental effects of the practice.
The Council directed the Bureau of Indian Affairs to cancel oil and gas bidding on 45,000 acres of tribal land. The BIA cancelled the bids on December 9, 2011. This act of environmental leadership is a cornerstone of the values that Chippewa Sustainable Solutions carries forward today.
OUR HISTORY IS OUR FOUNDATION
Every solution we build, every contract we deliver, and every job we create honors the generations who came before us and the generations yet to come.