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The History of the Indian Reservation
The White Earth Indian Reservation is the largest and historically poorest Indian reservation in Minnesota. The reservation stretches across Mahnomen, Becker, and Clearwater counties in the northwest part of the state, along the Wild Rice and White Earth Rivers. It is about 225 miles from Minneapolis-St. Paul and roughly 65 miles from Fargo-Moorhead. Community members often prefer to self-identify themselves as Anishinaabe instead of Ojibwe or Chippewa. The reservation had 3,378 residents as of the 2000 census.
The reservation originally covered 1300 square miles (3400 km²), but much of the community's land was improperly sold or seized to outside interests, including the U.S. federal government, in the late 19th century and early 20th century. This was largely due to the Dawes Act of 1887 and Nelson Act of 1889, which allowed land to be divided up. In the latter half of the 20th century, state and county land was transferred to the reservation in compensation. Also, in 1989, Winona LaDuke formed the White Earth Land Recovery Project, which has slowly been pushing for the recovery of more land. The project claims that only 15% of the reservation's land is owned by tribal members.
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