Sandy Lake is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Native American village located in Turner Township,

Aitkin County Aitkin County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 15,697. Its county seat is Aitkin. Part of the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation is in the county. The county was created in 1857 and organized ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, United States. Its name in the

Ojibwe language Ojibwe , also known as Ojibwa , Ojibway, Otchipwe,R. R. Bishop Baraga, 1878''A Theoretical and Practical Grammar of the Otchipwe Language''/ref> Ojibwemowin, or Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of North America of the Algonquian lan ...

is ''Gaa-mitaawangaagamaag'', meaning "Place of the Sandy-shored Lake". The village is administrative center for the

Sandy Lake Band of Mississippi Chippewa Sandy Lake Band of Mississippi Chippewa (Ojibwe: ''Gaa-mitaawangaagamaag-ininiwag'') are a historical Ojibwa tribe located in the upper Mississippi River basin, on and around Big Sandy Lake in what today is in Aitkin County, Minnesota. Though pol ...

, though the administration of the

Mille Lacs Indian Reservation Mille Lacs Indian Reservation is the popular name for the land-base for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe in Central Minnesota, about 100 miles (160 km) north of Minneapolis-St. Paul. The contemporary Mille Lacs Band reservation has significant ...

, District II, is located in the nearby East Lake.

History

The original village was seasonally mobile, located anywhere along the shores of Big Sandy Lake or along the

Savanna Portage Savanna Portage State Park is a state park of Minnesota, USA, established in 1961 to preserve the historic Savanna Portage, a difficult trail connecting the watersheds of the Mississippi River and Lake Superior. The portage trail crosses a dra ...

, fostering both trade along the portage and of hunting, fishing and gathering of foods, medicine and other materials. In 1850, without much notice Sandy Lake hosted the United States' annuity payments to the

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

. However, due to intentional poor planning on behalf of the United States, Sandy Lake experienced the

Sandy Lake Tragedy The Sandy Lake Tragedy was the culmination in 1850 of a series of events centered in Big Sandy Lake, Minnesota that resulted in the deaths of several hundred Lake Superior Chippewa. Officials of the Zachary Taylor Administration and Minnesota T ...

that led to the death of over 300 guests to the community. In 1855, the ''Gaa-mitaawangaagamaag Ishkonigan'' (Sandy Lake Indian Reservation) was established under the 1855 Treaty of Washington (10 Stat. 1165), along with five other Indian Reservations for the

Mississippi Chippewa Mississippi River Band of Chippewa Indians ( oj, Gichi-ziibiwininiwag) or simply the Mississippi Chippewa, are a historical Ojibwa Band inhabiting the headwaters of the Mississippi River and its tributaries in present-day Minnesota. According to th ...

s and three Indian Reservations for the Pillager Chippewas. With the

Dakota War of 1862 The Dakota War of 1862, also known as the Sioux Uprising, the Dakota Uprising, the Sioux Outbreak of 1862, the Dakota Conflict, the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, or Little Crow's War, was an armed conflict between the United States and several ban ...

, the Sandy Lake Band members maintained neutrality in the conflict. Consequently, the Sandy Lake Band members were not forced to relocate elsewhere. However, many were pressured to do so, with many members relocating to the

White Oak Point Indian Reservation White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

. Those who remained were in such a minority the Sandy Lake Indian Reservation allotments under the

Nelson Act The Bankruptcy Act of 1898 ("Nelson Act", July 1, 1898, ch. 541, ) was the first United States Act of Congress involving bankruptcy to give companies an option of being protected from creditors. Previous attempts at federal bankruptcy laws had l ...

and forced land-sales illegally erased the Reservation off the maps. In 1915, with the assistance from the neighboring Fond du Lac Band, the Sandy Lake Cemetery was again secured. In 1940, the current village site was secured.

History

References

Further reading