Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (or the ''Gete-gitigaaning'' in the

Anishinaabe 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 a band of the

Lake Superior Chippewa The Lake Superior Chippewa (Anishinaabe: Gichigamiwininiwag) are a large number of Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) bands living around Lake Superior; this territory is considered part of northern Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota in the United States. They ...

, many of whom reside on the

Lac Vieux Desert Indian Reservation Lac Vieux Desert Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation located in Watersmeet Township of southeastern Gogebic County, in the western part of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It is the landbase for the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chi ...

, located near

Watersmeet, Michigan Watersmeet is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Watersmeet Township, Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a population of 428, out of a total population in the township of 1,417. The community was platted in ...

. It is approximately 45 miles southeast of

Ironwood, Michigan Ironwood is a city in Gogebic County in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, about south of Lake Superior. The city is on US Highway 2 across the Montreal River from Hurley, Wisconsin. It is the westernmost city in Michigan ...

in Gogebic County.

Early history

As 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 ...

Nation divided into two and expanded westward from the Sault Ste. Marie region, the southern branch of Ojibwe came to the area now known as

Lac Vieux Desert Lac Vieux Desert is a lake in the United States divided between Gogebic County, Michigan, and Vilas County, Wisconsin. Fed primarily by springs in the surrounding swamps, it is the source of the Wisconsin River, which flows out of its southwest c ...

. The

Lake Superior Band of Chippewa The Lake Superior Chippewa (Anishinaabe: Gichigamiwininiwag) are a large number of Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) bands living around Lake Superior; this territory is considered part of northern Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota in the United States. They ...

included twelve bands in historic times. This lake, known as ''Gete-gitigaani-zaaga'igan'' ("Lake of the old garden") in the Anishinaabe language, is located near several major watershed boundaries. It served as an ideal travel/trade hub connecting major waterways and trails to

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

, Lake Michigan and

Wisconsin River The Wisconsin River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At approximately 430 miles (692 km) long, it is the state's longest river. The river's name, first recorded in 1673 by Jacques Marquette as "Meskous ...

. The Lac Vieux Desert Band was one of three in Michigan. The other nine bands of Lake Superior Chippewa resided in what became organized as Wisconsin and Minnesota under the United States rule. All twelve bands were signatory to several treaties with the United States. Chiefs of the Lac Vieux Desert Band signed the Treaty of St. Peters of 1837,

Treaty of La Pointe The Treaty of La Pointe may refer to either of two treaties made and signed in La Pointe, Wisconsin between the United States and the Ojibwe (Chippewa) Native American peoples. In addition, the Isle Royale Agreement, an adhesion to the first Trea ...

of 1842, and

of 1854, by which they ceded tribal communal land in Michigan to the United States. The second La Pointe Treaty of 1854, added to include a band newly included in US territory because of international boundary changes, also established the

. It is known as ''Gete-gitigaaning'' in the Anishinaabe language. Under the federal Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, which otherwise encouraged tribes to re-established self-government, the Lac Vieux Desert Band lost their independent federal recognition. Together with the formerly independent L'Anse and Ontonogon bands, they were classified as members of the newly named

Keweenaw Bay Indian Community The L'Anse Indian Reservation is the land base of the federally recognized Keweenaw Bay Indian Community ( oj, Gakiiwe’onaning) of the historic Lake Superior Band of Chippewa Indians. (The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community was defined in 1934 by ...

. But they continued to reside separately in the Watersmeet area.

Independent federal recognition

Indian activism was on the rise in the 1960s, as tribes organized to assert their rights and sovereignty. Beginning then and for nearly 20 years, the Band worked to regain independent federal recognition as a self-governing group. They had had an independent, historic relationship with the federal government, as documented by their many treaties and their separate reservation. The band finally achieved recognition through a Congressional bill: on September 8, 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed the "Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians Act" (H.R. 3697) that officially recognized the Band as a separate and distinct tribe apart from the

. The Lac Vieux Desert Band independently joined the Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan, Inc. in 1988. It was formed in 1966 to represent tribes in Michigan, share management resources, and gain funding through joint programs. As the tribes have grown and developed more of their own programs, the council has transferred functions to them.

Economic development

The tribe owns and operates the Northern Waters Casino Resort on its reservation in Watersmeet, Michigan. The resort includes the Dancing Eagles Hotel and the Lac Vieux Desert golf course. Seasonal events include ice fishing competitions in winter. The tribe has established an online, short-term installment loans business to serve underbanked Americans. The business has brought new employment opportunities and had generated financial support for other tribal business ventures and social programs for the reservation. The tribe established Big Picture Loans (https://www.bigpictureloans.com) in late 2016, which is based on the reservation in Watersmeet. The loans are available only online and the maximum loan value is $3,500, according to the company website. In August 2015, the Lac Vieux Desert community opened a state-of-the-art medical complex, Lac Vieux Desert Health Center, which is available to the entire population of the Western Upper Peninsula. The medical complex offers care for the entire family, is open to the public, and accepts all insurance. In 2015 the tribe was awarded a historic preservation grant from the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

to survey the ancient Lac Vieux Desert to L'Anse Trail, a more than 80-mile path long used by the Ojibwe before the 17th century between this area and L'Anse. The Ojibwe continued to use this trail into the 1940s. As part of management plan of the

Ottawa National Forest The Ottawa National Forest is a national forest that covers in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It includes much of Gogebic and Ontonagon counties, as well as slices of Iron, Houghton, Baraga, and Marquette counties. The ...

, which occupies land near them, the tribe wants to identify and preserve the historically significant trail. It passes through Baraga, Houghton, Iron and Gogebic counties.

References

External links

Official website for the Lac Vieux Desert BandNorthern Waters Casino ReportLac Vieux Desert Health CenterBig Picture Loans
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lac Vieux Desert Band Of Lake Superior Chippewa American Indian reservations in Michigan Anishinaabe communities in the United States Anishinaabe reservations and tribal-areas in the United States Ojibwe in the United States Federally recognized tribes in the United States Gogebic County, Michigan Great Lakes tribes Indigenous peoples in the United States Native American tribes in Michigan Native American tribes in Wisconsin Ojibwe governments