| Summary: | dotted with lakes, rolling hills, and a relative abundance of trees. The unincorporated town of Belcourt is the only community on the Turtle Mountain Reservation. Near the reservation are the towns of Rolla, Rolette, Dunseith, and St. John. The reservation was established by the Executive Orders of December 21, 1882, and March 29, 1884, on an area of 72,000 acres of land. The 72,000 acres proved to be inadequate for the population of the reservation. Consequently, the U.S. government, as specified in an 1892 Treaty Agreement, provided public domain land in western North Dakota and eastern Montana consisting of approximately 69,860 acres. The land was available to Turtle Mountain Chippewa who were willing to relocate and homestead in that area. The treaty agreement assured services would be provided to the relocated membership as if they resided on reservation land. The Turtle Mountain Tribe’s governing body, the Tribal Council, consists of a chairman and eight members elected to two-year terms. The chairman is elected at large by the general membership; the vice-chairman is elected by the eight council members at the first meeting of each newly elected council. The tribal government is organized according to a 1959 constitution and bylaws. In 1976, the tribe adopted a Tribal Code, covering criminal and civil law. An elected board of directors consisting of a chairperson and six representatives now governs the Trenton Indian Service Area (TISA). Election of directors is held every four years, and terms are staggered. TISA has been divided into three districts (Williston, Trenton, and Montana), with two representatives from each district. The Chippewa proudly referred to themselves as Anishinabe, meaning “The Original People.” The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa is primarily a member of the Pembina Band of Chippewa. Ancestry may include intermarriage with other Chippewa bands, Cree, and other nations who make up the membership of the Turtle Mountain Band. The name Chippewa, a mispronunciation of Ojibwa, Ojibway, Ojibwe, Saulteaux, and Anishinabe, are all nations that refer to the same group of people. The term “Chippewa” is used after European contact. The Ojibway are members of the Algonquin language group, which are located from Newfoundland to the Rocky Mountains and from Hudson Bay to North Carolina. Other tribes in this language group are the Cree, Ottawa, Sauk, Fox, Menominee, Potawatomi, Miami, Shawnee, Delaware, Cheyenne, Blackfeet, and Arapaho. Scholars have established this classification by language, but this does not mean the tribes were closely related or that they were allies. 424 2017-2019 North Dakota Blue Book
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