Page 41

• Language: unknown
• Subjects: Bia; Gleam; Indian; Turtle Island; anishina*
• Online Access: http://cdm16921.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/ndbb/id/8295

was called Mekinok) in the water and came down to stand upon his strong back. Then, she summoned Muskrat who was known as a strong, determined swimmer. Sky Woman told Muskrat to dive down into the water as far as he could � to find a part of the earth. Three times he dove, but came up empty-handed. The fourth time, Muskrat was gone a very long time. Sky Woman grew weary, but she waited patiently and prayed. Finally, she saw a gleam of bubbles far down in the depths. Soon, Muskrat broke the surface of the water gasping for breath, but he had a piece of mud in his paws. Sky Woman thanked Muskrat and told him that he would always have a home on the land and in the water as well. She then took the wet dirt into the palm of her hand, dried it and blew gently, to the north, to the east, the south and the west Wherever the dust from the dirt went land came up around the Giant Turtle. Soon the land completely encircled Mekinok. And Mekinok became Turtle Island, the center of the world and the birthplace of the Anishinaubag, the original people. As the land grew, even Mekinok became covered with top soil and the Anishinaubag called him Mekinok Wajiw (the mound of earth that is a turtle). Today, it is called Turtle Mountain. According to the North Dakota Census Data Center, Rolette County is one of North Dakota's 14 most populated counties. It is also projected to realize the second largest population growth through the year 2000 and beyond. The Indian population is increasing in both size and importance. According to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the tribal population is very young, over 67 percent of the population is under the age of 24. Treaty Information The Turtle Mountain Reservation was established by treaty in 1863 and diminished to its present size under Executive Orders on December 21, 1882 and March 29, 1884. The treaty and the General Allotment Act hit the Turtle Mountain Tribe particularly hard because the Tribe's aboriginal land comprised some of the richest farm land in the world - the famed Red River Valley of the North. The Tribe was forced to cede nearly 10 million acres of prime land for approximately 1,000 dollars. This became known as the infamous 'Ten Cent Treaty." The objectives of the Allotment Policy were to make farmers out of Indians by allotting them farm lands and then opening the surplus up for homesteading. Contrary to that policy, the Turtle Mountain farmland was "surplused" first to non-Indian homesteaders, then what remained was left for the Chippewa. After non-Indians received the best farmlands, the remaining land was unsuited for farming, both poor in quantity and quality. The 72,000-acre reservation immediately proved to be inadequate for the population of the reservation. In order to meet the land needs of the people pursuant to the General Allotment Act, additional land was allotted to tribal members in western North Dakota, which today is known as the Trenton Indian Service Area, consisting of approximately 22,000 acres. These efforts by the federal government also proved to be inadequate, and as a result Congress authorized the BIA to purchase land located off and in close proximity of the reservation. Therefore, approximately 35,000 acres of land are held in 1995 North Dakota Blue Book 41