| Summary: | 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. Election of directors are held every four years, terms are staggered. TISA has been divided into three districts (Williston, Trenton, 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 the Arapaho. Scholars have established this classification by language, but this does not mean that the tribes were closely related or that they were allies. Similar to the issues faced by most tribal nations, the issue of sovereignty for the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa continues to be challenged. On the national level, issues materialize in disagreements between tribes and federal officials over the extent of services and appropriations given to the tribes resulting from treaty agreements. These services are generally funded through the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), which has the responsibility for overseeing tribal funds. A large and cumbersome agency, the BIA must deal with 550-plus tribes nationally. As a result, this agency has difficulty carrying out some of its tasks. Tribes, on the one hand, are ambivalent about the role of the BIA. On the other hand, they fear loss of services so vital to tribal economic survival. States continue to challenge tribal sovereign rights, especially in light of an uncertain national economy. Today, as in the past, the Turtle Mountain Chippewa continue to change and Chapter Seven - Tribal-State Relationships 463
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