| Summary: | Turtle Mountain Chippewa History Courtesy of ND State Historical Society Chief Little Shell (Aise-Anse) ID Chief of the Pembina and leader of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa. The Chippewa (Ojibwa) are an Algonquian speaking people who originated in the northern Great Lakes area. Subsequent to the period of European contact the Chippewa became divided generally into Woodland and Plains groups; the Woodland element being older, much larger, and situated in what are now Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and bordering areas in Canada. Other Chippewa by the mid-19th century had become full- fledged Plains Indians, adopting the buffalo hunting, equestrian culture and spreading from the Red River-Turtle Mountain area in North Dakota well into the Canadian Plains. With the depletion of wild game their need for survival forced them to move westward and battle their way through already established groups. They were aided in their advancement West by the acquisition of the horse and the gun of the White Man. The prairie was a strange and unfamiliar environment to them but within the space of a century, 1790-1890, they had earned a territory for themselves and their descendants. By the year 1800 the Pembina Band was well established on the lower Red and Assiniboine and Souris Rivers and as a distinct entity within the Plains Ojibwa classification. Between 1801-1805 the Ojibwa formed a permanent band at Pembina around the trading post of English fur trader, Alexander Henry. Their band became the nucleus of the later Turtle Mountain-Pembina Band of Plains Ojibwa. Chief Red Bear (Muskomaquah) Chief of the Pembina ~ Signer of 1863 Treaty From this group of Plains Ojibwa smaller groups began to form. A group would band together for protection from other tribes and for hunting trips, designating a leader as their chief. The Pembina Band in 1863 formed the easternmost band of Plains Ojibwa. The Pembina Band at the time the Treaty of 1863 was negotiated was led by two principal chiefs, Little Shell and Red Bear- each with his own following. Some Pembinas under the leadership of other chiefs settled in a township on the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota. Little Shell (son of the treaty chief), and Red Bear settled on the Turtle Mountain Reservation following its establishment by Executive Order of December 21, 1882. A group of Metis who were associated with the Band were already residing at Turtle Mountain prior to its establishment as a reservation. This group were some of the buffalo hunters who had come from Pembina and remained in this area following the semi-annual buffalo hunts. These people were predominately those who had become Christianized in the Catholic faith by Father Belcourt and whom he accompanied on the buffalo hunts throughout this territory from Pembina to Montana. 89 Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited with Multi-Page TIFF Editor.
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