St. Ann's centennial: 100 years of faith, Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation, Belcourt, North Dakota, 1885-1985

• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: North Dakota State Library
• Subjects: Canada; Indian; Metis
• Online Access: http://cdm16921.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/ndsl-books/id/27592

•:#dP'f!)|*i Louis Riel's Council. Mr. Riel returned but this rebellion was crushed like the first and many more refugees escaped into the United States. Louis Riel was captured, put into prison and finally tried and hanged for treason; but to the old timers of Turtle Mountain he and Mr. Dumont are legendary heroes of the Metis. In more recent years monuments of Louis Riel have been erected in Canada attesting to his bravery and leadership for the Metis people. Osawekonaya and Wife, 1900. '■W Jhdi ;s« . N ,B«V j»i», Turtle Mountain Chippewa Indians. Two quite distinct ethnic groups make up the Turtle Mountain Band. There is a "full-blood" group who possess no European or Caucasian blood. The full-blood are a minority who at the time of the 1863 treaty numbered less than 300 and at the present number less than 75 enrolled members. This group adheres to the more traditional Indian customs and life. Many now have adopted more modern homes, foods and dress and have integrated into the contemporary lifestyle of the modern Turtle Mountain Chippewa. The full-blood Indian have more distinctly Indian features with straight black hair and darker colored skin. The facial features are fine cut and possess a fine beauty and good looks. Traditionally they lived in clusters in different rural sections of the reservation, usually centered around the Indian allotment of land of one of the elders. Courtesy of ND State Historical Society Semequan and Husband, Rising Sun More recently some have moved to the towns of Belcourt and Dunseith where homes with modern facilities are available to them. Until the last decade the full-bloods held an annual sundance in the month of June at their sacred ceremonial grounds northwest of Rolla and north of Dunseith. Their Canadian relatives from Manitoba and Saskatchewan participated in the sundance. Because of the diminishing numbers of full-bloods these sundances are no longer held. They have been replaced by an annual powwow held in September in which both full-blood and Metis members participate. 91 Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited with Multi-Page TIFF Editor.