Book

The White Earth tragedy: ethnicity and dispossession at a Minnesota Anishinaabe Reservation, 1889-1920

University of Nebraska Press • Lincoln • Published In 1994 • Pages:

By: Meyer, Melissa L. (Melissa Lee).

Abstract

The White Earth tragedy is the Ojibwa 'Trail of Tears.' It begins with the Ojibwa, or Anishinaabeg, removal to the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota, following the assassination of their leader, Hole in the Day, in 1868. The concentration of Anishinaabeg on the reservation would serve the interests of Métis middlemen and traders, and free up northern Minnesota's natural resources. The 1889 Nelson Act (Minnesota's version of the Dawes Act) privatized reservation land. Well-intentioned assimilationists sought to transform the Anishinaabeg into Yeoman farmers, however, unscrupulous Métis sought to defraud the Anishinaabeg of their land in collusion with state politicians and the lumber industry. Although the property of 'full-blooded' Indians was supposedly protected under a twenty-five-year trust period, that of 'mixed-bloods' was up for grabs. A carefully documented genealogical roll identifying 'full-bloods' was nullified by a 'scientific' study by anthropologists to show mixed phenotypes. Although the Nelson Act conferred property rights to individual Anishinaabeg, most did not receive due process under the law, in a clear case of fraud and racism.

HRAF PubDate

2000

Region

North America

Sub Region

Arctic and Subarctic

Document Type

Book

Evaluation

Creator Type

Historian

Document Rating

4: Excellent Secondary Data

5: Excellent Primary Data

Analyst

Ian Skoggard ; 1998

Field Date

Not Specified

Coverage Date

1867-1986

Coverage Place

White Earth Reservation, Minnesota, United States

Notes

Melissa L. Meyer

Includes bibliographical references (p. 297-313) and index

LCCN

93023456

LCSH

Ojibwa Indians