Sandy Lake Tragedy, to Washington, D.C
Mikwendaagoziwag Timber, Minerals, and Treaties Recognizing indigenous bands as sovereign nations in Memorial at Sandy Lake Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Upper Michigan, the Mikwendaagoziwag in Ojibwe means: United States made treaties with the Ojibwe (Chippewa) We remember them. of the Lake Superior region to gain access to the land and the natural resources. One hundred and fifty years after the Sandy Lake Dominated by massive pine forests, wetlands, and tragedy, the descendants of the 1850 annuity bands gath- rugged terrain, there was little interest from white ered to dedicate a memorial to those who suffered and Americans in settling this region. United States lead- died. Perched on a glacial mound overlooking Sandy Lake, ers, however, sought raw materials like timber, copper, the Mikwendaagoziwag Memorial is situated near the rest- and iron ore to fuel western expansion and engaged ing places of the Ojibwe of 1850. The memorial stands as Indian leaders to push for land acquisitions. a tribute and invites visitors to ref lect on the past. In 1837, Ojibwe chiefs and government officials met The following 12 tribes, as modern–day successors to near present-day St. Paul, resulting in the sale, or ces- the 1850 annuity bands, helped to design and fund the sion, of 13 million acres in east-central Minnesota and memorial: northern Wisconsin. The transaction was contingent on the Ojibwe retaining rights to hunt, fish, and gather Annuity payment at Sandy Lake Indian Sub-Agency, 1850. Minnesota on the newly ceded territory. These reserved rights are commonly called "treaty rights." An additional provi- Fond du Lac Band sion to the treaty required the United States to make Attempted Removal Grand Portage Band annual payments called annuities to band members for to Minnesota Leech Lake Band 25 years.
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