Bois Forte Indian Reservation


Bois Forte Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation formed for the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa.

Sections

The reservation is composed of three sections in northern Minnesota, United States:
There are additional scattered parcels less than in size associated with the reservation. The reservation's total land area is 199.605 sq mi.

Demographics

As of the 2000 census, the reservation had a total population of 657; the Nett Lake section had 328, the Itasca County section had 157, and the Lake Vermilion section had 172. The Bois Forte Indian Reservation is a member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, who in July 2007, reported 3,052 people enrolled through Bois Forte.

History

The community first entered into a treaty with the United States in 1854 that set aside an undefined region around Lake Vermilion as a reservation. The regions at Nett Lake and Itasca County were officially established in an 1866 treaty, and the Lake Vermilion lands were defined in an 1881 executive order. Following the Nelson Act of 1898, the lands were surveyed and subdivided, but the U.S. federal government did not force tribe members to move to the White Earth Indian Reservation.
50% of the reservation is wetland, and the 7,300 acre Nett Lake is said to be the largest producer of wild rice in the United States.