Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation
Encyclopedia
Ojibwe language
Ojibwe , also called Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of the Algonquian language family. Ojibwe is characterized by a series of dialects that have local names and frequently local writing systems...
: Mikinaakwajiwing) is an Indian Reservation
Indian reservation
An American Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs...
located primarily in northern North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
. It is the land-base for the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians
Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians
The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians is a Native American tribe of Ojibwa and Métis peoples, based on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in Belcourt, North Dakota. The tribe has 30,000 enrolled members...
(part of the large Ojibwe peoples).
Reservation
Rolette County, North Dakota
-National protected areas:*Lords Lake National Wildlife Refuge *Rabb Lake National Wildlife Refuge*School Section Lake National Wildlife Refuge*Willow Lake National Wildlife Refuge-Demographics:...
and has a land area of 67.583 sq mi (175.039 km²) and a 2000 census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
population of 5,815 persons. It also has extensive off-reservation trust lands, which make the reservation's lands the most widely dispersed of all reservations in the nation.
These lands are spread across 22 counties in three states: North Dakota, Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, and South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
. Including these lands, the reservation's land area rises more than three-fold to 233.036 sq mi (603.560 km²). Its total resident population at the 2000 census was 8,331.
The largest portion of off-reservation trust land is located in Rolette County, with significant parcels in Phillips
Phillips County, Montana
-National protected areas:* Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge* Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge * Hewitt Lake National Wildlife Refuge* UL Bend National Wildlife Refuge* Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument -Demographics:...
, Blaine
Blaine County, Montana
-National protected areas:* Black Coulee National Wildlife Refuge* Nez Perce National Historical Park * Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument -Economy:The main industry in Blaine County is Agriculture...
, Sheridan
Sheridan County, Montana
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 4,105 people, 1,741 households, and 1,140 families residing in the county. The population density was 2.4 people per square mile . There were 2,167 housing units at an average density of 1.3 per square mile...
, and Roosevelt
Roosevelt County, Montana
-National protected areas:* Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site * Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge -Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 10,620 people, 3,581 households, and 2,614 families residing in the county. The population density was 4 people per square mile...
counties in Montana; and in Williams County, North Dakota
Williams County, North Dakota
-Major highways:* U.S. Highway 2* U.S. Highway 85* North Dakota Highway 40* North Dakota Highway 50* North Dakota Highway 1804-National protected areas:* Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site * Lake Zahl National Wildlife Refuge...
. Sixteen other counties have lesser amounts of land.
Communities
- Belcourt, North DakotaBelcourt, North DakotaAs of the census of 2000, there were 2,440 people, 806 households, and 561 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 417.0 people per square mile . There were 856 housing units at an average density of 146.3/sq mi...
- East Dunseith, North DakotaEast Dunseith, North DakotaAs of the census of 2000, there were 219 people, 59 households, and 50 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 181.7 people per square mile . There were 60 housing units at an average density of 49.8/sq mi . The racial makeup of the CDP was 3.20% White and 96.80% Native American...
- St. John, North DakotaSt. John, North DakotaAs of the census of 2000, there were 358 people, 142 households, and 91 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,217.1 people per square mile . There were 154 housing units at an average density of 523.6 per square mile . The racial makeup of the city was 37.99% White, 55.59%...
(part, population 7) - Shell Valley, North DakotaShell Valley, North DakotaShell Valley is a census-designated place in Rolette County, North Dakota in the United States. The population was 1,197 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Shell Valley is located at ....
(most, population 395)
Notable residents
- Leonard PeltierLeonard PeltierLeonard Peltier is a Native American activist and member of the American Indian Movement . In 1977 he was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment for first degree murder in the shooting of two Federal Bureau of Investigation agents during a 1975 conflict on the Pine...
, a leader of the American Indian MovementAmerican Indian MovementThe American Indian Movement is a Native American activist organization in the United States, founded in 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota by urban Native Americans. The national AIM agenda focuses on spirituality, leadership, and sovereignty...
, grew up here. - Louise Erdrich, writer, grew up on Turtle Mountain Reservation.