Bois Forte Indian Reservation

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.

Following the Nelson Act of 1889, 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.

Even so, allotment allowed timber companies and white settlers to acquire much of the land within the reservation boundaries.

[2] In 2022, the Conservation Fund returned 28,089 acres (43.889 sq mi; 113.67 km2) of forest land at Nett Lake to the Bois Forte Band.

[3] 50% of the reservation is wetland, and the 7,300 acre (30 km2) Nett Lake is said to be the largest producer of wild rice in the United States.