A large percentage of the more than 4,000 tribal members continue to reside within the tribe's traditional homelands on the northwestern shores of the state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula.

The historically delineated reservation area, located at 45°21′12″N 84°58′41″W / 45.35333°N 84.97806°W / 45.35333; -84.97806, encompasses approximately 336 square miles (870 km2) of land in Charlevoix and Emmet counties.

The largest communities within the reservation boundaries are Harbor Springs (formerly known as L'Arbre Croche in the French colonial era), where the tribal offices are located; Petoskey, where the Tribe operates the Odawa Casino Resort; and Charlevoix.

On one European record, it was mistakenly associated with an Odawa phrase meaning "people of the bulrush," which applied to only one band along the Ottawa River.

The treaties ratified the Odawa cession to the United States of approximately 37% of Michigan's current land area in exchange for money, reservations, and other benefits.

(The Little Traverse Bay tribe has found the annuity rolls, dating from 1836 to 1871, useful as a source for documenting direct-line descent from tribal members, for persons seeking to qualify as member/citizen.)

Given its well-documented treaty relations of its historic bands with the federal government, the Little Traverse Bay tribe began to pursue legislative reaffirmation of its tribal status.

The largest communities within the reservation boundaries are Harbor Springs, where the tribal offices are located; Petoskey, where the Tribe owns and operates the Odawa Casino Resort; and Charlevoix.

Prompted by a request from two tribal citizens, in 2012 the Council began consideration of a constitutional amendment regarding marriage, to replace "one man and one woman" with language including gay and lesbian couples.

In recognition that the Odawa and other indigenous peoples have had their own territories that are now divided by the border of the United States and Canada, they require that citizens have at least 1/4 North American Indian ancestry, in addition to direct descent from individuals listed on the tribal records described above.

[12] The 6th Circuit ruled against the tribe in May 2021, finding that "... the Treaty of 1855 did not create a system of federal superintendence sufficient to establish an Indian reservation for the Band.