Mille Lacs Indians

The unification process among the three component historical bands began in ernest after the Battle of Kathio in which the Mille Lacs Band of Mississippi Chippewa gained majority control of the Mille Lacs Lake.

However, due to the sacredness of mde wáḳaŋ (Mille Lacs Lake), a peace council ending the territorial conflicts between the Ojibwe and Dakota was held on Mozomanie Point on the south end of the Lake, according to oral traditions, about 1750.

As the distinct "Ojibwe" and "Dakota" identification no longer was appropriate, the unified entity became the Misi-zaaga'iganiwininiwag or the "Mille Lacs Indians".

The traditional location for the joint council of the many sub-bands of the Mille Lacs Indians was maintained at Zaagawaamikaag-wiidwedong (or Zaagawaaming, for short), just as it was with Mdewáḳaŋtuŋwaŋ Oyate before.

However, with the establishment of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, the center of tribal government shifted to north and west to Vineland.

As part of the Biitan-akiing-enabijig Ojibwe, Mille Lacs Indians ceded great tract of land in Minnesota and Wisconsin in the 1837 Treaty of St. Peters (7 Stat.

As part of the Mdewakanton Dakota, Mille Lacs Indians ceded lands in the 1837 Treaty of Washington.

Together with the Lake Superior Chippewa, the Mille Lacs Indians ceded lands in northern Wisconsin and western Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the 1842 Treaty of La Pointe, then in central Minnesota in the 1847 Treaty of Fond du Lac.

However, as this land reserved was previously ceded to the United States in the 1837 Treaty of St. Peters, this caused a dispute between the lumbermen in the area and the Mille Lacs Indians.

As stated in the Treaties, "That owing to the heretofore good conduct of the Mille Lac Indians, they shall not be compelled to remove so long as they shall not in any way interfere with or in any manner molest the property of persons of the whites."