Courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society
This photo was taken on Flat Lake in the Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge. Wild rice or "manoomin" is considered sacred by the Ojibwe culture and is one factor in efforts to protect waters where wild rice grows. Some say they can tell by the flavor which lake the wild rice they're eating came from.
The land you're standing on has been home to indigenous people for thousands of years. When Euro-Americans arrived in Minnesota, the United States government wanted to acquire this land from its Ojibwe inhabitants.
The government acquired the land that would become Park Rapids from the Mississippi, Pillager, and Lake Winnibigoshish bands in the 1855 Treaty in Washington, DC. In 1855, the Ojibwe representatives were brought to Washington in mid-winter without knowing the purpose of their trip. This small group negotiated for the establishment of homelands (reservation), continued land access for hunting and fishing, and protected reservations.
In an attempt to consolidate the Ojibwe, an 1867 treaty was ratified creating the White Earth Reservation. This new reservation was intended to be forever Ojibwe land.
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the logging industry set its sights on northern Minnesota. Congress, under Knute Nelson's leadership, passed legislation that was in violation of the 1867 treaty, which led to the loss of the majority of the lands. Later, the Clapp Rider of 1906 allowed any Ojibwe "of mixed blood" to sell their land. Unscrupulous timber companies offered members payments for mortgages on their timber-rich allotment land. The company would then foreclose on the mortgage and buy the land for a fraction of its worth.
Many of these legislative actions were proposed by people who claimed they were in the best interest of the Ojibwe. However, these individuals often stood to gain the most from the policies. The ramifications of these policies are still felt today.
102 2nd Street West
Park Rapids, MN 56470
Open Site Location on Google Maps
46.92131102065781, -95.05889664313966
Courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society
This photo was taken on Flat Lake in the Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge. Wild rice or "manoomin" is considered sacred by the Ojibwe culture and is one factor in efforts to protect waters where wild rice grows. Some say they can tell by the flavor which lake the wild rice they're eating came from.
Among those in the Leech Lake delegation was Flat Mouth, chief of the Pillager Band (seated in the front row, second from left). Flat Mouth, whose Anishinaabe name is Aysh-ke-bah-ke-ko-zhay (a bird with leaf-green bill), was a powerful Ojibwe chief who traveled to Washington, D.C. in 1855, along with other Ojibwe leaders, to negotiate the cession of 10 million acres including the headwaters of the Mississippi River.
Courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society
Men play a moccasin game on the White Earth Reservation. In the gambling game, a player hides a pebble or other small object in one of several moccasins and another has to guess which one it is in. Drum music was intended to be a distraction.
Courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society
The beadwork on the wrap covering this infant represents traditional Ojibwe patterns.