User:Poesam/Turtle Mountain Chippewa Land Allotments

On December 21, 1882 the United States set side the Turtle Mountain Reservation. Originally the Reservation covered well over 500,000 acres. The United States thought they set aside too much land and reduced the size of the Turtle Mountain Reservation to 67 sq. mi., or 42,880 acres in 1884.

History
With a Chippewa population numbering close to 5,000 on the Turtle Mountain Reservation, the United States knew in 1884 they had quite the predicament. They wanted to allot land to individual Chippewa's which was an explosive issue to Chippewa leaders. While the United States was dealing with the Turtle Mountain Chippewa's, they also had to deal with the Chippewa's of Montana and South Dakota who were equally as numerous in the 1880s. Their ultimate goal was to allot land to individual Indians and then open up surplus Reservation land to white settlement. They set that in motion in 1887 when they created the Dawes Act. However, it took nearly two decades before the United States commenced to allotting land to individual Indians. There was already a large Chippewa population in Montana in the 1880s and a Chippewa population in South Dakota as well. Starting in 1904, the United States commenced to allot land to the Chippewa's of North Dakota. Eventually they started to allot land for Chippewa's in Montana and South Dakota. The allotment process went on for many years until the allotment process stopped in 1934. In all, as many as 5,000 or more Chippewa's were alloted land in Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Most of the Chippewa Land Allotments were handed out in Montana. The average allotment was 160 acres which means close to 800,000 acres were allotted. Most has been lost to non Indians who purchased the land. It is not known how much of the Turtle Mountain Reservation land allotments remain. An estimate of near 100,000 acres is reliable. Most is in Montana. In fact, some of the Turtle Mountain Reservation is located not to far from the Blackfeet Reservation. Some advice about trying to find out more about these allotments! You can contact the agencies who handle the Chippewa land allotments but don't expect to receive a great deal of support. Some will tell you to contact the Chippewa's who own the land allotments. That alone will be costly and intimidating.

Location of the Turtle Mountain Reservation
In Montana, the Turtle Mountain Reservation Chippewa Land Allotments are located near the following Reservations: Fort Belknap Indian Reservation; Fort Peck Indian Reservation; Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation; and west of the the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation. In North Dakota, the Turtle Mountain Reservation Chippewa Land Allotments were handed out near the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation and the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation (Grahams Island), and around the Turtle Mountain Reservation. In South Dakota, the Turtle Mountain Reservation Chippewa Land Allotments were handed out a few miles west of the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. Below is a map of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Reservation which is largely now Land Allotments.