The three allotments are curriously really "Prime Realestate" locations on Lake of the Woods. I wonder if the Red Lake Reservation got some money from the US Government, to make those allotment designations to the three respective chief's.
If the government made an allotment to an individual Red Lake Indian, then the government would not pay Red Lake Reservation for the land because a Red Lake Indian held the property. Today we recognize this lakeshore property as prime real estate, but at the turn of the twentieth century it wasn't. The three allotments on Lake of the Woods, 60 miles north of Upper Red Lake, made to the chief's three sons meant all the rest of land could be homesteaded or sold off to non-natives.
Hi Jill, I look forward to reading each posting of your discoveries. I just started reading « Rez Life » by David Treuer, and am learning about the Red Lake Reservation and an old war chief Medwe-gagoonind who convinced his people not to vote for allotment in and around 1889. But that all changed as you explain.
David Treuer's book is fantastic. So is his brother's book. Anton Treuer wrote Warrior Nation which is a history of Red Lake. Yes, when the General Allotment Act passed in 1889, the people of Red Lake said no and kept it as a "closed" reservation (with the exception of those three allotments). Thank you for the encouragement and for reading more about this fascinating history.
The Seven Clans Casino photo is such a perfectly sad and maddening example. Not to mention that few tribes have dramatically improved in economic status by using casinos, while most remain at or near the same economic level. And the social and cultural impediments are...well, they represent another set of problems "gifted" to the indigenous people. The way Americans logged their way across the country displacing, murdering, and enslaving hundreds of thousands indigenous peoples for the purpose of the timber industry (aka american homesteaders) is criminal. Corporations ($) are the main drivers of displacement of the underprivileged ....collapsing community culture...and it continues,....$ displacing inner city neighborhoods to build some condos And now, something called "fractional homeownership model" where a corporation buys up homes in middle class neighborhoods and then "allows" the original homeowner to buy a "share" in his home. I don't know all of it. But as I read what you write, Jill, it is undeniable that malicious deceit, violence, and gentrification are the processes that have been making America America since the beginning.
The three allotments are curriously really "Prime Realestate" locations on Lake of the Woods. I wonder if the Red Lake Reservation got some money from the US Government, to make those allotment designations to the three respective chief's.
If the government made an allotment to an individual Red Lake Indian, then the government would not pay Red Lake Reservation for the land because a Red Lake Indian held the property. Today we recognize this lakeshore property as prime real estate, but at the turn of the twentieth century it wasn't. The three allotments on Lake of the Woods, 60 miles north of Upper Red Lake, made to the chief's three sons meant all the rest of land could be homesteaded or sold off to non-natives.
Wow Jill, this research is very compelling. Brings us to the "white settler" term we discussed recently. Thanks for this!
I'm glad you find it compelling and appreciate your feedback and our conversations
Hi Jill, I look forward to reading each posting of your discoveries. I just started reading « Rez Life » by David Treuer, and am learning about the Red Lake Reservation and an old war chief Medwe-gagoonind who convinced his people not to vote for allotment in and around 1889. But that all changed as you explain.
David Treuer's book is fantastic. So is his brother's book. Anton Treuer wrote Warrior Nation which is a history of Red Lake. Yes, when the General Allotment Act passed in 1889, the people of Red Lake said no and kept it as a "closed" reservation (with the exception of those three allotments). Thank you for the encouragement and for reading more about this fascinating history.
The Seven Clans Casino photo is such a perfectly sad and maddening example. Not to mention that few tribes have dramatically improved in economic status by using casinos, while most remain at or near the same economic level. And the social and cultural impediments are...well, they represent another set of problems "gifted" to the indigenous people. The way Americans logged their way across the country displacing, murdering, and enslaving hundreds of thousands indigenous peoples for the purpose of the timber industry (aka american homesteaders) is criminal. Corporations ($) are the main drivers of displacement of the underprivileged ....collapsing community culture...and it continues,....$ displacing inner city neighborhoods to build some condos And now, something called "fractional homeownership model" where a corporation buys up homes in middle class neighborhoods and then "allows" the original homeowner to buy a "share" in his home. I don't know all of it. But as I read what you write, Jill, it is undeniable that malicious deceit, violence, and gentrification are the processes that have been making America America since the beginning.