​The 1850 census list appearing in the following pages was found by the secretary in the Minnesota archives at St. Paul, and, as far as can be ascertained. has never before been printed. Pembina district includes the entire Red River valley in the United States and the Red Lake region.  Also included is a listing of personal property valuations for Pembina County from 1873.  Are your ancestors on this list?

Little Shell Band Annuities list from 1864-1878. Little Shell II died circa 1868. Little Shell III died in 1901.

A listing of the Chippwa and Metis who received annuities as members of Red Bear's band of Pembina Indians.

Pembina Chief Waykegekezhick (b. 1830) led a mixed band of Chippewa and Metis. Those receiving annuities in the late 1860s are listed.

Immediately following the US v. Bruce decision, over 100,000 acres of Turtle Mountain Public Domain Allotments (PDA) were taken away from the tribe and its members. The decision greatly impacted the tribe and relegated hundreds of tribal members landless under the 1904 agreement.  Below is the text of a memo following the court decision.

"The Act of Congress approved April 21, 1904 (33 Stat. at L. 189-194, chap. 1402), provides that all members of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians who may be unable to secure land upon the reservation mentioned in said act may take homesteads upon any vacant lands belonging to the United States, without charge. The Indians are not required to make settlement upon the land selected. All that is necessary for an Indian who is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewas to do to secure an allotment selection under this act of Congress, is to pick out the land he wants and file his application therefor. His application should be filed in the local land office of the district within which the land described in his application is located, and the same must be accompanied by a certificate from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs or the superintendent of the Turtle Mountain Indian School at Belcourt, North Dakota, that the applicant is a duly enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians.
 
Under this act, the Indian parent may have allotment selections allowed to each of his minor children, but on January 15, 1916, the Secretary of the Interior held that in order to entitle a member of said band of Indians to an allotment selection, it must affirmatively appear that the applicant was in being October 8, 1904, the date the Act of April 21, 1904, was ratified and accepted by the Indians. This decision has caused a great number of applications filed for children who were born since October 8, 1904, to be rejected, and about 100,000 acres of land has been thereby restored to the public domain and to entry under the various public land laws.
 
A Turtle Mountain Chippewa, however, is not entitled to receive both an allotment selection under the Act of April 21, 1904, and a regular homestead."

from: Rights of Indians on Public Lands, by Thomas J. Tydings, Washington, DC. (1917)

The complete 1892 Census of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians. This is the official, un-indexed version of ever person listed within the jurisdiction of the Turtle Mountain Indian Commission of October 1, 1892.

It is now possible to be registered as Métis, in much the same way that First Nations are registered as Indians in the Indian Registry.
Métis are included as one of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada under section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, which reads:
35  (1) The existing aboriginal and treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada are hereby recognized and affirmed.
(2) in this Act, the aboriginal peoples of Canada includes the Indian, Inuit and Métis peoples of Canada.
The Métis emerged as a distinct people or nation in the historic Northwest during the course of the 18th and 19th centuries. This area is known as the “historic Métis Nation Homeland,” which includes the 3 Prairie Provinces and extends into Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northern United States. This historic Métis Nation had recognized Aboriginal title, which the Government of Canada attempted to extinguish through the issuance of “scrip” and land grants in the late 19th and 20th centuries.
The Métis National Council consequently adopted the following definition of “Métis” in 2002:
“Métis” means a person who self-identifies as Métis, is distinct from other Aboriginal peoples, is of historic Métis Nation Ancestry and who is accepted by the Métis Nation.”
In 2003, the Supreme Court of Canada confirmed that Métis are a rights-bearing Aboriginal people. Its judgement in R. v. Powley set out the components of a Métis definition for the purpose of claiming Aboriginal rights under section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. These are:
• Self-identification as a member of a Métis community.
• Ancestral connection to the historic Métis community whose practices ground the right in question
• Acceptance by the modern community with continuity to the historic Métis community.

How to Apply:
To be registered as Métis, you must apply to the Métis Registry operated by the MNC Governing Member in the province in which you reside.  Each Registry has its own application forms and application process. Application forms can usually be downloaded from the Registry’s website or can be obtained in person at the Provincial Office or Regional Offices of the Governing Member in question or can be mailed to you if you phone for the information.