​Prior to the disappearance of the buffalo and being forced to settle on the reservation, the Turtle Mountain Chippewa excelled at two great activities: hunting and fighting.

Because the buffalo had shed their winter coats in the spring and because the smaller game, such as the beaver and other fur-bearing animals were similarly unsalable, no hunting was done during the summer months except when hunger demanded it. Instead, the ogichidaag of the band turned their sights away from their animal prey and towards their human enemies instead.
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Going to war in the spring and summer, was a welcomed diversion and allowed the Turtle Mountain warriors to make battle using some of their best tactics, whereby they could use the newly grown tall grass and trees to conceal themselves as they would approach their enemies at their camps along the great rivers of the region.  Protected by the foliage, they could sneak to within striking distance of the enemy unseen – lashing out with full-force when they could and usually winning their battles. 

Prior to going to battle, there would be a feast and dance to celebrate the decision to go to war. During the feast, the events and exploits of the past years would be spoken about and sung in songs of bravery. The young warriors would listen to these songs and stories, and would learn to emulate their fathers and their lessons in the art of war. The dance would involve the warriors painting their faces and bodies in bright colors, while they danced and acted out their previous battle exploits. In this way they would work up their courage and their thirst for war. In some cases, the Turtle Mountain warriors would go as far south as Lake Traverse in South Dakota to do battle with the Sioux, and would often go to battle against the Missouri River tribes over hunting issues from the previous year.
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As the autumn approaches, thoughts turned from war to hunting. The Turtle Mountain men would start to prepares for the fall hunts – often working in conjunction with the half-breeds who lived with them in the Turtle Mountains, or who came from Red River and Pembina. Initial hunting took place on the edges of the hills before leaving to hunt the large herds to the south and west. Once a large supply of animals was harvested, a trip to the trading houses was in order before retiring back to the Turtle Mountains for winter – the season for trapping of beaver and other game, and the time to create new clothing, prepare ammunition, and to ready themselves for the next year. 

REFERENCES
Hesketh, J. (1923). History of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa. North Dakota Historical Society, 5. Bismarck: SHSND.

In 1856, Colonel C. F. Smith led a military expedition to the Pembina area, to find out where a military post might be erected to serve the Dakota territory. 

Smith's expedition attempted to follow the same route Major Wood did in 1849. He traveled south as far as the Goose River; from there Smith veered northwest to Devil's Lake; then went to the northeast to a point on the Park River; then northward to St. Joseph; and from there to Pembina.

Smith’s men did not encounter any Indians or half-breeds until reaching St. Joseph. When he got to Pembina, he found no more than two dozen cabins, virtually deserted and (in his words) “gone to decay.”[1]

According to Smith, reports were that the Chippewa,Sioux, and the “Red river people” [half-breeds] were all hunting in the region between the Devils Lake and the Sheyenne River, but that only large hunting parties entered the region out of fear of conflict. Because so many people were there, they tended to ignore each other rather than fight.
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Smith thought that establishing military posts at St. Joseph and at Devils Lake would be beneficial to the region, as a military presence would deter conflicts and would serve as a barrier to half-breeds crossing back and forth across the border. He also noted that if a post were to be established in the Pembina region, many of the roving half-breeds would likely settle in the region due to the added protection offered by troops against attacks. 

Later in the summer, Smith reported about a combined half-breed and Chippewa hunt. The hunt took place between the Maple and Rush Rivers [in Cass County, near Fargo]. Smith’s soldiers had encountered the trail of the summer hunting party from Red River, and passed near where the hunting party had encamped. His men followed the trail of the hunters northwest, to Devil's Lake, then to St. Joseph, where he learned that a total of 900 men, women, and children – 300 of whom were Chippewa warriors – had been on this hunt. The hunt wasn’t that successful in harvesting buffalo. The reason for this, Smith later found out, was that the Chippewa who came along for the hunt were only using hunting as a cover for their real intentions, which were to go to war against the Sioux. When the half-breeds refused to fight against the Sioux, the Chippewa hunters got angry at their half-breed cousins and, in revenge broke the rules of the hunt – driving the buffalo off.[2]

[1] Cong. Doc. Ser. #998, p. 426.​
[2] Wheeler-Voegelin, E., and Hickerson, Harold. (1974) The Red Lake and Pembina Chippewa. New York: Garland Pub. Inc.

About A. D. 1871, or shortly before it, part of this Pembina band was removed to the White Earth reservation in Minnesota, and settled on a township of land purchased for them from the northwestern part of the reservation' on the Wild Rice river and hence called, The Township of the Pembinas. 

Not every Pembina relocated. In total, about 543 people were enumerated when Treaty Annuities were given out. The following list excludes Mixed-Bloods, but lists the names of 194 Full-Bloods.  An additional 40 names are included on this list from 1895.

​CLICK PAGES TO ENLARGE

NAMES OF THE OJIBWAYS OF THE PEMBINA BAND, NORTH DAKOTA in Collections of the State Historical Society of North Dakota, Volume 2. (1908), North Dakota Historical Society, Bismarck.

The name “Little Shell” was carried by three head Chiefs of the Pembina/Turtle Mountain Band. The title was assumed by each, in turn, as he succeeded to the chieftainship. Each had his individual name by which he was known to his friends and relatives. According to Turtle Mountain Chippewa history, the title Little Shell was handed down from father to son.
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Soon after the Pembina Band’s emergence as a separate band of Chippewa, the first Chief Little Shell was recognized as its chief. The residence of the first Little Shell was near Devil's Lake on what is now known as Graham’s Island.  Little Shell also oversaw other villages in the Turtle Mountains, in addition to camps west of present-day Rugby, near a small lake south of Willow City, and another village near Buffalo Lodge Lake.  He was killed by a party of Dakota Sioux sometime around 1812 while encamped at his home at Graham’s Island.   

Following the death of the first Little Shell, Chief Black Duck – his father-in-law – assumed leadership of the band.  Chief Black Duck maintained a camp at the Turtle Mountains, oversaw the villages near Pembina and Walhalla, and lived in his main village at Stump Lake. His Stump Lake village was at the location of a former Hidatsa Village – the last Hidatsa Village east of the Missouri River – which Black Duck and his warriors had taken by force around 1800. Black Duck served as the leader of the Pembina not as a hereditary chief, but as a sort of ‘regent’ until the son of the first Little Shell came of age and could assume his role as leader. Black Duck and his warriors were killed by a party of Dakota Sioux near the present-day community of Wild Rice, North Dakota, and Little Shell II finally came to leadership.

​Although always recognized by the Pembina as their leader, following his assumption of the role after Black Duck, Little Shell II was formally recognized by the United States Government as Chief of the Pembina Band during negotiations of the failed 1851 Treaty at Pembina.  By 1862, he was referred to most frequently as chief of the Turtle Mountain Band, but was also acknowledged to the supreme leader of the Pembina Chippewa. This leadership was unchallenged, even by Chief Red Bear who, prior to treaty negotiations in 1863, had indicated that Little Shell was the true head chief of the Pembina people.

During the Treaty negotiations of 1863, both Little Shell and Red Bear served as signers. However, Little Shell refused to sign the amended Treaty of 1864, with only Red Bear signing on behalf of the Pembina. Following his somewhat contested signing of the Treaty, Red Bear's sub-band was forced to leave the Red River Valley as part of the cession and members of his group, as well as few others from the Turtle Mountain area, were relocated on the White Earth Reservation in 1873. The majority of his sub-band members joined their relatives in the Turtle Mountain area under Little Shell instead.

Shortly thereafter, the third Little Shell chief came to power. His first order of business was to negotiate with Washington, hoping to secure an amenable treaty for his people and a reservation that would serve them as a permanent homeland against the encroachment of settlers. During his delegation of 1876, Little Shell and the other leaders of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa made a petition to the US Government asking for a settlement of their issues. They made several key points and concessions, and asked for considerations for their request to cede over 9-million acres of land in North Dakota. Among their main points were to define their territory formally with the government, to lodge a complaint about the establishment of the Sioux reservation at Devils Lake, and to ask for the establishment of a formal reservation of 50 by 60 miles in the area surrounding the Turtle Mountains. ​Unfortunately, the government refused to act upon their petition and soon thereafter a smaller reservation was established by Executive order in 1882. This reservation was further diminished in 1884 to the present-day size of 6 by 12 miles. The reduction of the reservation remained a bone of contention for Little Shell throughout all future negotiations with the government.

In 1892, negotiations between the government and the tribe were arbitrarily commenced in order to settle the title to 10-million acres of land yet unceded by Little Shell and the Turtle Mountain Band.  The negotiating committee was headed by P. J. McCumber, and became known as the McCumber Commission. Even though Little Shell was the hereditary chief of the Band, the McCumber Committee refused to negotiate with him and his council – forcing Little Shell to walk out of the negotiations in protest. Taking advantage of this, McCumber instead undercut Little Shell by dealing with a “Committee of 32” which had been elected the previous year to deal with some internal problems within the tribe.
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The result of this negotiation was the so-called “Ten Cent Treaty” by which the Turtle Mountain Band, under the Committee of 32, agreed to cede their claims to their nearly 10-million acres of land for one-million dollars.  This “treaty” was quickly contested by Little Shell and his council, who spent the next twelve years in a legal battle with the US Government. As a result, the Ten Cent Treaty was never ratified by Congress. Finally, Little Shell III passed away in 1904 and Congress quickly ratified an amended McCumber Agreement which required the Turtle Mountain Band to release all claims against the United States as a prerequisite to obtaining their much-needed annuities from the government.

Following the negotiation of the 1892 McCumber Agreement, a basic framework for enrollment of people into the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa was established.  This framework followed six general rules to govern enrollment. These were:  

1. The McCumber roll was to remain the basic roll;
2. Deceased enrollees and those who had affiliated with other tribes, or in other manner had indicated their intentions to abandon membership in the band, were to be stricken from the roll;
3. Unenrolled descendants of McCumber enrollees. were to be enrolled;
4. Persons denied enrollment by the McCumber Commission through error or because of absence at the time of the McCumber enrollment were to be enrolled;
5. Applicants for enrollment coming from Canada since the date of the McCumber Agreement were not to be enrolled unless they could show that they had been only temporarily in Canada and had not accepted benefits as Canadian Indians; and
6. Applicants, who in 1892, did not live on the tract ceded by the McCumber Agreement, or who had subsequently left the area, unless for the purpose of acquiring homesteads, were not to be enrolled.

After the initial McCumber Roll, no further provision was made to maintain the membership roll on a current basis. In fact, misinterpretation of a decision of the Department of the Interior in a land case, Voight v. Bruce, 44 L. D. 524, led to a policy under which the roll was considered closed as of October 8, 1904, the date on which the updated McCumber Agreement (the Act of April 21, 1904), was ratified and accepted by the Turtle Mountain Band.  In the ensuing confusion, Agents on the reservation were instructed to list all children of members on a “census roll” and not on a membership roll.
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This confusion persisted until 1939, when the Commissioner of Indian Affairs instructed the Superintendent at the Turtle Mountain Agency to call a meeting of the Turtle Mountain Band to discuss a policy for future enrollment, and to enroll all children born to enrolled Turtle Mountain Chippewa Indians.  The Department, by letter of May 28, 1939, recommended legislation to authorize corrections to the roll, to include not only children of members but also members of the Little Shell faction not previously enrolled. The Act of May 24, 1940, 54 Stat. 219, gave an opportunity to enroll to “all unenrolled Indians who were members of the band or bands which constituted the Turtle Mountain Tribe prior to October 8, 1904, but who failed to apply for enrollment on the roll closed on that date, and their descendants of one-half or more Indian blood” (later reduced to one-quarter) and provided that thereafter the roll should be kept up to date by Secretary of the Interior. John H. Holst was assigned the work of preparing the roll contemplated by the 1940 Act.

​He first conferred with older Indians who were familiar with the history of the Indians, examined records and visited several of the distant groups, including some in Montana. He examined census rolls and eliminated the names of deceased Indians and Indians domiciled in Canada, all with the approval and advice of the council of the Turtle Mountain Band and prominent , elderly Indians. He held hearings, lasting ten days, at Fort Totten, two at Belcourt, and one at Fort Peck: He provided further opportunity by correspondence.  On three trips to Montana to confer with people claiming entitlement to enrollment as Turtle Mountain Chippewa, Mr. Holst talked with various groups and gave notice of hearings to be held at Fort Peck Agency. He did not receive a single application from Montana. The leaders of the Montana groups stated that they would not remove to Turtle Mountain to obtain assignments, they did not wish to enroll at the Turtle Mountain Agency, and preferred to reside on Fort Belknap or the Rocky Boy Reservations. Mr. Holst recommended that no further effort be made to include the people of possible Chippewa descent then resident in Montana on the Turtle Mountain roll.

Finding No. 4 Identification of Turtle Mountain Band; The Turtle Mountain Band is an Autonomous Band

Although the Chippewa Nation shared a common language, religion and other customs, the nation was separated into numerous bands. Each occupied and claimed ownership of a specific, area of land. In the latter part of the 18th Century, a group of Chippewa migrated west of the Red River of the North, i.e., from forest country into prairie country. There is evidence that the core of this group had become prairie Indians at some earlier time. It is clear, however, that this core was augmented by other members, that the group became resident in the area west of the Red River, abandoned some of the forest customs and became a distinct autonomous band of Chippewa known as the "Red River Chippewa" or Chippewa of Pembina.  They were recognized as a separate band of Chippewa by the traders who dealt with them and by officials of the United States Government.
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Early in the history of the Pembina Band, a certain Little Shell emerged as a principal chief, and his descendants were recognized as principal chiefs of the Pembina (and particularly as principal chiefs of the Pembina of Turtle Mountain) for at least the next 100 years.

Although the petitioner has long been officially identified as the Turtle Mountain Band and is governed by an elected chairman and tribal council, many members still identify themselves as members of "The Little Shell Band." The Turtle Mountain Band and the Little Shell Band are one and the same.

Other names of families on the Turtle Mountain Reservation were early associated with the Pembina Band of Chippewa. These were the surnames of French and Scottish traders who married Chippewa Indian women and whose progeny became the mixed-blood members of the Turtle Mountain Band.
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Subsequent to the location and identification of the Pembina Band on the Pembina River in North Dakota, many of its members moved westward. This group was led by the reigning Little Shell. The group at Pembina remained under a chief named Red Bear. The two groups, however, did not separate to the extent the Pembina had split off from the more eastern Chippewa; Red Bear continued to acknowledge that Little Shell was his principal chief. Both Little Shell and Red Bear signed the Treaty of 1863, a cession by the Red Lake and Pembina Bands of the valley of the Red River of the North. When Red Bear's sub-band was forced to leave the Red River Valley, members of his group as well as some from the Turtle Mountain area relocated on the White Earth Reservation.  Some members of the group at Pembina joined their relatives in the Turtle Mountain area. Government officials and the Indians themselves continued to recognize the Pembina at White Earth and those at Turtle Mountain as closely related. 

The Pembina Chippewa were distinguishable from the Chippewa to the east; they were plains Indians (as distinguished from forest Indians) and their economy centered in great part about the buffalo. As buffalo became scarce, the Pembina traveled farther and farther west. They returned from time to time to the Turtle Mountains, thus retaining affiliation with the Turtle Mountain Band.
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In 1882, a reservation of twenty townships was set aside for the Turtle Mountain Band, but in 1884, this reservation was reduced to two townships. The McCumber Agreement of 1892, among other things, recognized that two townships were inadequate to support the entire membership of the Turtle Mountain Band. The agreement was therefore designed to encourage members of the band to locate homesteads on the public domain. Since lands in North Dakota were quickly taken up by the white settlers, some members of the Turtle Mountain Band located permanently in Montana. Since locating on homesteads was consistent with government policy, it was recognized that members leaving the reservation for purposes of taking homesteads did not thereby lose their membership rights. Because of the scarcity of land on or near the Turtle Mountain Reservation and the resultant difficulty in surviving, members of the Turtle Mountain Band have long been scattered, but the members have, when they desired, retained their affiliations with the band and the defendant has recognized the band as an entity with headquarters on the Turtle Mountain Reservation.

​Prior to the establishment of the reservations and the implementation of European ideas of formalized tribal governments, based on the white-colonialist form of government, the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and other Ojibwe bands operated on a traditional system of government that worked well for centuries.

The head chief was often a hereditary position, such as with the Little Shell Chiefs, but others could be elevated to that level through great achievements, or through the will of the people. The position of head chief, depended much on their wisdom, bravery and hospitality as leaders and their influence could serve to attract people to follow and join the band – thereby creating a very strong collective under a great leader.
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It was the job of the chief to make sure that people had enough. The chief was supposed to always set a good example in hunting and trapping and in family life…he'd go around and make sure that people were able to take care of themselves and their families. If they weren't, he'd talk to them, find out why, and try to come up with a solution to help them improve. Whenever somebody was sick or couldn't provide their family with food, the chief would appoint a counselor, or a group of men, to go around and collect tea, snuff, sugar, lard, flour, and other goods to help out the family. Everybody had to make a contribution.

The duties of a chief included the presiding at councils of his band, making important decisions that affected the general welfare of the band, and the settlement of small disputes. He represented the band at the signing of treaties, the payment of annuities, and any large gathering of the tribe. However, the chief did not act alone.
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Associated with the chief were two “head men” who acted as his protectors and trusted advisors. They were selected from among the warriors and each head man had something to do. One was sort of like a policeman; he had to keep the peace and look after complaints, while the other provided wise advice and was active within the community. Other head men, serving as assistants, would act in various capacities as messengers, spokesmen, or arbiters of justice. One head man assistant was the chief's administrator, who among other things distributed various goods to persons who were in need and who heard complaints from those who needed help. There was even an honorary chief, appointed a kind of spokesman, who would work with the youth and children of the band and who would teach them about the Indian way of life. He was an old man with great wisdom and understanding. In addition to these, there was also a group of older people who were like elder advisers to the chief. They offered their words of wisdom and provided advice to the chief to help him make decisions.

Unlike today, when Tribal councils often work behind closed doors, the traditional work of the chief and council never decided important things alone, or in secrecy. They would call a meeting; calling for everybody to come to the community hall where decisions would be made in the open, and where people would have a chance to speak up if needed.
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Would it be possible to return to a system of government like this?

In 1876, the leaders of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa made a petition to the US Government asking for a settlement of their issues. They made several key points and concessions, and asked for considerations for their request to cede over 9-million acres of land in North Dakota. Some of the key points of the memorial are as follows:

1. Sets forth the territory claimed by the Turtle Mountain Band;
   
2. Complains about the establishment of the Spirit Lake Sioux Reservation on Turtle Mountain lands;
   
3. Asks for a reservation to be set aside for the Turtle Mountain full-bloods and half-breeds that was to be established in an area surrounding the Turtle Mountains 50 miles north-south and 60 miles east-west;
   
4. Asks for doctor, a person to teach farming to the tribal members, a wagon-maker, and two school teachers for the reservation.;
   
5. Asks for $20,000 annually for 20 years to be distributed per-capita;
   
6. Suggests that 600 pieces of land scrip to be issued within the area reserved for the tribe and its members.
   

The petition was signed by Little Shell, Little Bull, Kaishpa, and Kawa-sawinin. 

​Unfortunately it was never acted upon and the reservation was later established to its current 8 miles by 12 miles size in 1884.

A letter submitted to congress in 1929 by David LaRocque discusses some of the issues that led to many Turtle Mountain Chippewa to move to Montana and, subsequently, to be removed from enrollment at Turtle Mountain, leaving them abandoned, landless and without a clear Indian identity.