"On a brilliant winter day, 500 members of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe came to the reservation community center Tuesday, across Hwy. 169 from a video sign advertising the imminent appearance of Frankie Avalon at the Grand Casino, and squinted in the glare from frozen Lake Mille Lacs, the heart of tribal life.

Against all odds -- surviving decades of schemes to steal their land, threats of violence, raids that burned villages to the ground and, in recent years, a constant stream of lawsuits and racial resentment from non-Indians -- the Mille Lacs Ojibwe made it to their treaty's sesquicentennial. Waiting to serve the elders

With a feast, speeches, prayers and a powwow, they marked the 150th anniversary of a treaty that was supposed to set aside the Ojibwe home for a 'thousand years or more,' but was under fire before the ink dried."

Get the Story:
Nick Coleman: Celebrating the homeland (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 2/23)
pwlat

Relevant Documents:
Treaty with the Chippewa, 1855

Relevant Links:
Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe - http://www.millelacsojibwe.org

Related Stories:
Mille Lacs Ojibwe Band marks 150 years after treaty (2/22)