"It's taken 123 years, but the federal government is the closest it's ever been to compensating Minnesota's Chippewa bands for tribal land that the U.S. government sold unfairly.

Today, a bill that would award millions of dollars to the six bands that make up the tribe and their members, will be heard in a House committee in Washington. The money would settle a dispute over a century-old land deal.

But not all tribal members think the deal is fair.

In 1889, the Congress passed the Nelson Act, which consolidated Minnesota's Chippewa reservations by allocating plots to individual tribal members and selling off the rest of the reservation land. The act aimed to assimilate the tribes, in part by shrinking the size of the reservation. Money raised from the sale was supposed to help the tribe, but the government sold it at prices considerably below market value."

Get the Story:
Chippewa land compensation deal near with U.S. government (Minnesota Public Radio 3/1)
Leech Lake Ojibwe testify to House panel over land dispute (Minnesota Public Radio 3/1)

Committee Notice:
Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs Legislative Hearing on H.R. 1272 (March 1, 2012)

Related Stories:
Witness List: House hearing on Chippewa trust fund measure (3/1)
Leech Lake chairman to testify against trust fund legislation (2/29)
Bill authorizes distribution of $28M Chippewa judgment fund (2/16)