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“Be sheekee, or Buffalo” by Francis Vincenti. Modeled in 1855 and carved in 1856. This bust is often identified as Chief Buffalo of La Pointe. Photo courtesy United States Senate
Editor’s note: This is the second story in a three-part series that dives into the details, history and ramifications of the 1854 Treaty of La Pointe and the ongoing efforts to ensure the rights guaranteed in the treaty are upheld.
By Natalie Rademacher
Henry C. Gilbert and David B. Herriman went to La Pointe on Madeline Island in 1854 to negotiate a treaty that gave the United States the homelands of the Lake Superior and Mississippi Chippewa. The U.S. was trying to expand its territory and miners and loggers wanted resources from the region.
About 4,000 Anishinaabe people gathered on the island for the negotiations, in part to ensure they could stay on their homelands and continue to practice customs there. For two weeks the chiefs and treaty commissioners discussed and bargained provisions in the treaty.
There were many details established in the 1854 Treaty of La Pointe and this article dives into some of them.
The tribes ceded their homelands, including much of the Arrowhead region of Minnesota. This allowed settlers and mining and timber production to move into the area. In the treaty, the tribes ceded all lands shared by the Lake Superior and Mississippi bands of Chippewa. There was ill will between the two bands and commissioners said negotiations almost fell apart because of this. In the final treaty, it was established that government payments for the land would be paid at separate locations so the two bands would not have to interact.
The treaty created reservations on the Chippewa’s homelands with a promise that the tribes wouldn’t be forcefully removed later. The treaty commissioners had tried to acquire all of the territory for the U.S., but the Lake Superior Chippewa insisted they be allowed to permanently reside on their homelands in present day Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. The sheer number of attendees and their persistence resulted in the formation of the permanent reservations, much to the regret of the treaty commissioners, according to Gilbert in his letter to Bureau of Indian Affairs Director George C. Manypenny.
The area for the Fond Du Lac and Grand Portage reservations were established in the treaty and a provision stated that the Bois Forte boundaries would be determined at a later date.
Each head of family or adult over 21 years old in the tribes was entitled to 80 acres of land that would be selected under the direction of the government.
In exchange for the ceded territory, the U.S. agreed to pay the tribes in coin, furniture, guns, ammo and agricultural and education tools over the span of two decades.
The annual payments promised to the tribes could not be used to pay off the debts of individuals. The tribes pushed for this provision in the treaty because it was common around this time for traders to visit treaty commissioners and collect part of the promised payments based on what individuals in the tribe owed them. By the time tribes came to receive their annuities, part of their money would be gone.
Tribes have the right to continue hunting and fishing on the territory ceded. This provision of the treaty has garnered the most attention because tribes have had to fight to ensure they can continue practicing these rights – even taking the state of Minnesota to court to ensure they are upheld. A common misconception is that these rights were given to the tribes during treaty negotiations, but they had practiced these customs on the land for hundreds of years. The treaty just reinforced that they could continue to do this as settlers moved on the land.
A provision set aside a reserve of land for Chief Buffalo of La Pointe.
“Being desirous to provide for some of his connections who have rendered his people important services, it is agreed that the chief Buffalo may select one section of land, at such place in the ceded territory as he may see fit,” the treaty stated. The treaty goes on to say that he could use the land as he saw fit.
Before Chief Buffalo died in 1855, he selected a reservation that included portions of present-day downtown Duluth and other neighborhoods in the city. His son-in-law, Benjamin Armstrong, stated that Chief Buffalo insisted on reserving that square mile of land for him as a payment for his services, according to an article in the Duluth Herald on Nov. 20, 1979.
Ownership of this land has been a point of contention over the years – at least one lawsuit was filed in 1859 over the reservation land and descendants of Chief Buffalo have contested ownership.
This is part two of a three-part series diving into the Treaty of 1854. To read the entire treaty, visit 1854treatyauthority.org.
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