The White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, also called the White Earth Nation (, "People from where there is an abundance of white clay"), is a federally recognized Native American band in northwestern Minnesota. The band's land base is the White Earth Indian Reservation.

With 19,291 members in 2007, the White Earth Band is the largest of the six component bands of the federally recognized Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, formed after the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act. It is also the largest band in Minnesota.

The five other member tribes of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe are the Bois Forte Band (Nett Lake), Fond du Lac Band, Grand Portage Band, Leech Lake Band, and Mille Lacs Band.

Notable citizens

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  • Kathleen Annette, physician, health administrator
  • Clyde Bellecourt, social activist
  • Vernon Bellecourt, activist and early leader of the American Indian Movement, founded in Minneapolis
  • Charles Albert Bender – athlete and baseball pitcher, elected in 1953 to Baseball Hall of Fame
  • Peggy Flanagan, Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota and former Minnesota State Representative (D-46A)
  • Joe Guyon, Professional Football Hall of Fame, College Football Hall of Fame
  • Gordon Henry Jr., poet, writer
  • Clara Sue Kidwell, Director of the American Indian Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • Winona LaDuke, founder of the White Earth Land Recovery Project in 1989, to purchase land for the tribe within the reservation boundaries, work for reforestation, and market traditional products, including wild rice; also two-time Green Party vice presidential nominee.
  • Robert Lilligren, first American Indian tribal member to serve on the Minneapolis City Council
  • Anne McKeig, attorney and judge, appointed in June 2016 as the first Native American on the Minnesota State Supreme Court
  • Jean O'Brien, historian who specializes in northeastern Woodlands American Indian history.
  • T. J. Oshie, National Hockey League player and member of the 2014 USA Olympic Men's Hockey team
  • Charlie Roy, professional baseball player in 1906
  • Anton Treuer, Ojibwe Language advocate and academic
  • Erma Vizenor, tribal chair from 2004 to 2016
  • Gerald Vizenor, scholar and writer
  • Wabanquot (White Cloud), chief in the 19th century
  • Chip Wadena, tribal chair from 1976 to 1996
  • Joseph Woodbury aka Joseph L. Hole-in-the-Day III (Hole-in-the-Day II's last child and hereditary chief), nominated by Governor Ramsey to West Point. Was on the Haskill Institute football team. University of Minnesota graduate. Served in the 14th Minnesota Infantry during the Spanish-American War. Worked for the Ethological Bureau recording Indigenous lore.

See also

  • Superchief, a film about an election for White Earth tribal chairman

References

Further reading