Pembina Band of Chippewa Indians

Brief Timeline
It is not known exactly how long the Pembina Chippewa's have lived from northwestern Minnesota, eastern North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, northwestern Ontario, southern Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. 19th century books and reports about the Pembina Chippewa's are helpful. A letter wriiten by Father Belcourt to Major Woods in 1849, described the district of these Chippewa people. Belcourt claimed from Pembina, North Dakota, the Pembina Chippewa District extended around 400 miles from north to south. That be about the mid point of Lake Winnipeg to the South Dakota border.

Belcourt also told Woods that the Pembina Chippewa District extended over 500 miles from east to west. That be from Atikokan, Ontario, to near the Montana border. To their north and west were the Saulteaux Chippewa's. The Pembina are probably included under the Saulteaux Chippewa's who lived out on the plains and also in the boreal forest.

Historians think the Chippewa's became attracted to the plains in the 18th century. And the fur trade was not as important to the Chippewa's as historians suggest. When the Chippewa's had the opportunity to trade they often did. However, they were prone to keep away from the white trading posts for a good reason. Trading companies knew it and lured the Chippewa's to the trading posts by offering alcohol. Chippewa leaders found it extremely difficult to stop their subjects from visiting the trading posts and were probably forced to use harsh measures to keep them away from the trading posts. All too often it failed.

By the late 18th century, the Pembina Chippewa's were living in the Devil's Lake region of North Dakota and also the Turtle Mountains region of North Dakota and Manitoba. To the south of Devil's Lake the Lakota, who had yet to be subjugated by the Pembina Chippewa's, used the guns they received from white trading posts to attack the Pembina Chippewa's. At the time the Chippewa soldiers could easily defeat the Lakota using only bows and arrows. The single shot musket guns were no match. Some Lakota people were always capable of not being subjugated by the Chippewa's. They tended to keep their villages located near white trading posts.

Some time in the 18th century the Pembina Chippewa's had forced their way into the east of South Dakota. They mixed their culture and language with the Lakota people they had subjugated. It is not known when the Pembina Chippewa's reached the Montana region. According to the Chippewa author Peter Jones, the Chippewa's had fought a war in far western Montana (around the Missoula and Bitterroot Valley region) many generations before his time which was the mid 19th century. Jones could only provide those details.

Since Jones wrote the event occurred Many Generations before his time, that may indicate it was a period of more than 100 years. A few generations is maybe about 5. Many generations can actually add up to 10, 20 or even more. So the Chippewa war in far western Montana possibly occurred 200 to 400 years before Jones time which was the mid 19th century. That be between the 1400's and 1600's. And Peter Jones was not the only author to write about the Chippewa's fighting a war in far western Montana.

Around the time of the War of 1812, the whites launched an invasion into the south of Manitoba. Pembina Chippewa soldiers defeated and subjugated them. They allowed the whites who had settled in the few white forts and settlements in southern Manitoba, some degree of freedom. Freedom of religion was one and to stay in contact with the whites at the trading posts was another. The Metis people are a part of Pembina Chippewa history.

They liked the lifestyle of the Pembina Chippewa's who frequently hunted for buffalo. They are a mixture of Chippewa and white, or the descendants of the white settlers who invaded southern Manitoba between 1800 and 1820. They would cause problems as the 19th century progressed. The Pembina Chippewa's mixed their culture and language with the whites they subjugated. Much mixing occurred and the Metis were prone to fall for the religion of the whites. The Pembina Chippewa's were liberal about religion but were not stupid. They first allowed the whites to carry on with their religion but sometimes reacted with great rage if the whites appeared to be foolish.

Brief History
15th Century: First Pembina Chippewa's are probably living in far western Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and even in British Columbia.

16th Century: News about the first white invaders was probably learned of by the Pembina Chippewa's of the western part of North America.

17th Century: Contact with the whites may have occurred. It either occurred in western North America, or the Hudson Bay region of Canada.

18th Century: As the century progressed so did the Chippewa migration to the west. They followed old roads to the Montana region and beyond. They were in frequent contact with white traders. Pembina Chippewa leaders did not like them. They knew the white traders were luring their people to the trade posts by offering alcohol. It caused a great deal of unrest between the Pembina Chippewa leaders and their subjects who often had to be jailed for not following the rules of their leaders.

19th century: More contact with the whites increased. By the mid part of the 19th century, the Pembina Chippewa's were at war with the whites. The wars caused heavy Pembina Chippewa casualties. The whites had the revolver, repeating rifle, and machine gun (gatlin gun) by the 1860s. In the late 1860s, the whites who had long been subjugated by the Pembina Chippewa's in the south of Manitoba, rose up and declared their independence. By the mid 1880s the fighting had ended. Reservations were established. Many were also established in northwestern Ontario.

Reservations
Blackfeet Reservation.

Cheyenne River-Standing Rock Reservation.

Couer d'Alene Reservation.

Crow-Northern Cheyenne Reservation.

Crow Creek-Lower Brule Reservation.

Flathead Reservation.

Fort Belknap Reservation.

Fort Berthold Reservation.

Fort Peck Reservation.

Fort Totten Reservation.

Lake Traverse Reservation.

Leech Lake Reservation.

Mille Lacs Reservation.

Pine Ridge-Rosebud Reservation.

Red Lake Reservation.

Rocky Boy Reservation.

Turtle Mountain Reservation.

White Earth Reservation.

Wind River Reservation.

Birdtail Sioux Reserve.

Brokenhead Reserve.

Buffalo Point Reserve.

Canupawakpa Reserve.

Cote-Keeseekoose Reserve.

Crooked Lakes Reserve.

Dakota Plains Reserve.

Dakota Tipi Reserve.

Fisher River Reserve.

Gamblers Reserve.

Hollow Water Reserve.

Keeseekoowenin Reserve.

Key Reserve.

Lake Manitoba Reserve.

Little Black River Reserve.

Long Plain Reserve.

Nekaneet Reserve.

Ocean Man Reserve.

Qu' Appelle Reserve.

Peguis Reserve.

Pheasant Rump Reserve.

Rolling River Reserve.

Roseau River Reserve.

Sagkeeng Reserve.

Sandy Bay Reserve.

Sioux Valley Reserve.

Swan Lake Reserve.

Waywayseecappo Reserve.

White Bear Reserve.

Wood Mountain Reserve.