The Saginaw Chippewa Tribe is headquartered on the Isabella Reservation, adjacent to the city of Mt. Pleasant, Isabella County, MI. The reservation is just off of U.S. 27 South about 65 miles north of Lansing, MI (state capital), and within two hour drives of Michigan major population hubs of Detroit, Flint, Saginaw, Bay City, Grand Rapids, et al.

The tribal reservation was established under the Treaty of October 18, 1864 and the current tribal membership is 2,754. The BIA 1999 Labor Force Report indicates that they have a 0% unemployment rate and no members living below the poverty guidelines. Their outstanding success in gaming has vastly improved the financial status of tribal members as they receive regularly scheduled per capita payment.

The Saginaw Chippewa Tribe traces its roots to three bands of Ojibwa Anishnabek know as the Saginaw, Swan Creek and Black River Bands of Chippewa Indians. Their relationship to other Michigan Chippewa (Ojibwa) bands is mainly through common dialect, culture, tradition and spiritual practices, but they are a distinct group on to themselves. The first documented permanent settlement of these bands in Michigan was in the Saginaw Bay area in 1736 on the western shores of Lake Huron.

The Saginaw, Swan Creek and Black River Bands were involved in part or in whole to about 30 treaties with the federal government between 1795 and 1864. The major treaty was the Treaty of 1819, when these bands ceded over 7 million acres of land then located in Michigan Territory in the Lower Peninsula, since Michigan did not gain statehood until 1837. In the ensuing Treaty of 1836, the Swan Creek and Black River Bands were expected to move west of the Mississippi River but only a few actually did. Today, the descendants of those who moved are primarily descendants of the Makoonse family and reside in Ottawa County, KS.

In 1855, the three bands were united and lands set aside for their occupancy in six (6) townships of Isabella County; Mt. Pleasant is the county seat of gov’t. Additional lands that are not adjacent to the reservation, were set aside in select townships on Saginaw Bay, being located in Bay and Arenac Counties. The major village (odanah) in this location is called Saganing.

At the time of the establishment of the Isabella Reservation in 1864; 98,000 acres were owned by tribal members of the total 138,240 acres that then comprised the reservation and held in common by the tribal entity. Today, there are 722 acres of allotted trust lands and 572 acres of tribal trust lands. Needless to say, the loss of most of these tribal lands did not occur by legal means but through land speculation and coveting and greedy individuals, big business, local, county and state government officials and conducive to “land grabbing” policies.

Like the rest of Michigan tribal communities, they struggled through a long period of abyss anyway they could from circa 1865-1965, and they reorganized their government as it exists today within the provision of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. The adoption of their tribal constitution, bylaws and corporate charter occurred on May 6,1937 and were amended on November 4, 1986. Like Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, the adoption of the BIA government presented a generic tribal constitution model in the 1930s, proved later on to be very restrictive to actually identifying eligible tribal membership because of residency requirements, which now appear to be resolved or dormant at least.

It is prudent for all to remember, that the mission of the federal government in the 1930s, WAS NOT to identify more federally recognized Indian individuals; particularly in lands East of the Mississippi River. As such, they strongly encouraged the adoption of most restrictive membership requirements, not so much on blood degree, which is mostly ¼ DIB nationwide, but on residency and place of birth membership and voting requirements. Many, many Michigan reservation Indians had moved off in the 1930s because of the Great Depression and were seeking any type of employment anywhere; primarily larger towns and cities. Some were apt to move back home, after the conclusion of World War II in 1945 and some where not, as they had established jobs in select Michigan cities, primarily in the auto industry.

Today, the Tribal Council consists of 12 members elected from three electoral districts and officers include: Chief, Sub-Chief, Treasurer and Secretary. In 1993 they signed a gaming compact with the State of Michigan which is booming and has evolved into the Soaring Eagle Resort and Casino.

The gaming revenue has enable the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe to improve their infrastructure, membership services and to host a multitude of tribal programs to benefit tribal individuals and families.

A number of new tribal membership and tribal government service facilities have been constructed in recent years, and they have established their own Utility Authority, Community Safety Department, Tribal Police and Fire Department and a Tribal Court System, among others.

Various programs operated by the Saginaw Chippewa include the early childhood Montessori School, Day Care, Comprehensive Clinical, Behavioral Health and Substance Abuse Services, Housing, Recreation, Elder and Youth Services, Tribal Cultural and Language Development Services, the establishment of the Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College and the highly respected Ziibiwing Cultural Society, to list a few.

The Saginaw Chippewa Tribe was one of the four original founding tribal groups that led to the establishment of the Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan in 1966, initially located at St. Ignace and currently headquartered in Sault Ste. Marie with several Lower Peninsula branch office sites.

Despite their recent successes, the Saginaw Chippewa people face many of the existing social problems mirrored from mainstream society, including: crime, substance abuse, illegal drugs usage, potential influence of youth gangs, child welfare issues, et al.

As such, they continue to plan and adopt programs to address the needs and problems. Like everywhere else, some success is attained, but many of these social issue woes continue to fester and need additional attention. The Saginaw Chippewa people have the vision, will, determination and spirit to face and address these problems in a forthright and stalwart manner and they continue to do so.