Mille Lacs Reservation
On August 1st 2016 the Minneapolis Star Tribune published an editorial calling for an end to the acrimony between Mille Lacs County and the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Indians over the boundaries of the Mille Lacs Reservation. To justify its stance, the Editorial Board pointed to a legal opinion produced by the U.S. Department of Interior’s Office of the Solicitor in November 2015, comprising an "in-depth, careful review of the relevant historical documents pertaining to the United States' treatment of the Band's land over the course of more than one hundred years," that concluded "the Mille Lacs Reservation, as it was established by the 1855 Treaty, remains intact." The immediate cause for the editorial was Mille Lacs County Revokes Cooperative Agreement Pertaining to Law Enforcement Authority with Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe - see Mille Lacs Band slams county for ending law enforcement deal
The acrimony between the county and the Band is longstanding - see Mille Lacs Chippewa et al v the State of Minnesota et al, and "A decade later, Mille Lacs netting decision still angers anglers" - but the cause of the latest legal battle concerns the existence of the reservation established in a treaty signed in 1855. See Cause for Concern about Mille Lacs Reservation and The Mille Lacs Reservation,1855-1889
On May 31, 2001 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency renewed the Band's permit to discharge wastewater into water treatment lagoons that had been in operation since 1988 on tribal trust land. The Agency also authorized for the Band to operate a regional wastewater treatment facility to be built on land owned by the Band within the reservation's 1855 boundary. Several individuals and the Millie Lacs Association filed suit challenging the EPA's jurisdiction to issue the wastewater treatment permit because the land upon which would be constructed was not within an Indian reservation.
On April 25, 2002 the Environmental Appeals Board denied the petitions, prompting the County to file suit in federal district court. The Band filed for summary judgment. Summary judgment hearing set January 24th.
On May 6, 2003 Judge James Rosenbaum, of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, decided the litigation "involves hypothetical and speculative disagreements, and, stating " the plaintiffs lack standing to bring their claims and, alternatively, their claims are not yet ripe for adjudication," granted the Band's motion to dismiss the case with prejudice. On September 3 2003, Mille Lacs County and the First National Bank of Milaca, appealed the lower court's ruling.
On March 9, 2004, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's dismissal for lack of standing but reversed the court's decision to dismiss the complaint with prejudice. The parties appealed the ruling but on November 1, 2004 the United States Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal.
Long Simmering Tribal Sovereignty Issues Flair Up in Mille Lacs County