Chippewa Flowage
History of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band

The Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin has been centered on several lakes in the area of the headwaters of the Chippewa River since the mid-eighteenth century. The name comes from a large lake on the reservation's western boundary. Although the French name, Lac Courte Oreilles, literally translates to "Lake of the Short Ears," the intention of the name is unknown. Regardless of its origin, the name describes a significant Ojibwe tribe, a beautiful lake and the Tribe's "Reserve Tract," or reservation, as established by treaty.

The first permanent trading post was built in 1800 by the North West Fur Trading Company. John Baptiste Corbin became clerk of the post and the area's first permanent white settler. In the years to follow, "the white man" visited the Lac Courte Oreilles in larger numbers; including Henry Schoolcraft, an Indian agent for the Michigan territory, who visited the area in 1831 and would later discover the headwaters of the Mississippi River.

In 1825, 1837 and 1842, many tribes of the Ojibwe Nation entered into sovereign treaties with the United States, ceding vast territories of land and reserving unto themselves significant rights and privileges.

Please respect tribal property, rights and customs.

See Also

• Lac Courte Oreilles Tribe [exit DNR]