North Dakota tribe included in a $59 million land settlement

The Pembina Band, originally known as Ojibwe, lived along the Red River. Once they signed a treaty with the United States, the Pembinas were forced to settle on reservations primarily in North Dakota and Minnesota, but others continued west towards Montana. Some tribes split while others like the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and Little Shell Chippewa Tribe remained intact.

Altogether 39,003 Pembina individuals will collectively receive $42,650,600, with individual amounts ranging from $50 to $1,550, according to the Native American Rights Fund, an organization that provides legal assistance to American Indian tribes, organizations and individuals nationwide. While individuals will receive a sum, tribes will also get a share.

The tribes of the Pembina Band of Chippewa Indians who are eligible for settlement money include the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewas, the Chippewa Cree Tribe of Rocky Boy’s Reservation, the Little Shell Chippewa Tribe of Montana and the White Earth Band of Minnesota Chippewa Indians.

The Turtle Mountain Band will receive $6,853,350, the Chippewa Cree, $1,027,939, Little Shell $563,986 and the White Earth Band, $341,646.

The U.S. District Court gave final approval on June 23, 2021 for the negotiated settlement between the Pembina Chippewa Indians and the United States of America through the case Peltier, et al., v. Haaland, et al.

Leslie Wilkie Peltier, a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band, began the lawsuit against the United States 29 years ago for allegedly mishandling settlement funds. The case derived from the United States purchasing about 2.5 million acres of land in North Dakota and Minnesota from the Pembinas for about 8 cents an acre in a 1863 Treaty. The government deal cheated the Pembinas on the true value of the land, severely underpaying them for its worth, according to NARF.

“The government told us how much they would pay us when we negotiated the 1863 Treaty. They told us how it would be paid out, when, and to whom and how long payments would last,” said Peltier in a NARF article. “And, like it told most tribes, the government told us it would not ask us for more [land].”

The Indian Claims Commission, a federal agency seeking to compensate tribes, awarded the Pembinas an additional $227,642 for their 1863 Treaty lands in 1964. The Pembinas later received an additional $53 million due to the McCumber Agreement in 1980.

NARF assisted the Peltier case by filing a lawsuit against the Interior Department for withholding the funds from Pembina beneficiaries in 1992.

The District Court denied the government’s motion to drastically reduce the money owed and refused to dismiss the case in 2006. The Pembinas then spent more than a decade negotiating the settlement. Later on, the Court granted final approval for the settlement in 2021. NARF Staff Attorney Melody McCoy, who has been representing the case since 1996, said that it might take time to fully distribute the funds.

“Unfortunately, about one-third of the original Pembina individual beneficiaries have passed on. The Court ruled that their shares in this case pass to their heirs, which will add to the time it takes to complete the distributions,” McCoy said in an article by NARF.

The mailing date for the distribution began Sept. 20. Checks may be deposited and cashed in until March 18, 2024. The last day to reissue a check or update the recipient’s name and mailing address is May 15, 2024.