Ogima Little Shell

By the 1860s, the Americans were establishing themselves in Montana where there was probably an Anishinabe population of anywhere from 5,000 to 50,000. What is intriguing about the Anishinabe presence in Montana, can be summed up by claiming that the Montana Anishinabek also lived in Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming also. By the mid 1870s, the Americans had subdued (allied with) the Indians of northern Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, eastern Washington, South Dakota and Wyoming, excepting the Anishinabek of course. We only need to learn about the Anishinabe ogima Little Shell, to understand why I am writing about this subject. In 1863, the Anishinabe ogima Little Shell, signed a treaty with the United States (the Old Crossing treaty) which ceded much Anishinabe land in Minnesota and North Dakota (the land ceded was really in central and southern Minnesota) to the United States. However, all of northern Minnesota was set aside to be an Anishinabe Reservation. After the 1863 Old Crossing Treaty ogima Little Shell made it clear to the whites (both American and Canadian) he would not cede any more Anishinabe land. He kept his promise.

In 1892, impatient Americans forced ogima Little Shell to negotiate with them about ceding to the United States, the remaining Anishinabe land in Montana and elsewhere, which covered most of the western United States. Before the 1863 treaty of Old Crossing, the United States attempted to negotiate with the Pembina of North Dakota and Minnesota a year earlier in 1862, about ceding their land to the United States but it failed. What is so significant about that? It led to the horrible Indian War that occurred in Minnesota in 1862, which everyone believes that the Dakota fought. However, the Dakota Indians of Minnesota had already been subdued (allied with the whites) by the United States and placed on small Reservations in Minnesota, years before 1862, and illicitly ceded Anishinabe controlled land in central and southern Minnesota, to the United States. But as for the Pembina of northern Minnesota and eastern North Dakota and eastern South Dakota, they had yet to be subdued by the United States in 1862.

With the failure of the 1862 treaty negotiations, it left the United States with but the option to use their military to force ogima Little Shell to cede his lands in central and southern Minnesota, and probably northeastern South Dakota, in order for white settlers to live on his peoples beloved land. After the horrible war was over, ogima Little Shell reluctantly agreed to cede to the United States, Anishinabe land in central and southern Minnesota, and northeastern South Dakota. The 1863 Treaty of Old Crossing, officially ceded that land to the United States. Ogima Little Shell withstood further efforts by the land hungry Americans, to cede his kingdoms remaining land (most of the western United States to them), with a vengeance. In fact, ogima Little Shell went to his death refusing to cede the remaining Anishinabe land (most of the western United States) to the United States.

Ogima Little Shell died in 1901 (he was born in 1829), and probably died with great anger and hate for white people inside him. When ogima Little Shell was young he knew that the whites had yet to settle the vast empire of the Anishinabe Nation, which reached from Minnesota, covered all of northern Ontario, all of Manitoba, all of Saskatchewan, all of Alberta, most of British Columbia, all of the Northwest Territories including what is now Nunavut, all of Montana, and nearly the rest of the western United States. I am not certain if ogima Little shell was the git-chi o-gi-ma of the Anishinabe Nation. There were other important Anishinabe ogimak including ogima Big Bear and ogima Broken Arm, who were high ranking ogimak (leaders) but they were from the Anishinabe military and police totem. It is a subject future historians will have to learn about.