A plan for the use and distribution of more than $400,000 awarded to the Pillager Bands of Chippewa Indians by the Indian Claims Commission was published in the Federal Register on May 27, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson said today.
The Award represents additional compensation for some 814,000 acres of land in west central Minnesota cede to the United States under the treaty of August 21, 1847.
Chippewa descendants of the Pillager Bands are now affiliated with either the Leech Lake Reservation of the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota.
According to the plan, approved by Congress and made effective April 28, 80 percent of the Award will be distributed on a per capita basis to enrolled members of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe of Pillager Bands descent. The remaining 20 percent will be utilized for social and community purposes on the Leech Lake and White Earth Reservations.
