Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Michigan | |
| Languages | |
| English, formerly Ojibwe | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity, traditional tribal religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Ojibwa bands, Odawa, Potawatomi |
Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (or the Gete-gitigaaniwininiwag in the Anishinaabe language) is a band of the Lake Superior Chippewa, many of whom reside on the Lac Vieux Desert Indian Reservation, located near Watersmeet, Michigan. It is approximately 45 miles southeast of Ironwood, Michigan in Gogebic County.
As the Ojibwe Nation divided into two and expanded westward from the region, the southern branch of Ojibwe came to the area now known as Lac Vieux Desert. The Lake Superior Band of Chippewa included twelve bands in historic times.
This lake, known as Gete-gitigaani-zaaga'igan ("Lake of the old garden") in the Anishinaabe language, is located near several major watershed boundaries. It served as an ideal travel/trade hub connecting major waterways and trails to Lake Superior, Lake Michigan and Wisconsin River. The Lac Vieux Desert Band was one of three in Michigan. The other nine bands of Lake Superior Chippewa resided in what became organized as Wisconsin and Minnesota under the United States rule.
All twelve bands were signatory to several treaties with the United States. Chiefs of the Lac Vieux Desert Band signed the Treaty of St. Peters of 1837, Treaty of La Pointe of 1842, and Treaty of La Pointe of 1854, by which they ceded tribal communal land in Michigan to the United States. The second La Pointe Treaty of 1854, added to include a band newly included in US territory because of international boundary changes, also established the Lac Vieux Desert Indian Reservation. It is known as Gete-gitigaaning in the Anishinaabe language.
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