Miga member tribes
MIGA Member Tribes and Casinos
There are nine federally recognized tribes in Minnesota that are members of MIGA. Each tribe has its own sovereign government, history and culture. As a sovereign nation, each tribe has a unique governance structure and interacts on a government-to-government basis with local, county, state and federal units of government.
- Bois Forte Band of Chippewa
Bois Forte, or “strong wood,” was the French name given to the Native Americans living in the state’s densest forests. The tribe’s reservation is in northern Minnesota, about 45 miles south of the Canadian border. Bois Forte is one of six Chippewa Bands that make up the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.
- Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
The Fond du Lac Band is one of six Chippewa Bands that make up the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. Its reservation was established by the La Pointe Treaty of 1854, but ancestors of the present-day Chippewa tribe have resided in the Great Lakes area since 800 A.D.
- Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
The Grand Portage reservation is in the northeast corner of Minnesota, approximately 150 miles from Duluth. It is bordered on the north by Canada, on the south and east by Lake Superior, and on the west by the Grand Portage State Forest. Grant Portage is one of six Chippewa Bands that make up the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.
- Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe
The Leech Lake Band is one of six tribes making up the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. The tribe’s reservation is in north central Minnesota.
- Lower Sioux Indian Community
Lower Sioux members are part of the Mdewakanton Band of Dakota, whose home is in south central Minnesota in Redwood County. While “Lower Sioux” was the name given to the tribe after treaties with the United States in 1851, members of the tribe are part of the Mdewakanton Band of Dakota.
- Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe
The Mille Lacs Band is a tribe whose members have lived for generations on the Mille Lacs Reservation and throughout east central Minnesota. Mille Lacs is one of six Chippewa Bands that make up the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.
- Prairie Island Indian Community
Prairie Island members are descendants of the Mdewakanton Band of Eastern Dakota, also known as the Mississippi or Minnesota Sioux. Their community is in southeastern Minnesota along the shores of the Mississippi and Vermillion rivers.
- Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community
The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) is a federally recognized sovereign Native American tribe located in Scott County, Minnesota. The SMSC is a Community of Dakota people whose ancestors have lived in the region near Shakopee for centuries.
- White Earth Band of Ojibwe
The White Earth Band is one of six tribes making up the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. The White Earth Reservation is in Becker, Clearwater and Mahnomen counties in north central Minnesota.