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Demographics
The Spirit Lake Nation is part of the Sisseton-Wahpeton band of Mississippi or Northern Dakotah. This group originally lived in Minnesota, but the 1862 uprising forced the band to relocate, some to the now known reservation of Spirit Lake Nation, Fort Totten, North Dakota. The reservation was established by treaty in 1867. by 1871, 732 Native Americans lived here and were being taught farming skills. Fort Totten was converted into a Native American industrial school from 1893 to 1905, the federal government opened the reservation land to homesteading and about 100,000 acres were occupied by white settlers.
The present day ownership pattern of Spirit Lake Nation is a checkerboard of tribal and non-tribal lands. Tribal lands total 78,000 acres and the remaining 167,000 acres is state and private land. The total land base of Spirit Lake Nation is 245,000 and measures about forty miles long and forty miles wide.
The boundaries include the counties of Benson, Ramsey, Eddy, and Nelson, in North Dakota. the reservation is bounded on the north by Devils Lake and on the south by the Sheyenne River and is located in north central North Dakota.
The communities within the boundaries include, St. Michael's, Fort Totten, Crow Hill, Tokio, Warwick, and Oberon. Each of these communities have small grocery stores and post offices. the City of Devils Lake, North Dakota is the primary shopping site along with other services.
Government
A six-member Tribal council governs Spirit Lake nation pursuant to the adopted Constitution and By-laws. The Council is represented by persons elected at-large from their reservation districts. There are four districts on the Spirit Lake Nation Reservation - St. Michael's, Fort Totten, Crow Hill, and Tokio. The Tribal Chairman is elected at-large by the entire reservation population and is a non-voting member of the governing Council, voting in the event of ties. The entire reservation community also elects the Secretary-Treasurer at-large. Current Council members are:
Myra Pearson , Chairman
Brian Pearson, Secretary-Treasurer
Lois Leban, St. Michael's Representative
Shelly Luger, Fort Totten Representative
Carl Walking Eagle, Crow Hill Representative
Mark Lufkins, Tokio Representative