DULUTH – The Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa has reclaimed valuable North Shore land, some of which was lost to its people more than 150 years ago.

Nearly 90 acres is back under the control of the band, whose 47,000-acre reservation hugs the Lake Superior shoreline near the border of Ontario. It is considered the tribe’s largest land return in recent history, tribal leaders say. A foundation associated with a man who owned some of the land for decades facilitated its return.

Tribes for several years throughout the country have been buying back land lost more than a century ago, when the federal government enacted legislation designed to assimilate Native Americans into white culture. Deception and disregard of treaties also contributed to the removal of Indigenous people from their land.

Northeast Minnesota’s Bois Forte Band of Chippewa and Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa have both reclaimed land in the last few years. Grand Portage, a nation of about 1,000 enrolled members, has now restored almost all it has lost.