'This Is the Way Things Are Run': Land Use on the Grand Portage Reservation During Office of Indian Affairs Occupation, 1854-193

The Grand Portage Reservation in the northeastern tip of Minnesota is home to the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (Ojibwe). Previous archaeological research has focused on eighteenth-century fur trade operations at the expense of Ojibwe erasure before and after the fur trade. Until recently, no research at Grand Portage had analyzed the extensive Office of Indian Affairs (OIA) presence on the Reservation from 1854 to 1930. This thesis analyzes land use at the OIA Complex Site (21CK0369). Historical documentation, artifact analysis, and phytoliths constitute the lines of evidence used for land use interpretations at the site. Evidence has determined that various government farmers lived on the property but did not farm. Results suggest land use organization is akin to typical Euro-American consumer life. Instead of farming, government farmers likely acted as a second set of eyes for the United States Government to police Ojibwe activities and ensure paternalistic control.