Bois Forte Tribal Chair Cathy Chavers
Bois Forte Band Restores 28,000 Acres of Tribal Land with Help from CDFI
Client: Bois Forte Band of Chippewa
Client Location: Nett Lake, MN
CDFI: Indian Land Capital Company
CDFI Service Area: National
- Land acquisition financing, with support from the Finance Justice Fund
The Bois Forte Band of the Minnesota Chippewa restored more than 28,000 acres of land within its reservation boundaries back to tribal ownership with the financing help of the Indian Land Capital Company (ILCC). This is the largest land-back agreement in Minnesota and one of the largest-ever in Indian Country to date.
This purchase from The Conservation Fund will restore lands that were sold in an attempt to break up tribal reservations. The Bois Forte Band plans to manage the restored lands under a forest management plan that emphasizes conservation and environmental protection, balanced with economic and cultural benefits to the Band and its members.
The purchase was financed by ILCC, a certified Native CDFI that is owned by the Indian Land Tenure Foundation, a national, community-based organization serving tribal nations and people in the recovery and control of their homelands.
“ILCC is proud to provide the financing to make this transaction possible,” ILCC CEO Rjay Brunkow told Native News Online. “It represents one of the larger transactions in company history and we are proud and honored to provide the financing to make this historic land acquisition happen. We are especially happy to partner with the Bois Forte Tribe in this massive expansion of the tribe’s land base.”
For the full story, please see Native News Online.