The 1837 Treaty of St. Peters: How 38 Words Defined Ojibwe Rights

When the Ojibwe ceded millions of acres of pine timber in 1837, they explicitly reserved their rights to hunt, fish, and gather across their ancestral lands. But as white settlers and lumber barons flooded Minnesota, state officials tried to erase those terms, leading to the Sandy Lake Tragedy of 1850, the 1898 Battle of Sugar Point, and a landmark 1999 Supreme Court victory. Trace the 160-year struggle for Ojibwe sovereignty and the 38 treaty words that survived it all.