The State is responsible for criminal and some civil jurisdiction over Indians on the reservation. In the early 1990's, the Tribe contracted with the BIA to operate programs under self-governance procedures as one of the second groups of ten tribes allowed into the pilot project. The Leech Lake Tribal Council is the governing body with their offices in Cass Lake and is a member of the MCT.

Seventy-five percent of the National Forest is within the reservation. The National Chippewa Forest has the largest portion of the land. Of the 864,158 original acres,nearly 300,000 acres are surface area of the three big lakes. County, state, and federal governments owned well over half of the original land. The Leech Lake Tribe holds the smallest percentage of its reservation of any of the state's tribes. With some 40 wild rice producing lakes, it has the largest natural wild rice production of any of the State's reservations. The reservation is split among four counties, Cass, Itasca, Beltrami, and Hubbard and is divided among seven Minnesota school districts.ĭrained by the headwaters of the Mississippi River, the area is generally swampy. Oak Point had previously been known as Squaw Point but was renamed in 1995. In addition to Cass Lake, there are Ball Club, Bena, Inger, Onigum, Mission, Pennington, Smokey Point, Sugar Point, Oak Point, and Squaw Lake.

Eleven communities make up the reservation. Cass Lake is the largest community within the reservation. Located along US Highway 2, the reservation is southeast of Bemidji with Walker just outside on the southwest corner. The area of the Leech Lake Reservation was reduced by executive orders however, in 18 added land. By 1867, the plan was changed and White Earth Reservation was created to be the home of all Ojibwe people. The intent at that time was to have the other Minnesota Ojibwe bands move to the Leech Lake area.

The 1864 Treaty expanded and consolidated the reservation in the area of the three lakes. The remaining land was ceded by treaty in 1855 that established the reservation. In 1847, treaties took sections on the southwest corner of their lands with the Mississippi and Pillager bands from the Menominee and Winnebago tribes that were to be moved from Wisconsin. This area in north central Minnesota was the home of the Mississippi and Pillager Ojibwe bands. The first Ojibwe settlements were on small islands on Leech Lake. The Ojibwe bands moved into the region during the mid-to-late 1700's.

In the 1600's, the Dakota Indians had communities at Leech lake.

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