The Greater Northwoods

Tribal nation in Sawyer County

Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Reservation

County
Sawyer County

The Lac Courte Oreilles (LCO) Reservation is the homeland of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin (Odaawaa-zaaga'iganiing), a federally recognized Ojibwe tribe whose reservation lies mostly in Sawyer County near Hayward and was established under the second Treaty of La Pointe in 1854. It totals 76,465 acres (about 108 square miles including trust land), of which roughly 10,500 acres are lakes, and it reported a 2020 Census resident population of 2,968 with about 7,275 enrolled members. The Band governs through a seven-member elected Tribal Governing Board that meets weekly, and the tribal government with its enterprises, led by Sevenwinds Casino, is the largest employer in Sawyer County (about 900 people). LCO also anchors a distinctive education corridor: the LCO Ojibwe K-12 School, Waadookodaading Ojibwe Language Immersion Charter School, and the LCO Ojibwe University tribal college, plus WOJB community public radio.

What the records show

Local government

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