Little River Band of Ottawa Indians is a federally recognized tribe of Ottawa

Odawa people

The Odawa or Ottawa, said to mean "traders," are a Native American and First Nations people. They are one of the Anishinaabeg, related to but distinct from the Ojibwe nation. Their original homelands are located on Manitoulin Island, near the northern shores of Lake Huron, on the Bruce Peninsula in...

 Indians whose headquarters are located on their 1836 reservation in Manistee, Michigan

Manistee, Michigan

Manistee is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 6,586. It is the county seat of Manistee County. The name "Manistee" is from an Ojibwe word first applied to the principal river of the county. The derivation is not certain, but it may be from...

. They also own lands in their 1855 reservation in Mason County, Michigan

Mason County, Michigan

Mason County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the population was 28,705. The county seat is Ludington.-History:...

. They represent 9 villages or bands of the original Grand River Bands. The Tribe became well known in the area after the opening of the Little River Casino and Resort. The tribe's original language is Anishinaabemowin, an Algonquian language

Algonquian languages

The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...

. Some elders and members can still speak the full language but the tribe is spread out far beyond their reservation and the language is not in common usage.

Tribal government

The Tribe is governed by a tripartite constitutional government headed by an elected 9 member Council and an elected Ogema (Chief). There is a separate but equal elected Judicial branch. The government has 28 different departments dealing with various programs and processes necessary to running a modern government.

External links

• Anishinaabemdaa: a website operated with assistance from the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians to vigorously promote their Anishinaabe language programs using the internet and a CD-ROM program that helps their members to learn Anishinaabemowin.
• Information regarding Little River Band's popular 3-day immersion Language Camp held each summer, accessed through the tribe's website.