HISTORY OF RED LAKES FISHERY, 1917-38, 

 WITH OBSERVATIONS ON POPULATION STATUS 



The commercial fishing activities of the 

 Red Lake Indians on Lower and Upper Red Lakes, 

 Beltrami and Clearwater Counties, Minnesota, 

 have constituted their principal source of in- 

 come during several months of each year since 

 the fisheries were established on a continuing 

 basis in 1919. It has been estimated that ap- 

 proximately 1,500 Indians on the reservation 

 depend on fishing for part of their livelihood. 



The fisheries, as described in detail later, 

 were first established in 1917 by the State of 

 Minnesota as a food-conservation measure, but 

 later were conducted principally to provide the 

 Indians an additional source of income . In 1929 

 the State was restrained by a decision of the 

 Minnesota Supreme Court from operating a fish- 

 ery for profit. Thereafter, the producing and 

 marketing were carried on by an Indian - 

 owned cooperative. The Red Lake Fisheries 

 Association, Incorporated. 



It has been assumed by many that the Of- 

 fice of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the 

 Interior, and the State of Minnesota have con- 

 current jurisdiction over the Red Lakes . 

 However, under the Treaty of 1889 the Red Lake 

 Indians ceded liie Red Lakes to the United States 

 and not to Minnesota. The State of Minnesota 

 does not have jurisdiction over the fish in the 

 reservation waters of the Red Lakes . Minnesota, 

 however, has the power to regulate the sale and 

 transportation of all fish in non- reservation 

 areas . 



This is the report of an investigation 

 which involved actual field work in August and 

 September 1938, and made at the request of the 

 U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs. The brief 

 investigation resulted in the accumulation of 

 biological data on the principal species, and a 

 study of all available records and literature 

 afforded an appraisal of the fishery resource, 

 fishing methods and practices . 



DESCRIPTION OF THE RED LAKES 



Upper and Lower Red Lakes are situated 

 principally in Beltrami County, only the extreme 

 western portion of the lower lake being located 

 in Clearwater County, Minnesota (fig. 1). At 

 least 15 tributaries drain into the lakes, the two 

 largest being the Tamarack River entering Up- 

 per Red Lake and the Black EXick River flowing 

 into Lower Red Lake . The outlet is located in 

 Lower Red Lake at the head of the Red Lake 

 River, a branch of the Red River of the North . 

 The lakes, which cover an area of approximate- 

 ly 443 square miles, are situated in the south- 

 ern part of the Hudson Bay drainage basin. The 

 entire area of Lower Red Lake and 49 percent 

 of the area of Upper Red Lake lie within the 

 boundaries of the Red Lake Indian Reservation. 



Upper Red Lake covers an area of ap- 

 proximately 188 square miles or 120,320 acres. 

 A curved line drawn across the lake connecting 

 the reservation boundaries appears to be the 

 official method of separating non -reservation 

 from reservation waters . On the basis of that 

 division 92 square miles (58,880 acres) lie with- 

 in the reservation and 96 square miles (61,440 

 acres) outside of the reservation. The total 

 length of shoreline is calculated to be 63 .3 miles 

 of which 30.6 miles are within the reservation 

 and 32 . 7 miles outside . Upper Red Lake has a 

 maximum length of 24.3 miles and a maximum 

 width of 9.8 miles. The lake is connected near 

 its southwestern extremity with Lower Red Lake 

 by means of a navigable channel (called the 

 "Narrows") that has a minimum width of approx- 

 imately . 9 mile . 



The total surface area of Lower Red 

 Lake is about 2 55 square miles (163,200 acres) 

 and the shoreline is calculated to be 73 miles in 

 length. The lake has a maximum length of 24.4 

 miles and a maximum width of 14.5 miles (in 

 the region of the "Narrows ') . 



