Grand Portage Band celebrates historic return of 87 acres of land

On Monday, the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa marked the return of 87 acres of land with a ceremony and luncheon, a milestone many speakers said represented more than a transaction, but a restoration of both land and spirit.

“This is a great day for Grand Portage,” said Robert Deschampe during the opening ceremony at Grand Portage Lodge and Casino. “This is going to go way into the future when we talk about seven generations. This is what we’re talking about, getting our land back for them.”

The returned land encompasses three separate parcels. It includes five acres of Paradise Beach along Lake Superior just east of Grand Marais. It also includes Francis Island, part of the Susie Islands archipelago, and 80 acres of wooded land within the reservation.

Deschampe said it marks the largest land return to Grand Portage in recent history.

Overlooking Francis Island and the Susie Islands | Photo by Travis Novitsky

The purchase was facilitated through a partnership with the Duluth-based Lloyd K. Johnson Foundation, which provided a $1.2 million grant to the Grand Portage Band to acquire the properties from the B. Van Johnson Trust.

At Monday’s ceremony, Deschampe said that the acquisition of the three parcels represents three distinct ways the Grand Portage Band lost these lands more than 150 years ago.

In 1854, the Grand Portage Band signed a treaty with the U.S. government that ceded land to the federal government. The Paradise Beach parcel, which was a gathering place and held cultural significance to the Band, was lost as a result of the land cessions.

For generations, the Susie Islands on Lake Superior served as canoe routes and were used for fishing, hunting, gathering, and ceremonies. However, many years ago, the Grand Portage Band of Chippewa lost Francis Island when it was transferred to the State of Minnesota.

And lastly, Deschampe said the 80-acre forested parcel within the reservation was lost during the allotment era. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, federal allotment policy under the Nelson Act of 1889 took land out of tribal ownership and was designed to open the lands for timber harvest, railroads, or purchase.

John Morrin, an elder and former Tribal Council member, said each loss represented “carving away at the spirit of our people and our culture, piece by piece.”

He said it created “a lot of trauma within us as human beings, and we’re still trying to deal with that trauma today that occurred, and that happened to us.”

John Morrin speaking during the March 16 ceremony | Photo by Kalli Hawkins

Through land cessions and the allotment era, Grand Portage and Chippewa City lands were purchased by August Van Johnson, who served as Cook County Registrar of Deeds in the early 1900s. Johnson generated much of his wealth through land holdings, many of which were parcels of Grand Portage land. In his role in land administration, Johnson was in a unique position to acquire these lands, which the Band said he obtained in some cases through questionable means.

While the Lloyd K. Johnson Foundation and the B. Van Johnson Trust are separate entities, the foundation manages funds mostly amassed a century ago by Lloyd K. Johnson’s uncle, August Van Johnson.

Morrin thanked the foundation during the ceremony for restoring not only the physical land to the Grand Portage Band, but also restoring “part of our spirit as a people.”

“What we’re celebrating today is a connection,” he said. The Monday ceremony included several tribal member speakers and representatives from the Lloyd K. Johnson Foundation.

The process to return the land within the reservation owned by the Johnson family began several years ago.

“When we learned that part of the Johnson family still owned land within and outside of the reservation, we began to dream about getting this land back to the Grand Portage people,” said Erik Torch, the executive director of the Lloyd K. Johnson Foundation.

Torch said the $1.2 million grant is the “single largest grant we’ve ever made” and that the significance of today’s ceremony is more than a big check or the years of work that have gone into the process.

“It’s just about that this land has finally come home after too many years, too many years away,” Torch said.

Members of the Grand Portage Tribal Council and Lloyd K. Johnson board members and staff | Photo by Kalli Hawkins

Deschampe and members of the tribal council signed a proclamation declaring March 16 as “Gezhibaabiseg Day,” which means ‘It Comes Back Around Day.’

While Monday represented a significant milestone for the Grand Portage Band, Deschampe and other tribal council members said there is still more work to be done.

“This is a milestone for us, but we still want to get to a point where we can say that all the land within our reservation is part of our ownership,” said McCormick. “I think it’s going to take some time, just like it has over the last couple of decades.”

Tribal Chairman Robert ‘Bobby’ Deschampe signing the proclamation | Photo by Kalli Hawkins

Click here to view the locations of the three properties: Grand Portage Land Restoration Maps.

Kalli Hawkins March 17, 2026