The reservation of the Lac Courte Oreilles (LCO) Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is located within beautiful mixed forest woods, where the broad leaf and great pine trees create extremely diversified ecosystems. The abundance of clean water and air provides an almost pristine environment where indigenous species thrive.
Toll-Free Number: (800) 526-2274 Room Reservations: (800) 526-5634 Rooms: 53 Price Range: $59-$89 Suites: 22 Price Range: $80-$130 Restaurants: 1 Liquor: Yes.
Total tribal enrollment is nearly 6,000 members, of which 60% live in LCO in 23 different community villages. The tribe occupies approximately 69,000 acres and has recently purchased 8,000 acres adjacent to the Chequamegon National Forest. It is approximately 90 miles south of Duluth, Minnesota; 160 miles northeast of Minneapolis; and 11 miles southeast of the town of Hayward in Sawyer County. The LCO people continue to practice traditional subsistence by hunting, fishing, and gathering throughout the four seasons. In addition, LCO people enjoy year-round recreational activities.
The LCO tribe owns and operates enterprises, businesses, and programs on behalf of its members and is the largest employer in Sawyer County, paying over two million dollars in federal taxes and one million in state taxes.
In addition to the activities, programs, and businesses, there is the LCO Community College, a 40 acre cranberry marsh, a health clinic, youth centers, and a forest products and lumber mill.
The Sevenwinds Casino, Lodge & Conference Center and Native American supplied gift shop is located at the intersection of County Highways B & K.
LCO is the largest employer in Sawyer County (Source: Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development), employing approximately 900 people.
The Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin historically occupied a vast territory within a 100 mile radius of the present location of the Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation located near Hayward, WI. The Lac Courte Oreilles (LCO) people are one band of the large Ojibwe Nation that originally occupied the upper eastern woodlands area of the North American continent. The Treaty of 1854 established the LCO reservation.
In the years of 1825, 1837, and 1842, many bands of the Ojibwe Nation entered into sovereign treaties with the United States. In the treaties, the Ojibwe Nation ceded territories of land, which became a part of the United States and reserved unto themselves rights to use the land and its resources. In 1854, the Treaty of LaPointe established specific territorial rights of the LCO people including the right to hunt, fish, and gather in the northern third of Wisconsin. The off-reservation hunting, fishing, and gathering rights of the Ojibwe people were recognized in 1983 after years of litigation in Lac Courte Oreilles v. Voigt, 700 F.2d 341 (7th Cir. 1983). In addition to Wisconsin, off-reservation hunting, fishing, and gathering rights were subsequently established in the State of Minnesota in a similar treaty rights case involving a Minnesota tribe.
At the time the LCO reservation was established, the tribal elders wanted to protect certain resources that included wild rice beds and fishing areas on the Grindstone, Chief, and Lac Courte Oreilles Lakes. The land was also rich in timber stands of oak, conifer, maple, hickory, cedar, and birch. There were bountiful fishing sites on the Chippewa, Chief, and Couderay rivers as well as hunting and trapping areas for waterfowl, deer, bear, beaver, mink, muskrat, and other game. The Tribe also used historical water transportation routes via the Chippewa, Flambeau, and Namekagon rivers.
Although the tribe already had a traditional government that provided safety and welfare to its people, after years of resistance, the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribe adopted an Indian Reorganization Act Constitution in 1966. The constitution establishes a seven member Tribal Governing Board to make decisions on behalf of the LCO people on the areas of land, establishment of a tribal court, ordinances, contracts, agreements, governmental negotiations, tribal businesses, housing, etc. The constitution recognizes the sovereign immunity of the tribe along with jurisdiction within its territory on and off the reservation. The LCO Tribe is a federally recognized tribal government that exercises its rights of sovereignty and governance established by the treaties of 1825, 1837, 1842, and 1854 along with its constitution, initially adopted in 1966.
(Source: Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction)
Business | Type of Business |
Hayward, WI | Gaming/lodging/meeting facility |
Hayward, WI | Cranberry marsh |
Hayward, WI | Construction/infrastructure/trucking |
Hayward, WI | Grocery/Cigarettes/Liquor Store |
Hayward, WI | Gasoline/light grocery |
Gaming | |
LCO Convenience Store | Gasoline/car wash/light grocery/liquor |
LCO C-2 Spur Station | Gasoline/Light grocery |
Hayward, WI | Cigarettes/tobacco |
Hayward, WI | Savings/loans |
Hayward, WI | Bar & Cabins for Rent |
Hayward, WI | 100 KWatt Community Radio station |
Winter, WI | Electric plant |
Hayward, WI | Custom Wood Furnishings in Rustic Styles |
Hayward, WI | Tribal & non-Tribal Funeral and Burial Services |
Hayward, WI | Seasonal Sales |
Hayward, WI | Transportation System |
Hayward, WI | Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner |
Hayward, WI | Leased Business- Arts & Crafts |