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Chronicling America
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Newspaper The Progress (White Earth, Minn.) 1886-1889

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About The Progress (White Earth, Minn.) 1886-1889

After the U.S. – Dakota War of 1862, agreements between the federal government and the Mississippi bands of the Chippewa (Ojibwe) united the scattered bands onto a reservation in central Minnesota.  Encompassing lands in Becker, Clearwater, and Mahnomen counties, the White Earth Reservation was established by treaty in 1867.  On March 25, 1886, the first Minnesota newspaper published on a reservation by its members appeared under the title the White Earth Progress.  A weekly, four-page, English language paper, it advocated for the political interests of members of the reservation.

Although the first American Indian newspaper in Minnesota — the Saint Paul Dakota Tawaxitku kin, or, The Dakota Friend –dated  back to 1850, the Progress was no less significant due to the revolutionary vision of its publisher and its editor, Gus H. Beaulieu and Theodore Beaulieu, respectively.  After its debut, the next issue of the Progress appeared on October 8, 1887.  The gap in publication stemmed from the seizure of the press after the publisher was ordered off the reservation by the local Indian agent, Timothy J. Sheehan.  After a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing in Washington, D.C., decided that distributing the paper was a “lawful occupation” without the need for “surveillance and restrictions,” the Progress resumed publication.  Re-energized, the Beaulieus continued to challenge the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the local Indian agent.   The paper analyzed the full text of the Dawes General Allotment Act of 1887 in both the October 29, 1887, and July 6, 1889 issues and published scathing front-page editorials such as “Is It an Indian Bureau?” on June 9, 1888.  Another interesting series of articles appeared between December 17, 1887, and May 12, 1888, and was titled “The Ojibwas, Their Customs and Traditions:  As Handed Down for Centuries, From Father to Son, etc., etc.,” which is dedicated to local history and folklore.

The phrase “A Higher Civilization: The Maintenance of Law and Order” was printed on every front page of the paper, announcing the Progress’s radical political views and its dedication to improving the life of the people on the White Earth Indian reservation.  In its final issue of July 13, 1889, the newspaper explained that it had to suspend publication while negotiations about the allotment of tribal lands were taking place between the U.S. commission and the tribal council.  In 1903, the Beaulieus re-introduced their paper as the White Earth Tomahawk.

Provided By: Minnesota Historical Society; Saint Paul, MN

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Progress (White Earth, Minn.) 1886-1889

Names

  • Beaulieu, Gus. H., publisher
  • Beaulieu, Theo. H., editor

Dates of Publication

  • 1886-1889

Created / Published

  • White Earth, Minn. : Gus H. Beaulieu, 1886-1889.

Headings

  • -  Ojibwa Indians--Newspapers
  • -  Indians of North America--Minnesota--Newspapers
  • -  White Earth (Minn.)--Newspapers
  • -  Indians of North America
  • -  Ojibwa Indians
  • -  Minnesota
  • -  Minnesota--White Earth
  • -  United States--Minnesota--Becker--White Earth

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 1 (Mar. 25, 1886)-v. 2, no. 31 (July 13, 1889).
  • -  Suspended with Mar. 25, 1886 issue; resumed with Oct. 8, 1887 issue, also called v. 1, no. 1.
  • -  Editor: Theo. H. Beaulieu, March 25, 1886; October 8, 1887-July 13, 1889.
  • -  Also issued on microfilm from Minnesota Historical Society.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format as part of the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.

Medium

  • 2 volumes ; 68 cm

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn83016853

OCLC Number

  • 10161206

ISSN Number

  • 2168-0078

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

The Progress White Earth, Minn. -1889. (White Earth, MN), Jan. 1 1886. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn83016853/.

APA citation style:

(1886, January 1) The Progress White Earth, Minn. -1889. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn83016853/.

MLA citation style:

The Progress White Earth, Minn. -1889. (White Earth, MN) 1 Jan. 1886. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn83016853/.