Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians
federally recognized Tribe in Michigan, United States
The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians (pronounced "Soo Saint Marie", Ojibwe: Baawiting Anishinaabeg), commonly shortened to Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians or the more colloquial Soo Tribe, is a federally recognized Native American tribe in what is now known as Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The tribal headquarters is located within Sault Ste. Marie, the major city in the region, which is located on the St. Marys River.
Originally a part of the homelands of the Oc̣eṭi Ṡakowiƞ (Dakota, Lakota, Nakoda, or Sioux), who were pushed westward by the Anishinaabe Migration from the east coast, this location became known as Bawating by the Anishinaabe (the Ojibwe or Chippewa), who arrived there before Europeans showed up in the mid-to-late 16th century. Bawating, sometimes seen written as Baawiting or Bahweting, is an Ojibwe word meaning "The Gathering Place." The Chippewa participated in trading with other tribes, and later with the French, British and American traders here in turn.
The Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians is the largest federally recognized tribe in Michigan, outnumbering the next largest tribe, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, by a scale of about five to one. It was recognized in 1972 with five units in seven counties. In 1979 the tribal council included the Mackinac Band as members, nearly doubling its enrollment.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3813824. Authority coordinates are 46.472, -84.212. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1972 and 1979.
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This entry incorporates text from “Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.