by Concordia College students in History 112HU, Fall 2016
Jake Worms
Mahnomen county has a very rich history that is very interesting and uncommon for most small towns in this region. The world we live in today is much different than it was 20 years ago. To keep up with the changing times, government facilities also need to change. There have been huge technological and economical changes done to the Mahnomen courthouse since 1972. In order to meet the needs of the county they added a jail onto the courthouse so the county could cut costs of transporting criminals to other jails. These changes have allowed for higher levels of productivity and to become more efficient. With the addition of the jail it saves the county transportation costs, gives them the ability to hold more inmates, and lets more officers be on duty to enforce laws and care for the citizens. The reason Mahnomen county built this jail was to accompany the needs of the rising number of people who were being arrested.
The word Mahnomen come from a Native American language called Ojibwe, and in this language the word Mahnomen means Wild Rice. It was given the named Wild Rice because Mahnomen county is home to some of the riches ricing grounds in the state of Minnesota. Mahnomen county consists of four small towns and five villages. Mahnomen County Courthouse is located in the small town of Mahnomen, Minnesota with a population of 1,234[1] people and the total area of the city is about one square mile. The town itself has remained small and it has many people who only come for a short period of time before they leave for a different city. On the day of March 19th, 1867, a treaty was signed that put the whole county into an Indian reservation[2]. Unlike most other Indian reservations, it is an open reservation meaning you don’t have to be Native American to buy or own land, anyone of any race can legally purchase land on this reservation. The courthouse was built in 1909 on the west side of main street in the center of town. It is still a fully functional courthouse today. The courthouse was originally in a section of 1st National bank of Mahnomen until 1909 when they had enough money to build a separate building[3]. In 1909 when they had a brand-new building they wanted to build a jail onto the courthouse but they did not have enough money to do so at the time. After a few years went by and they paid off the cost of the new courthouse the county decided to build a jail so they would not have to transport all the criminals to other jails. Building this facility would allow more officers to be on duty because they would not have to spend time transporting criminal. With the growing population of Native American’s and low income families moving to the area the crime rates started to rise as well as the total cost to housing criminals and having to pay the neighboring county to hold each criminal in their jail. It was evident to the people of Mahnomen and the county officials that a jail was needed in Mahnomen county so in 1978[4] they built a jail. You can see the expansion of the building between the year of 1972 and 2016 below.
Low income or what some would call poverty areas, have a higher crime rate this also correlates with other Indian reservations across the country. Since Mahnomen is on the White Earth Indian Reservation the government provides low-income housing for tribal members. When someone qualifies for the housing program they usually bring a few family members in with them. This usually happens because certain people can’t qualify for housing because of their backgrounds if they did something unlawful. This is when overcrowding starts to happen so they end up having to kick some people out of the house because there’s simply not enough room. When they get kicked out they start committing more crimes, for example they most often steal and sell drugs because they need a source of money. There are 310 Indian reservations in the country and they all have violent crime rates that double the national average[7]. In addition to this information provided by the New York Times, it shows that low income areas have higher crime rates.
There are two different types of Indian offenders in today’s society. The two different types of Indian offenders, ones who have committed a crime under federal law and ones who have committed a crime under tribal law. Tribes have concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute Indians within the reservation but they can only give a maximum fine of $5,000 and only a one-year prison sentence. The tribal courts usually only deal with the less severe crimes so they turn the more severe crimes over to the state and federal courts[8]. This was a common theme during this time period because every small town was expanding, growing, and building new facilities in the early to mid-1900’s.
In conclusion, this rephotography shows the changes that have occurred on the Mahnomen County courthouse from 1972 to 2016. The building appears the same but it has undergone a fair amount of changes. A jail was added to the courthouse to lower transportation costs of inmates to other jails, it gives them the ability to hold inmates, and lets more officers be on duty to enforce laws and care for the citizens of the county.
[1] Mahnomen Minnesota, Mahnomen County, Smaller cities in Minnesota, Minnesota “City Data.com” (Accessed 29th Nov. 2016).
[2], “Formation of the White Earth Indian Reservation” Mahnomen County Historical Society, (Accessed 29 Nov. 2016)
[3]“Mahnomen County Historical Society”, (Accessed 29 Nov. 2016).
[4] “Personal Phone call with the Courthouse staff”. (Accessed 29 Nov, 2016).
[5] Elroy Quenroe 1972, (Accessed 12 Nov. 2016).
[6] Jake Worms 2016, (Accessed 29 Nov. 2016).
[7] Timothy Williams, “Higher Crime, Fewer charges on Indian Land,” New York Times, 20 Feb. 2012, (accessed 29 Nov. 2016).
[8] Joesph Summerill, “The State of Indian Jails in America,” Academic Search Premier, Feb. 2005, (Accessed 29 Nov. 2016).
Bibliography
“Formation of the White Earth Indian Reservation” Mahnomen County Historical Society, (Accessed 29 Nov. 2016)
Mahnomen County Historical Society, (Accessed 29 Nov. 2016).
Elroy Quenroe 1972, (Accessed 12 Nov. 2016).
Jake Worms 2016, (Accessed 29 Nov. 2016).
Timothy Williams, “Higher Crime, Fewer charges on Indian Land,” New York Times, 20 Feb. 2012, (accessed 29 Nov. 2016).
Joesph Summerill, “The State of Indian Jails in America,” Academic Search Premier, Feb. 2005, (Accessed 29 Nov. 2016).