Bois Forte Band of Chippewa

What Bois Forte Band of Chippewa does

The Bois Forte Band of Chippewa is a federally recognized Native American tribal nation headquartered in Nett Lake in northern Minnesota, providing enrollment, community wellness, and family services to its members and the surrounding population. The Band operates as a sovereign government entity under the Bureau of Indian Affairs and is not structured as a conventional corporation with external investors.

The Band's primary infrastructure initiative is a $20 million fiber optic broadband expansion project funded by a 2021 Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant and delivered in partnership with Minnesota Broadband Cooperative CTC. The project targets 2,097+ underserved Native American households, businesses, and community institutions in northern Minnesota with fiber-to-the-home service at speeds up to 10 Gbps. CTC acts as the channel partner providing ISP services and local operational support, while phased construction continues into early 2026.

In December 2024, the Band signed a cannabis compact agreement with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and the Office of Cannabis Management, enabling tribal enterprises to operate dispensaries off reservation lands. Proceeds are directed to tribal infrastructure projects and member services, adding a new regulated enterprise revenue stream alongside broadband service fees and traditional governmental programs.

Name

Bois Forte Band of Chippewa

Legal name

Bois Forte Band of Chippewa

Website

https://boisforte.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

The Bois Forte Band of Chippewa is a federally recognized sovereign tribal nation in northern Minnesota that delivers enrollment, community wellness, and family services and operates a $20 million fiber-to-the-home broadband project and off-reservation cannabis dispensaries under state compact.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Tribal Government Services and Broadband Infrastructure

NAICS

American Indian and Alaska Native Tribal Governments (921150)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Rural & Universal Service Fixed Broadband Providers (HDAIABAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Adult-Use (Recreational) Cannabis Dispensaries (CRANAFAA), Tribal/Indigenous Public Health Authorities (HLAJAAAD)

Keywords

• Tribal broadband services
• Fiber-to-the-home internet
• Tribal government services
• Community wellness programs
• Tribal cannabis operations

Headquarters

HQ city

Nett Lake

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Infrastructure, Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Broadband Service Fees: Revenue generated through ISP services provided by Minnesota Broadband Cooperative CTC to households, businesses, and community institutions in the service area
2. Cannabis Dispensary Operations: Tribal enterprises operating dispensaries off reservation lands under cannabis compact agreements with the state, with proceeds funding infrastructure projects and member services

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Core offering

The Bois Forte Band of Chippewa provides tribal government services including enrollment, community wellness, and family services to its members. It also operates fiber optic broadband infrastructure (up to 10 Gbps) for underserved Native American households, businesses, and community institutions in northern Minnesota, and participates in cannabis dispensary operations under a state compact agreement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Fiber-to-the-Home Broadband Service High-capacity fiber optic broadband service delivering up to 10 Gbps speeds to underserved Native American households, businesses, and community institutions across northern Minnesota, delivered in partnership with Minnesota Broadband Cooperative CTC.
• Tribal Enrollment Services Government enrollment services for tribal members of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, supporting membership administration and identity verification.
• Community Wellness Services Community wellness programs provided by the Band to its members, addressing health, welfare, and quality-of-life needs in northern Minnesota.
• Family Services Family support services delivered by the Band to tribal member households, addressing social services and family welfare needs.
• Tribal Cannabis Dispensary Operations Off-reservation cannabis dispensary operations run by tribal enterprises under a state compact agreement with Minnesota, with proceeds funding tribal infrastructure and member services.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2,097+ underserved Native American households, businesses, and community institutions to receive fiber broadband access
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Minnesota Office of Cannabis ManagementcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2024The Bois Forte Band of Chippewa signed a cannabis compact agreement with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and the Office of Cannabis Management, enabling tribal enterprises to participate in the state's regulated cannabis market. The agreement allows tribal enterprises to open dispensaries off reservation lands to fund infrastructure projects and member services.
• Minnesota Broadband Cooperative CTCcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2021The Bois Forte Band partnered with Minnesota Broadband Cooperative CTC to provide ISP services and local support for the $20 million fiber optic broadband expansion project. CTC will deliver broadband services to over 2,097 underserved Native American households, businesses, and community institutions across northern Minnesota. The project is funded through a 2021 Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Paul Bunyan Communications: Minnesota rural cooperative operating fiber-to-the-home networks across north-central Minnesota, comparable in delivering residential gigabit service to underserved rural and small-town markets. Direct operational peer for broadband delivery model in similar geography.
• Prairie Island Indian Community: Minnesota tribal nation operating comparable governmental and enterprise functions including energy and small-scale infrastructure investment. Useful sovereign-economy peer for benchmarking diversified tribal enterprise portfolios.
• White Earth Nation: Large Minnesota Ojibwe tribal nation operating comparable governmental, social-services, and economic-development enterprises. Direct peer on sovereign operations and on the cannabis compact pathway under Minnesota's Office of Cannabis Management.
• Red Lake Nation: Sister federally recognized Ojibwe tribal nation in northern Minnesota that has also entered Minnesota's regulated cannabis market via government-to-government compact. Highly comparable as a geographic and operational peer executing the same combination of tribal governance, broadband initiatives, and cannabis enterprise activity.
• Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community: Minnesota tribal nation widely recognized as an economic-development benchmark among tribes, with diversified sovereign enterprises including gaming, hospitality, and government services. Useful peer for benchmarking sovereign-led enterprise strategy.
• Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa: Chippewa band operating near the Bois Forte service area in northern Minnesota, with comparable sovereign governance and enterprise operations. Closely related tribal nation serving adjacent geography and overlapping member populations.
• Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe: Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe operates tribal government, gaming, and member-services enterprises comparable in scale and scope. Direct peer for sovereign economic diversification and Minnesota cannabis compact participation.
• Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe: Federally recognized Ojibwe tribal nation in north-central Minnesota with overlapping reservation footprint and similar community-services, governmental, and economic-development functions to Bois Forte, providing a directly comparable sovereign entity benchmark.
• Minnesota Broadband Cooperative CTC (Consolidated Telephone Company): Operational channel partner and rural cooperative delivering fiber ISP services in the same northern Minnesota footprint, with comparable residential and business broadband offerings. Directly relevant as the channel partner executing Bois Forte's last-mile service delivery.

Broad incumbents

• Ziply Fiber: Regional fiber-to-the-home operator across the Pacific Northwest and parts of the Mountain West, providing a broader market benchmark for rural and tribal-area fiber broadband unit economics, take-rate, and capital deployment strategy.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/BoisForte_BoC
• Facebookfacebook.com/boisfortebandofchippewa
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bois-forte-human-svc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Bois Forte Band of Chippewa