ST. PAUL (AP) — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison asserted this week in a legal filing that the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation still exists, a statement that seeks to reverse more than a century of state policy and could have deep implications for people who live around one of Minnesota’s destination fishing areas.

In court papers filed Wednesday, Ellison backed the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe’s assertion that the band has 61,000 acres across the south shore of Mille Lacs Lake in central Minnesota.

Gov. Tim Walz supports fellow Democrat Ellison’s move, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported. Ellison’s position aligns with a relatively new federal policy that is friendlier to grievances long held by American Indians. His stance marks a 180-degree change from his Democratic predecessors, Attorneys General Lori Swanson and Mike Hatch, while Walz’s endorsement reverses the positions of previous governors of both parties.

The boundaries of the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation and whether it even exists have been contentious issues since the borders were created in an 1855 treaty between Chippewa Indians and the United States. The borders encompass several small towns and three islands in the lake. The band contends that part of the reservation still exists.