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Montana Indians
Reservations, Tribes, and
OPI’s Essential Understandings
Montana has seven reservations: Blackfeet, Crow, Flathead,
Fort Belknap, Fort Peck, Northern Cheyenne, Rocky Boy’s
What is a reservation?
Essential Understanding #4:
Reservations are lands that have been reserved by the tribes for
their own use through treaties and were not “given” to them.
The principle that land should be acquired from Indians only
through their consent with treaties was based on three
assumptions:
a. that both parties to treaties were sovereign powers
b. that Indian tribes had some form of transferable title to the land;
and
c. that acquisition of Indian lands was solely a government matter
not to be left to individual colonists.
Background
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Blackfeet lands in Montana 1855-74
Indian Nations located in Montana
Territory prior to the passage of
the Montana Constitution in 1889,
held large land bases as negotiated
through their treaties with the U.S.
The treaties assigned tribes to
certain areas and obligated them to
respect the land of their neighbors.
However, the mining invasions of
the 1860’s disrupted these areas as
miners and others rushed into the
prime gold fields that often lay
within or along the designated
tribal lands. The new inhabitants
demanded federal protection; thus
beginning the garrisoning of
Montana and the eventual
relocation of the tribes to smaller
and smaller reserves.
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The federal government and
Montana citizens did not
understand the lifestyles of
Montana’s Indian tribes and
therefore dealt with them from
the non-Indian point of view
and expectations.
However, the federal
government did understand
that these tribal groups were
sovereign nations and they
needed to enter into treaty
negotiations with them.
Reservation
Date Established
Names of Tribes
Blackfeet (Browning)
1851
Blackfeet
Crow (Crow Agency)
1851
Crow
Flathead (Ronan)
1855
Confederated Salish,
Kootenai,
Pend d Oreille
Fort Belknap
(Ft. Belknap Agency)
1888
Assiniboine and
Gros Ventre
Fort Peck (Poplar)
1888
Assiniboine and Sioux
Northern Cheyenne
(Lame Deer)
1884
Northern Cheyenne
Rocky Boy’s
(Rocky Boy Agency)
1916
Chippewa and Cree
Before we begin our tour…
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…we’ll need some more background
information about Montana’s Indian Nations…
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The following information is based on Montana
OPI’s Essential Understandings regarding
Montana Indians and the OPI publications
Indians 101: Frequently Asked Questions and
Montana Indians: Their History and Location
Tribal Sovereignty
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Essential Understanding # 7:
Under the American legal system, Indian tribes have
sovereign powers separate and independent from
federal and state governments. However, the extent
and breadth of tribal sovereignty is not the same for
each tribe.
Background
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Tribal sovereignty does not arise out of the U.S.
government, congressional acts, treaties, or any other
source outside the tribe. It’s important to remember
that before colonization, Indian tribes possessed
complete sovereignty.
Tribes are now classified as domestic dependent
nations. As such, they have the power to determine
their own membership; structure and operate their
tribal governments; regulate domestic relations; settle
disputes; manage their property and resources; raise tax
revenues; regulate businesses; and conduct relations
with other governments.
Tribal governments
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Tribes have the inherent right to operate under their own system
of government, and the relationship between tribes and the U.S.
is one of sovereign nation to sovereign nation.
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Tribal governments have diverse structures. Many have adopted
constitutions, others operate under Articles of Association, and
some still maintain traditional systems of government. The chief
executive of a tribe is generally called the tribal chairperson, but
may also be called principal chief, governor, or president.
Essential Understanding 3:

The ideologies of Native
traditional beliefs and
spirituality persist into
modern day life as tribal
cultures, traditions and
languages are still
practiced by many
American Indian people
and are incorporated into
how tribes govern and manage
their affairs.
Common Misunderstandings
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To clear up some common misunderstandings, OPI
published American Indians 101: Frequently Asked
Questions. The next slides are excerpted from that
publication, the Essential Understandings and Montana
Indians: Their History and Location
Citizenship
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Citizenship: American
Indians became citizens of
the U.S. in 1924 and are also
citizens of the state in which
they reside.
Terminology: While the term
“Native Americans” came
into usage in the 1960’s, most
tribal groups in Montana
refer to themselves as
“American Indian.”
Taxes
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Both tribes and individual
American Indians pay taxes.
Individual American Indians
pay federal income taxes, fuel
and tobacco taxes. American
Indians who work on a
reservation do not pay state
income taxes—because that
right is reserved to the tribes.
American Indians working off
the reservation do pay state
income taxes.
Maria Valandra, Blackfeet, is Vice President for Community
Development for Montana’s First Interstate Bank system.
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Tribal lands held in trust by the federal government are not
subject to property tax, just as U.S. forest service land is not,
because states cannot tax federal lands.
This lack of a tax base is made up by the federal government.
Counties in Montana are given Payment in Lieu of Taxes money
to offset the tribal tax exempt lands within their boundaries. K12 public schools within reservation boundaries are provided
additional Impact Aid. (Impact aid is also provided to schools on
military bases and other federal properties.)
Federal income
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American Indians do not receive payments from the federal
government simply because they have American Indian blood.
An American Indian person may receive distribution funds based
on:
mineral or agricultural lease income on property that is held in trust
by the United States
for compensation for lands taken in connection with government projects.
Some tribes receive benefits from the federal government in
fulfillment of treaty obligations or for the extraction of tribal natural
resources, a percentage of which may be distributed as per capita
among the tribes’ membership.
Federal Indian Trust Responsibility
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The Federal Indian Trust Responsibility
is a legal obligation, upheld in numerous
Supreme Court cases, under which the
U.S. has charged itself with moral
obligations of the highest responsibility
and trust toward American Indian tribes.
The federal government is obligated to
protect tribal lands and resources;
protect tribes’ rights to self-government;
and provide social, medical, educational
and economic development services
necessary for the survival and
advancement of tribes.
Snake Butte, Fort Belknap Reservation
Treaty Rights
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From 1777 to 1871, U.S. relations with individual American
Indian nations were conducted through treaty negotiations.
These contracts created unique sets of rights for the benefit of
each of the treaty-making tribes and the U.S. government.
Those rights represent the supreme law of the land under the
U.S. Constitution. Treaties exchanged tribal land for certain
protections and benefits, commonly including, among other
things:
hunting and fishing rights that may extend beyond reservation
boundaries
education of tribal children
protection from the state by the federal government
first priority water rights.
Education: College
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Tribal colleges exist on each
of the reservations in
Montana.
American Indians do not
receive a free college
education. Montana has a
fee waiver for American
Indian students, but it is
based upon financial need
and only covers certain costs.
College bound American
Indian students fill out
financial aid forms just like
any other student.
Public Schools
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Public schools began to
operate on Indian
reservations in Montana in
the early 1900’s, and Indian
students began to enroll
almost from the beginning.
The curriculum offered
limited information on the
local Indian culture, history
and traditions of the local
tribal groups, and it did not
encourage participation from
local tribal government
officials in its decisionmaking. This trend is now
beginning to change.
Elementary School at Rocky Boy Agency
Essential Understanding 5
There were many federal policies put into place
throughout American history that have impacted
Indian people and shape who they are today.
Much of Indian history can be related through
several major federal policy periods, such as:
Colonization Period
Tribal Reorganization
Treaty Period
Termination
Allotment Period
Self-Determination
Boarding School Period
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Essential Understanding 6:
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Ledger art at the Bighorn Battlefield offers another
perspective on the history of the battle
History is a story and most
often related through the
subjective experience of the
teller. Histories are being
rediscovered and revised.
History told from an Indian
perspective conflicts with
what most of mainstream
history tells us.
Background: Much of our
history has been told from
one perspective. It has been
only recently that American
Indians have begun to write
about and retell history from
an Indigenous perspective.
Reservations in Montana: A Tour
There are twelve tribal Nations in
Montana…
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Assiniboine (Nakoda)
Blackfeet (Pikuni)
Chippewa (Anishinaabe)
Cree
Crow (Apsaalooke)
Gros Ventre (White
Clay)
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Kootenai (Kutanaxa)
Little Shell Chippewa
Pend d’ Oreille (Qaeispe)
Northern Cheyenne
Salish (Selin)
Sioux (Dakota)
Essential Understanding 1
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…and there is great diversity among them, in their
languages, cultures, histories, and governments. Each
Nation has a distinct and unique cultural heritage that
contributes to modern Montana.
Essential Understanding 2:
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There is a great diversity
among individual American
Indians, as identity is
developed, defined and
redefined by many entities,
organizations, and people.
There is a continuum of
Indian identity ranging from
assimilated to traditional and
is unique to each individual.
There is no generic American
Indian.
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So, it’s important to remember that not only is
there a great diversity among tribes but that there
is also great diversity within tribes.
Blackfeet Reservation
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Home to the Blackfeet
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Total number of enrolled tribal
members 15,118 :
8, 485 live on the reservation
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Lands
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Total acres: 1,525,712
311,174.98 tribally owned; the rest
individually allotted, government,
fee title or state lands
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Communities
Browning, East Glacier, Babb, St.
Mary, Starr School and Heart Butte
 College: Blackfeet Community
College
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Crow Reservation
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Home to the Crow
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Total number of enrolled
members: 10,333:
7,153 live on the reservation
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Lands
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Total acres 2,464,914
Tribally owned lands 404,272; the
rest individually allotted,
government, fee title or state
lands
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Government and Cultural
Districts
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Reno, Ledge Grass, Pryor, St.
Xavier, Wyola, and Black Lodge
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College: Little Bighorn College
Flathead Reservation
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Home to the Salish, Kootenai
and Pend d’Oreille
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Total number of enrolled
members: 6,961
4,244 live on the reservation
Land
Total acres: 1,243,000 acres
613,273 are tribal trust lands; the rest
are tribal fee, individual trust,
water, federal, state, town sites or
fee land
The Salish,Kootenai and
Pend d’Oreille people are the
minority population on their own
reservation, although they now
own 56% of their land.
College: Salish Kootenai College
Fort Belknap Reservation
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Home to the Gros Ventre
and Assiniboine
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Total number of enrolled members:
7,303
5,771 live on the reservation
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Land
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Total acres: 645,576
210,954 acres are tribally owned, the
rest are individual allotments, fee title
or state lands or government lands.
9,000 acres are non-Indian owned
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College: Fort Belknap Community
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College
Fort Peck Reservation
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Home to Nakoda
(Assiniboine), Dakota and
Lakota (Sioux)
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Enrolled Sioux members: 6,969
Enrolled Assiniboine: 4,209
Close to 1,000 members of other
tribes
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Land
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Total acres: 2,093,124
413,020 is tribal acreage, the rest is
individually allotted, fee simple or
state acreage
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College: Ft Peck Community
College
Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa
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Morony Dam site, outside Great Falls
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No reservation, but Morony Dam
site pending
Total number of enrolled members
3,850
Many unenrolled Little Shell
people in Montana
The Metis number thousands in
the U.S. and south central Canada
Still waiting a ruling on federal
recognition
Populations concentrations in
Great Falls, Havre, Lewistown,
Helena, Butte, Chinook, Hays,
Wolf Point, Hamilton, and Billings.
Northern Cheyenne
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Home to Northern Cheyenne
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Total number of enrolled members approx.
7,374
4,199 live on the reservation
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Land
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Total acres: 444,774.50 acres
326,546.81 acres are tribally owned, the
rest are individual allotments, or fee
title or state lands
Non-Indians own about 30 percent of
the fee or state lands on the
reservation; the tribe is looking to
purchase more land.
Five Districts: Busby, Lame Deer,
Ashland, Birney, and Muddy
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Rocky Boy’s Reservation
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Home to the Chippewa and Cree
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Reservation established by executive
order in April of 1916, the smallest and
last reservation to be established in
Montana
Total population of reservation
approx. 5,000
number of enrolled Chippewa Cree
members 3,750
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Land
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Total acres 122,259
All of the acreage is held in trust for
the entire tribe; it is unallotted
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College: Stone Child College
Rocky Boy Agency
Montana Urban Indians
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The term Urban Indian is sometimes
confusing and complex, even among
Indian people themselves. Because of
the divisions and disenfranchisement,
Indian people in Montana have been
split into many communities, social
structures, cultural groups and
economic strata. This has resulted in
reservation and off-reservation Indians,
enrolled and non-enrolled Indians,
treaty and non-treaty Indians, Indian
reservations and Indian country, trust
and non-trust lands, etc. This
condition has sometimes caused
strained relationships between the
various groups and has led to
confusion for young people.
Montana Wyoming Tribal Leadership Council
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Most of the urban Indian populations were
created after W.W.II, when the federal
government embarked on a policy to
terminate federal recognition and services to
reservations, and then later, during the 40’s
and 50’s, to relocate them to cities. This
policy moved several hundred thousand
Indian people from reservations to cities.
Indian Education for All
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Montana 1972 Constitution: “The state recognizes the distinct
and unique cultural heritage of American Indians and is
committed in its educational goals to the preservation of their
cultural integrity.
In 1999, House Bill 528 became law: “Every
Montanan…whether Indian or non-Indian, [shall] be encouraged
to learn about the distinct and unique heritage of American
Indians in a culturally responsive manner…all school personnel
should have an understanding and awareness of American Indian
tribes to help them relate effectively with American Indian
students and parents…Every educational agency and all
educational personnel will work cooperatively with Montana
tribes…when providing instruction and implementing an
educational goal.”