Gros Ventre Tribe

Alternate Names: Gros Ventre, Gros Ventres Ancestral homeland: lived on the Milk River branch of the Missouri River in northern Montana, they also migrated into Saskatchewan

Brief Timeline

 * 1650: the Grosventre separated from the Arapaho and moved northwest, to Eagle Hills in Saskatchewan
 * 1700: traded with the Cree
 * 1780: smallpox epidemic
 * 1780: migrated south to Upper Missouri River, by doing so they encroached on the Crow. Sought alliance with the Blackfeet.
 * 1790: tribal problems with the Cree and Assiniboin
 * 1835: 400 Grosventre killed by Cree and Assiniboin at Sweetgrass Hill
 * 1851: Treaty
 * 1855: Treaty
 * 1860s: Fought with Crow to defeat the Blackfeet; who were once their allies.
 * 1866: Treaty
 * 1867: suffered a major losses by Piegan
 * 1888: placed on the Fort Belknap Reservation in northern Montana; the Assiniboin also come to the Fort Belknap Reservation.
 * 1896: The Grosventre and Assiniboin coerced to sell land by government (gold had been discovered in area known as Little Rockies.)

Brief History
Population: 1990 2,875

Reservations
The primary reservation for the Grosventre Indians is the Fort Belknap Reservation, which they share with the Assiniboin.

Additional References to the History of the Tribe and/or Band

 * Frederick Webb Hodge, in his Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, gave a more complete history of the Grosventre tribe, with estimations of the population of the tribe at various time periods.
 * Fort Belknap Indian Community website has a page of history of the Gros Ventre Indians.

Tribal Headquarters
Fort Belknap Indian Community RR1, Box 66 101 Tribal Way Harlem, MT 59526 Phone: (406) 353-2205 Fax: (406) 353-4541 Official Website: www.ftbelknap-nsn.gov

Records
Agency Records

Correspondence and Census

Treaties


 * 1851 September 17, Fort Laramie with Sioux, Etc.,
 * 1855 October 17, with the Blackfeet
 * 1866 July 27, Agreement at Fort Berthold-unratified

Vital Records


 * Fort Belknap, M595, birth and deaths, early - 1935, FHL Film: 576485 and births and deaths, 1936-1939, FHL Film: 576486
 * Fort Berthold, M595, births and deaths, 1926-1932, FHL Film: 576490 and births and deaths,1936-1939, FHL film: 576491

Important Web Sites

 * Gros Ventres Tribe Wikipedia
 * By-Laws of the Three Affiliated Tribes