Fort Peck Indian Reservation (Montana)

The Fort Peck Indian Reservation is a federally-recognized reservation, located in northeastern Montana, primarily in Roosevelt County, with smaller portions in Daniels, Sheridan, and Valley Counties..


 * Established -- September 17, 1851 and 17 October 1855
 * Agency (BIA) -- Fort Peck Indian Agency
 * Principal tribes -- Assiniboine, Blackfeet Indians, Flathead Indians, Kalispel Indians, Little Shell Band of Chippewa Indians, Montana, Nez Perce Indians, Pend d'Oreille Indians, and Spokane Indians.
 * Population -- 2010 census is 6,714 (when including mixed bloods it's 6,998) - Does not include non Indians  1969: Tribal enrollment 5,674

History
Fort Peck Reservation was established by Treaty of Oct. 17, 1855; unratified treaties of July 18, 1866, and July 13, and 15 and Sept. 1, 1868; Executive orders, July 5, 1873, and Aug. 19,1874; act of Apr. 15, 1874; Executive orders, Apr. 13, 1875, and July 13,1880; an agreement made Jan. 21, 1887, approved by Congress May 1, 1888; and an agreement made Dec. 28, 1886, approved by Congress may 1, 1888.

Its area in 1908 was 1,766,000 acres.

Fort Peck Reservation is within the original Blackfeet Reservation which was created on September 17, 1851 and approved on October 17, 1855. It was not created for Dakota Indians including the Brule, Hunkpapa, Santee, Teton, and Yanktonai.

It was created for the Little Shell Blackfeet Chippewa's, Flathead Chippewa's (they are a mixture of Algonquin and non Algonquin Indians), Assiniboine Chippewa's (they are a mixture of Algonquin and non Algonquin Indians) and Nez Perce. Including as being Flathead are the Kalispel, Pend d'Oreilles, and Spokane. Read the October 17, 1855 Blackfeet Treaty Text. The correct name of the original Blackfeet Reservation is either Judith basin indian reservation or Judith River Indian Reservation. The October 17, 1855 Blackfeet Treaty, was signed near the mouth of the Judith River which is within the Judith basin indian reservation.

On April 13, 1875, the United States made a land addition to the Blackfeet Reservation, just south and adjacent to the Fort Peck Reservation. The land addition was for the Blackfoot, Blood, Gros Ventre, Piegan, and River Crow. Click this memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/S to read the April 13, 1875 Treaty Text. On the bottom of the page is the Montana 2 link. Click on it. The page has a map of the land additions to the Blackfeet Reservation. After you read the treaty text, you will be puzzled. It don't make sense. This treaty actually includes the Crow which the October 17, 1855 Blackfeet Treaty does not. The land addition, is obviously not Crow land. The Assiniboine evidently ceded their claim to the land area in 1866 but the treaty was never ratified which represents corruption. The April 13, 1875 Treaty, allowed the Assiniboine to move to the Blackfeet Reservation (Fort Peck Portion).

A meeting was held at Joseph Paul's family's ranch near Lewistown, Montana in 1921. It was probably about filing a land claims lawsuit about the original Blackfeet Reservation which was created on September 17, 1851. The Little Shell Blackfeet Chippewa's continued to govern the original Blackfeet Reservation which was created on September 17, 1851. Not much came from the 1921 meeting.

Another meeting was held at Joseph Paul's home in Great Falls, Montana on June 10, 1939. Even in 1939, the Little Shell Blackfeet Chippewa's were assigning district representatives for the original Blackfeet Reservation which was created on September 17, 1851.

After World War II, many of the Little Shell Blackfeet Chippewa leaders became despondent and commenced to act on their own. In 1950, Joseph Dussome gave up and hired a lawyer and then in 1951 filed a land claims lawsuit about the original Blackfeet Reservation which was created on September 17, 1851. On April 5, 1974, the United States again refused to honor the treaty which created the original Blackfeet Reservation which Fort Peck Reservation is within.

During the 1930s, the Indian Reorganization Act was voted on by the Indian citizens of Fort Peck Reservation. They overwhelmingly (578 to 276) chose to not accept the Indian Reorganization Act. The vote happened on December 15, 1934.

To learn more about the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana and how they governed their original Blackfeet Reservation, click www.indianaffairs.gov/cs/groups/xofa/documents/text/idc-001419.pdf this link. On page 119 (not on the adobe acrobat reader but on the pdf book pages) is the information about the June 10, 1939 meeting at Joseph Paul's home in Great Falls, Montana. On page 92, under "The Creation of Organizations in Montana, 1920-1936," is information about the first so called Little Shell Tribe organization in Montana. Howard Paul (Joseph Paul's son) preserved the information. The meeting was held at Joseph Paul's family's ranch near Lewistown, Montana in 1921. They almost completely ignored Joseph Paul and focused primarily on Joseph Dussome. If you read the pdf book, you will have no choice but to agree that Joseph Paul was far more important. And they focused too much of their attention on the Metis or mixed bloods. And they did not mention anything about the original Blackfeet Reservation which the Little Shell Tribes land claim was about. Click memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/S this link, to read the September 17, 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty which created and defined the Blackfeet Territory which is the original Blackfeet Reservation. Little Shell Chippewa leaders have every right to claim the Assiniboine Territory (it has the number 300) and the territory of the Crow (it has the number 517 and yellow color and extends to Wyoming). No Crow Reservation (the Crow Reservation is really a Cheyenne Chippewa Reservation) is found anywhere in the land area in Montana and Wyoming with the yellow color and number 517. The treaty of October 20, 1875 did not add land to the Crow Reservation. It established a Reservation for the Cheyenne Chippewa's. Click memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D this link, to read the October 20, 1875 Treaty. On the bottom of the page click the Montana 2 link. You will notice the Northern Cheyenne Reservation bordering the Crow Reservation on the east, and the Northern Cheyenne Reservation (it has the number 585) bordering the Crow Reservation on the north. However, the Arapaho (the Southern Cheyenne) Wind River Reservation and Northern Cheyenne Reservation, are within the land area in Montana and Wyoming, with the yellow color and number 517. Both the Arapaho and Cheyenne are really Chippewa. The Crow supposedly ceded their right to the land area with the number 300, on May 7, 1868. If the Crow claimed the land area with the number 300, than the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians have every right to claim the entire land area with the yellow color and number 517. Why? An extension to the original Blackfeet Reservation which was created on September 17, 1851 and approved on October 17, 1855, was agreed upon on April 13, 1875. It is within the land areas with the numbers 300 and 517. Click memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/S this link, to read the treaty which established the addition to the original Blackfeet Reservation which was created on September 17, 1851 and approved on October 17, 1855, within the land areas with the numbers 300 and 517. On the bottom of the page is the Montana 2 link. Click it. The addition to the original Blackfeet Reservation has the numbers 622 and 623. You will notice the southwest portion of the original Blackfeet Reservation is within the land areas with the numbers 300 and 517.

Communities
Brockton: 2010 population is 255. Indians make up 96% of the population of Brockton. It covers 0.23 sq. mi. It is located in the east end of the Reservation.

Fort Kipp: 2010 population is a part of Brockton's population. Fort Kipp is a small community located some 9 miles east of Brockton.

Frazer: 2010 population is 362. Indians make up 96% of the population of Frazer. It covers 1.65 sq. mi. It is located on the west end of the Reservation.

Poplar: 2010 population is 810. Indians make up 71.36% of the population of Poplar. When including mixed bloods it's 74.45%.

Poplar Zip Code Area 59255: 2010 population is 2,920. That does not include non Indians. Poplar zip code area covers 676 sq. mi.

Wolf Point: 2010 population is 2,621. Indians make up 50.52% of the population of Wolf Point. When including mixed bloods it's 56.05%. It covers 0.87 sq. mi. The Little Shell Blackfeet Chippewa's had a minor district at Wolf Point. In 1939, the district representative was Thomas Ouellette.

Records
Many of the records of individual Indians living on the Fort Peck Reservation were kept by the Fort Peck Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Others are kept by the Tribal Office.

Land records: Tribal lands: 233,153.17 acres. Allotted land: 645,114.20 acres.