Indigenous Peoples of Montana

About four percent of the present population of Montana is American Indian. The major groups include the Blackfeet, Cree, Crow, Northern Cheyenne, Chippewa, Little Shell Band of Chippewa, Flathead, Kutenai, and Assiniboin.



Tribes and Bands of Montana
The following list of American Indians who have lived in Montana has been compiled from Hodge's Handbook of American Indians..., from Swanton's The Indian Tribes of North America , and from other sources.

Major Tribes of Montana

 * Assiniboin
 * Blackfeet
 * Chippewa-Cree
 * Crow (Mountain and River Crow)
 * Flathead
 * Gros Ventre
 * Kalispel
 * Kootenai
 * Kutenai (see Kootenai)
 * Northern Cheyenne
 * Piegan
 * Salish (see Confederated Salish &amp; Kootenai...)
 * Siksika (see Blackfeet)
 * Spokan

Minor Tribes of Montana
The following tribes have historically had some contact with the area that is now part of Montana.


 * Arapaho
 * Arikara
 * Bannock
 * Dakota (see Sioux)
 * Hidatsa
 * Kiowa
 * Mandan
 * Nez Perce
 * Okanagan
 * Shoshoni
 * Sioux

Reservations
From the mid-1800s, the official policy of the United States government toward the American Indian was to confine each tribe to a specific parcel of land called a reservation. Agencies were established on or near each reservation. A government representative, usually called an agent (or superintendent) was assigned to each agency. Their duties included maintaining the peace, making payments to the Native Americans based on the stipulations of the treaties with each tribe, and providing a means of communication between the native population and the federal government.

Sometimes, a single agency had jurisdiction over more than one reservation. And sometimes, if the tribal population and land area required it, an agency may have included sub-agencies.

The boundaries of reservations, over time, have changed. Usually, that means the reservations have been reduced in size. Sometimes, especially during the later policy of "termination," the official status of reservations was ended altogether.

The following list of reservations has been compiled from the National Atlas of the United States of America, the Omni Gazetteer of the United States of America , and other sources. Those reservations named in bold are current federally-recognized reservations, with their associated agency and tribe(s). Others have historically been associated with the state or are not currently recognized by the federal government.

For a map of the current reservations on Montana, click here...


 * Blackfeet Reservation is in northern Montana just east of Glacier National Park.
 * Crow Reservation is in south-central Montana near Billings.
 * Flathead Reservation is located north of Interstate 90, between Missoula and Kalispell.
 * Fort Belknap Reservation is in north-central Montana, between Havre and Glasgow.
 * Fort Peck Reservation is in northeastern Montana.
 * Jocko Reservation -- an earlier name for the Flathead Reservation, which was located on the Jocko River.
 * Northern Cheyenne Reservation is in southeastern Montana, just east of the Crow Indian Reservation.
 * Rocky Boy's Reservation is in north-central Montana, just south of Havre.

Agencies of the Bureau of Indian Affairs
Agencies and subagencies were created as administrative offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and its predecessors. Their purpose was (and is) to manage Indian affairs with the tribes, enforce policies, and assist in maintaining the peace. The names and location of these agencies may have changed, but their purpose remained basically the same. Many of the records of genealogical value were created by these offices.

The following list of agencies that have operated or now exist in Montana has been compiled from Hill's Office of Indian Affairs..., Hill's Guide to Records in the National Archives Relating to American Indians , and others.


 * Blackfeet Agency, Browning, MT 59417
 * Crow Agency, Crow Agency, MT 59022
 * Eastern District Agency
 * Flathead Agency. Box A, Pablo, MT 59855
 * Fort Belknap Agency, P.O. Box 98, Harlem, MT 59255
 * Fort Peck (Milk River) Agency
 * Northern Cheyenne Agency or Tongue River Agency, Lame Deer, MT
 * Rocky Boy's Agency, Box Elder, MT 59521
 * Tongue River Agency

Indian Schools
The Office of Indian Affairs (now the Bureau of Indian Affairs) established a network of schools throughout the United States, beginning with Carlisle Indian School, established in 1879. Some of these schools were day schools, usually focusing on Indian children of a single tribe or reservation. Some were boarding schools which served Indian children from a number of tribes and reservations.

In addition, other groups such as various church denominations established schools specifically focusing on American Indian children. (read more...)

The following list of Indian Schools in Montana has been compiled from Hill's Office of Indian Affairs..., Hill's Guide to Records in the National Archives Relating to American Indians , and others.


 * Chief Dull Knife College, a tribal community college, is located at Lame Deer on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation
 * Fort Shaw Industrial Indian Boarding School
 * Little Big Horn College
 * St. Labre Indian School
 * Tongue River BIA Boarding School was established in 1904 in Busby, Montana.

Missions
The Catholic Church established several missions among the Indians of Montana. Among them were:


 * Holy Family Mission Jesuit mission 1890-1941 on the Blackfeet Reservation. A guide to the records of this mission, now housed at Gonzaga University in Spokane Washington, available online.
 * St. Francis Xavier Mission Jesuit mission on the Crow Reservation, 1887-1960
 * St. Ignatius on what is now the Flathead Reservation. A guide to the records of this mission, now housed at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, is available online.
 * St. Mary's Mission Jesuit mission, in the Bitter Root Valley, 1841-1908
 * St. Paul's Mission 1887 Catholic on Fort Belknap Reservation, est. 1884
 * St. Peter's Mission Jesuit 1859-1898

Superintendencies
A Superintendent of Indian Affairs was an administrator, communicating and overseeing the agents who worked directly with individual tribes. It was the responsibility of the superintendent to see that the agents were following official government policy. (read more...)

The Central Superintendency of Indian Affairs was created in 1851 and abolished in 1878. It was responsible for many of the tribes of the Upper Missouri River area.

The Montana Superintendency of Indian Affairs was created in 1864 and abolished in 1873. Some correspondence was filed under its name until 1880.

Area Offices
The Area Offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs are administrative in nature and do not contain many records of details about individual Indians. Hence, they are not the most valuable records for tracing American Indian ancestry.

The Area Offices with supervisory responsibility over agencies in Montana are the Billings Area Office and the Portland Area Office.

National Archives
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is responsible for the preservation of the records of historical importance created by federal offices in the United States of America, including those of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and its predecessor, the Office of Indian Affairs. (Read more...)

Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
Many of the Regional Archives have collected records of the federal offices in their region, including those of the field jurisdictions of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Some of the field jurisdictions are the superintendencies, agencies, schools, factories and area offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The Pacific Alaska Regional Archives (NARA) in Seattle had jurisdiction for the preservation of federal records of offices in Montana for several years. The records for some of those offices remain in this Archives.

The Rocky Mountain Regional Archives (NARA) in Denver has current jurisdiction for the preservation of the records of federal offices in Montana, including those of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

(Read more...)

Family History Library
The Family History Library has microfilm copies of Indian records at the Rocky Mountain Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration in Denver. These include excellent collections for the Blackfeet, Crow, Flathead, Northern Cheyenne, and several other tribes. The available records include heirship, school, census, annuity and other documents.

Most of these records are listed in the Locality Search of the Family History Library Catalog under MONTANA - MINORITIES or MONTANA - NATIVE RACES. Records are also listed in the Subject Search of the Family History Library Catalog under the names of the tribes.

Some other collections in the Family History Library which contain references to the Indians of Montana are:


 * Major James McLaughlin Papers - Family History Library film 0541380.
 * Jesuits Mission Records - Family History Library film 1671639.
 * Montana Superintendency, 1867-1873 - M833 (3 films), Family History Library (1st film) # 1618090.
 * Central Superintendency of Indian Affairs, 1813-1878 - M856 (108 films), Family History Library (1st film) # 1602893.
 * Dakota and Wyoming Superintendency, 1861-1870 &amp; 1877-1878 - M1016 (13 Films), Family History Library (1st film) # 1549632.

Online Resources
http://www.native-languages.org/montana.htm

http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/montana/index.htm

http://www.kstrom.net/isk/maps/mt/montmap.html

See Also:
Montana-Church for list of missions.

Montana-History for a calendar of historical events.

Montana-Military for list of forts.