Fort Peck Indian Reservation
Encyclopedia
Fort Peck, Montana
Fort Peck is a town in Valley County, Montana, United States. The population was 240 at the 2000 census.-History:The name Fort Peck is associated with Col. Campbell K. Peck, the partner of Elias H. Durfee in the Leavenworth, Kansas, trading firm of Durfee and Peck...
. It is the homeland of the Assiniboine and Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
tribes of Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
s. It is the ninth-largest Indian reservation
Indian reservation
An American Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs...
in the United States and comprises parts of four counties. In descending order of land area they are Roosevelt
Roosevelt County, Montana
-National protected areas:* Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site * Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge -Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 10,620 people, 3,581 households, and 2,614 families residing in the county. The population density was 4 people per square mile...
, Valley
Valley County, Montana
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 7,675 people, 3,150 households, and 2,129 families residing in the county. The population density was 2 people per square mile . There were 4,847 housing units at an average density of 1 per square mile...
, Daniels
Daniels County, Montana
-Economy:The main source of income for Daniels County has been cattle and dryland wheat.-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 2,017 people, 892 households, and 561 families residing in the county. The population density was 1.4 people per square mile . There were 1,154 housing units...
, and Sheridan
Sheridan County, Montana
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 4,105 people, 1,741 households, and 1,140 families residing in the county. The population density was 2.4 people per square mile . There were 2,167 housing units at an average density of 1.3 per square mile...
counties. The total land area is 3,289.389 sq mi (8,519.480 km²), and a population of 10,321 was counted during the 2000 census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
. The largest community on the reservation is the city of Wolf Point
Wolf Point, Montana
Wolf Point is a city in and the county seat of Roosevelt County, Montana, United States. The population was 2,621 at the 2010 census. It is the largest community on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. Wolf Point is the home of the annual Wild Horse Stampede, held every year during the second weekend...
.
Like a country in a country
The Fort Peck Tribes are federally recognized, therefore they are viewed as a sovereign government, separate from the federal government.The Tribe has its own court system, jail, treatment center, fish and game, and even a state controlled tribal newspaper.
The Tribal Government has control over most activities inside of the reservation borders. In addition to the Tribal Government, there are also city and county governments, as well as a newly formed Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Council.
The Tribal Headquarters are located in Poplar
Poplar, Montana
As of the census of 2000, there were 911 people, 325 households, and 206 families residing in the town. The population density was 3,406.0 people per square mile . There were 350 housing units at an average density of 1,308.5 per square mile...
, widely viewed as the capital of the Reservation. The Bureau of Indian Affairs
Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the US Department of the Interior. It is responsible for the administration and management of of land held in trust by the United States for Native Americans in the United States, Native American...
has the Fort Peck Agency located in Poplar.
People of the Fort Peck Reservation
The reservation is home to The Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes. Though separate, both tribes have similar sounding languages and are of the Siouan languageSiouan languages
The Western Siouan languages, also called Siouan proper or simply Siouan, are a Native American language family of North America, and the second largest indigenous language family in North America, after Algonquian...
family.
Fort Peck Tribes have an estimated 11,000 enrolled members, half of which reside on the reservation. There are also many "associate members" meaning they have Indian blood but not enough to be enrolled with the tribe.
To be enrolled, or recognized as an official tribal member, a person must be at least 1/4 Fort Peck Indian blood. This is done through blood quantum measurements kept by the tribe.
History
In 1878, the Fort Peck Agency was relocated to its present day location in Poplar because the original agency was located on a flood plain, suffering floods each spring.Attempts by the U.S. government to take the Black Hills
Black Hills
The Black Hills are a small, isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, USA. Set off from the main body of the Rocky Mountains, the region is something of a geological anomaly—accurately described as an "island of...
and bind the Sioux to agencies along the Missouri in the 1860s resulted in warfare, reopening the issues that had been central to Red Cloud's War
Red Cloud's War
Red Cloud's War was an armed conflict between the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho and the United States in the Wyoming Territory and the Montana Territory from 1866 to 1868. The war was fought over control of the Powder River Country in north central present day Wyoming...
(1866–68). As part of the Sioux agreed to come in to agencies, part chose to resist. Army efforts to bring in the other Sioux (characterized as "hostiles") led to battles in the Rosebud country, and culminated in the Battle of the Little Bighorn
Battle of the Little Bighorn
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer's Last Stand and, by the Indians involved, as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, was an armed engagement between combined forces of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho people against the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army...
in 1876.
As the victors dispersed, Sitting Bull led followers north into the Red Water country, where contact with the Sioux of Fort Peck Agency kept the Hunkpapa
Hunkpapa
The Hunkpapa are a Native American group, one of the seven council fires of the Lakota Sioux tribe. The name Húŋkpapȟa is a Sioux word meaning "Head of the Circle"...
s and assorted Tetons supplied. When military pressure increased, Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull Sitting Bull Sitting Bull (Lakota: Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake (in Standard Lakota Orthography), also nicknamed Slon-he or "Slow"; (c. 1831 – December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux holy man who led his people as a tribal chief during years of resistance to United States government policies...
led most of his followers into Canada in 1877. The military presence increased in an effort to induce Sitting Bull to surrender.
Camp Poplar (located at Fort Peck Agency) was established in 1880. Finally, without supplies and barely tolerated by Indians in the area of present day southern Saskatchewan, Sitting Bull came in to surrender at Fort Buford
Fort Buford
Fort Buford was a United States Army base at the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers in North Dakota, and the site of Sitting Bull's surrender in 1881....
on July 19, 1881. Some of his Hunkpapas stragglers intermarried with others at Fort Peck and resided in the Chelsea community.
The early 1880s brought many changes and much suffering. By 1881, all the buffalo
American Bison
The American bison , also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds...
were gone from the region. By 1883/84, over 300 Assiniboines died of starvation at the Wolf Point sub-agency when medical attention and food were in short supply. Rations were not sufficient for needs, and suffering reservation-wide was exacerbated by particularly severe winters. The early reservation traumas were complicated by frequent changes in agents, few improvements in services, and a difficult existence for the agency's tribes. Negotiations during the winter of 1886-87 and ratified in the Act of May 1, 1888, established modern boundaries.
Also in 1887, Congress passed the Dawes Act
Dawes Act
The Dawes Act, adopted by Congress in 1887, authorized the President of the United States to survey Indian tribal land and divide the land into allotments for individual Indians. The Act was named for its sponsor, Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts. The Dawes Act was amended in 1891 and again...
, which provided the general legislation for dividing the hitherto tribally-owned Indian reservations into parcels of land to be given to individuals. During the turn of the century, as the non-Indian proceeded to inhabit the boundary areas of the Reservation, the prime grazing and farmland areas situated within the Reservation drew their attention. As more and more homesteaders moved into the surrounding area, pressure was placed on Congress to open up the Fort Peck Reservation to homesteading.
Finally, the Congressional Act of May 30, 1908, commonly known as the Fort Peck Allotment Act, was passed. The Act called for the survey and allotment of lands now embraced by the Fort Peck Indian Reservation and the sale and dispersal of all the surplus lands after allotment. Each eligible Indian was to receive 320 acres (1.3 km²) of grazing land in addition to some timber and irrigable land. Parcels of land were also withheld for Agency, school and church use. Also, land was reserved for use by the Great Northern (Burlington Northern) Railroad. All lands not allotted or reserved were declared surplus and were ready to be disposed of under the general provisions of the homestead, desert land, mineral and townsite laws.
In 1913, approximately 1348408 acres (5,456.8 km²) of unallotted or tribal unreserved lands were available for settlement by the non-Indian homesteaders. Although provisions were made to sell the remaining land not disposed of in the first five years, it was never completed. Several additional allotments were made before the 1930s.
Educational history on the Reservation includes a government boarding school program which was begun in 1877 and finally discontinued in the 1920s. Missionary schools were run periodically by the Mormons and Presbyterians in the first decades of the 20th century, but with minimal success. The Fort Peck Reservation is served by five public school districts, which are responsible for elementary and secondary education. In addition, an independent post-secondary institution is located on the Reservation: Fort Peck Community College
Fort Peck Community College
Fort Peck Community College is one of seven tribal community colleges in the state of Montana. The college is located on the Fort Peck Assiniboine & Sioux Reservation in the northeast corner of Montana, with its main campus in Poplar....
, which offers nine associate of arts, six associate of science, and ten associate of applied science degrees.
Fort Peck Reservation is home to two separate Indian nations, each composed of numerous bands and divisions. The Sioux divisions of Sisseton/Wahpetons, the Yanktonais, and the Teton Hunkpapa are all represented. The Assiniboine bands of Canoe Paddler and Red Bottom are represented. The Reservation is located in the extreme northeast corner of Montana, on the north side of the Missouri River.
The Reservation is 110 miles (177 km) long and 40 miles (64.4 km) wide, encompassing 209331 acres (847.1 km²). Of this, approximately 378000 acres (1,529.7 km²) are tribally owned and 548000 acres (2,217.7 km²) are individually allotted Indian lands. The total of Indian owned lands is about 926000 acres (3,747.4 km²). There are an estimated 10,000 enrolled tribal members, of whom approximately 6,000 reside on or near the Reservation. The population density is greatest along the southern border of the Reservation near the Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
and the major transportation routes, U.S. Highway 2 and the Amtrak routing on the tracks of the Burlington Northern Railroad
Burlington Northern Railroad
The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1996....
.
The Fort Peck Tribes adopted their first written constitution in 1927. The Tribes voted to reject a new constitution under the Indian Reorganization Act in 1934. The original constitution was amended in 1952, and completely rewritten and adopted in 1960. The present constitution remains one of the few modern tribal constitutions that still includes provisions for general councils, the traditional tribal type of government. The official governing body of the Fort Peck Tribes is the Tribal Executive Board, composed of twelve voting members, plus a chairman, vice-chairman, secretary-accountant, and sergeant-at-arms. All members of the governing body, except the secretary-accountant are elected at large every two years.
Communities
- BrocktonBrockton, MontanaAs of the census of 2000, there were 245 people, 67 households, and 59 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,285.7 people per square mile . There were 72 housing units at an average density of 377.8 per square mile . The racial makeup of the town was 13.06% White, 84.90%...
- FrazerFrazer, MontanaFrazer is a census-designated place in Valley County, Montana, United States. The population was 452 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Frazer is located at ....
- Lustre
- PoplarPoplar, MontanaAs of the census of 2000, there were 911 people, 325 households, and 206 families residing in the town. The population density was 3,406.0 people per square mile . There were 350 housing units at an average density of 1,308.5 per square mile...
- ReserveReserve, MontanaReserve is a census-designated place in Sheridan County, Montana, United States. The population was 23 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Reserve is located at ....
- Wolf PointWolf Point, MontanaWolf Point is a city in and the county seat of Roosevelt County, Montana, United States. The population was 2,621 at the 2010 census. It is the largest community on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. Wolf Point is the home of the annual Wild Horse Stampede, held every year during the second weekend...