Fort Belknap Indian Community Council
Fort
Belknap Community Council
Harlem, MT
59526
Phone:
(406) 353-2205
Fax:
(406) 353-2797
1-800-859-2794
Website:
http://www.fortbelknapnations-nsn.gov
Tribal College
Fort Belknap College
P.O. Box 159
Harlem, MT 59526
Telephone: (406)353-2607
Fax:(406)353-2898
Website:
www.fbcc.edu
The Gros Ventre of Montana
A cool website by our friend Everall Fox about the Gros Ventre
FORT BELKNAP RESERVATION PROFILE
LOCATION AND LAND STATUS
Located in north-central Montana, the Fort Belknap Reservation spans
alluvial bottom land, glacial till plains, and the Bearpaw and Little Rocky
Mountain ranges. Fort Belknap covers
an area of 652,593 acres. Rectangular in shape, the reservation has an average
east/west width of 28 miles, and an average length of 40 miles. There are four
major communities at Fort Belknap: the Fort Belknap Agency in the northwest
corner of the reservation, Hays, Lodgepole, and Milk River Valley. Harlem, which
lies outside the reservation boundaries north of the Fort Belknap Agency, also
has a large Indian population.
Fort Belknap was established in 1869 near the present town of Chinook, Montana.
The new fort served as a trading post and became the government agency for the
Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Indians living in the area. On May 1, 1888, a
congressional act set aside the land for the Fort Belknap Reservation. Later
that year, the agency moved from Chinook to its present location five miles east
of Harlem, on the northwest corner of the reservation.
CULTURE AND HISTORY
Fort Belknap Indian Reservation is populated by members of the Gros
Ventre (pronounced Gro Von) and Assiniboine Tribes. The Assiniboine speak a
Siouan dialect, while the Gros Ventre’s language belongs to the greater
Algonquian linguistic family.
The Assiniboine Tribe, initially living in the Rainy Lake and Lake of the Woods
area along the Canadian border, moved westward to the northern plains region in
the early 1700s, searching for food. To facilitate hunting, the tribe broke into
two bands, one group remaining in the northern plains to hunt bison. Before
1774, the Assiniboine divided again, with some moving south and west along the
Missouri River. Epidemics ravaged their numbers, necessitating an alliance with
the Cree against their common enemy, the Blackfeet. The Assiniboine agreed to
the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851, as the treaty provided them with hunting
territory. The Assiniboine were traditionally considered excellent hunters and
horsemen.
Less is known about the Gros Ventre Tribe, who descended initially from the
Arapaho people. By the late 1700s the Gros Ventre had moved from the northern
prairies to the northern plains and became allies with the Blackfeet. Their
relationship with the Blackfeet remained solid until the mid-1800s, when a
number of cultural and social factors caused the Blackfeet and the Gros Ventre
people to wage war against each other. After losing a major battle against the
Blackfeet in 1867, the Gros Ventre became close allies with the Assiniboine and
they began living together in the Milk River country.
When the Gros Ventre Tribe agreed in 1888 to give up their larger territorial
rights and settle for a reservation land base, the federal government intended
this reservation to also house other indigenous groups. The Gros Ventre and the
Assiniboine vehemently opposed the "sale of the mountains," which was advocated
by federal commissioners who were assigned to negotiate the sale of the
gold-mining country in 1896. Advising the impoverished Indians that they would
starve in two years if they did not make an agreement with the government, the
commissioners convinced tribal representatives to sell a strip of land, seven
miles long and four miles wide, for $360,000. Pegasus Gold Company now mines
this site, with heavy opposition from some tribal members. The opposition is
compounded by the current reality of contaminated land and water and the
accompanying health risks to the reservation people.
GOVERNMENT
The Fort Belknap Community Council was organized under the 1934 Indian
Reorganization Act. Its constitution and bylaws were approved in 1935, and a
corporate charter was ratified in 1937. The Tribal Council is composed of twelve
members, six Gros Ventre and six Assiniboine elected by the community at large,
with three officers elected by the Council. Council members serve for four-year
staggered terms.
Tribal Profile --
Tribal Data Resources®
