Ft. Peck

Fort Peck Tribal Executive Board

Fort Peck Tribe

PO Box 1027

Poplar, MT 59255

Phone: (406) 768-5155

Fax: (406) 768-5478

Website: http://www.fortpecktribes.org

Tribal College

Fort Peck Community College

P.O. Box 398 -

605 Indian,

Poplar, MT 59255

Fort Peck Assiniboine & Sioux Cultural Center & Museum

Telephone : 406-768-5155

FORT PECK RESERVATION PROFILE

LOCATION AND LAND STATUS

The Fort Peck Indian Reservation lies in northeastern Montana, primarily in Roosevelt County, although small portions lie in Valley, Daniels, and Sheridan counties. The reservation covers 2,093,300 acres of rolling prairie, bounded on the south by the Missouri River, to the east by the Big Muddy Creek, and to the west by the Porcupine Creek.

The reservation is relatively isolated from Montana’s centers of population, manufacturing, and marketing. The largest community on the reservation is Wolf Point, which is also the Roosevelt County seat. The tribal headquarters are located in the town of Poplar. The southern portion of the reservation along Highway 2 is its most densely populated region. 70 miles east of Poplar, Williston, North Dakota, serves as the nearest trade center of any significance. The closest urban areas in Montana Billings and Great Falls are each over 300 miles from Poplar.

The reservation was established in 1871 by Executive Order. Under the 1908 Allotment Act, each tribal member received 320 acres, in addition to 40 acres of irrigable land. Heads of families also received 20 acres of timberland. Remaining lands were opened to homesteading in 1916. In addition to the land held in trust, the tribe retains control of 85,000 acres of sub-marginal land through a lease agreement with the U.S. Department of Interior. Title to the Indian-owned land is complicated due to multiple inheritances. Due to the notorious Dawes Act of 1887, there is a "checkerboarding" between Indian-owned land allotments, tribally owned land, and land owned by non-Indians (with this last category comprising a full 55 percent of the reservation).

CULTURE AND HISTORY

The inhabitants of the Fort Peck Reservation trace their descent primarily from two separate Indian tribes: the Lower Assiniboine and the Yankatoni Sioux. Most historians believe that the Assiniboine are in fact an offshoot of the Yankatoni Sioux, having broken away sometime during the 1600s and returned as a distinct tribe in the 1860s. Their name, Assiniboine, reflects their original Siouan ancestry—the word "ass-ni-pwan" meaning "stone Sioux," apparently referring to their method of cooking food with hot stones and boiling water.

As pragmatic fur traders, the Assiniboine’s economic history is inextricably linked with the history of the 18th century frontier fur trade. During the mid-1800s, the so-called Lower Assiniboine (referring to where they lived on the Missouri River in Montana) escaped the smallpox epidemic, which wiped-out many of their kinspeople. These Assiniboine people then followed their leader, Red Stone, to live with the Yankatoni Sioux, who had come into northeastern Montana to hunt buffalo on their traditional hunting grounds.

The Fort Peck Sioux are from a middle band of the Sioux, or the Nakotas. Originally from Canada, the Sioux began their migration west soon after settlers began displacing eastern indigenous populations. During the late 1600s the Nakota language group split into two bands, one being the Yankatoni Sioux who resided on the northern Plains. Some of the Sioux at Fort Peck are descendants of the participants in the Battle of Little Bighorn.

The Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux tribes rejected the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, which gave Indian tribes the opportunity to organize as corporate entities, with their assets particularly land protected under federal trust. Instead the Fort Peck peoples retained their constitution, which they had ratified in 1927. This constitution was amended in 1952, establishing a representative form of government, and was granted formal recognition by the Department of Interior in 1960. Although they rejected incorporation, the Fort Peck people did benefit from certain aspects of the 1934 IRA. For instance, the Fort Peck Indians gained tribal ownership to reservation land that had become alienated from their possession. In addition, the policy of land allotment was finally halted and the federal government repurchased 85,338 acres of lands rendered sub-marginal by droughts during the 1930s. This land was in turn leased to the tribes, who then leased large portions to the public.

While the Fort Peck Reservation is inhabited primarily by Assiniboine and Sioux peoples, a recent survey suggests that approximately 500 Indians from other tribes live within reservation boundaries as well. These people include the Chippewa, Cree, and Teton Sioux.

GOVERNMENT

The Fort Peck Tribes are governed by an Executive Board comprising 15 enrolled members, including a chairperson, vice-chairperson, sergeant-at-arms, and twelve voting members. According to the board’s discretion, a secretary-accountant may be appointed either from the board’s membership or from the tribal membership. Board members preside over nine business committees, each dealing with broad areas of tribal policy and business management.

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