Once again, the 250th committee is offering some history to help remind us where we came from.
Montana was at one time home to 11 Native American Tribes. Approximate dates when Tribes first appeared: 1500- Flathead (Salish), Pend d’Oreille, Kootenai. 1620 -Crow. 1730 – Blackfeet. 1760- 1770 – Assiniboine, Gros Ventre. 1800- Yanktonai Sioux. 1830 – Northern Cheyenne. 1870- 1875 – Montana Chippewa & Cree Bands.
The Plains Tribes were nomadic hunters whose lives depended upon the buffalo. Tribes divided into small bands of extended families. Extremely spiritual, they integrated their religion closely with the natural world.
The most prominent tradition was devotion to animism – belief in natural spirits with immense power. They communed with the spirits in dreams to secure help. Tribes would gather for the Sun Dance welcoming the Sun, which they believed healed and guardian spirit bestowed special powers upon them.
The Assiniboine Tribe was known for trading pemican and excellent bison hunters, horse riders, and fighters. They were a small Tribe, traveling to follow food sources.
Today, they share the Fort Peck Reservation with the Sioux and the Fort Belknap Reservation with the Gros Ventre.
The Blackfeet were known for being fierce warriors who battled other Tribes, stealing their horses. They were one of the toughest Tribes to fight.
They would winter in smaller groups. The Blackfeet historically occupied the north and northwestern regions of Montana as well as areas of Alberta, Canada. Today they live on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in northwestern Montana, along the eastern border of Glacier National Park.
The Chippewa, also known as Ojibwe, are a segment of the historical Pembina Band of the Chippewa natives. They were known for their rich culture and excellent handcrafted birchbark canoes, copper mining, and maple syrup. Because they lacked salt for food preservation, it is believed that they mixed many of their dishes with maple syrup.
They were skilled farmers, hunters, and fur traders; organized into different bands, each one named after a different animal. They believed they were the last created lifeform on Earth.
In 1879, the Tribe created a settlement near present-day Great Falls. While Montana officially recognizes the Little Shell Chippewa Tribe, the Tribe does not have an official reservation as it seeks federal recognition from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Chippewa tribal headquarters is located in Great Falls.
The Cree Tribe is famous for its exquisite beadwork. They were distinctly known for painting their tipis, the Thirst Dance (Rain Dance), Powwows, sweat lodges, and feasts.
Cree valued perseverance, respect, honesty, and kindness, and used storytelling as a way to share knowledge. The Cree lived across north-central Montana. The Chippewa Cree Reservation is located in north central Montana near the town of Havre.
The Crow was a dynamic, powerful Tribe known for their large horse herds and horse-based ways of travel and hunting. They were excellent hunters and known for stealing horses from neighboring Tribes.
They regarded tobacco as a sacred plant and believed the universe consisted of three realms – the physical, the spiritual, and a realm that only deities occupied. They believed spirits took the form of animals, and held bison, bears, and birds in high regard.
After migrating west from the midwestern region of the United States, the Crow Tribe settled in the Yellowstone River valley in southern Montana. Today, the Crow Reservation lies in south central Montana where the Big Horn River lies.
The Gros Ventre Tribe originally lived in the Great Lakes region but migrated west. The Tribe originally segmented off the Arapaho Tribe and, after migrating with the Arapaho, joined the Blackfeet Tribe.
The Gros Ventre sacred religious items included various types of pipes, such as the Chief Medicine Pipe and the Feathered Pipe, which protected people from illness and could be used to control the weather.
Today they share the Fort Belknap Reservation with the Assiniboine Tribe. The Gros Ventre primarily reside at the southern end of the reservation.
The Kootenai Tribe were relatively peaceful natives that lived along the Kootenai River in northern Montana. In winter, they lived in permanent villages characterized by dome-shaped homes constructed from wooden poles and mats.
While the Tribe was friendly to traders arriving in the early 1800s, their living conditions slowly worsened and eventually ended up with no land. In 1974, they declared “war” on the United States; a peaceful war with the pen, and their efforts were noticed. They received 12.5 acres of land to begin rebuilding.
Kootenai Falls was important spiritually as a place to seek visions and commune with spirits. The Tribe lived in the steep, dense forests of the northwestern region of Montana along the Kootenai River valley. Today, most live on the Flathead Reservation in northwestern Montana, which they share with the Pend d’Oreille and Salish Tribes.
The Northern Cheyenne were feared mounted warriors. They wore distinct moccasins that covered their entire foot, secured around the ankle, with a block pattern around the top.
The Northern Cheyenne reservation is located in the high plains of southeastern Montana on the Tongue River, just east of the Crow Reservation.
The Pend d’Oreille Tribe, also known as the Kalispel, lived in tipis in the summer, and unique lodges in the winter. They wove cattails into tule mats and attached them to tree branches to form a hut.
They were known for creating weapons from flint and forging daily necessities from rock. They received their name “Pend d’Oreille” from French traders, which means “hangs from ears” in French, referring to the large shell earrings the Tribe members often wore.
The Tribe’s territory once covered 20 million acres from the Cascade Range to the Rocky Mountains through northern Idaho, and across southern Canada to western Montana.
Today, most reside on the Flathead Reservation on the Flathead River in northwestern Montana with the Bitterroot Salish and Kootenai Tribes.
The Bitterroot Salish Tribe was well-known for building totem poles that symbolized a member’s spirit animal or family crest. Historically, they occupied a region just west of Billings, which stretched just below present-day Great Falls to the Rocky Mountains and extended south to the Wyoming border.
The majority lives on the Flathead Reservation in northwestern Montana and share the Reservation with the Kootenai and Pend d’Oreille Tribes.
The Sioux were a much-feared warrior Tribe. They dominated the Great Plains for centuries and honored for their courage and strength. They were fine craftsmen and artisans, known for intricate beadwork, pipe making, flute making, and leatherwork. The Sioux were well-known for wearing elaborate headgear.
The Sioux Tribe called much of the Great Plains home, settling across various regions of Montana. Today, they share the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in northeast Montana with the Assiniboine Tribe. The Fort Peck Reservation spans across four counties and is the 9th largest reservation in the U.S.