Fort Peck Reservation

Thank you!!

Buffalo Rivers Casino Project

• $30 million project -funding
• Casino and lodge
• 80-100 construction jobs for tribe members
• 220 full time jobs
• The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community from Minnesota will be funding majority of the project

http://buffaloriverscasino.com/

Fort Peck Economics

Poplar, Montana

Oil

"That means that we can take care of ourselves. If we didn't have to depend on the federal government, we'd be a lot better off than we are now. We depend on the federal government for almost everything we have." says Tribal Council Chairman Floyd Azure

The Bakken

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/05/26/beckoning-bakken-will-oil-boom-reach-montanas-impoverished-fort-peck-tribes-149535

• Industrial
• Metal fabrication
• production sewing
• electronic manufacturer
• very large employer for the tribes and reservation.
• Community College

• Very agriculturally based
• Farming
• Ranching
• Oil
• 2nd largest reservation in Montana at 2 million acres
• Tribes supply majority of the employment

• Reservation sits on what is thought to be the Western edge of the geological formation.
• There is a lot of potential
• Have had a few trials without much luck
• Mainly getting water rather than oil
• Setbacks and unresolved unemployment rates

www.city-data.com

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/05/26/beckoning-bakken-will-oil-boom-reach-montanas-impoverished-fort-peck-tribes-149535

Cydney Kurth

fortpecktribes.org

http://www.fortpecktribes.org/community.html

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Fort Peck Allotment Act of 1908

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History

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Wolf Point Wild Horse Stampede

Assiniboine

Sioux

5 Public School

Fort Peck Community College

-Population = 10,771

-4 Counties

-Roughly 2 Million Acres

-3rd Largest Reservation in MT

-9th Largest Reservation in the Nation

Act of Congress on May 1, 1888

Poplar Assiniboine and Sioux Cultural Center and Museum

-Surveying and Allotment of Lands

-Surplus Lands Sold

-Land Withheld

-Land Allotted to Eligible Indians

-Checkerboard

5. Culture

4. Social Structure

3. Population historically to present

-The Sioux held onto their language, culture and traditions through the Assimilation period.

Sioux: Split into smaller groups. Men hunted, women watched over the camp, sewed, cooked, etc.

-Known for the Sun Dance.

- Assiniboine: Before disease: 10,000 estimated individuals. After three epidemics, they were reduced to 3,375-3,690.

-In December 2000: 5,618 individuals in Canada and in November 2001 6,442 individuals in the U.S.

- Fraternal societies chose those deemed worthy to join. If the young men excelled here the moved on to a more prestigious society; the tribal council.

- The Assiniboine believed in a singular creator, First Born Boy.

- Today, the Sioux's traditional social organization has weakened, though they still consult a healer, wise one, on some tribal matters.

-Tobacco is big a large part of prayer and religion.

Assiniboine: Made small family groups. each group had a chief who was chosen for his merit, not on heredity.

-Believed that the Creator gave them spirits to help with their own short comings.

- Council made up of the heads of each family and the chief.

- The men would seek visions.

- Assiniboine also practiced the Sun Dance, Fool Dance

- The Soldier Society acted as the police and military.

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-Men had to prove worth before marriage.

- Today the Fort Peck reservation is run by an executive board

with Rusty Stafne as it's Chairman.

Assiniboine and Sioux history

2. Who Are They?

The Sioux are a federally recognized tribe from the plains of North America, mainly known as The Lakota, Nakota, Dakota.

1. Tribal Affiliation Demographics and Histories

-Bands of the Sioux: Hunkpapa, Sisseton, Wahpeton, and Teton are represented in Fort Peck.

-Bands of the Assiniboine: Canoe Paddler and Red Bottom are represented.

1. www. tribalnations.gov/fortpeck

- www.fortpecktribes.org

2. www.encylopedia.com/topic/assiniboine.aspx.

3. www.encyclopedia.com/topic/assiniboine.aspx.

- www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Sioux

4. www.encylopedia.com/topic/assiniboine.aspx.

- www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Sioux

-6,800 Assiniboine and Sioux living on the Fort Peck reservation

-3,900 members living off the reservation.

Both tribes are Siouian-speaking.

Hunter Mahlum

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Assiniboine

• Bands on reservation: Canoe Paddler and Red Bottom

• Call them selves the Nakoda

• Originally lived in Canada

• 4,209 enrolled Assiniboine members

• Assiniboine means "Stone Boilers"

http://www.fortpecktribes.org/tribal_history.html

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Sioux

• Bands on reservation: Sisseton, Wahpetons, the Yanktonais, and the Teton Hunkpapa

Fort Peck Reservation

• Call them selves the “Dakota”

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• Originally lived in the Midwest

Major Similarities and Differences

• 6,962 enrolled Sioux members

• Share a reservation of 2,093,318 acres

http://www.montanatribes.org/links_&_resources/tribes/fort_peck.pdf

• At war in the 1600s

• Both pushed west to Montana because of colonies

Home of the Assiniboine & Sioux

http://tribalnations.mt.gov/fortpeck

Fort Peck Dam

www.aaanativearts.com/fort-peck-photo.jpg

Purple Group

Contemporary Life & Issues on the Fort Peck Reservation

• Opened in 1940
• Located within the Charles M. Russel Wildlife Refuge near Glasgow and is adjacent to the Fort Peck community
• Creates Fort Peck Lake
• Nameplate capacity: 185.25 Megawatts

http://makeitright.org/montana/fort-peck-announcement/

Madeleine Price

Jackson vs. The Board of Trustees of Wolf Point District, 2013

• Unfair election of schoolboard members
• White majority district:
• 1 representative/143 residents
• Native American majority district:
• 1 representative/841 residents
• New arrangement will ensure "one person, one vote" representation

• http://aclumontana.org/jackson-et-al-v-wolf-point-school-district/
• http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/03/18/giant-step-forward-equal-voting-rights-native-lawsuit-154057

Keystone XL Pipeline

• Fort Peck passed a resolution opposing pipeline
• Located upstream from Fort Peck Dam

Hunting

Natural Resource Use

• Pipeline could jeopardize drinking water projects for reservation
• Poplar Pipeline spill
• XL spill would have 10x the effect

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/02/24/too-many-broken-pipelines-fort-peck-reservation-passes-resolution-opposing-keystone-xl\

Community Health

• Trust responsibility
• Indian Health Service receives $4.4 billion annually
• Higher rates of substance abuse, assault, & diabetes
• Average life expectancy
• Women: 62/82 years
• Men: 56/75 years
• Reasons for poor and delayed health care

• Regulated by the Fort Peck Fish & Game Department
• Big Game: Buffalo, Elk, Deer
• Birds: Waterfowl, Pheasants, Grouse, Sharptail, Hungarian Partridge
• "Special" Game: Buffalo (from Turtle Mound Buffalo Ranch), Antelope, Pronghorn

Images: fortpecktribes.org

http://www.nativetimes.com/index.php/life/health/9963-as-tribal-health-care-woes-mount-feds-get-blame

Education

"The School-to-Prison Pipeline Tragedy"

• punishment can separate children from friends, positive routines, and even meals
• leads to not only trouble with the law, but to high suicide rates

Poverty

http://www.buffalopost.net/category/fort-peck-indian-reservation/

Definition for one individual: makes <$11,490 per year

(increases as family size increases)

American Indian Health Profile (2008)

Montana Research and Analysis Bureau (2008)

Other problems:

• lack of funding
• lack of support
• lack of proper representation

• Unemployment rate: 55%
• Median household income: $18,500

• Overall poverty rate: 45%
• At least 50% of children live in poverty.

Montana average: 13% / 17%

Montana average: $40,627

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/in-montana-an-indian-reservations-children-feel-the-impact-of-sequesters-cuts/2013/03/21/90b61722-916e-11e2-bdea-e32ad90da239_story.html

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• linked to poor health, criminal activity, mental illness, and addiction
• possible causes:
• lack of property rights
• physical and economic isolation
• underlying social & cultural factors

image: wikipedia.com

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Image: umsciencescource.com

http://www.wolfpointherald.com/index.php/wp-news/local-news/898-the-root-problems-living-below-the-line

Suicide

American Indian kids aged 10-24 take their lives at a rate 3x of that of other population groups.

Causes:

personal issues, community-wide poverty, unemployment, substance abuse

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/11/21/he-was-my-only-son-fort-peck-mother-calls-congressional-inquiry-152349

(http://www.fortpecktribes.org/images/tatanka2_430x291.jpg)

Kevin Lu

• (fortpecktribes.org/fgd/hunting.htm)
• (fptwater.org)
• (fortpecktribes.org/tribal_history.html)
• (ourfactsyourfuture.org/media/9413/rf13-fortpeck-web.pdf)

(http://www.fortpecktribes.org/fgd/images/tatanka_330x230.jpg)

(http://www.fortpecktribes.org/fgd/images/ca_goose_330x230.gif)

(http://media-1.web.britannica.com/eb-media/69/101769-004-B54D3139.jpg)

Fishing

Water Resource Office

Fort Peck Allotment Act

• Not allowed to fish for Sturgeon
• Only one Paddlefish per season

• Responsible for water rights and regulations
• Enforce the Fort Peck - Montana Compact and the Tribal Water Code
• Manages water use, quality and quantity

• Gave surplus lands from the Allotment act to eligible Natives
• Each eligible person was to receive 320 acres of grazing land in addition to some timber and irrigable land

(http://vancouverfishingtrips.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/sturgeon_Fishing_Vancouver_BC.jpg)

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/USACE_Fort_Peck_Dam.jpg)

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Paddlefish_Polyodon_spathula.jpg)

Agriculture

(http://makeitright.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/fort_peck_landscape-2.jpg)

• 2007: 97 Indian owned farms, 3 non-Indian owned farms
• Livestock include: Cattle, Sheep, Horses, Chickens
• Crops include: Wheat (Winter, Durum, Spring), Barley, Oats, Hay

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Indians_Farming_on_Fort_Peck_Reservation_(Bain_Collection).jpg)