FORT PECK RESERVATION

THE ASSINIBOINE AND SIOUX TRIBAL RESERVATION IS IN THE NORTHEASTERN PART OF NEVADA 2 MILLION ACRES, HALF ARE OWNED BY INDIVIDUAL TRIBAL MEMBERS WEST POINT IS THE LARGEST TOWN WITH 4000 PEOPLE.. POPLAR IS THE CENTRAL TOWN FOR THE TRIBAL GOVERNMENT. THEY HAVE FEDERALLY FUNDED PROGRAMS. THERE ARE ABOUT 7000 SIOUX AND 42,000 ASSINIBOINE HERE. MUCH OF THE BETTER CROPLAND PASSED INTO NON INDIAN HANDS. HISTORY - BY 1600'S THE NACOTA SEPARATED INTO 2 GROUPS. ONE MOVED FURTHER WEST AND THEY BEGAN REFINING THEIR BUFFALO HUNTING SKILLS. THEY MOVED TOWARD LAKE WINNEBAGO AND HAD A TRADING RELATIONSHIP WITH HUDSON BAY COMPANY . RAIDS WERE COMMON AND BEAVER PELTS AND BUFFALO HIDES WERE TRADED. WOMEN TRADED METAL POTS AND PANS, SKINNING KNIVES, BLANKETS AND BEADS. DISEASE AGAIN STRUCK THE NATIVES AND REDUCED THEIR POPULATION BY TWO-THIRDS! THE DAKOTA GROUPS FLED THEIR HOME TO ESCAPE THE SMALLPOX. ONE OF THE LAST ASSEMBLIES OF SOLDIERS. ONE OF THE LARGEST ASSEMBLIES OF SOLDIERS FIGHTING AGAINST THE PLAINS TRIBES WAS AT KILLDEER MOUNTAIN. WHEN THE BUFFALO BECAME NEARLY EXTINCT IN THE 1880'S THE LAKOTA FACED TOTAL DEPENDENCE ON THE GOVERNMENT. THE CHIEFS OF MANY OF THE PLAINS INDIANS SURRENDERED ABOUT 1.75 MILLION ACRES TO THE GOVERNMENT IN ORDER TO BE SUBSIDIZED. WHEN THE DEPRESSION HIT THE LAND REVERTED TO THE GOVERNMENT AS HOMESTEADS FAILED. THE GOVERNMENT BUILT FORT PECK DAM ON THE MISSOURI SO THEY HAD SOME WATER RELIEF FOR WATERING GARDENS. DURING WORLD WAR II MANY NATIVES SERVED IN THE WAR. IN 1950 OIL WAS DISCOVERED AND FORT PECK TRIBES BECAME THE LEADING OIL PRODUCING TRIBE HERE. FORT PECK RELIED HEAVILY ON AGRICULTURE. TRIBAL LEASES AND OIL AND GAS PRODUCING. THEY BUILT AN INDIAN HEALTH CLINIC ON THE CHIEF REDSTONE CLINIC. THEY SERVE 7300 PATIENTS. THEY HAVE HAD BOTH PROSPERITY AND ECONOMIC SLUMPS. CURRENTLY THEY ARE WORKING ON A WATER PUMPLINE. OPI.MT.GOV