Chapter 1, Note 25 (pages 31 and 228)

Natives peoples’ interaction, cohabitation, intermarriage, cooperation, and occasional shared heritage provides context for such errors (p. 31)

The 1900 U.S. Census used various labels in a number of Montana counties to designate full- and mixed-blood of Crees, Chippewas, and Chippewa-Crees (p. 228)

The 1900 census listed a small number of full-blooded Crees and Chippewas residing together with Métis in Cascade, Chouteau, Lewis and Clark, Missoula, Silver Bow, Teton, and Valley counties. The larger presence of Métis in the census is may be due to their success in previous years of establishing a more sedentary presence in various communities. Yet, there is evidence that many were yet uncounted. In 1901, the Anaconda Standard ran a story about one Robieau, a “Half-Breed” of Chippewa-white heritage that killed a white man in self-defense (“Robieau Tells his Tale,” Anaconda Standard, December 11, 1901). As background, the Standard explained that Robieau, though originally from Canada, had lived on the Flathead Reservation continually since 1889. However, Robieau was not enumerated on the Flathead Census. This may be indicative of larger trends, and the numbers herein provided are surely low estimates. Indian census data includes ancestry listings for their tribal affiliation, as well as that of their mother and father. If of “mixed-blood” heritage, a fraction of their white-blood was also included. Likewise, the census enumeration of “Indian Populations” provided state, province or country of birth for the individual and parents, along with the mother tongue of each. The records from Sweet Grass Township, Chouteau County, omit any “mixed-blood” data, but given their birth places, most were certainly Métis. One can only speculate as to the total number of Crees, Chippewas, and Métis in the state not enumerated in the census.

See the table below for how the Census categorized various peoples.

Source: U.S. Census, 1900, Series T623, Roll 909, pg. 61; Roll 910, pp. 58, 72 and 107; Roll 912, pg. 122; Roll 913, pg. 187; Roll 914, pg. 270; and Roll 915, pg. 59, 71, 142 and 150.