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NATIVE BUT FOREIGN
Indigenous Immigrants and Refugees in the North American Borderlands by Brenden W. Rensink, Texas A&M Press, 2018

Chapter 9, Note 83 (pages 197 and 270)

In the years following the recognition and reservation allotment, the struggles of securing food and clothing (especially in winter), establishing successful agriculture, and aiding or enrolling related non-reservation Crees, Chippewas, and Métis, made for many battles, and Native leaders continued to seek support from trusted allies. (p. 197)

Chapter 9, Note 83 . . . for sources and discussion on the ongoing struggles of difficult conditions in establishing the reservation. (p. 270)

At this juncture, Crees and Chippewas joined with many other Natives already a part of the BIA-administered American Indian system in the struggles to adapt to agriculture, suffer from lack of supplies and promised annuities, etc. The Montana press continued reporting on conditions at the newly created reservation. Not all landless Natives related to the bands of Rocky Boy and Little Bear were settled on the new reservation, however. Scattered families and bands of Chippewas, Crees, and Metis persisted around Montana. The most discernible group are the Little Shell Band of Chippewa Indians – currently recognized by the State of Montana, but unrecognized by the federal government. As many Chippewas in Montana, they largely originated from the Pembina Band whose other members were recognized and settled at the Turtle Mountain and White Earth reservations.

Sources:

  • “Indians Need Help for Winter,” The Ekalaka Eagle, November 24, 1916, 8.
  • “Indians Suffer from the Cold,” Big Timber Pioneer, March 29, 1917, 9.
  • “Aiding Forgotten Tribes of Indians,” The Washington Times (D.C.), April 21, 1917, 6.
  • “Wandering Indians,” Evening Star, June 24, 1917, 4.
  • Indians Settle Down,” The Bismarck Tribune, July 23, 1917, 9.
  • “Giving the Red Man a Chance,” The Flathead Courier, December 6, 1917, 9.
  • “Assiniboine Crees Starving to Death,” The Dillon Examiner (MT), January, 16, 1918, 9.
  • “Rocky Boy Indians Make Progress in Agriculture Upon the Reservation,” Great Falls Daily Tribune, January 5, 1919, 3.
  • “Chief Little Bear’s Drive for Chippewas,” The Dillon Examiner, June 4, 1919, 9.
  • “Clothing for Rocky Boy-Little Bear Indians,” Great Falls Daily Tribune, November 13, 1919, 16.
  • “Theodore Gibson Ships Clothing to Indians,” Great Falls Daily Tribune, November 29, 1919, 12.
  • “Tribal Chief Demands Help for Chippewas,” Great Falls Tribune, December 24, 1921, 6.
  • “105 Indians Living Here Agents Find,’ Great Falls Tribune, March 8, 1922, 9.
  • “Indians Are Given Home on Reserve,” Great Falls Daily Tribune, April 1, 1922, 10.