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< H O M E
R O O M >
S urvey of the F lathead R eservation
The Flathead Indian Reservation is located in
Sanders, Lake, Flathead, and Missoula counties
in Northwestern Montana.
The Reservation is bounded on the West by
the Cabinet and Lodo National Forestsand hold
ings of the Anaconda Mining Company; on the
East by the Missoula and Flathead National For
ests and on the North by the Cabinet, Blackfeet
and Flathead National Forests and private hold
ings.
The Flathead Reservation was established by
the Treaty of July 16, 1855, and provided not
only for the Salish but for small bands of Kali
spell, Pend’Orille and Kootenai Indians. The
Catholic Church has maintained a mission, school
and hospital at St. Ignatius for many years. It
is the only church that hasdone work on the Res
ervation.
There are 2999 Indians enrolled on the Flat-
head Indian Reservation. Of this number approx
imately 700 make their homes away from the Res
ervation, leaving 2,300 Flathead Indians enrolled
and actually living there. In addition to this
number there are 261 non-ward Indians living on
the Reservation, which brings the total resident
population to 2,651 Indians.
The Confederated Flathead Tribes have adopted
a Consitution and By-Laws and elected a Tribal
Council under it.
There are four Co-operative Livestock Associ
ations on the Reservation. They were organized
during the winter of 1934-1935.
The greatest resource of the Flathead Indians
is the Flathead River power site. More than
250,000 horse power of available energy waits to
be harnessed to tribunes that can produce billions
of kilowatt hours of low-cost electricity.
This natural wealth belonged to the Indians
by virtue of solemn treaties, but the Indians had
nothing to say about its use and distribution for
many years. Prior to 1934, it was the Interior
Department and not the Indians who decided
what should be done with the “white coal” of an
Indian reservation.
B lackfeet R eservation
The Blackfeet Reservation is situated in the
northwestern part of Montana and comprises the
major portion of Glacier County and part of Pon
dera County.
The reservation contains 1,527,712 acres, 278,
399 acres of which is owned by outsiders; of the
remaining 1,247,313 acres, 54,411 acres are held
in tribe ownership and 1,190,882 acres are in al
lotments. The population is 4,350 on roll, with
3,741 on the reservation and 609 absent. In 1937,
the Indians had farmed 8,400 acres of non-irri-
gated and 580 acres of irrigated lands, while 17,
760 acres are non-irrigated. Irrigated land of
8,670 acres were leased to whites. Land irri
gated by Barger Fisher project is 5,000 acres, by
Seville project is 7,000 acres, a total of 12,000
acres. Land that should be irrigated is 8,000
acres more.
The drainage of the northern part of the reser
vation flows into Hudson Bay, while that on the
southern part flows into the Gulf of Mexico.
The general direction of the drainage is toward
the northeast.
Much of the western and northern portion of
the reservation is made up of a transitional foot
hill zone lying between the Great Plains on the
east and the Rocky Mountains in the west. The
central and eastern parts of the reservation are
moderately rolling plains with occasional high
ridges, the surface of which is generally covered
by glacial drift.
On the eastern edge of the reservation and in
the vicinity of Cut Bank, there has been consider
able petroleum development. Although produc
ing wells are on tribal lands, the extent of these
oil fields and the effect of development in the
economy of the Indians, has not been completely
determined.
The reservation has a timber resource estimated
at 124,700,000 board feet, composed of 40 per
cent Lodgepole pine, 30 per cent Engelmann
spruce, 20 per cent Douglas fir, and 10 per cent
Aspen. All timber areas are adjacent to the
west boundry of the reservation where the eleva
tion is relatively high and the precipitation is
heavier. Over much of the timbered area, the
stands are so dense that trees do not attain large
size. Much of the forest is valuable chiefly for
watershed protection, though it has a convenient
and valuable source of forest products such as
poles, posts, fuel, house logs, and timber.
The nearness of the reservation to the Glacier
National Park, where wildlife is protected, sug
gests that the resevation would be benefited by
the wildlife over-flows from the park and that the
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