The Blackfeet Indian Reservation or Blackfeet Nation is an Indian reservation of the Blackfeet tribe in Montana in the United States. It is located east of Glacier National Park and borders Canada to the north. Cut Bank Creek and Birch Creek make up part of its eastern and southern borders. The reservation contains 1.5 million acres (6,070 km²), half again the size of the national park and almost the size of the state of Delaware. It is located in Glacier and Pondera Counties. BIA map of Indian reservations in the continental United States. ... Crowfoot, former Head Chief of the Blackfeet Nation The Piegan Blackfeet, (Pikuni in Blackfoot) are a tribe of Blackfoot Native Americans based in Montana. ... State nickname: Treasure State Other U.S. States Capital Helena Largest city Billings Governor Brian Schweitzer (D) Official languages English Area 381,156 km² (4th)  - Land 377,295 km²  - Water 3,862 km² (1%) Population (2000)  - Population 902,195 (44th)  - Density 2. ... There is also a non-adjoining national park in Canada by the same name. ... To help compare orders of magnitude of different geographical regions, we list here areas between 1,000 km² and 10,000 km². See also areas of other orders of magnitude. ... State nickname: The First State Other U.S. States Capital Dover Largest city Wilmington Governor Ruth Ann Minner Official languages None Area 6,452 km² (49th)  - Land 5,068 km²  - Water 1,387 km² (21. ... Glacier County is a county located in the state of Montana. ... Pondera County is a county located in the state of Montana. ...

Blackfeet Indian Reservation in the U.S. state of Montana

Image File history File links Locator map for Blackfeet Indian Reservation altered from PD map by rmhermen File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Locator map for Blackfeet Indian Reservation altered from PD map by rmhermen File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

History

A large area of Northern Montana was set aside for Indian use by the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851. Part of this land was reclaimed by the U.S. in 1874. The Sweetgrass Hills Treaty of 1887 broke the Indian reserve into reservations for several separate tribes and established most of the modern reservation borders. In 1893, the Great Northern Railway was completed through the reservation starting the tourist economy and in 1896, the tribe sold off the western part of the reservation which later became part of Glacier National Park, although initially mining was attempted there. 1851 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1874 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1887 is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar). ... A Great Northern train pauses for the photographer four miles west of Minot, North Dakota in 1914. ... 1896 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

The Blackfoot tribes were a traditional buffalo culture until the failure of the buffalo hunt in 1883, because of non-native overhunting, led to the Starvation Winter when 600 natives died. The federal government tried to establish farms and cattle ranches to reduce hunger and settle the nomadic tribe; however, the area proved marginal for either use and the tribe never became agriculturally self-supporting. Bear Bull The Blackfoot Confederacy is the collective name of three American Indian tribes in Alberta and one in Montana. ... Historically, the Great Plains were the range of the bison and of the Great Plains culture of the Native American tribes of the Blackfeet, Crow, Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Comanche, and others. ... Binomial name Bison bison Linnaeus, 1758 The American Bison (Bison bison), also called Buffalo, is a bovine mammal that is the largest terrestrial mammal in North America. ... 1883 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Binomial name Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758 Cattle (called simply cows in vernacular usage) are domesticated ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. ...

Geography

Elevations in the reservation range from a low of 3,400 feet (1000 m²) to a high of 9066 feet (2763 m²) at Chief Mountain. The eastern part of the reservation is mostly open hills of grassland while a narrow strip along the western edge is covered by forests of fir and spruce. Free-ranging cattle are present in several areas, sometimes including on roadways. An Inner Mongolia Grassland. ... FIR may stand for: finite impulse response (a property of some digital filters) far infrared, i. ... Species About 35; see text. ...

Several waterways drain the area with the largest being the Saint Mary River, Two Medicine River, Milk River, Birch Creek and Cut Bank Creek. There are 175 miles (282 km) of streams and eight major lakes on the reservation. The Saint Mary River is a tributary of the Saskatchewan River. ... The Two Medicine River is a tributary of the Marias River, approximately 60 mi (97 km) long, in northwestern Montana in the United States. ... The Milk River shown highlighted The Milk River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately 729 mi (1,173 km) long in the U.S. state of Montana and the Canadian province of Alberta. ... Birch Creek is a tributary of the Two Medicine River in Montana in the United States. ... Cut Bank Creek is a tributary of the Marias River, approximately 75 mi (123 km) long, in northwestern Montana in the United States. ...

Blackfeet Indian Reservation looking into mountains of Glacier National Park

Image File history File links rangeland on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation looking into Glacier National Park (U.S.). Mountains slightly obscured by 2003 forest fires. ... Image File history File links rangeland on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation looking into Glacier National Park (U.S.). Mountains slightly obscured by 2003 forest fires. ... Glacier National Park is a national park in Montana. ...

Demographics

The population living on the reservation is 9000; 7500 out of the 15000 total enrolled Blackfeet members and 1500 others. The population density is less than 4 people per square mile (1.5 people/km²). The main community is Browning which is the seat of tribal government. Other towns serve the tourist economy along the edge of the park: St. Mary and East Glacier Park which has an Amtrak station and the historic Glacier Park Lodge. Small communities include Babb, Kiowa, Blackfoot, Seville, Heart Butte, Star School, and Glacier Homes. North American Indian Days is an annual festival held on pow wow grounds near the Museum of the Plains Indian in Browning. Browning is a town located in Glacier County, Montana. ... East Glacier Park Village is a census-designated place located in Glacier County, Montana. ... Heart Butte is a census-designated place located in Pondera County, Montana. ... Starr School is a census-designated place located in Glacier County, Montana. ... A pow-wow (sometimes powwow or pow wow) is a gathering of Native Americans. ...

Government

As on other American reservations, the tribe runs local government and provides most services including courts, child welfare, employment assistance, wildlife management, health care, education, land management, senior services as well as garbage collection and water systems. The native police were replaced by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs in 2003 because of problems in the local force. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) responsibility is the administration and management of 55. ...

The reservation includes several types of land use. Of the total 1,462,640 acres (5919 km²), 650,558 acres (2633 km²) are held in trust for enrolled tribal members, 311,324 acres (1260 km²) are held directly by the tribe, 8,292 acres (34 km²) are Government Reserve, mostly irrigation projects and the Cut Bank Boarding School Reserve. The remaining 529,826 acres (2144 km²) are Fee land which is taxable and may be privately owned by the tribe, tribe members or non-tribe members.

The tribe leases land for homes, farms, grazing, and commercial uses. Leases must always be offered to tribe members first before non-members. The tribe also has the right of first refusal; all private land offered for sale must be offered to the tribe first. If they decline to purchase it a waiver is granted. Right of first refusal is the right to make an offer before offers from others are considered. ...

Relationship of National Park and the Reservation

Image File history File links Blackfeet Indian Reservation map create from PD U.S, National Atlas, altered by rmhermen File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Blackfeet Indian Reservation map create from PD U.S, National Atlas, altered by rmhermen File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

Economy

Unemployment runs very high on the reservation. In 2001, the BIA reported 70% unemployment among registered members of the tribe.[1] Among those who were employed that year, 26% earned less than the poverty guideline. The Blackfeet tribal business council is chaired by Earl Old Person, who has also been chief of the Blackfeet Nation since 1978.

The major income source of the reservation is oil and natural gas leases on the oil fields on tribal lands. In 1982, there were 643 producing oil wells and 47 producing gas wells. The reservation also has a significant tourist industry. Other economic activities include ranching and a small timber industry which supports a pencil factory in Browning.[2] Nodding donkey pumping an oil well near Sarnia, Ontario, 2001 Petroleum (from Latin petrus – rock and oleum – oil), mineral oil, or crude oil, sometimes colloquially called black gold, is a thick, dark brown or greenish flammable liquid, which exists in the upper strata of some areas of the Earths... Natural gas (commonly refered to as gas in many countries, but note that this is also American and Canadian slang for gasoline) is a gaseous fossil fuel consisting primarily of methane. ... Ranching is the raising of cattle or sheep on rangeland, although one might also speak of ranching with regard to less common livestock such as elk, bison or emu. ... Timber Timber is a term used to describe wood throughout its processing from the time it is planned for use in industrial products to the time it is used as a structural material or in other industrial product, such as wood pulp for paper production. ... A pencil is a handheld instrument used to write and draw, usually on paper. ...

There are no paved north-south roads in Glacier National Park, access to sites on the east side of the park is provided by US 89 which runs through the reservation to the Canadian border crossing near Chief Mountain which provides access to the Canadian sister park, Waterton Lakes National Park. Both east-west routes for the park travel through the reservation as does passenger train service. Several hiking trails continue out of the park across the reservation and require Blackfeet-issued permits. United States Highway 89 is a north-south United States highway with two branches. ... Categories: Stub | National parks of Canada | World Heritage Sites in Canada ... Beautiful natural scenes are common hiking destinations Hiking is a form of walking, undertaken with the specific purpose of exploring and enjoying the scenery. ...

Farms located at least partially on the reservation reported a total income of $9 million in 2002. A total of 354 farms covered 1,291,180 acres (5225 km²), the majority of the reservation's land. Most of these farms were family-owned including the 198 farms which were owned by Native Americans. Eighty percent of the land was used for raising beef cattle, which also produced eighty percent of farm income. Other livestock included hogs, and chickens with only small numbers of milk cows, bison, horses, and sheep. Of 245,530 acres (994 km²) used for growing crops, only 32,158 acres (130 km²), 13% were irrigated. Crops raised included wheat, barley, and hay with a smaller amount of oats.[3] Binomial name Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758 Cattle (called simply cows in vernacular usage) are domesticated ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. ... HOG or hog can mean:- A pig, originally a castrated male pig. ... Binomial name Gallus gallus (Linnaeus, 1758) A chicken (Gallus gallus) is a type of domesticated bird which is often raised as a type of poultry. ... A glass of cows milk Milk most often means the nutrient fluid produced by the mammary glands of female mammals. ... Binomial name Bison bison Linnaeus, 1758 The American Bison (Bison bison), also called Buffalo, is a bovine mammal that is the largest terrestrial mammal in North America. ... Binomial name Equus caballus Linnaeus, 1758 The Horse (Equus caballus) is a sizeable ungulate mammal, one of the seven modern species of the genus Equus. ... Binomial name Ovis aries Linnaeus, 1758 A sheep is any of several woolly ruminant quadrupeds, but most commonly the Domestic Sheep (Ovis aries), which probably descends from the wild moufflon of south-central and south-west Asia. ... Irrigation in the Heart of the Sahara Irrigation (in agriculture) is the replacement or supplementation of rainfall with water from another source in order to grow crops. ... Species T. boeoticum T. durum T. monococcum T. spelta References:   ITIS 42236 2002-09-22 Wheat (Triticum spp. ... Binomial name Hordeum vulgare L. Barley (Hordeum vulgare) is a major food and animal feed crop, a member of the grass family Poaceae. ... Rolled bales of hay on a farm near Ames, Iowa Hay from Romania Hay is dried grass (and pasture flowers) used to feed domestic animals at places or times where there is not enough (fresh) grass or when fresh grass by itself is too rich in some qualities for easy... Binomial name Avena sativa Carolus Linnaeus (1753) The Oat (Avena sativa) is a species of cereal grain, and the seeds of this plant. ...

Wildfire firefighting is a major seasonal income source. In 2000, some 1,000 Blackfeet worked as firefighters including the elite Chief Mountain Hotshots team. Firefighting income brought in $6.1 million that year. However this income is highly variable depending on the severity of the wildfire season. The Old Fire burning in the San Bernardino Mountains (image taken from the International Space Station) A wildfire, also known as a forest fire, vegetation fire, grass fire, brush fire, or bushfire (in Australasia), is an uncontrolled fire often occurring in wildland areas, but which can also consume houses or...

External links

• Blackfeet Tribal Land Department
• Official tribe website