The Chippewa Cree Tribe
Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation differs in several respects from the other Indian reservations in Montana. It is the smallest reservation and the home of the smallest group of Indians. Unlike the other reservations, Rocky Boy was not established by treaty, but by an Act of Congress in 1916. It was also the last Indian reservation to be established in Montana.
Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation was named after Chief Rocky Boy, its original Chippewa leader. Stone Child, considered a better translation by some, is a derivative of that name. Chief Little Bear, our Cree leader, was another chief of the tribe. He was the son of Big Bear who, at one time, led one of the largest bands of Cree in Canada.
The history of the settling of the Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation was in its infancy long after the other Indian reservations in Montana were established. Rocky Boy's people were among a number of Chippewa Indians who originated in the Great Lakes region. Little Bear’s people were from one of the Cree bands who originated in Canada. For many years, the small bands of Chippewa and Cree Indians moved between Montana cities such as Butte, Helena, Great Falls, Havre, Anaconda and Browning, and often into and out of Canada. Montanans tended to regard them as Canadian Indians, and in 1896 Congress appropriated $5,000 to finance the deportation of these so-called Canadian Indians from Montana back into Canada. Some of the Indians were deported, but they quickly returned.
Chief Little Bear was considered a Canadian Cree; thus, Congress would not set aside a reservation for his tribe in the United States. Since Little Bear was unsuccessful in his attempts to obtain reservation lands for his followers, he joined Rocky Boy’s band. In 1904 a bill was introduced into Congress to provide a home for the Indians on the Flathead Reservation and did not pass. In 1909 the Rocky Boy band was located near Helena and a bill was introduced to set aside land for them in northeastern Montana. They never occupied this land and in 1910, the 1,400,000 acres in Valley County were opened for homesteading.
Chief Rocky Boy and Chief Little Bear were weary of the hand-to-mouth existence for their people. The Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation was then created with the help of some prominent white men of the time, including William Bole, editor of the Great Falls Tribune, Charlie Russell, American West artist, Theo Gibson and Frank B. Linderman, published authors. On September 7, 1916, the 64th Congress designated a tract of land once part of the abandoned Fort Assiniboine Military Reserve as a home for the Chippewa and Cree Indians. This refuge consisted of approximately 55,000 acres and only about 450 of the Indians, perhaps half of those eligible, chose to settle on the reservation. In later years, more land was added to the original acreage until the reservation reached its present size of 121,646 acres as of January, 2010.
The Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation lies in the shadows and scenic area of the Bears Paw Mountains of north-central Montana and includes country of rolling foothills and prairie land. The Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation is located 30 miles south of the city of Havre, which is a farming and railroad community of approximately 12,000 people. The principal use of lands within the reservation is grazing and dry land farming. There are no light industries or businesses located on the reservation except for small family-owned enterprises. Even though the reservation is isolated from larger metropolitan areas, community residents are avid participants in church, cultural activities, school-related activities, stick games and attending basketball games. This extreme isolation however, also accounts for the rich cultural heritage continuing on the Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation. As of April 15, 2010 there are 6,245 Chippewa Cree tribal members with 3,342 living on the Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation.