Flathead Indian Reservation

Salish men near tipis (1903, Flathead Reservation, Montana)

The Flathead Indian Reservation, located in western Montana on the Flathead River, is home to the Bitterroot Salish, Kootenai, and Pend d'Oreilles Tribes - also known as the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation (1). The Reservation was created through the 1855 Treaty of Hellgate and includes parts of four Montana counties: Lake, Sanders, Missoula, and Flathead (2). The Flathead Indian Reservation is an area of 5,019.621 km² (1,938.087 sq mi) of forested mountains and valleys just west of the Continental Divide (3).

The Bitteroot Salish migrated from the West and share similar language with coastal Salish tribes. The Kootenai are native to the region and lived predomintantly in Idaho, Montana, and Canada. Archaeological evidence shows that native Americans inhabited Montana more than 14,000 years ago, and artifacts indicate that the Kootenai have roots in the area's prehistory. The Kootenai inhabited the mountainous terrain west of the Continental Divide, venturing only seasonally to the east for buffalo hunts. The Kootenai were divided into two main groups. One band lived to the northeast and had a lifestyle based on buffalo hunting. The other band lived in the mountainous west and had a lifestyle focused on rivers and lakes. The Salish occupied territory in Washington, Idaho, and western Montana but ventured as far east as the Bighorn Mountains. As the tribe moved east, it had to change from a lifestyle based on salmon fishing to one more dependent on native plants and buffalo. During the 1700s, these two tribes – the Salish and the Kootenai – shared common hunting and gathering grounds (4).

The present-day population of the reservation is 26,172 as of the 2000 census. The largest community on the reservation is the city of Polson, which is also the county seat of Lake County. The seat of government of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation is Pablo.

Points of interest

• Flathead Indian Museum, St. Ignatius
• Flathead Lake State Park
• Mission Mountains Tribal Wilderness
• The National Bison Range/Pablo National Wildlife Refuge, Moiese
• Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge and State Wildlife Management Area, Ronan
• St. Ignatius Mission, St. Ignatius

Communities

References

• Flathead Reservation, Montana United States Census Bureau

External links

• Official site of the Confederated Tribes of the Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation
• Char Koosta News
• Charlo School - Local & Social Services
• Online Highways - Flathead Indian Reservation
• montanakids.com - Flathead Indian Reservation
• Access Montana Ronan.net