Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A worthy detour on the reservation is the Museum of the Plains Indian in Browning,
where a permanent exhibit displays artifacts of the Northern Plains Indians, and two special
galleries feature rotating presentations.
Crow
The Crow Indian Reservation is the fifth-largest reservation in the United States, home to
nearly 7,500 residents on its 2.2 million acres south of Billings. The tribe originally lived
in the Great Lakes region, but was one of the first to enter Montana in the early 1600s. The
tribe was called Apsáalooke, which means “children of the large-beaked bird,” and are also
called Absarokee. Today, nearly 85 percent of the tribe speaks Crow as their first language,
and a coal mine on the reservation provides income and employment.
Flathead
The Flathead Indian Reservation is home to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes,
a combination of the Salish, Pend d'Oreille, and Kootenai. There are approximately 7,700
registered members, with about 5,000 living on or near the reservation. The 1.3-million-
acre piece of land is in Montana between Missoula and Kalispell, north of I-90 among the
majestic peaks of the Mission Mountains and along the shores of beautiful Flathead Lake,
the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi.
These Salish-speaking people moved east from Columbia River valleys and adopted a
way of life based on hunting buffalo while maintaining the religious and social traditions of
the Northwest coast. They were generally friendly to settlers as they entered Montana.
Assiniboine
The Fort Belknap Reservation in north-central Montana is home to two tribes: the
Assiniboine, or Nakoda, and the Gros Ventre. There are about 4,000 people in these two
tribes spread over the 650,000-acre reservation.
The Assiniboine originated in the Lake of the Woods and the Lake Winnipeg area of
Canada and became allied with the Cree. A division between the two tribes happened in
1744, and some bands moved west into the valleys of the Assiniboine and Saskatchewan
Rivers in Canada, while others moved south into the Missouri River valley. The tribes in-
habited an area from Minnesota to Montana. The Assiniboine were typically large-game
hunters, dependent on bison for a considerable part of their diet, and lived in tipis made
from the animal's hide.
