The Fort Berthold Indian Reservation is a U.S.

Indian reservation An Indian reservation is an area of land held and governed by a federally recognized Native American tribal nation whose government is accountable to the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs and not to the state government in which it ...

in western

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

that is home for the federally recognized

Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation The Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation (MHA Nation), also known as the Three Affiliated Tribes (Mandan: ''Miiti Naamni''; Hidatsa: ''Awadi Aguraawi''; Arikara: ''ačitaanu' táWIt''), is a Native American Nation resulting from the alliance of th ...

, also known as the

Three Affiliated Tribes The Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation (MHA Nation), also known as the Three Affiliated Tribes ( Mandan: ''Miiti Naamni''; Hidatsa: ''Awadi Aguraawi''; Arikara: ''ačitaanu' táWIt''), is a Native American Nation resulting from the alliance of ...

. The reservation includes lands on both sides of the Missouri River. Created in 1870, the reservation is a small part of the lands originally reserved to the tribes by the

Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 was signed on September 17, 1851 between United States treaty commissioners and representatives of the Cheyenne, Sioux, Arapaho, Crow, Assiniboine, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nations. Also known as Horse Cre ...

, which allocated nearly 12 million acres (49,000 km²) in North Dakota,

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

and

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

Location

The reservation is located on the Missouri River in (in descending order of reservation land)

McLean MacLean, also spelt Maclean and McLean, is a Goidelic languages, Gaelic surname Mac Gille Eathain, or, Mac Giolla Eóin in Irish language, Irish Gaelic), Eóin being a Gaelic form of Johannes (John (given name), John). The clan surname is an A ...

, Mountrail, Dunn, McKenzie,

Mercer Mercer may refer to: Business * Mercer (car), a defunct American automobile manufacturer (1909–1925) * Mercer (consulting firm), a large human resources consulting firm headquartered in New York City * Mercer (occupation), a merchant or trader, ...

and

Ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

counties. The reservation consists of 988,000 acres (4,000 km²), of which 457,837 acres (1,853 km²) are owned by Native Americans, either as individual allotments or communally by the tribe. The

McLean National Wildlife Refuge McLean National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in the U.S. state of North Dakota. A little less than half the acreage of McLean NWR is on public lands, while the rest is an easement refuge and is on privately owned land, but ...

lies within its boundaries. The Four Bears Bridge, which opened in 2005 replacing the original 1955 Four Bears Bridge, provides access across

Lake Sakakawea Lake Sakakawea is a large reservoir in the north central United States, impounded in 1953 by Garrison Dam, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dam located in the Missouri River basin in central North Dakota. Named for the Shoshone-Hidatsa woman Saka ...

History

Arikara, Hidatsa and Mandan 1851 treaty territory

A part of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation is Indian territory of the Three Tribes recognized in the

Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851) The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 was signed on September 17, 1851 between United States treaty commissioners and representatives of the Cheyenne, Sioux, Arapaho, Crow, Assiniboine, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nations. Also known as Horse Cree ...

. Created in 1870 by the U.S. government, the reservation was named after

Fort Berthold Fort Berthold was the name of two successive forts on the upper Missouri River in present-day central-northwest North Dakota. Both were initially established as fur trading posts. The second was adapted as a post for the U.S. Army. After the Army l ...

, a United States Army fort located on the northern bank of the Missouri River some twenty miles downstream (southeast) from the mouth of the Little Missouri River. The green area (529) on the map turned U.S. territory on April 12, 1870, by executive order. Area 620 and the part of area 621 south of the Missouri remained in possession of the Indians. At the same time, the narrow area north of the Missouri (up to the greenish line) became territory of the Three Tribes. Thus, the United States recognized the Indians' right to the area with their only permanent homes in

Like-a-Fishhook Village Like-a-Fishhook Village was a Native American settlement next to Fort Berthold in North Dakota, United States, established by dissident bands of the Three Affiliated Tribes, the Mandan, Arikara and Hidatsa. Formed in 1845, it was also eventually ...

. By executive order, the tribes' holdings were reduced to the light pink area (621) on July 13, 1880 (although they gained some extra land straight north of the Missouri). On December 14, 1886, the tribes agreed to cede the land outside the nearly rectangular area on both sides of the Missouri indicated with black dots and strokes. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries under the

Dawes Act The Dawes Act of 1887 (also known as the General Allotment Act or the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887) regulated land rights on tribal territories within the United States. Named after Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts, it authorized the Pre ...

and related laws, the US government redistributed communal holdings of tribes, assigning lots to heads of households. The government was trying to encourage the tribal members to take up subsistence farming in the European-American style. The tribe retained some communal holdings and, since its reorganization in the 1930s, has resisted distribution of individual allotments. The population of the reservation was 6,341 as of the 2010 census. The Tribe reported a total enrollment of 15,013 registered tribe members in March 2016. Many members live in cities because there are more job opportunities. Unemployment on the reservation was at 42%. The 2000 census reported a reservation population of 5,915 persons living on a land area of 1,318.895 sq mi (3,415.923 km²). The creation of

Garrison Dam Garrison Dam is an earth-fill embankment dam on the Missouri River in central North Dakota, U.S. Constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from 1947 to 1953, at over in length, the dam is the fifth-largest earthen dam in the world. The re ...

between 1947–53 and Lake Sakakawea as water reservoir for irrigation, for flood control, and hydroelectric power generation in 1956, increased the proportion of water area on the reservation. It totals 263.778 sq mi (683.182 km²) or one-sixth of the reservation's surface area. Creation of the lake resulted in flooding of large areas of tribal lands that were devoted to farming and ranching, destroying much of the Three Affiliated Tribes’ economy.

Communities

The largest communities of the reservation are the towns of

New Town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

and Parshall. The tribe operates 4 Bears Casino and Lodge in New Town, which was built in 1993. Communities are: * Four Bears Village * Mandaree *

* Parshall * Twin Buttes * White Shield * Sanish

References

External links

Official website of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, also known as the Three Affiliated Tribes

Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota
United States Census Bureau {{authority control 1870 establishments in Dakota Territory American Indian reservations in North Dakota Geography of Dunn County, North Dakota Geography of McKenzie County, North Dakota Geography of McLean County, North Dakota Geography of Mercer County, North Dakota Geography of Mountrail County, North Dakota Geography of Ward County, North Dakota States and territories established in 1870 Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation