The Chippewa Cree Tribe (Officially in cr, italics=no, ᐅᒋᐻᐤ ᓀᐃᔭᐤ, translit=''ocipwêw nêiyaw'')Montana Department of Justice, Official Tribally issued license plate of Chippewa Cree Tri
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/ref> is a federally recognized tribe on the

Rocky Boy Reservation Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation (also known as Rocky Boy Reservation) is one of seven Native American reservations in the U.S. state of Montana. Established by an act of Congress on September 7, 1916, it was named after ''Ahsiniiwin'' ( Stone Ch ...

in Montana who are descendants of

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...

who migrated south from Canada and Chippewa (Ojibwe) who moved west from the Turtle Mountains in North Dakota in the late nineteenth century. The two different peoples spoke related but distinct Algonquian languages. This tribe is the southernmost

tribe and the westernmost Chippewa (Ojibwe) tribe in North America.McNeel, Jack. “10 Things You Should Know about the Chippewa Cree Tribe of Rocky Boy Reservation.” Indian Country Today. Indian Country Today, October 13, 2016
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Rocky Boy Indian Reservation is located in Hill and

Chouteau Chouteau was the name of a highly successful, ethnically French fur-trading family based in Saint Louis, Missouri, which they helped found. Their ancestors Chouteau and Laclède initially settled in New Orleans. They then moved-up the Mississipp ...

counties in northeastern Montana, about from the

Canada–United States border The border between Canada and the United States is the longest international border in the world. The terrestrial boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Can ...

. It has a total land area of , which includes extensive off-reservation trust lands. The population was 3,323 at the 2010 census. The Bureau of Indian Affairs' Labor Force Report of 2005 reported 5,656 enrolled members of the tribe.

History

The Chief ''Asiniiwin'' (Chippewa) (English translation Stone Child, misnomer Rocky Boy, which conveys an incorrect meaning) and Chief Little Bear (Cree) and their bands were the founders of the

Rocky Boy Indian Reservation Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation (also known as Rocky Boy Reservation) is one of seven Native American reservations in the U.S. state of Montana. Established by an act of Congress on September 7, 1916, it was named after ''Ahsiniiwin'' ( Stone Ch ...

in north central Montana. At the time, Chippewa-Cree lived throughout present-day Montana, on the Blackfeet and other reservations, as well as in the new towns developed by European-American settlers and immigrants. In January 1902 ''Asiniiwin'' petitioned President Theodore Roosevelt for a closed reservation so the landless Chippewa-Cree could settle and get an education. The members were counted in a 1909 census conducted by Thralls B. Wheat, a land allotment agent of the

Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...

. This census was certified by the agency in April 1909. Reflecting the social turmoil of the time, many of ''Asiniiwins people left the reservation within a decade; others had never relocated there, and their descendants live in towns throughout the Pacific Northwest. For instance, many bought plots of land on Hill 57, outside

Great Falls, Montana Great Falls is the third most populous city in the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat of Cascade County. The population was 60,442 according to the 2020 census. The city covers an area of and is the principal city of the Great Falls, M ...

. Congress passed legislation on September 7, 1916, () creating the

. Those Chippewa-Cree living near Great Falls were not counted as members in the 1917 census of the reservation but were part of the tribe. In May 1917 the Interior Department compiled another list of residents on the reservation. By then additional Native Americans had migrated there and others had left. Fewer than 45 of the 451 names listed on the "Tentative Roll of the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation" (1917) were Chippewa from the earlier 1909 roll. Many were

, descendants of Little Bear's (Imasees) band, and

Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...

, descendants of the Louis Riel band of mixed-race peoples from the Red River of the North area. According to tribal traditions of absorbing war captives and protecting all children of tribal women, if residents identified as Cree or Chippewa, they were listed as Native American, regardless of whether they had other ancestry. The 1917 roll was approved by the Department of the Interior in July 1917; it has since been the basis for tribal membership rolls and allotments. The Cree and Métis migrants and their descendants have lived on the Rocky Boy Reservation under self-declared "adopted" status. They and their descendants provided for such "adopted" status in the Chippewa Cree Tribal Constitution, which was written in 1934–1935. It was certified by the Department of the Interior in 1935 under the

Indian Reorganization Act The Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of June 18, 1934, or the Wheeler–Howard Act, was U.S. federal legislation that dealt with the status of American Indians in the United States. It was the centerpiece of what has been often called the "Indian ...

. . The constitution provided that members of the tribe who were absent from the reservation for 10 years or more (a ten-year absentee provision) lost their tribal status and were no longer qualified for benefits and membership. The Chippewa Cree Business Committee, the government of the tribe, recently repealed this provision of the Constitution. As the tribe's government, the Committee retains the authority to address membership issues. The Cree and Métis make up more than 90% of the enrolled members of the tribe.

Language

The principal language of the tribe is

, written in Eastern Cree syllabics. There are programs and courses dedicated to the preservation and teaching of the Cree language to the younger generation. There are also efforts to use revenue from sale of Official Tribal vehicle license plate would be used for installation of Cree signage in the community as well as investment in other language revitalization programs. The status of the Chippewa (Ojibwe) language in the tribe is dire, as there is only one known living speaker of the language after the death of Mr. Duncan Standing Rock Sr. in February 2021. Standing Rock was an integral part of efforts to record and document the language.

Economy

As part of its economic development, the tribe started a business "Plain Green Loans," for online lending to Native Americans who are underserved by the lack of banks on many reservations. Critics such as Delvin Cree (Turtle Mountain Chippewa), a reporter with ''The Tribal Independent,'' wrote in an opinion piece on Indianz.com that the tribe's practices of high-interest, short-term lending are generally classified as predatory lending.Delvin Cree, Opinion: "Predatory lending a cash cow in Indian Country"
, ''Indianz.com,'' 17 February 2012, accessed 7 March 2012 Such loans can result in annualized interest rates as high as 360 percent. Because the Chippewa Cree Tribe is a sovereign nation which enjoys tribal immunity, it is not subject to state laws which seek to prevent usury by regulating high-interest lending.

References

External links

Cree history and past major key events
{{authority control Cree governments Cree in Montana Ojibwe in Montana Ojibwe governments Native American tribes in Montana Federally recognized tribes in the United States Métis in Montana

History

Language

Economy

See also

References

External links