Land area
Land of the Arikara, Gros Ventre and others in Montana and North Dakota, ceded 1880 (area 620)
- 1851
Recognized as Native land
- 1870
Set aside as a reservation
The 1899 record: “President sets apart a reservation at Fort Berthold, Dakota”
- 1880
Taken back by the United States
The 1899 record: “President restores to public domain a portion of Fort Berthold reservation, established by Executive order Apr. 12, 1870”
In the record
Recognized as Arikara, Gros Ventre and Mandan land in 1851 and set apart as part of the Fort Berthold reservation in 1870; returned to the public domain in 1880. The area covers about 6.5 million acres in what is now Montana and North Dakota.
The 1899 record names Arikara, Gros Ventre (Aaniiih) and Mandan as the people of this land.
How it was taken: a treaty or agreement. The treaty text records an agreement among the eight nations and two U.S. commissioners; the cited sources do not describe duress.
Today, Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota and Fort Belknap Indian Community of the Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana carry the history of the people named here.
Written from the records linked here; open any of them for its sources.
Shapes come from C. C. Royce’s 1899 maps as georeferenced by the US Forest Service. They are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land. Royce recorded land the United States treated as ceded; the shape does not show a nation’s territory.
Who is doing the work
Land return and Native-led work nearby
- Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) Nation government National Bison Range restoration (about 18,800 acres) Website
- Potlatch Fund Native-led Native philanthropy and grantmaking to Native individuals and Native-led organizations Give on their site Website
- Native Governance Center Native-led Strengthening Native nation governance and capacity to exercise sovereignty Give on their site Website
Native legal and land defense, nationally
- Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Native-led Litigation and legal advocacy for tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, land and resources Give on their site Website
- NDN Collective (LANDBACK Campaign) Native-led LANDBACK campaign (launched 2020; Mount Rushmore closure and return of Black Hills public lands), Indigenous… Give on their site Website
- Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) Native-led Land recovery and control by tribes and individual Indian landowners Website
- Decolonizing Wealth Project (Indigenous Earth Fund; California Tribal Land Return) Native-led Reparative philanthropy Give on their site Website
Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.
Connections
Links marked “suggested” were matched automatically by name or date and have not yet been reviewed by a person.
Nations named for this land 5
- Arikaraas named in the 1899 recordsuggested
- Fort Belknap Indian Community of the Fort Belknap Reservation of Montanamatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
- Gros Ventre (Aaniiih)as named in the 1899 recordsuggested
- Mandanas named in the 1899 recordsuggested
- Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakotamatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
Located in 2
Agreements recorded for this land 1
- Treaty of Fort Laramie (Horse Creek), 18511851suggested
Sources
- Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1851-09-17primary record
- Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, text for 1851-09-17primary record
- Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1870-04-12primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: Dakota 1 (Library of Congress)primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: Montana 1 (Library of Congress)primary record
- USDA Forest Service, Tribal Lands Ceded to the United States (digitized Royce maps)reference work
The record’s fields
- Area number in the 1899 record
- 620
- Dates in the 1899 record
- 1851-09-17; 1870-04-12; 1880-07-13
- Kind of instrument
- Treaty or agreement
- Peoples as named in the 1899 record
- Arikara; Gros Ventre; Mandan
- States
- MT; ND
- Counties
- Billings; Carter; Custer; Dawson; Dunn; Fallon; Golden Valley; McKenzie; Mercer; Powder River; Prairie; Richland; Slope; Stark; Wibaux
- Map sheets in the 1899 record
- Dakota 1; Montana 1
- Geometry
- Approximate shape from Royce’s 1899 maps
Research notes
geometry_role is 'cession' for every USFS feature: no field in the source distinguishes cessions from reservations.
- Kind
- Land area
- Confidence
- Medium