Living Law,
Living LandSupport land rights

Organization

Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT)

Not yet reviewed by this nation. What follows comes from public records and research. It does not speak for the nation.

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes regained the roughly 18,800-acre National Bison Range in Montana in 2021 under a federal law.

Kind
Tribal government
Native-led
tribal-government
Works with
Salish, Kootenai, Pend d'Oreille
Region
Flathead Reservation, MT
Focus
National Bison Range restoration (about 18,800 acres)
Vetting notes
No donation channel assessed. Tribal source: confirm via CSKT communications.

What happened

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) govern the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana. The tribes' website says the reservation is home to three tribes: the Bitterroot Salish, Upper Pend d'Oreille and the Kootenai. The tribes' Lands Department says its mission includes striving "to regain ownership and control of all lands within our reservation boundaries."

The best-documented return is the National Bison Range. On June 23, 2021, the Department of the Interior announced the transfer of all lands of the Range, approximately 18,800.22 acres, to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to be held in trust for the CSKT. The lands lie completely within the reservation boundaries and came from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

How it happened matters. Interior says the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116-260) approved the transfer by repealing the statute that created the Range, and set a two-year transition of management from the Fish and Wildlife Service to the Tribes. Interior's Bryan Newland said creating the Range "reduced the Salish and Kootenai peoples' homeland by thousands of acres."

Good to know. A tribal government, not a place to donate. The law approving the Bison Range transfer was enacted in December 2020; Interior announced the transfer in June 2021.

Summarized with AI assistance from 4 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error

What the sources say, and how this was checked

Well supported by the sources below.

  1. the transfer of all lands comprising the National Bison Range (NBR), approximately 18,800.22 acresDepartment of the Interior - Interior Transfers National Bison Range Lands in Trust
  2. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116-260), approved the transfer by repealing the statute that created the NBR.Department of the Interior - Interior Transfers National Bison Range Lands in Trust
  3. We will strive to regain ownership and control of all lands within our reservation boundaries.CSKT - Tribal Lands Department
  4. home to three tribes, the Bitterroot Salish, Upper Pend d’Oreille, and the KootenaiConfederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes

Research notes. The Interior release is the source for the return; the tribes' own account of the Bison Range was not read. The 2021 date is the Interior announcement; the law was enacted in December 2020. Tribal government, not a donation channel.

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Connections

Links marked “suggested” were matched automatically by name or date and have not yet been reviewed by a person.

Governing body of 1

Works in 1

Supports the return of 1

Sources

  1. csktribes.org/self-description
The record’s fields
Registry
Sovereign government (no EIN needed); status per Federal Register list not checked this session
Kind
Organization
Confidence
Medium
Nation review
Not yet reviewed by this nation

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