Distinctly Montana Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.distinctlymontana.com/i/1090885
w w w . d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m 67 Even though the Chief Little Shell II (Broken Arm) signed the 1855 Blackfeet Treaty, the government never came back to treat for Little Shell nor any lands north of the Missouri in Montana. ose lands were com- mandeered by the U.S. Army during the years 1868-83. en, in 1892, the government exiled the Pembinas Chippewa Cree Michif (who are the Little Shell Tribe), stripped them of their hereditary lands, and banished from citizenship. e Little Shell have learned to survive outside the Res- ervation System in their unique niche of Montana and American society. So, how did this situation come to be. Early on (1650s), the Chippewa Cree Michif began incorporating Euro-heritage into their Indigenous sphere. ey were considered by Anglos to be Metis (French) or Half- breeds (English), two words meaning the same thing: not 100% pure anything. e Metis are a full-flowered modern Indigenous society. Some Little Shell are Metis. Some self-identify more toward their traditional historic Indigenous background. ere are a range of identities within being Little Shell, just as the wider America. Since 1887, the U.S. uses the racial construct of blood quantum to divide Indian America, historically eliminating half their treaty responsibility in a pen stroke, and the rest disappearing over time, dividing by each new gen- eration. Sorry, Uncle Sam, it's not about race. It's not what was here when Anglos showed up, it's about who was here. I T'S REMARKABLE THAT THE LITTLE SHELL CHIPPEWA PERSIST. eirs is an epic story that dates back to the last unresolved circumstance from the Northern Plains Indian Wars of the 19th century. is small cohesive group of marginalized people has never surrendered. We are now into the seventh generation of struggle since buffalo culture collapsed. What other sector in contemporary society has such a story? No one alive in Montana today has ever known a time when the Little Shell were not fighting Washington for restoring their rights. NipakwaĊĦimowin Lodge, Dunseith, ND. Traditional spirituality remains strong among many Little Shell. Prairie burial, Esther Berger, 1911, Medicine Lake, MT. The Berger Family are central to Little Shell and Montana history. article & photos by NICHOLAS C.P. VROOMAN P E R S I S T E N C E L I T T L E S H E L L P E O P L E e of e