View source for Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation

[[Image:Flag of Northern Cheyenne.svg|thumb|Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation flag]]

The '''Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation''', formerly named the Tongue River Indian Reservation, is home of the [[federally recognized]] '''Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation'''.

Located in southeastern [[Montana]], the [[Indian reservation|reservation]] is approximately 444,000 acres in size and centered by the town of [[Lame Deer, Montana|Lame Deer]], the tribal and government agency headquarters and home of the annual Northern Cheyenne Powwow. It is bounded on the east by the Tongue River and on the west by the Crow Reservation. There are small parcels of non-contiguous off-reservation trust lands in [[Meade County, South Dakota]], northeast of the city of [[Sturgis, South Dakota|Sturgis]].
 
The Reservation's timbered ridges that extend into northwestern [[South Dakota]] are part of [[Custer National Forest]].

The reservation is approximately {{convert|40|mi}} east of the site of the 1876 [[Battle of Little Big Horn]], or "Battle of Greasy Grass", as it is called by the [[Lakota people|Lakota]].

According to tribal enrollment figures as of March 2013, there are approximately 10,050 enrolled tribal members, of which about 4,939 reside on the reservation.<ref name ="Cheyenne Tribe website">Northern Cheyenne Tribe website[http://www.cheyennenation.com]</ref>  Approximately 91% of the population were Native Americans (full or part race), with 72.8% identifying as Cheyenne. Slightly more than a quarter of the population five years or older spoke a language other than English.<ref name ="Cheyenne Tribe website" />  A few members of the [[Crow Nation|Crow]] tribe also live on the reservation. 

==People==
The Northern [[Cheyenne]] were allies of the [[Lakota people|Lakota]] in the [[Black Hills War]] of 1876–77.
As do most Native Americans, they have a special bond to the land. Numerous Cheyenne work as foresters, fire fighters. This is visible in traditional communities like Lame Deer and Birney and it also emphasized by the 2006 split vote on development coal and coalbed methane on the reservation.<ref>{{cite news|title=Northern Cheyenne voters split on resource development |url=http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/northern-cheyenne-voters-split-on-resource-development/article_c165f28d-7f1a-593a-8a8d-9e52f25c94e1.html |accessdate=17 January 2011|newspaper=billingsgazette.com|date=7 November 2006}}</ref>

A historical buffalo jump, burial sites of Indian chiefs, the site of [[Custer]]'s last camp before the [[Battle of the Little Bighorn]], the Cheyenne Indian Museum, Ten Bears Gallery, St. Labre Indian Catholic High School|St. Labre Indian School, and the Ashland [[Powwow]] are sites of special interest in the Ashland area.

The Northern Cheyenne are related to the [[Southern Cheyenne]], who are located in [[Oklahoma]].  Following the [[Black Hills War]] and earlier conflicts in [[Colorado]] (see [[Sand Creek Massacre]] and [[Battle of Washita River|Washita Massacre]]), the Northern Cheyenne were forcibly moved to Oklahoma and kept on lands of their southern relatives.  Unable to acclimate swiftly to the heat of western Oklahoma ([[Indian Territory]] at the time), having to grow their food instead of hunting or gathering as were their ways and the general conditions of where they were held, the northerners quickly began dying.  In desperation, a small band left the reservation and headed north in 1878, an odyssey that later inspired [[Mari Sandoz]]'s novel, ''[[Cheyenne Autumn]]''.

The Northern Cheyenne briefly settled around [[Fort Keogh]] ([[Miles City, Montana]]).  In the early 1880s, many families began to migrate south to the [[Tongue River]] watershed area and established homesteads in the northern edge of the [[Powder River Basin]], which they considered their natural home. 
The United States government established the Tongue River Indian Reservation, which consisted of {{convert|371200|acre|km2}} of land, under the executive order given by  [[Chester A. Arthur|President Chester A. Arthur]] on November 16, 1884.  
The boundaries originally did not include the Cheyenne who had homesteaded further east near the Tongue River, therefore those people who had were helped by the St. Labre Catholic Mission. This changed though when on March 19, 1900, [[William McKinley|President William McKinley]] extended the reservation to the west bank of the Tongue River, for a total of {{convert|444157|acre|km2}}. Those Cheyenne who had homesteaded east of the Tongue River were relocated to reservation lands west of the river.<ref>Page 30, ''We, the Northern Cheyenne People'', accessed September 20, 2009</ref> 

==Communities and neighborhoods==
[[Image:CheyenneReservationPhilKonstantin.jpg|right|thumb|Northern Cheyenne Reservation Headquarters 2003]]
[[Lame Deer, Montana]] with about 4,000 residents, of which 92% are American Indian, is the capital of the Northern Cheyenne nation.  [[Chief Dull Knife College]] is located there.  To the west is [[Muddy, Montana]] with about 600 residents, 94% American Indian, and further west [[Busby, Montana]] with about 700 residents, 90% American Indian.  Busby was the site of the Tongue River Boarding School opened in 1904, and later would become quite avid in Basketball. Also playing the Globe Trotters and beating them in a Basketball game also they would go to state and win from the 1950s. by the Indian Bureau (later called the [[Bureau of Indian Affairs]] (BIA).)  The Busby White River Cheyenne Mennonite Church is located in Busby. Which is still standing and have regular Sunday church ceremonys.<ref>[http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/W506.html "Busby White River Cheyenne Mennonite Church"], ''Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online'', accessed September 20, 2009</ref>

[[Ashland, Montana]] is to the east.  In 1884 a Catholic boarding school, the [[St. Labre Indian School]] was established there.<ref>Page 91, ''We, the Northern Cheyenne People'', accessed September 20, 2009</ref> The 460 residents of Ashland are about 75% American Indian. They as well became very good in basketball and when Busby became part of their district, they had notable rivalry basketball games in the late 1940s and on. [[Birney, Montana]], population about 100, 86% Indian, is south of Lame Deer and Ashland.  Part of Birney, "White Birney", lies south of the reservation.<ref>Page 48, ''We, the Northern Cheyenne People'', accessed September 20, 2009</ref>  [[Colstrip, Montana]] is an industrial city devoted to coal mining and electrical generation. Located 20 miles north of the reservation, it has a population of about 2,300 residents of which approximately 240, or 11%, are American Indians. It is also where some Cheyenne attend public school.<ref>Page 91, ''We, the Northern Cheyenne People'', accessed September 20, 2009</ref>

==Education==
[[Chief Dull Knife College]], originally named Dull Knife Memorial College, is an open admission [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] tribal [[community college]] and [[land grant institution]]. It is located on the reservation, in Lame Deer, and has a current enrollment of 141 students. On average, more than half of the graduates move on to four-year colleges. The college is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. It is member of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium and American Association of Community Colleges.<ref>[http://www.cdkc.edu/|name=Chief Dull Knife College website]</ref> 

The reservation is the recipient of a 2010 [[Promise Neighborhoods]] grant from the [[United States Department of Education]], through the local [[Boys & Girls Clubs of America]].<ref>[http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-awards-promise-neighborhoods-planning-grants]</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
 
==References==
*[http://www.archive.org/details/wenortherncheyen2008amblrich ''We, the Northern Cheyenne People]: our land, our history, our culture'' (2008), Ambler, Marjane; Little Bear, Richard E; Wilson, Dave; Tall Bull, Linwood; Hantz, Joan; Ward, Carol; Wertman, Bill; Chief Dull Knife College, Lame Deer, Montana
*[http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-context=dt&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-CHECK_SEARCH_RESULTS=N&-CONTEXT=dt&-mt_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_P001&-tree_id=4001&-all_geo_types=N&-redoLog=true&-transpose=N&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=label&-geo_id=25000US2490&-search_results=ALL&-format=&-fully_or_partially=N&-_lang=en&-show_geoid=Y Northern Cheyenne Reservation and Off-Reservation Trust Land, Montana/South Dakota] United States Census Bureau

==External links==
{{commonscat|Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation}}
* [http://www.cheyennenation.com/  Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation], official website
* [http://www.opi.mt.gov/pdf/IndianEd/Search/Social%20Studies/Bringing%20the%20Story%20of%20the%20Cheyenne%20People%20to%20the%20Children%20of%20Today.pdf "Bringing the Story of the Cheyenne People to the Children of Today"], Montana state curriculum, 218-page pdf

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation}}
[[Category:Cheyenne tribe]]
[[Category:American Indian reservations in Montana]]
[[Category:American Indian reservations in South Dakota]]
[[Category:Buffalo jumps]]
[[Category:Federally recognized tribes in the United States]]
[[Category:Geography of Big Horn County, Montana]]
[[Category:Geography of Meade County, South Dakota]]
[[Category:Geography of Rosebud County, Montana]]
[[Category:1884 establishments]]