Fort Berthold Reservation - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Fort Berthold Indian Reservation is a U.S. Indian reservation

Indian reservation

An American Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs...

in western North Dakota

North Dakota

North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....

that is home for the federally recognized Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation

Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation

Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, also known as the Three Affiliated Tribes, are a Native American group comprising a union of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara peoples, whose native lands ranged across the Missouri River basin in the Dakotas...

, also known as the Three Affiliated Tribes. Created in 1870, the reservation is a small part of the lands originally reserved to the tribes by the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851, which allocated nearly 12 million acres (49,000 km²) in North Dakota, South Dakota

South Dakota

South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...

, Montana

Montana

Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...

and Wyoming

Wyoming

Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...

.

Created in 1870 by the U.S. government, the reservation is located on the Missouri River

Missouri River

The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...

in (in descending order of reservation land) McLean

McLean County, North Dakota

-Major highways:* U.S. Highway 83* North Dakota Highway 28* North Dakota Highway 37* North Dakota Highway 53* North Dakota Highway 41* North Dakota Highway 200* North Dakota Highway 1804-National protected areas:*Audubon National Wildlife Refuge...

, Mountrail

Mountrail County, North Dakota

-Major highways:* U.S. Highway 2* North Dakota Highway 8* North Dakota Highway 23* North Dakota Highway 31* North Dakota Highway 1804-National protected areas:*Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge *Shell Lake National Wildlife Refuge-Demographics:...

, Dunn

Dunn County, North Dakota

-Major highways:*North Dakota Highway 8*North Dakota Highway 22*North Dakota Highway 200-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 3,600 people, 1,378 households, and 986 families residing in the county. The population density was 2 people per square mile . There were 1,965 housing units...

, McKenzie

McKenzie County, North Dakota

-Major highways:* U.S. Highway 85* North Dakota Highway 22* North Dakota Highway 23* North Dakota Highway 58* North Dakota Highway 68* North Dakota Highway 73* North Dakota Highway 200* North Dakota Highway 1806-National protected areas:...

, Mercer

Mercer County, North Dakota

-Major highways:* North Dakota Highway 31* North Dakota Highway 48* North Dakota Highway 49* North Dakota Highway 200* North Dakota Highway 1806-Demographics:...

and Ward

Ward County, North Dakota

-National protected areas:*Des Lacs National Wildlife Refuge *Hiddenwood National Wildlife Refuge *Upper Souris National Wildlife Refuge -Demographics:...

counties. The reservation consists of 988,000 acres (4,000 km²), of which 457,837 acres (1,853 km²) are owned by Native Americans

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

, either as individual allotments or communally by the tribe. Allotments were assigned in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century when the US government was trying to have Native Americans adopt European-American land use patterns. The tribe retained some communal holdings and has resisted continued individual allotments since its reorganization in the 1930s. The McLean National Wildlife Refuge

McLean National Wildlife Refuge

The McLean National Wildlife Refuge is located in the U.S. state of North Dakota and is a small Easement Refuge managed from Audubon National Wildlife Refuge by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The refuge was originally named Lake Susie National Wildlife Refuge. It lies in northwestern McLean...

lies within its boundaries.

The reservation was named after a United States Army fort located on the northern bank of the Missouri River

Missouri River

some twenty miles downstream from the mouth of the Little Missouri River

Little Missouri River

The Little Missouri River can refer to two rivers in the United States:*The Little Missouri River in Arkansas*The Little Missouri River in Wyoming, South Dakota and North Dakota...

.

In 1951, the US government took reservation land for use to support the construction of Garrison Dam

Garrison Dam

Garrison Dam is an earth-fill embankment dam on the Missouri River in central North Dakota. At over two miles in length, it is the fifth-largest earthen dam in the world, constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from 1947-53...

. It flooded approximately a quarter of the reservation land to create Lake Sakakawea. Because of the lake-associated flooding, the seat of reservation offices had to be moved to New Town

New Town, North Dakota

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,367 people, 488 households, and 318 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,031.6 people per square mile . There were 512 housing units at an average density of 760.9 per square mile...

.

The population of the reservation was 3776, with a total enrollment of 8400 registered tribe members. Unemployment was at 42%. The 2000 census

United States Census, 2000

The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...

reported a reservation population of 5,915 persons living on a land area of 1,318.895 sq mi (3,415.923 km²). The creation of Lake Sakakawea increased the proportion of water area on the reservation; it totals 263.778 sq mi (683.182 km²) or one-sixth of the reservation's surface area.

The largest communities of the reservation are the cities of New Town and Parshall

Parshall, North Dakota

Parshall is a city lying within the jurisdictional boundaries of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation. It is located on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in Mountrail County, North Dakota, in the United States. Its population was 903 at the 2010 census...

. The tribe operates a casino

Casino

In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...

built in 1993 in New Town. The Four Bears Bridge

Four Bears Bridge

Four Bears Bridge is one of two bridges built over the Missouri River on the Fort Berthold Reservation in the U.S. state of North Dakota. The current bridge which opened in 2005 is the second largest bridge in the state and replaces an earlier bridge built in 1955...

, which opened in 2005, provides access across the Missouri River.

Communities

Four Bears Village
Four Bears Village, North Dakota
As of the census of 2000, there were 364 people, 87 households, and 80 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 348.8 people per square mile . There were 90 housing units at an average density of 86.2/sq mi . The racial makeup of the CDP was 4.12% White, 93.96% Native...
Mandaree
Mandaree, North Dakota
As of the census of 2000, there were 558 people, 132 households, and 119 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 50.0 people per square mile . There were 151 housing units at an average density of 13.5/sq mi . The racial makeup of the CDP was 3.05% White, 95.88% Native...
New Town
New Town, North Dakota
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,367 people, 488 households, and 318 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,031.6 people per square mile . There were 512 housing units at an average density of 760.9 per square mile...
Parshall
Parshall, North Dakota
Parshall is a city lying within the jurisdictional boundaries of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation. It is located on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in Mountrail County, North Dakota, in the United States. Its population was 903 at the 2010 census...
White Shield
White Shield, North Dakota
As of the census of 2000, there were 348 people, 100 households, and 79 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 92.9 people per square mile . There were 108 housing units at an average density of 28.8/sq mi . The racial makeup of the CDP was 1.15% White, 98.56% Native...

External links

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