Summary under the Criteria and Evidence for Final Determination Against the Federal Acknow1edgment of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana Prepared in Response to a Petition Submitted to the Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs for Federal Acknowledgment that this Group Exists as an Indian Tribe. Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana (Petitioner #31) Summary under the Criteria and Evidence for Final Determination against the Federal Acknowledgment of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION……......................................................................................................1 Administrative History of the Petition since the Proposed Finding ....................................2 Summary of the Proposed Finding and Analysis of Departures from Precedent ................3 Technical Assistance Provided by the OFA since the Proposed Finding ................................................................................................15 Third Party Comments to the PF and the Petitioner’s Response .......................................15 Maps ...................................................................................................................................17 Terminology .......................................................................................................................22 Definition of the Historical Tribe ......................................................................................22 Historical Overview of the Little Shell Petitioner .............................................................24 Unambiguous Previous Federal Acknowledgment ............................................................26 SUMMARY UNDER THE CRITERIA (25 CFR 83.7) 83.7(a) ................................................................................................................................32 83.7(b) ................................................................................................................................40 83.7(c) ................................................................................................................................80 83.7(d) ..............................................................................................................................109 83.7(e) ..............................................................................................................................110 ii Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana (Petitioner #31) 83.7(f).............................................................................................................................145 83.7(g) ............................................................................................................................146 APPENDICES Appendix I: Examples of Households Included as Part of the “Little Shell Community Group” that Did Not Have Pembina Band Ancestry until Much Later in Time ...........................147 Appendix II: Description and Analysis of Origins and Migration of the Petitioner’s 104 “Common Progenitors” and their Descendants in the Red River Valley before 1880 ......................................................................................................................149 Appendix III: Description and Analysis of the Petitioner’s Documented Lineal Ancestors ..................153 Appendix IV: Critique of the Little Shell Group Marriage Data, 1850-1940.........................................156 Appendix V: Statistical Breakdown of Little Shell Petitioner Marriage Data ......................................159 Appendix VI: Description and Analysis of Petitioner’s Witnessing Data ..............................................163 Appendix VII: Description and Analysis of the Petitioner’s “Little Shell Families” on the Federal Census Records ...................................................................................................165 Appendix VIII: Statistical breakdown of the Little Shell Petitioner’s Census Data, 1880-1930 ..............169 Appendix IX: Analysis of External Descriptions of the Petitioner’s Ancestors in Montana, 1880’s-1890’s ..................................................................................................................178 Appendix X: Analysis of the Claimed Connection of the Petitioner’s Ancestors to the Turtle Mountain Reservation ...........................................................................................185 Appendix XI: Land Ownership Patterns of Lewistown Homesteaders ..................................................190 iii Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana (Petitioner #31) Appendix XII: Description and Analysis of Turtle Mountain Allotment Data as Evidence of Community in Montana...........................................................................192 Appendix XIII: Evaluation and Analysis of the Petitioner’s Model of “Historic Social Cores” ..............194 Appendix XIV: Description and Analysis of the Petitioner’s Model of Marriage Within and Between “Social Core Areas” ..........................................................................................195 Appendix XV: Evaluation of the Petitioner’s Data and Analysis of “Social Knowledge of Members in Other Areas” ................................................................................................................196 Appendix XVI: Location of Petitioner’s Members, 1992 .........................................................................197 Appendix XVII: Individuals the Department Found Who Have Pembina Band Ancestry (The Petitioner’s Direct Ancestors and Others) ...............................................................198 Appendix XVIII: Petitioner’s Chart 1 or Chart 2 Ancestors Lacking Pembina Band Descent ....................220 Appendix XIX: Petitioner’s “Criterion E Progenitors” .............................................................................223 Bibliography for Sources not in the FAIR Database .......................................................225 FAIR Bibliography ..........................................................................................................232 iv Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana (Petitioner #31) ABBREVIATIONS AND/OR ACRONYMS USED IN THIS REPORT AS-IA Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs BAR Branch of Acknowledgment and Research BIA Bureau of Indian Affairs CFR Code of Federal Regulations DOI Department of the Interior FAIR Federal Acknowledgment Information Resource FD Final Determination FTM Family Tree MakerTM genealogy software FR Federal Register IBIA Interior Board of Indian Appeals IRA Indian Reorganization Act OFA Office of Federal Acknowledgment, formerly BAR PF Proposed Finding LS Little Shell Petitioner LSCG Little Shell Community Group RFD Reconsidered Final Determination RRS Red River Settlements TA Technical Assistance TMG The Master Genealogist, the Petitioner’s Genealogical Database TR Technical Report v Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana (Petitioner #31) Summary under the Criteria and Evidence for Final Determination against the Federal Acknowledgment of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana INTRODUCTION The Office of the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs (Assistant Secretary or AS-IA) within the Department of the Interior (Department or DOI) issues this final determination (FD) in response to the petition received from a group known as the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana (Little Shell, LS, or Petitioner #31), with an office located in the town of Great Falls, Montana. The LS petitioned for Federal acknowledgment as an Indian tribe under Part 83 of Title 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations (25 CFR Part 83), Procedures for Establishing that an American Indian Group Exists as an Indian Tribe. The Assistant Secretary delegated authority to sign some Federal acknowledgment findings to the Acting Principal Deputy-Assistant Secretary- Indian Affairs, effective June 4, 2009. The acknowledgment regulations, 25 CFR Part 83, establish the procedures by which groups may seek Federal acknowledgment as an Indian tribe entitled to a government-to-government relationship with the United States. To be entitled to such a political relationship, the petitioner must submit documentary evidence that the group meets all seven mandatory criteria set forth in section 83.7 of the regulations. The Department shall acknowledge the petitioner as an Indian tribe when it determines that the group satisfies all of the criteria in 83.7(a-g). The Office of Federal Acknowledgment (OFA),1 within the Office of the AS-IA, has responsibility for petition review and analysis. This FD concludes the petitioner does not meet all seven mandatory criteria and is not an Indian tribe within the meaning of Federal law. On July 21, 2000, the Department issued a proposed finding (PF) that concluded the petitioner met all seven mandatory criteria and proposed to acknowledge the group as an Indian tribe. In doing so, the AS-IA explicitly acknowledged several proposed departures from practice in previous acknowledgment decisions (65 FR 45395; Little Shell PF 2000, Summary, 6). Publishing notice of the PF in the Federal Register on that day initiated a 180-day comment period during which time the petitioner, interested and informed parties, and the public could submit arguments and evidence to support or rebut the PF. The regulations at 25 CFR 83.10(k) provide the petitioner a minimum