Flathead Indian Reservation

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Salish Men Near Tipis (1903 Flathead Reservation, MT)
University of Washington Digital Collections

The Flathead Indian Reservation, located in western Montana on the Flathead River, is home to the Bitterroot Salish, Kootenai and Pend d'Oreilles Tribes - also known as the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation (1). The Reservation was created through 1855 Treaty of Hellgate and includes parts of four Montana counties: Lake, Sanders, Missoula, and Flathead (2). The Flathead Indian Reservation is an area of 5,019.621 km² (1,938.087 sq mi) of forested mountains and valleys just west of the Continental Divide (3).

Unlike most other tribes in Montana, the Bitterroot Salish migrated from the west. The Kootenai, however, are native to the state. Archaeological evidence shows that native Americans inhabited Montana more than 14,000 years ago, and artifacts indicate that the Kootenai have roots in the area's prehistory. The Kootenai inhabited the mountainous terrain west of the Continental Divide, venturing only seasonally to the east for buffalo hunts. The Kootenai were divided into two main groups. One band lived to the northeast and had a lifestyle based on buffalo hunting. The other band lived in the mountainous west and had a lifestyle focused on rivers and lakes. The Salish occupied territory in Washington, Idaho, and western Montana but ventured as far east as the Bighorn Mountains. As the tribe moved east, it had to change from a lifestyle based on salmon fishing to one more dependent on native plants and buffalo. During the 1700s, these two tribes – the Salish and the Kootenai – shared common hunting and gathering grounds (4).

The present-day population of the reservation is 26,172 as of the 2000 census. The largest community on the reservation is the city of Polson, which is also the county seat of Lake County. The seat of government of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation is Pablo.