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The Little Shell Chippewa Tribe of Montana is Homeless No More

Cecily Hilleary

   WASHINGTON - For decades, the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians in
   Montana have lived in a state of neitherness -- neither completely
   Native American nor non-Native American. But last month, its 5,400
   members received a gift they have waited decades for -- federal
   recognition. The Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians Restoration
   Act, sponsored by Senators Jon Tester and Steve Daines and
   Representative Greg Giaforte, was tucked into the National Defense
   Authorization Act, which U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law on
   December 20.

   The bill gives the tribe the same benefits afforded treaty tribes and
   other recognized tribes the right to self-govern and a small land base
   of 200 acres, which the tribe must purchase and which will be held in
   trust by the government. Tribe members will be eligible for assistance
   with education, health care, social services, law enforcement, and
   other programs.

   "It might not seem like a big deal to the folks who aren't impacted,"
   Tester told reporters during a December 17 conference call, "but the
   truth is that this is going to allow the Little Shell to really move
   forward in a way that they've been trying to do for 150 years."

   Little Shell Tribe member Rylee Mitchell, a resident of Great Falls,
   Montana, is in her last year of high school and looking forward to
   attending college.

   "I can apply for scholarships now because there are thousands of them
   open," she said. "But without being federally recognized, I could apply
   for only eight."

   The Mitchell family will now be able to access health care through the
   Indian Health Service, a federal agency that provides health care
   services to Native Americans and Alaska Natives.

   Most importantly, federal recognition will give tribe members a sense
   of legitimacy they've been denied for more than a century.

   "The other tribes in Montana, they have their own high schools and
   their own sports programs," said Rylee's mother Julie Mitchell. "They
   get to keep their language and their traditions and their culture
   together.

   Nobody really understands the Little Shells' history, she said, or how
   they ended up landless.

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