October 17, 1855 Blackfeet Treaty

11 Stat. 657

October 17, 1855

Treaty

Franklin Pierce,

President of the United States of America,

To all persons to whom these presents shall come,

Greeting:

WHEREAS; a treaty was made and concluded at the



council ground on the Upper Missouri, near the mouth

of the Judith River, in the Territory of Nebraska, on the

seventeenth day of October, in the year one thousand



eight hundred and fifty-five, between A. Cumming and



Isaac I. Stevens, commissioners on the part of the United



States, and the Blackfoot and other tribes of Indians, which



treaty is in the words and figures following, to wit:--



Articles of agreement and convention made and concluded at



the council ground on the Upper Missouri, near the mouth



of the Judith River, in the territory of Nebraska, this



seventeenth day of October, in the year one thousand



eight hundred and fifty-five, by and between A. Cumming

and Isaac I. Stevens, commissioners duly appointed and

authorized, on the part of the United States, and the

undersigned chiefs, headmen, and delegates of the

following nations and tribes of Indians, who occupy,

for the purposes of hunting, the territory on the

Upper Missouri and Yellow Stone Rivers, and

who have permanent homes as follows: East

of the Rocky Mountains, the Blackfoot nation;

consisting of the Piegans, Blood, Blackfoot, and

Gros Ventres tribes of Indians. West of the

Rocky Mountains, the Flathead nation:

consisting of the Flathead, Upper Pend

d'Oreille, and Kootenay tribes of Indians

and the Nez Perce tribe of Indians, the said

chiefs, headmen and delegates, in behalf of

and acting for said nations and tribes, and

being duly authorized thereto by them.

ARTICLE 1. Peace, friendship and amity

shall hereafter exist between the United

States and the aforesaid nations and tribes

of Indians, parties to this treaty, and the

same shall be perpetual.

ARTICLE 2. The aforesaid nations and tribes

of Indians, parties to this treaty, do hereby

jointly and severally covenant that peaceful

relations shall lifewise be maintained among

themselves in future; and that they will abstain

from all hostilities whatsoever against each other,

and cultivate mutual

June 10, 1896 Blackfeet Agreement Article V

29 Stat. 321, 535-354

June 10, 1896

Agreement With The Indians of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation In Montana

Article V.

Since the stituation of the Blackfeet Reservation renders

it wholly unfit for agriculture, and since these Indians have

shown within the past four years that they can successfully

raise horned cattle, and there is every probability that they

will become self-supporting by attention to this industry,

it is agreed that during the existence of this agreement no

allotments of land in severalty shall be made to them, but

that this whole reservation shall continue to be held by

these indians as a communal grazing tract upon which

their herds may feed undisturbed; and that after the

expiration of this agreement the lands shall continue

to be held until such time as a majority of the adult

males of the tribe shall request in writing that

allotment in severalty shall be made of their lands:

Provided, That any member of the tribe may, with

the approval of the agent in charge, fence in such

area of land as he and the member of his family

would be entitled to under the allotment act, and

may file with the agent a description of such land

and of the improvements that he has made on the

same, and the filing of such description shall give

the said members of the tribe the right to take

such land when allotments of the land in severalty

shall be made.