ABSTRACT
About thirty-five miles south of the Canadian border in north-central Montana lies the Fort Belknap reservation. The history of the Fort Belknap reservation is a story of special protection and repeated failure. In 1873, Fort Belknap was made a sub-agency of Fort Peck to serve the needs of the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine. The government of Fort Belknap is not well designed for the task of moving its residents from poverty to prosperity. Fort Belknap is an Indian Reorganization Act reservation. The Bureau's desire to run things on the Fort Belknap reservation and to discourage Indian political initiative has a long tradition. The Fort Belknap court, however, has overcome its precarious status and is probably stronger than either the council or the president. In 1979 and again in 1981, the Fort Belknap Community Council attempted to use a "secretarial election" to reform tribal government.
