ABSTRACT
The Flathead Indians have been involved for several centuries in a process of political evolution. The Flathead reservation, established in 1855 by the Hellgate Treaty, contains some of the most beautiful land in the Pacific Northwest. A pure Flathead tradition, if one existed, was progressively diluted by cultural borrowings, intermarriages, and adoptions, so that the Flatheads as a society combined features of the original Plateau and adopted Plains cultures. The Salish Indians' adaptability came to play a significant role in the early development of the Flathead reservation. The actual opening of the Flathead reservation occurred May 2, 1910, and in the following years more than 4,500 homestead patents were issued for some 404,000 acres. The Flathead tribes, along with other Plateau Indian groups such as the Kootenai and Nez Perce, had in common a form of social organization whose roots were found on the Plains.
