No. 574
The Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians has sought federal recognition since the 1930s. In December 2019, the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians became the 574th federally recognized tribe in the United States. On January 25, in Great Falls, Montana, tribal citizens celebrated their victory and remembered those who helped pave the way.
Photographed for the New York Times and High Country News
Scott Jenkin carries his grandmother’s portrait into the commemoration.
Federal recognition grants Little Shell members access to health care and social services. At the same time, however, it highlights the federal government and non-Indigenous policymakers role in deciding who is Indigenous.
“We had to go through a system that the federal government put in place,” said Little Shell Tribal Chairman Gerald Gray. “The same government that tried to get rid of Indians. I don’t like it, but it’s the system we were forced to operate under — and we did it. They get to tell me I’m Indian now.”
The Little Shell Cultural Center is one of the two Little Shell places to gather in Great Falls, Montana. With federal recognition, the Little Shell are now able to look at ways to expand their community.
Little Shell Tribal Chairman Gerald Gray accepts a basket of gifts from the Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council President Rynalea Pena. Gray said the support of their sister tribes was invaluable in the Little Shell’s battle for recognition.
Students from the Great Falls Public School Indian Education Department dance during the commemoration.
Ninety-three-year-old Theresa Juraskovich, the oldest living tribal member, said recognition made her feel like a person. “I felt like, without recognition, I wasn’t somebody,” said Jurskovich. “Today, I feel like I’m valued.”
Other attendees came to represent Little Shell members who died before recognition was achieved. “I wept for three days when I found out we were getting the recognition,” said Scott Jenkin, 47, who carried a portrait of his grandmother, Alice LaTray Schnabel. “I wanted her here in spirit. It’s her blood that makes me Little Shell.”
Days after the Little Shell gained federal recognition, Chris La Tray tattooed the tribe’s new federal number on his knuckles. La Tray said his feelings about recognition remain complicated; he feels happy but ambivalent.
“I view it as not something given to us but something that was returned to us. To me, it’s the government admitting their mistake.”