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Show to entire tribes. The Boysen and Yellowtail units involve no Indian removal from areas to be inun- dated. The problem of land inundation in the Missouri-Souris unit is potentially overshadowed by the large opportunity of irrigating additional Indian land on the Fort Peck Reservation. The Missouri River Basin program gives a pro- nounced stimulus to the irrigation of Indian land because some Indian land is located within the boundaries of reclamation units and the construc- tion of some of these reclamation projects permits improving- the water supply in projects of the Bu- reau of Indian Affairs. The area of irrigable land on Indian reservations is 381,010 acres. The area now irrigated is 187,104 acres. The taking of 380,000 acres of river bottom land for reservoirs will be a severe blow to their present economy. On these bottoms the Indians farm and graze their cattle, obtain fuel, hunt game, and, on some reservations, mine coal. The land to be flooded is the best land on the reservations: fertile, partially timbered, accessible to a shallow water table and the river, the choice areas for dwelling and for cattle operations. The Fort Berthold Reservation.-Comprising a total of 64-3,368 acres, from which 155,000 acres is being taken for the Garrison Reservoir, the Fort Berthold Reservation presents typical effects of in- undation on the Indian economy. The area held by the Fort Berthold Indians has been reduced pro- gressively since establishment of the reservation. By treaty of 1851, it consisted of 12.5 million acres. Through subsequent acts and Executive Orders, it was reduced to about 430,000 acres. Further reduction will drastically reduce the carrying capacity of the reservation and upset the balance off winter and summer ranges. Although the residual area will carry the present cattle of the Indians and allow a theoretical increase of 77 per- cent, it has not been estimated to what degree this will be limited by lack of winter range. One hun- dred and fifty families could operate cattle herds of adequate size for self-support on the residual reservation. Little opportunity would be left for increased livestock production. The tinxber which provides the house logs, fence posts, and especially firewood will be destroyed by the reservoir. Although there will be compensa- tion, there will be little or no lumber and wood supply on the reservation in the future. Outcrop- pings of lignite are used for home consumption and for some sale. Although there is probably a poten- tial lignite resource under the remaining land, it is 236 more difficult of access. Similarly, ground water, easily accessible in the bottom land, will be at greater depths, available only at great expense for locating and drilling. The timber and brush land along the waterways is the habitat of deer and other game. It is also the source of many wild foods used by the Indians. These important assets will be lost. The land to be purchased within the reser- vation is not divided into individual farms or parts of farms as is the case outside the reservation. Reservation land is held in individual allotments, by heirs who own only interests in allotments, and by the tribes. The land is not used as individual tracts. Much of it is pooled in common commu- nity ranges; much of it is idle. Individuals do not farm all of the allotments they own, but only small plots. Many people live on land on which each has only an unspecified interest. Others live on land only by courtesy of relatives, following Indian custom. The greater part of the land is owned by old peo- ple who were alive when bottom land became the first part of the reservation to be allotted. When the land is withdrawn, the problem will not be one of individuals selling their farms or losing their leases and moving to other farms, as among the whites, but rather of a group whose land owner- ship and use are complicated and intertwined by Indian custom and Federal inheritance regulations. The majority of the payments will go to older Indians who will have little interest in reinvesting in other land. Heirs will receive little with which to reestablish themselves as they are now living. Many will be forced to move, and will receive no payments. The removal will necessitate a complex relocation program for the entire group and its complete economic and social rehabilitation. It is anticipated that a large number of the relocated families will require support during the rehabilita- tion period. Each farm household must be pro- vided with adequate land. This will require con- solidation of allotments, and scattered interests in inherited allotments, into farm units which can be operated efficiently. Due to the limited amount of land and the topography, grazing ranges will have to be established for joint use. The total economic effect of withdrawing res- ervation bottom lands for the Garrison Project will be to force the Indians from their traditional partially subsistence economy to an almost com- plete cash economy, entailing far greater daily work and expense. The difficulties of this read- |
