Plains Indian Studies - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

NUMBER 30 77
THE GROS VENTRE BUSINESS COUNCIL,
1904-1934
The business council was established during
Superintendent William Logan's term (1902-
1910). Logan made it a practice to consult with
a council of tribal leaders in order to talk over
reservation matters and elicit support for agency
programs. In a 29 January 1904 meeting, he
asked one such council to agree to his spending
money from tribal grazing leases for a flour mill.
Running Fisher spoke for the Gros Ventres, commenting
that he was willing to allow Logan to
decide how best to spend tribal funds. Logan,
gratified, commented that he had "never been
associated with better Indians" and that he was
"proud of their efforts to get along." He proposed
to make the council meetings a regular event
(FARC, 1904). It is not clear how councilmen
were selected before 1907, but, thereafter, councilmen
were chosen at an all-tribal gathering,
after a discussion among the influential males
had produced a number of "nominees" who were
then approved by tribal members in a voice
"vote." The selection of councilmen on 21 October
1907 was precipitated by instructions from
Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs C.F. Larabee,
who requested Logan to call a meeting of
both the Gros Ventres and Assiniboines, who also
occupied the Fort Belknap Reservation. The purpose
of the meeting was an appointment of a
business council and the authorization of that
council to sign a proposed leasing agreement with
a sugar beet processing company (NA, 1907).
By 1911, Superintendent H.H. Miller (1910-
1914) reported that the Gros Ventres, who settled
in the Hays district, had an elected business
council comprised of seven members elected by
voice vote in a tribal meeting. In addition, the
Lodgepole and Milk River districts each had
seven-member business councils representing the
Assiniboines. Miller, who sought to undermine
the tradition of decision-making by consensus
during a meeting of the entire tribe, was hopeful
that the councilmen would make decisions independently
of tribal members in general (NA,
1911).
During the 1920s, Superintendent John T.
Marshall (1921-1929) helped implement annual
ballot elections in each of the three residential
areas. Marshall commented, "If the right men are
elected as councilmen, a great deal of time is
saved in transacting tribal affairs, as more ground
can be covered and quicker action obtained by
presenting the matter to the tribal [business]
council than if it had to be obtained through
holding a meeting before the whole tribe" (NA,
1924). He also hoped that men of the "younger
generation" would be elected (NA, 1921). The
Assiniboines elected three councilmen to represent
the River district and three councilmen to
represent the Lodgepole area. The Gros Ventres
elected six councilmen, usually one who was a
resident of the River district and five from Hays.
The council met on 10 July and 5 December 1921
and drafted and adopted a constitution and bylaws
(Fort Belknap, 1921-1929).
The superintendents at Fort Belknap were initially
optimistic that the business councilmen
would prove to be more "progressive" leaders
than the chiefs of former years. However, as each
superintendent's term wore on, his optimism
faded. Although they tried to cooperate with the
superintendents' efforts at economic development,
councilmen viewed their first task to be
advocacy for their tribe.
As advocates, the business councilmen were
expected by their constituents to try to improve
reservation living conditions by pressuring or persuading
the superintendents and the Indian Office
in Washington to provide adequate assistance
to individuals desirous of starting farming or
ranching enterprises. Gros Ventre councilmen
were also expected to obtain federal recognition
of the Gros Ventre as the "leading" tribe, if not
the only tribe with rights, on the Fort Belknap
Reservation.
The council's agitation for economic reforms
resulted in a delegation to Washington in the
spring of 1912. The Gros Ventre and Assiniboine
delegates reiterated the points stressed by a general
council of both tribes on 5 March 1912. The
Gros Ventres did not have as much income from
leases and land cessions as the Arapahoes. While