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Rosebud County - Indigenous Science and Paleontology

Background Info/ Historical Story:

Below are articles included in the “Who Owns the Tongue Riverbed?” lesson plan by Northern Cheyenne Social Studies Units Northern Cheyenne Curriculum Committee 2006

“HELENA – A day after the state Land Board rejected her request to get the state involved in a lawsuit

over ownership of a river in eastern Montana, Gov. Judy Martz decided Tuesday to enter the legal fight herself. She said she has a duty to protect all state assets and that includes the bed of the Tongue River, from under which a company wants to extract coal bed methane. “Based on actual historic use prior to statehood, the state of Montana has conclusive ownership of the active bed of the Tongue River, and the state of Montana should be the rightful owner of any mineral royalties for our schools which are produced from the disputed lands,” Martz said. She said her office will ask to intervene in a federal lawsuit challenging a claim that the Northern Cheyenne Tribe owns half the riverbed because the eastern boundary of its reservation bisects the waterway. The suit was filed in July by Fidelity Exploration & Production Co., which obtained seven oil and gas leases from the state in 2002 to drill for coal-bed methane from under lands adjoining the river. The question of riverbed ownership is important because it will determine who gets some of the royalties from any production on the surrounding land, and tribal ownership would mean the state leases are invalid. Martz called the Land Board’s 3-2 decision Monday a “sad day for the state of Montana.” The three Democratic members – Attorney General Mike McGrath, state Auditor John Morrison and Superintendent of Public Instruction Linda McCulloch – voted against authorizing state involvement in the suit. Martz and her fellow Republication, Secretary of State Bob Brown, favored the move.”- “Martz pursues state’s claim to river.” Billings Gazette. October 19, 2004.

“ASHLAND, Mont. – For the Northern Cheyenne, it’s about defending a special resource and the border

of their reservation. For an energy development firm, it’s about business. And for Montana’s governor,

it’s about protecting the state’s financial interests and assets, which she insists include the bed of the

Tongue River. Ownership of the riverbed, along the eastern border of the tribal reservation in southeastern Montana, is at the heart of a legal dispute over leases the state sold to Fidelity Exploration & Production Co. for natural gas development.The big question: When the boundary of an Indian reservation is a river, who owns the riverbed? The tribe insists it owns at least half the width of the riverbed. The state believes it owns the entire riverbed and has the right to sell leases to Fidelity. ‘The ramifications are huge,” said Eugene Little Coyote, the tribe’s newly elected president. “It could affect everything -- our culture, our sovereignty, our water quality. … This is probably the most pressing tribal issue we have now.” Denver-based Fidelity filed a lawsuit in July, asking a judge to determine who owns the riverbed. The company did so after its attorneys noticed an apparent conflict in ownership: While the state sold Fidelity the mineral leases in 2002, a federal order signed in 1900 that extended the reservation’s eastern boundary to the river said the Northern Cheyenne has interest in at least half the width of the riverbed. Mike Caskey, Fidelity’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, said the company sees itself as a “innocent third party” that got wrapped into a dispute over ownership. “We can’t do anything until we know who owns (the land),” he said. Giving up the leases now isn’t an option, Caskey said. Though officials are not sure what gas potential the leases hold, they do consider them valuable, and the company is supporting efforts by Gov. Judy Martz to intervene, he said. The governor’s chief legal counsel, James Santoro, argued in court documents that the state needs to protect ownership rights to the riverbed and royalties and taxes from any natural gas development that occurs. The argument is based in part on the “equal footing doctrine,” which Santoro said gives the state ownership of the bed of all navigable rivers in its boundaries, including the Tongue River. But some tribal members see the state’s efforts as an affront to their sovereignty and as having the potential to strain the relationship between the state and the tribe. “I am totally appalled,” said Geri Small, the former Northern Cheyenne president. Fidelity named as defendants the federal government, including the Interior Department, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior Secretary Gale Norton and Dave Anderson, the assistant interior secretary for BIA. The company argues that while the tribe’s claim dates to 1900, Montana has a “prior and superior ownership claim” as a state government since 1889. A call to attorney Patricia Miller with the Justice Department was referred to a department spokesman, who declined comment on pending litigation. The situation bothers Kenny Medicine Bull, who lives near the Tongue River. He worries about potential problems stemming from pollution. Drilling for coal-bed methane involves releasing groundwater to relieve pressure holding gas in coal seams. Some farmers and conservationists argue that water released is often salty or of poor quality

and could harm crops or other vegetation. Development has been a concern for the tribe. Last year, it sued the federal government, claiming the Bureau of Land Management failed to fully study how coal-bed methane development in the region could affect the environment and way of life on the reservation.

The Tongue River is a part of the Northern Cheyenne’s cultural identity, according to Little Coyote.

Growing up, he fished in the river, which flows behind his childhood home south of Ashland, and leapt

from its grassy banks to swim. A sweat lodge stands along the water’s edge so participants can bathe

afterward. Plants used for tribal ceremonies grow near the river, he said. “Personally, having grown up along the river, it’s tied to my identity. It’s attached to our sovereignty as well,” said Little Coyote.” -Bohrer, Bob. “Dispute over Montana Riverbed Roiling along Northern Cheyenne Reservation.” The Associated Press. November 29, 2004.

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Photos, Maps, etc:

  • View of the Tongue River in southern Rosebud County, Montana during winter. The trees at the center have lost their leaves and are heavy with frost and snow. The river is frozen and covered with a layer of snow. Tongue River, Montana
  • View of an area along the Tongue River on the eastern edge of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in Montana, with a small mountain known as Brown's Mountain in the distance. Brown's Mountain, Tongue River, Montana
  • 1879-1930, View of a Cheyenne camp near Mission, Tongue River. Two adults possibly Plenty Bird and wife and three children and a dog are sitting in front of teepee in a grove of trees. Cheyenne Camp near Mission, Tongue River
  • Between 1908-1910, View of an Indian, likely a Cheyenne man, standing next to a group of horses drinking in the Tongue River on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana. The group stand on a rocky bank next to the partially frozen river. Indian watering his Horses in Tongue River, Montana

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