Visit a Native American Reservation
You can visit the Sacajawea Cemetery in the Wind River Reservation and many other reservations throughout Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.
Wyoming’s Wind River Reservation, at 2.2 million acres, is the third-largest in total size of all reservations in the U.S. Home to the Eastern Shoshone and the Northern Arapaho, the Wind River Reservation is also notable because the U.S. Army Buffalo Soldiers were posted at Fort Washakie, and the guide of the Lewis and Clark expedition, Sacagawea, is allegedly buried there. Her grave and a memorial are located in the Sacagawea Cemetery near Fort Washakie.
It is also the only reservation where the government allowed Native Americans to choose their own land.
The Northern Arapaho arrived after the Eastern Shoshone on a temporary basis, en route to a promised reservation in Idaho. But the new reservation was never established, and the two tribes now jointly administer the large area.
The largest annual event on the reservation is Eastern Shoshone Indian Days, traditionally held the last week of June at Fort Washakie. The event features one of the largest powwows in the region, an all-Indian rodeo, and a reenactment of the signing of the Treaty of 1868.
For more information go to Windriver.org or call (800) 645-6233.
The Crow and Northern Cheyenne Reservations in south-central Montana share a common border, but it’s on the Crow Reservation where the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument and the Reno-Benteen Battlefield are located, drawing thousands of visitors annually. The sites commemorate the Sioux/Cheyenne victory over the Seventh Cavalry and General George Armstrong Custer.
The Crow Reservation is also home to Chief Plenty Coups State Park and the Montana side of Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. Major events include the Northern Cheyenne Powwow and Rodeo at Lame Deer over Memorial Day weekend, and the Crow Fair Powwow and Rodeo the third week of August at Crow Agency.
Other tribal homes in Montana include the Blackfeet Nation Reservation near Browning; the Fort Belnap Reservation near Harlem, home to the Assiniboine and Gros Ventre tribes; the Fort Peck Reservation, occupied by the Assiniboine and Sioux; the Flathead Reservation, home to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes; and the Rocky Boy’s Reservation, home to the Chippewa-Cree tribe.