"We live at the backbone of the world, where the water begins. Scientists call it a 'resource,' but we call it the source. The Jocko River is fundamental to CSKT life, but over the last century the watershed became disconnected from its floodplain, leveled and channelized when agriculture moved onto the Flathead Indian Reservation."
"After a decade of negotiations, one of the most significant tribal settlements in U.S. history created the 2015 Confederated Salish and Kootenai-Montana Compact Water Rights Compact. Effective in 2021, the compact reauthorizes tribal water rights promised in the 1855 Hellgate Treaty, while also protecting existing water users through a joint state-tribal water management system."
"The aboriginal territory of the Selis, Ksanka and Qlispe tribes covered 22 million acres of western Montana and extended into Canada, Idaho and Wyoming. The three tribes coexisted in a rich landscape, amid over 980 miles of rivers and streams - a natural abundance that explains why Salish elder Mitch Smallsalmon famously called the tribes 'wealthy from the water.'"
The Jocko River, central to Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) life and culture, was historically abundant with bull trout and cold water tributaries. Over the past century, agricultural development on the Flathead Indian Reservation disconnected the river from its floodplain through channelization and leveling. After ten years of negotiations, the 2015 CSKT-Montana Compact Water Rights Compact was established, becoming effective in 2021. This landmark settlement reauthorizes tribal water rights guaranteed by the 1855 Hellgate Treaty while protecting existing water users through a joint state-tribal management system. The compact combines Indigenous-led restoration efforts, collaborative governance structures, and dedicated funding to help the tribe recover its rivers and the traditional lifeways dependent upon them.
#tribal-water-rights #river-restoration #indigenous-sovereignty #watershed-management #cskt-settlement
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