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Fort
Berthold Indian Reservation
Another concern was disagreement over how the $7,500,000 appropriated
by Congress in 1949 was to be distributed. On November 13, 1950,
land appraisers arrived at Fort Berthold and invited the people
to accept or reject the appraisals made in 1948. According
to an agency official, an overwhelming majority of the landowners
accepted the appraisals. By January 1951 road surveys were completed,
and construction to begin as soon as funds were appropriated.
The relocation committee devised a relocation plan identifying
agricultural potential and how a typical tract of land should
be used, and reference to classification of the soil was given
to each household. Unlike the soil of the bottomland that
was Class I and Class II, these tracts were Class III to Class
VI.
By the fall of 1954, relocation was complete. A new road
system was constructed, school buildings were built, churches
and cemeteries were moved, the agency was housed in its new
quarters at New Town, the Four Bears bridge was removed from
its original site, and installed as part of the new bridge west
of New Town, North Dakota.
The immense loss of natural resources by the flooding of the
Garrison Dam was only a part of the adjustments that had to
be made by the Mandan, Hidatsa and Sahnish. In the following
years, as the dams was under construction, no attempt was made
to reestablish the small village environment that existed.
Families were forced to relocate on isolated holdings throughout
the reservation. Many moved off the reservation.
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Phone: 701-627-3503
Three Affiliated Tribes, 404 Frontage Road, New Town, North Dakota,
58763
Copyright ® 2004-2006 Mandan, Hidatsa & Arikara Nation.
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