Northern Cheyenne Tribe

Background

The Environmental Protection Department calls the tribe's ownership of all subsurface interests and nearly all surface interests a unique accomplishment among federally recognized tribes. The Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation lies in southeastern Montana and covers approximately 444,000 acres, about 99 percent of it tribally owned. The tribe counts roughly 12,266 enrolled members, with about 6,012 living on the reservation. The Tribal Council draws members from five districts: Ashland, Birney, Busby, Muddy, and Lame Deer.

Visit and learn

Northern Cheyenne Tribe's own site

Tribal lands have their own laws. Check the nation's site before you visit.

Parks on its homelands

Badlands National Park

The Northern Cheyenne Tribe's home today is the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in southeastern Montana, where its tribal council draws members from five districts, Ashland, Birney, Busby, Muddy and Lame Deer. Source

Rocky Mountain National Park

The park counts the Tsistsistas (Cheyenne) as seasonal residents of the Rocky Mountains by the time settlers arrived, and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe's reservation is now in Montana. Source

Yellowstone National Park

Roughly 444,000 acres of southeastern Montana make up the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, 99 percent of it held in tribal ownership. Source

Programs

• Environmental Protection Department

  Runs the tribe's air, water, and brownfields programs from Lame Deer. The tribe adopted air pollution standards more stringent than the EPA's, and the department publishes an annual water quality report.

  https://northerncheyenneepd.com/·land

Sources

• https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-01-30/html/2026-01899.htm
• https://www.cheyennenation.com/
• https://northerncheyenneepd.com/

Checked September 2026.

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