The Rocky Boy Reservation is the homeland for the southernmost band of Cree (Niyowahk) and one of the westernmost bands of Chippewa (Anishinaabe) in North America. The story of how the ancestors survived hardship and overcame adversity to secure a federally recognized homeland in and near the Bear Paw Mountains of north central Montana is an amazing example of the larger American Indian efforts to maintain traditional ties to Mother Earth.