The Chippewa Cree Tribe Of The Rocky Boy Reservation

The Chippewa Cree Tribe Of The Rocky Boy Reservation, a federally recognized Native American tribal government headquartered in Box Elder, Montana, serves as the prime recipient of federal grant funding across a broad portfolio of social services, infrastructure, environmental management, and community development programs. The tribe operates as a tribal government entity administering federal formula grants, discretionary grants, and cooperative agreements, with 92% of its award footprint in prime recipient roles and 8% as a sub-recipient under state pass-through entities and federal contractors.

The tribe's customer concentration sits heavily with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of the Interior (DOI), and the Department of Transportation, anchoring its grant portfolio. HHS Administration for Children and Families leads by award count with 79 awards spanning child care development, child support enforcement, child welfare services, promoting safe and stable families, and community services block grants — a recurring set of formula allocations designated for tribal governments under the Older Americans Act, TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), and related social-service statutes. The DOI Bureau of Indian Affairs accounts for 65 awards focused on energy development, historic preservation, and natural resource management. The Federal Transit Administration has issued 23 awards for the tribe's Rocky Boy Tribal Transit Program, supporting fixed-route and demand-response public transportation operations serving reservation members and residents in Box Elder, Montana.

Recent representative grant work illustrates the scope. The tribe received $5.14 million under the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG, CFDA 93.575) awarded October 1, 2025, to deliver child care subsidies and quality improvement services through September 30, 2028. The Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded $873,551 under the Tribal Justice Assistance program (CFDA 16.596) on October 1, 2025, to implement an Adult Healing to Wellness Court addressing substance use and offender rehabilitation on the reservation. The DOJ Office on Violence Against Women awarded $749,770 under the Violence Against Women Discretionary Grants for Indian Tribal Governments program (CFDA 16.587) on October 1, 2025, to provide emergency and transitional housing and coordinate community response to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, and stalking. The DOT Immediate Office of the Secretary awarded $741,000 under the Rural and Tribal Assistance Pilot Program (CFDA 20.943) on November 2, 2026, to fund legal, technical, and financial advisors advancing the Rocky Boy Agency Street Rehabilitation Project through November 2029. The tribe also holds a $1.05 million block grant from HHS Administration for Children and Families under the Child Support Services program (CFDA 93.563) for FY2026 to deliver Title IV-D child support enforcement operations.

The tribe holds recurring formula-grant allocations under the Older Americans Act (OAA) Title VI Parts A and C for supportive and nutrition services to Native American seniors; Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) allocations for weatherization and energy-cost assistance; Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) funding; and Native American Library Services grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services supporting cultural preservation, archival digitization, and community programming at the Stone Child College/Rocky Boy Community Library. The tribe acts as the lead agency for administration of the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), maintaining compliance with three-year planning and federal audit standards.

The tribe's sub-recipient footprint is anchored by Montana state agencies — the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services passes through Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), Women, Infants and Children (WIC), and epidemiological (EPI) funding; the Montana Department of Transportation channels Safe On All Roads (SOAR) highway safety grants; and the Montana Department of Military Affairs distributes emergency protective measures and road infrastructure funding under disaster-response authorities. The tribe received four federal contracts from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for Tribal Employment Rights Ordinance (TERO) program services, with the most recent $33,000 definitive contract awarded October 1, 2025, for FY2026 performance ending September 30, 2026.

Activity has fluctuated over the past five years — 34 awards in 2022, peaking at 40 in 2023, declining to 32 in 2024, then 28 in 2025, and 6 recorded awards in 2026 (the source cutoff is recent). The combined obligated amount across all awards totals $383.3 million against a combined potential value of $817 thousand, indicating that the portfolio represents primarily executed, in-performance grants rather than future pipeline. Twenty-six awards face completion within the next twenty-four months and therefore represent recompete or continuation opportunity. The tribe's NAICS concentration centers on human rights organizations (25 awards), reflecting its role as a tribal government providing social services, with secondary exposure to real-estate operations and forestry-support activities. Place of performance is Box Elder, Montana and the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation; the tribe administers programs serving tribal members and reservation residents across health, justice, child welfare, transportation, environmental, and cultural domains.