The Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana:
Food Distribution Program

In April 2024, the Little Shell Tribe opened a new food distribution program to provide more nutritious and Indigenous foods for its tribal members. Providing quality and, oftentimes, local food is the tribe’s latest effort to improve the health of its people through access to reliable nutrition.

After receiving federal recognition in 2019, the tribe could access federal funds to support health, housing, and food programs available to all federally recognized tribes. In 2021, the tribe launched a new food sovereignty program, purchasing land to raise livestock, grow produce, and build a food storage and distribution center.

With the infrastructure in place for food storage, the tribe decided that the next phase of addressing tribal members’ food needs was to create a food bank for its most vulnerable members, many of whom are veterans and seniors on fixed incomes. A $100,000 grant from the Montana Healthcare Foundation allowed the tribe to hire a program coordinator to get the project up and running and apply for a USDA grant.

In the year following, the program staff developed policies and procedures to structure the program and built relationships with other organizations in the community to support food acquisition and distribution. In turn, this work helped the tribe secure funding to sustain the program through the USDA Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, a federal program that provides food to income-eligible people. The federal program is administered by the state health department and operated locally by the tribe.

The Little Shell Tribe’s Food Distribution Program based at the Moiijim Center (meaning “food” in Ojibwe) regularly serves 70 tribal members.

In addition to the food distribution program (which has income-level requirements), each month, the tribe hosts a “Meat and Greet” where members of the community can come to the Moiijim Center and receive a box filled with bison meat, donated vegetables from local Hutterite colonies, and hygiene supplies. This event allows the tribe to support members of their community who do not qualify for the food distribution program but whose income level often dictates which essentials they can afford.

“Our citizens are very grateful for this little bit of help. Our food program is about more than food. It is about community and resilience and supporting one another. We’re here to ensure every tribal citizen can access quality food and resources, fostering strength and unity across generations.”

– Doug Perrien, Program Director

The tribe now has a team that operates the food distribution program and develops community activities that meaningfully impact tribal members’ health and well-being.