ROBERT OSBORN:
Portraits of the Homeless
on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation
I have been photographing for a very long time.
Over the years I have been blessed with more than
my share of projects in which my heart became
involved.
It’s happening again.
Fort Peck Indian Reservation lies in Montana’s far
northeast corner, well out onto the Northern Plains.
Poplar is one of six towns on the reservation. Its
population is 850 and decreasing each year. The
people here are predominately Sioux. This is the
poorest town I’ve ever been in. Tourists do not stop
here. There is endemic alcoholism, high unemploy-
ment, too many burned-out houses, too many meth
dealers, too much crime, too much poverty, and
bone-deep despair. People in Poplar believe a dark
cloud hangs over their town.
Tribal elders I’ve spoken to claim Poplar’s deteri-
oration began when the ban on alcohol was lifted on
the reservation in the 1950s. Poplar has become a
third world zone, right here in Montana. This should
not be, but it is.
At the very bottom of Poplar’s social order are
the Indian homeless. They are mostly ignored by
their own people and virtually unknown to the rest
of Montana. They sleep in sheds and abandoned
buildings, or in a trash dumpster or rolled up in a
discarded rug when nothing else is available. Some
are addicted to meth; most are alcoholics.
These are the people I photograph. I am honored
they allow me to do so. They make images that
refuse to be ignored.
Two years ago, when I was photograph-
ing Montana Indians in a historical-traditional
context, I met Don Rattling Thunder La Roque, an
Assiniboine-Sioux. We did three photo sessions
of him in Native regalia, made some really strong
photographs, and became close friends. Don was
An exhibition of these and other large-format photographs by Robert Osborn will be on display at
Sundog Fine Art in Bozeman during June 2018. Reception June 9 at 5:30 p.m. More at sundogfineart.com.
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raised in Poplar. He is fast becoming a latter-day
warrior for his people, the homeless included.
In August of 2017, Don introduced me to Joleen
La Roche, a Turtle Mountain Chippewa. Joleen is a
tough woman with a big heart. She works with the
homeless in Poplar.
While we were talking, Joleen asked what I
thought of photographing the street people of Poplar.
This was a stunning moment for me. Immediately
I could see the extraordinary potential of the idea:
the baroque imagery, the moving body of work, an
art photography book that would almost certainly
follow. In a flash I saw all of this. But what I didn’t
see was how much my heart would become involved.
Since that conversation I’ve made five trips to
Poplar and the neighboring reservation town of Wolf
Point, and I intend to make many more over the
next year or two. In addition to photo gear, my van
is usually loaded with bags of clothing donated by
people who have seen these pictures in my gallery.
This has become an ongoing project that Joleen,
Don, and I care deeply about and contribute to,
each in our own way. Profits from the sale of these
photographs and the eventual book will go toward
meals, clothing, and facilities for the Fort Peck
homeless.
When I began this article on New Year’s Day,
the temperature in Poplar was 30 degrees below
zero. Keep this in mind as you consider these
photographs.
In mid-January Don La Roque called to tell me
that Moosie, whose photograph is included here,
had just been found frozen nearly to death in a
dumpster in Poplar, and that a homeless man we do
not know had been found frozen behind a market in
Wolf Point. Moosie survived (barely), the other man
did not.
 CALVIN
Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes, Poplar, Fort Peck Reservation
2017

M O N TA N A Q U A R T E R LY 9
 PATTY
Sioux Tribe, Wolf Point, Fort Peck Reservation
2017

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 OLIVIA
Sioux Tribe, Poplar, Fort Peck Reservation
2017

M O N TA N A Q U A R T E R LY 11
 MOOSIE
Sioux Tribe, Poplar, Fort Peck Reservation
2017

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 HARRIS
Assiniboine Tribe, Wolf Point, Fort Peck Reservation
2017

M O N TA N A Q U A R T E R LY 13
 CRUTCHY
Chippewa Cree Tribe, Poplar, Fort Peck Reservation
2017

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 WILMA
Sioux Tribe, Poplar, Fort Peck Reservation
2017

M O N TA N A Q U A R T E R LY 15
 BROTHER GNOME
Sioux Tribe, Wolf Point, Fort Peck Reservation
2017

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 BABY GIRL
Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Tribes, Poplar, Fort Peck Reservation
2017

M O N TA N A Q U A R T E R LY 17