Analysis | Based on public records reviewed Oct. 13, 2026
The Chippewa Cree Tribe is on the Federal Highway Administration’s newest list of tribal road-safety awards, for $16,233 to pay for Phase II of a road attributes study. That fiscal 2026 list came out this month. The bigger number tied to Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation, $1,306,083 for fence work along Route 6, is on the agency’s 2025 list.
Both awards come through the FHWA’s Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund. They are different projects, from different years, with different jobs to do. When a new list comes out and an older, larger figure gets repeated alongside it, the two are easy to blur together.
Two lists, two projects
The 2025 list names the Chippewa Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy’s Reservation, the recipient name used on the federal record, for $1,306,083. The project is called Route 6 Fence Removal and Install.
The fiscal 2026 list names the Tribe for $16,233 for the Road Attributes Study Project, Phase II.
One is fence work on a named route. The other is a study. A study can set up later construction, but it isn’t construction, and the 2026 award is not a new Route 6 budget.
What the lists don’t show
An award list tells you a project was picked for funding. It doesn’t tell you when work starts or whether any money has been spent. Federal awards can pass through planning, agreements, procurement and engineering before anyone sees a crew on the road, and the lists generally don’t track later amendments either.
For the Route 6 fence project, the public records KHEW News reviewed don’t answer these questions:
- Which stretches of Route 6 are included
- What the construction schedule is, and whether work has started
- Where procurement stands and how much has been paid out
- Who will maintain the fence once it’s in
The project’s name raises the questions anyone who drives Route 6 would ask. Where does the fence run, and why is it coming out and going back in? Roadway edges, animals on the road and visibility all come to mind, but the design details are not in the federal records, and KHEW News isn’t going to guess at them.
The Phase II study has its own open questions. What road attributes will it measure, and how will the Tribe use what it finds? When will results be public?
A study like this is easy to overlook because nobody sees anything change on the road. Good data on road conditions is how agencies spot hazards and decide which fixes to pay for, though, so it can matter later.
Nothing in either list says Route 6 is more dangerous than other roads on or near the reservation. KHEW News has not reviewed crash data for the route.
Fort Belknap’s awards
The fiscal 2026 list also includes two awards to the Fort Belknap Indian Community: $727,483 for improvements on BIA Route 11 and $460,749 for rumble strips on five routes. Together they come to $1,188,232.
Those are separate awards to a separate tribe, and the two communities aren’t interchangeable. The Fort Belknap entries do name specific routes and specific safety treatments, which makes them easier to describe than a study award.
Questions still open
The Tribe is the named recipient on both Chippewa Cree awards, so tribal transportation officials are the ones who can explain the projects and report progress. These questions remain unanswered in the public record:
- What is the current status of each award?
- Which Route 6 locations does the fence project cover?
- What will the Phase II study measure, and when will its results be released?
- Is there a written budget showing how much is set aside for each expense, and how much has been spent?
- Are there current work zones or travel restrictions tied to either project?
- Who will maintain the Route 6 fence after installation?
- How will anyone measure whether either project made roads safer?
A contract award, a tribal announcement or a released study could answer some of them.
Quick answers
Did Rocky Boy get $1.3 million in October 2026? No. The $1,306,083 Route 6 award is on the 2025 FHWA list. The October 2026 list shows a separate $16,233 award for Phase II of the road attributes study.
Does an award mean the work is done? No. A funding award isn’t a completion certificate. The tribal transportation office is the place to check on scheduling and progress.
What about Fort Belknap? The 2026 list shows two Fort Belknap safety projects totaling $1,188,232. They are separate awards.
Sources
KHEW News based this story on the federal records listed above. No one was interviewed for it. The award lists show funding selections only, not spending or completed work.
