Harlem, MT

Harlem is a Blaine County city on the Milk River in north-central Montana, just north of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. The town was platted in 1889 and takes its name from Haarlem in the Netherlands, a common pattern along the Great Northern Railway's Hi-Line. The river gives Harlem its physical setting, running between the city and the reservation while fields and long roads stretch across the valley. Harlem's place on the map is tied to the reservation, the river, and the rail corridor that brought the town into being.

Harlem's city office is at 10 1st Avenue SW, and the local school system includes elementary, middle, and high school grades. Aaniiih Nakoda College sits in the community and serves as a two-year tribal college connected to the Fort Belknap Indian Community. Tribal community information also points to the Milk River Indian Days in July and the Hays Pow Wow in August, events that connect the city to the wider Aaniiih and Nakoda region. Harlem's regional ties are easy to see: the river, the college, the reservation, and the Hi-Line all meet here.