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North Dakota
Indian Tribes
Arapaho. Certain traditions indicate that the Arapaho at one time lived in
the Red River Valley in what is now Minnesota and North Dakota, but they
had left before the historic period. (See Wyoming.)
Arikara. Signifying "horns," or "elk," and having reference to their
ancient manner of wearing the hair with two pieces of bone standing up, one on each side of the crest; -ra is the plural suffix. Also
called:
Ă da ka' da ho, Hidatsa name.
Ah-pen-ope-say, or A-pan-to'-pse, Crow name.
Corn eaters, given as their
own name.
Ka'-nan-in, Arapaho name, meaning "people whose jaws break in pieces."
O-no'-ni-o, Cheyenne name.
Padani, Pani, applied to them by various tribes.
Ree, abbreviation of
Arikara.
Sanish, "person," their own name, according to Gilmore (1927).
S'gŭǐes'tshi, Salish name.
Stâr-râh-he' [tstarahi], their own name, according to Lewis and Clark
(1904-05).
Tanish, their own name, meaning "the people," according to Hayden (1862). Perhaps a misprint of Sanish.
Wa-zi'-ya-ta Pa-da'-nin, Yankton name, meaning "northern Pawnee."
Connections. The Arikara belonged to the Caddoan linguistic stock and were
a comparatively recent offshoot of the Skidi Pawnee.
Location. In historic times they have occupied various points on the
Missouri River between Cheyenne River, South Dakota, and Fort Berthold,
North Dakota. (See also Montana and
Nebraska.)
Subdivisions and Villages
The Arikara are sometimes spoken of as a confederacy of
smaller tribes each occupying its own village, and one account mentions 10
of these, while Gilmore (1927) furnishes the names of 12, including 4 of
major importance under which
the others were grouped. These were as follows:
Awahu, associated with which were Hokat and Scirihauk.
Hukawirat, with
which were associated Warihka and Nakarik.
Tusatuk, with which were
associated Tsininatak and Witauk.
Tukstanu, with which were associated Nakanusts and Nisapst.
Earlier sources give other names which do not agree with these:
Hachepiriinu.
Hia.
Hosukhaunu, properly the name of a dance society.
Hosukhaunukarerihu, properly the name of a dance society.
Kaka.
Lohoocat, the name of a town in the time of Lewis and Clark.
Okos.
Paushuk.
Sukhutit.
History. After parting from the Skidi in what is now Nebraska, the Arikara
gradually pushed north to the Missouri River and on up that stream.
In 1770 when French traders opened relations with them they were a little
below Cheyenne River. Lesser and Weltfish (1932) suggest that they may
have been the Harahey or Arahey of whom Coronado was told rather than the
Pawnee. Lewis and Clark found them, reduced considerably in
numbers, between Grand and Cannonball Rivers. In 1823 they attacked the
boats of an American trader, killing 13 men and wounding others, and in
consequence of this trouble they abandoned their country and went to live
with the Skidi on Loup River. Two years later they returned to the
Missouri, and by 1851 they had pushed as far north as Heart River.
Meantime wars with the Dakota and the smallpox had reduced them so much
that they were glad to open friendly relations with two other tribes,
similarly reduced, the Hidatsa and Mandan. In 1862 they moved to Fort
Berthold. In 1880 the Fort Berthold Reservation was created for the three
tribes, and the Arikara have ever since lived upon it, though they are now
allotted land in severalty, and on the approval of the allotments, July
10, 1900, they became citizens of the United States.
Population. Mooney (1928) estimates that in 1780 there were about 3,000
Arikara. In 1804 Lewis and Clark gave 2,600. In 1871 they numbered 1,650;
in 1888 only 500; and in 1904, 380. The census of 1910 returned 444 of
whom 425 were in North Dakota. In 1923 the United States Indian Office
gave 426. The census of 1930 returned 420, and the United States Indian
Office in 1937, 616.
Connection in which they have become noted. The Arikara are noted merely
as the most northerly of the Caddoan tribes and from their probable
influence in introducing a knowledge of agriculture to the people of the
upper Missouri. Arickaree in Washington County, Colo., perpetuates the
name.
Assiniboin. In early days the Assiniboin were constantly coming across
from Canada to fight and trade with the tribes of the upper Missouri, but
they did not settle within the limits of North Dakota for any considerable
period. (See Montana, and also Dakota under
South Dakota.)
Cheyenne. When they left Minnesota the Cheyenne settled for a while on the Sheyenne fork of Red River after which they moved beyond the limits of the
State of North Dakota. (See South
Dakota.)
Chippewa. After they had obtained guns the Chippewa pushed westward as far
as the Turtle Mountains which gave their name to a Chippewa band. There
were 2,966 Chippewa in North Dakota
in 1910. (See Minnesota.)
Dakota. While working their way west from Minnesota, bands of Dakota
occupied at various times parts of the eastern, southern, and southwestern
margins of North Dakota and a part of the Standing Rock Agency is within
the limits of the State. In 1910 1,190 Dakota were making their homes on
its soil. (See South Dakota.)
Hidatsa. Derived from the name of a former village and said, on somewhat
doubtful authority, to signify "willows." Also called:
A-gutch-a-ninne-wug, Chippewa name, meaning "the settled people."
A-me-she', Crow name, meaning "people who live in earth houses."
Gi-aucth-in-in-e-wug, Chippewa name, meaning "men of the olden time."
Gros Ventres of the Missouri, traders' name, probably derived from the
sign for them in the sign language.
Hewaktokto, Dakota name.
Minitari, meaning "they crossed the water," said to have been given to
them by the Mandan, from the tradition of their first encounter with
the tribe on the Missouri.
Wa-nuk'-e-ye'-na, Arapaho name, meaning "lodges planted together."
Wetitsatn, Arikara name.
Connections. The Hidatsa belonged to the Siouan linguistic stock, their
closest relations within it being the
Crow.
Location. They lived at various points on the Missouri between
the Heart and Little Missouri Rivers. (See also
Montana and Canada.)
Villages
Lewis and Clark (1804-5) give the following three names:
Amahami or Mahaha, on the south bank of Knife River, formerly an
independent
but closely related tribe.
Amatiha, on the south bank of Knife River.
Hidatsa, on the north bank of Knife River.
The band names given by Morgan are rather those of social divisions.
History. According to tradition, the Hidatsa formerly lived by a lake
northeast of their later country, one sometimes identified with Devil's
Lake. They moved from there to the mouth of Heart River, where they met
and allied themselves with the Mandan, and from them they learned
agriculture. As we have seen, Lewis and Clark found them on Knife River.
In 1837 a terrible smallpox epidemic wasted them so completely that the
survivors consolidated into one village which was moved in 1845 to the
neighborhood of Fort Berthold, where the tribe has ever since continued to
reside. They have now been allotted lands in severalty and are citizens of
the United States.
Population. Mooney (1928) estimates the Hidatsa and Amahami together as
numbering 2,500 in 1780. Lewis and Clark give 600 warriors, or about 2,100
people. In 1905 they totaled 471, and the census of 1910 gives 547, a
figure repeated by the United States Indian Office in 1923. In 1930, 528
were returned and in 1937, 731.
Connection in which they have become noted. The Hidatsa appear most
prominently, along with the Mandan, in connection with the ascent of the
Missouri by Lewis and Clark and later expeditions into the same region.
The name of Minatare, Scotts Bluff County, Nebr., probably refers to this
tribe.
Mandan. Probably a corruption of the Dakota word applied to them, Mawatani.
Also called:
A-rach-bo-cu, Hidatsa name (Long, 1791)
As-a-ka-shi, Us-suc-car-shay, Crow
name.
How-mox-tox-sow-es, Hidatsa name (?).
Kanit', Arikara name.
Kwowahtewug,
Ottawa name.
Métutahanke, own name since 1837, after their old village.
Mo-no'-ni-o,
Cheyenne name.
Numakaki, own name prior to 1837, meaning "men," "people."
U-ka'-she, Crow name, meaning "earth houses."
Connections. The Mandan belonged to the Siouan linguistic stock. Their
connections are with the Tutelo and
Winnebago rather than the nearer
Siouan tribes.
Location. When known to the Whites, the Mandan were on the same part of
the Missouri River as the Hidatsa, between Heart and Little Missouri
Rivers. (See also South Dakota.)
Subdivisions and Villages.
The division names given by Morgan (1851) appear to have been those of
their former villages and are as follows: Horatamumake, Matonumake,
Seepoosha, Tanatsuka, Kitanemake, Estapa, and Neteahke. In 1804 Lewis and
Clark found two villages in existence, Metutahanke and Ruptari, about 4
miles below the mouth of Knife River.
They were divided socially into two moieties named like those of the
Hidatsa, the Four-Clan Moiety and Three-Clan Moiety, and many of the clans
constituting these bear village names. One of Dr. Lowie's (1917)
informants gave the Prairie-chicken people, Young white-headed Eagle,
People all in a bunch, and Crow people, as clans of the first Moiety; and
the Maxi'‘kina, Tamï'sik, and Nū'ptare as clans of the second. Another
informant gave the following clans altogether: Si'pucka, Xtaxta'nü'mak',
Village above, Maxáhe, Tamǐ'sik, Seven-different kinds, Hilltop village,
Scattered village, white-bellied mouse people, and Nūptare. Curtis
(1907-9) and Maximilian (1843) give a Badger clan; Curtis, Red Butte and
Charcoal clans; Maximilian, Bear and Cactus villages, perhaps intended for
clans; and Morgan, Wolf, Good Knife, Eagle, and Flathead clans. Some of
Lowie's informants substituted other names for Nū'pta, which latter is
also the name of a village.
History. When first visited by the Whites, the Mandan had distinct
traditions of an eastern origin, and they may have come from the
neighborhood of the Winnebago or from the Ohio country. Tradition also
affirms that they first reached the Missouri at the mouth of White River,
South Dakota, whence they moved to Moreau River and thence to Heart River,
where the Whites found them. The first recorded visit to them was by Varendrye in 1738. The nine villages which they had in 1750 were merged
into two by 1776 which were about 4 miles below the mouth of Knife River
when Lewis and Clark visited
them in 1804. In 1837 they were almost destroyed by smallpox, only 31
souls being left out of 1,600, according to one account. In
1845 some Mandan accompanied the Hidatsa to Fort Berthold, others followed
at intervals, and the tribe has continued to reside
there down to the present time, though lands are now allotted to them in
severalty and they are citizens of the United States.
Population. Mooney's (1928) estimate of Mandan population for 1780 is
3,600. In 1804 Lewis and Clark estimated there were 1,250,
and in 1837, just before the great smallpox epidemic, there were supposed
to be 1,600. In 1850 the total number was said to be 150, but in 1852 it
had apparently increased to 385. In 1871 there were 450; in 1877, 420; in
1885, 410; and 1905, 249; while the census of 1910 returned 209, and the
United States Indian Office Report of
1923, 273. The census of 1930 gives 271, and the Indian Office Report
for 1937, 345.
Connection in which they have become noted. The Mandan attained wide
notoriety among the Whites
(1) from their intimate dealings with the early
White explorers and traders in the upper Missouri region;
(2) from the fact that their customs and
ceremonies were made particular matters of record by Maximilian (1843),
Catlin (1844), and other White visitors;
(3) from the reputation these
Indians acquired of an unusually light skin color and theories of Welsh
or, at least European, origin based upon these characters; and
(4) from
the tragic decimation of the tribe by smallpox as above mentioned. The
name has been adopted as that of a city in North Dakota, the capital of
Morton County.
Additional North Dakota Indian Resources
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