KNIFE RIVER
INDIAN VILLAGES NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE
TEACHER'S GUIDE
TEACHER'S GUIDE
UNIT 1...HISTORY
Archaeologically, prehistory and history are divided and further sub-divided when enough information is available to deem it necessary. Cultures or groups of people are placed in the different divisions of the past, making it easier for us to understand when a particular culture existed in relation to the other ones.
The time periods archaeologists use to classify human habitation of North America are:
Early Prehistoric Period (19,000 to 7,500 Before Present)
Middle Prehistoric Period (7,500 to 1,400 BP)
Late Prehistoric Period (1,400 BP to the year 1738)
Historic Period (1738 to present)
EARLY PREHISTORIC PERIOD:
Archaeologists believe that the first people to live in North Dakota were Indians descended from those who may have crossed the Bering Strait during the last period of glacial action.
These people hunted large animals such as mammoths, but we know little else about the way they lived. In North Dakota, the earliest remains of these people dates to about 11,500 BP. However, other groups were possibly here before that time.
These early Indian people are called Paleo-Indians. They followed herds of giant buffalo and mammoths, so they did not live in any one place for very long and were probably quite few in number. Because of this we know little about Paleo-Indian people. We do not know, for example, the kinds of homes they used or anything about their family life.
MIDDLE PREHISTORIC PERIOD
The Indians who lived in North Dakota during this period, the Archaic people, were also hunters. Their game, however, was smaller. In the thousands of years since the glaciers retreated, the prairie animals had changed. The giant buffalo had been replaced by smaller buffalo, and then by the even smaller modern buffalo. The animals of this time period were much like those of today.
Archaic people lived in small groups or bands. They were hunter/gatherers and traveled year-round to follow herds of game and find plants to eat.
To live on the move, the Archaic people had to have homes that could be put up or taken down quickly. They probably solved this problem by using conical, hide-covered tents, or tipis.
Much evidence of Archaic Indians can be found in North Dakota, but it is often buried. Archaeologists have located places where these people lived, killed game animals, and worked. At these sites are found tools made from stone or from animal bones which included dart points, scrapers, knives and grooved hammers.
A new weapon used during this period was the atlatl (at-lat-tul). This device was a short stick with a hook on one end. A short, light spear or dart was placed in the hook and slung much the same as an athlete might throw a javelin. With this device, a spear could be thrown further and harder, thus helping the hunters bring down more game. Atlatl darts were tipped with smaller, triangular points of stone. They were usually notched at the base for attachment to the dart.
About 2,000 BP, a third kind of culture appeared in what is now North Dakota. Their houses were usually built of wooden oval frames that were covered with hides or grasses. Each house was about ten feet wide and twenty feet long. Remains of villages of these woodland houses are found throughout North Dakota.
The Woodland people hunted, just as earlier groups had done. However, they also began to plant and grow crops for food. Another difference between Woodland and earlier people was pottery. Woodland people used clay to make pots for cooking and other purposes. These pots were shaped, dried and then hardened by placing them in fires. Each pot was about two feet tall, one foot across and had a pointed bottom.
They also differed from earlier native populations in the way that they buried their dead. Early plains people had placed their dead on raised platforms or under low piles of rock. The woodland people buried their dead in the ground and then built cone-shaped or round mounds over the graves. In the mounds were often placed goods that the departed person was thought to need in an after-life such as weapons, tools, jewelry, and pots. The pots placed in
burial mounds were usually much smaller and more highly decorated than those used for daily activities. Burial mounds are usually located on high points overlooking river valleys. Some of the mounds are shaped like animals and are called effigy mounds.
Woodland people also traded often with other groups. At places where Woodland people lived, archaeologists find sea shells or parts of such shells made into beads, masks and pendants. This probably indicated that the Woodland people were part of a trade network that reached very far from the northern plains. Another thing found at Woodland period sites is copper, probably from Minnesota, or Wisconsin. The copper is made into beads, knives and axes. It is the first evidence of use of metals by Indians in this area.
LATE PREHISTORIC PERIOD:
The Late Woodland culture was very similar to the Early and Middle Woodland. These people still raised crops, gathered food such as wild rice, roots, berries and hunted deer and buffalo. However, they spent more time fishing and ate more fish than the Early and Middle Woodland cultures. Some burial mounds and buffalo jump sites in North Dakota may be evidence of the Late Woodland peoples.
The Late Woodland people used pots with rounded bottoms and made small triangular arrow points. The pots with rounded bottoms may have been hung over fires, not placed on the coals as was done earlier. The small points were probably used with the bow and arrow. Although archaeologists don't know for sure, the Late Woodland people probably were the ancestors of the Assiniboine and Chippewa tribes. Later, other groups of Late Woodland people moved into North Dakota. These people were Sioux or Dakota Indians who were pushed west onto the plains and later became nomads.
The Plains Nomadic people were also living in North Dakota during the Late Prehistoric period and the early part of the Historic Period. These people moved often, following massive herds of bison. They may have developed from some Woodland people who moved onto the plains from the east and changed their way of living to fit their new homeland.
Nomadic people lived in tipis. To obtain food, they hunted animals, and gathered berries, roots and seeds. Sometimes the small groups joined together to hunt, but usually they stayed in very small bands and followed the bison herds. Because they traveled almost constantly they came into contact with other groups with whom they traded. As a result, they obtained things from people who lived far from the plains. During these centuries, more people lived on the plains than before. As a result, archaeologists find evidence that Plains Nomadic people lived all over North Dakota. Some of this evidence includes tipi rings, or circles of large stones that were used to hold down the edges of the tents. They also find buffalo jumps, places where the people
mined flint for arrow points, and places connected with daily life. The Plains Nomads usually "buried" their dead on scaffolds.
Since these people were constantly moving, they did not carry or waste many material goods. The sites where they lived or camped usually have very few artifacts. As a result, archaeologists must search these sites with great care to be sure that all the material is recovered for investigation. Special sites, such as flint quarries or buffalo jumps, may contain large amounts of material, but the artifacts found at these places tell us little about daily life. Because artifacts are scarce, tribal identifications are difficult. Most likely, the people who we call Plains Nomads were ancestors of the Sioux or Dakota, Assiniboine, Crow, Cheyenne, and perhaps the Arapaho and Blackfeet.
Some groups living in North Dakota during the Late Prehistoric Period were called Plains Village people. These people are the ones who lived at Knife River Indian Villages and are the ones archaeologists know the most about. There is one major reason why so much more is known about the Plains Village people than about the Late Woodland and Plains Nomadic culture. Many of this group's village sites were located along the Missouri River; when these sites were to be flooded by the Garrison and Oahe reservoirs during the 1950's and 1960's, special efforts were made to excavate the locations before they were destroyed. The villages along the Knife River were also investigated at this time. Because they would not be destroyed by the construction of the Garrison dam they were left intact, later to be protected as the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site. These sites provided much evidence of how the Plains Village people lived. The sites were also large and easy to find.
Plains Village people originally lived in the woodlands to the east. They may have left their original homelands to escape other Indian groups. For example, the group which became the Mandan moved from the area of southern Minnesota and northern Iowa to the plains river valleys in South Dakota about 1,000 BP; they then moved slowly north along the Missouri River until they reached North Dakota. The Hidatsa appear to have moved from central Minnesota to the area of Devils Lake in northeastern North Dakota. About 400 BP they started moving to the Missouri River valley and eventually settled near the Mandan. The Arikara (Ah-rick-ah-rah) moved into South Dakota in the 1400's, but did not move into North Dakota until much later.
Another group, the Cheyenne, may have moved from Minnesota to southeastern North Dakota and lived in Ransom County as a Plains Village people some 300 BP. They later moved west; when they did, their culture changed, and they became nomads.
HISTORIC PERIOD:
TRADITIONAL HISTORY
Until the Europeans arrived in North America, the Indians preserved their history orally. This oral tradition took the form of story telling. Often a person who had a very long story to tell, for example the story of a tribal group's migration into an area, might have a hide with symbols drawn on it which reminded him of the different parts of the story. Story tellers were well respected members of their tribal unit because without their ability to keep the history, the group would lose its roots.
Story telling not only passed on the tribal history but was also how many bits of information were passed from one generation to the next. Stories were also told as entertainment but they usually had some form of moral or message which the listener was to learn.
Another topic of story telling was of war or hunting exploits. These stories were often repeated and were a way of keeping one's prestige. The recounting of one's coups fits into this category. When a warrior was able to touch an enemy in battle and escape, a coup was counted. This feat of daring was something to be proud of and the story of how the coup was counted would be retold at different events and celebrations.
While the precise origins of the Hidatsa are not known, these people probably began to appear with other agricultural groups along the upper Missouri River about 1,000 BP. These people undoubtedly originated in the eastern part of North America and gradually moved to the Great Plains.
According to Hidatsa legends and tradition, they originated in the Devils Lake area. Their ancestors climbed a grape root that was growing beneath the waters there, and emerged on the surface of the earth. It is interesting to note that many cultures have a common belief that their ancestors lived beneath the surface of the earth, and came out by either climbing a root, or in some instances, by climbing a grape vine. In most of these stories, only part of the tribal group emerges before the vine or root is broken by a large or pregnant woman. In such cases, they believe that a part of their ancestral group is still beneath the surface of the lake (Hidatsa) or beneath the ground (Mandan). In time, the Hidatsa migrated to the west, and according to their beliefs, met the Mandans near the mouth of the Heart River.
CONTEMPORARY HISTORY
One reason for the difficulty in tracing the origins of the Hidatsa is that they have been identified by a variety of names. One such name, Minitaree (there are several spellings), was given to them by the Mandan. Minitaree means "people across the water". Hidatsa, which they call themselves, may mean "people of the willows," or may refer to the villages at the mouth of the Knife River (Figure 1) . A third name, applied by French trappers, was Gros Ventre (Grow Vaunt), which translates to "big bellies".
At some time following the meeting and settlement of the Hidatsa with the Mandan on the Heart River, there was an argument between some of the Hidatsa women over the stomach or "paunch" of a white buffalo. While the details are lost in antiquity, it is believed that this argument caused one segment to leave the tribe and move further west. This 'splinter' group formed the Crow tribe and settled in what is now Montana.
The Hidatsa remained along the Missouri, becoming closely associated with the Mandan, who probably taught them many of the agricultural practices associated with the river tribes. The Hidatsa maintained a stronger hunting tradition than either the Mandan or the Arikara.
It is probable that the Hidatsa arrived at the Missouri in three separate groups at different times. The first, called the Awatixa (Ah-wah-tee-Kah), came perhaps as early as 450 BP and probably joined the Mandan at Scattered Village on the Heart River, where the city of Mandan, North Dakota is now located. The Awatixa had been primarily agricultural, earthlodge people, living along the Red River and later along the Sheyenne River in eastern North Dakota.
The second contingent were the Awaxawi (Ah-waw-caw-wee), who came about 300 BP and settled in the vicinity of the Painted Woods, south of Washburn, North Dakota. Later they moved upstream and established themselves near the mouth of the Knife River.
The third and last group was the Hidatsa proper, who came from near Devils Lake some time between 1700 and the arrival of the first white people about 1738. As late as 1765, some Hidatsa were living near the mouth of the Heart River; however, when Lewis and Clark made their exploratory trip west in 1804, the Hidatsa were all living in three villages near the mouth of the Knife River.
The reasons for the migrations of the three Hidatsa sub-groups are rather vague. Perhaps the resources in their home areas had been exhausted, or pressure from other groups forced them to move on.
Tribal migration was difficult. The dog was the only beast of burden until about 250 BP in this area. At this time, the arrival of the horse allowed loads to be larger and distances covered to be farther.
ARRIVAL OF EUROPEAN AMERICANS
Pierre de Sieur de La Verendrye, was the first white man to visit these people along the Missouri and leave a record in 1738. After Verendrye, many trading expeditions from the French-Canadian Northwest Company and the British Hudson Bay Company arrived at the Mandan/Hidatsa villages from Canada. The Spanish made some attempts to establish a series of posts along the Missouri and some individuals, such as Jacques D'Eglise, in 1790, were licensed to hunt along the Missouri. The Spanish supported the formation of the Missouri Company in St. Louis, but two attempts to ascend the Missouri failed. A third attempt led by John Evans in 1796 did result in some contact, but his accomplishment was to dislodge a French-Canadian trader, Rene' Jesseaume, from his trading house and to raise the Spanish flag.
Much confusion existed in these years, as to what nation this area belonged. This confusion was not resolved until the purchase of the Louisiana Territory by the United States and the exploratory trip made by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. They wintered (1804-05) on the east bank of the Missouri, a few miles downstream of the Knife River. Over the winter there was much visiting between the expedition and the villagers.
During the early years of the fur trade, events occurred which had a devastating effect on the Indian tribes of the upper Missouri. Smallpox epidemics decimated the Village Indians in 1781, 1801, 1837, and 1856. Origins of the epidemics of 1781, and 1801 are uncertain, but it is possible they were spread through annual trading rendezvous or the theft of horses from Spanish sources in the Southwest. Epidemics of 1837 and 1856 were triggered by contagion from the steamboat passengers on the St. Peter's and the Clara, who had come up the Missouri River from Saint Louis.
The most profound effect on the villages was the loss of individual specialists within their culture--the pottery makers, the arrow makers and the political and ceremonial leaders. A population estimate of Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara prior to 1837 is about 7,000 people. Approximately 5,000 smallpox related deaths occurred, the Mandan being the heaviest sufferers.
There was a balance of power shift among the northern Plains Indians following each epidemic. Migratory hunting tribes forced the Mandan and Hidatsa to merge their villages. Greatly reduced by disease and with the Sioux encroaching, the Mandan and Hidatsa made the decision, in 1845, to move further north along the Missouri to a site called Like-A-Fishhook. Located on the north side of the Missouri on a projecting bluff, this new village could be easily fortified by erecting a stockade on the landward side of the point. The next year, the American Fur Company established Fort Berthold, so named in honor of the Berthold family of St. Louis, who were very active in the fur trade.
As the reservation system developed in the United States following the Civil War, the Mandan and Hidatsa were joined by the Arikara. During the next few years, most of the remaining scattered members of these three tribes moved to the Fort Berthold vicinity for mutual benefit and protection. The villages at the Knife River, as well as others, were abandoned and left to disintegrate.
The people of Fort Berthold lived together for many years, following their ancient agricultural practices on the rich bottlomlands of the Missouri River floodplain. In 1934, they officially became the Three Affiliated Tribes. In the middle 1900's, a series of dams were built which forced them to move to the plains above the river valley. This brought about considerable change in their way of life, and many of the most sacred places and historic sites of these people are now under the waters of Lake Oahe and Lake Sakakawea.
TRIBAL ORIGINS; AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL VIEW
The Mandan and Hidatsa are of Siouan language stock, indicating some similarity in origin, while the Arikara are Caddoan speakers.
The origins of the Mandan, like those of most Native American people, are lost in the shrouds of time; however, it is likely that they lived in the Ohio River Valley at one time and began their westward migration from there, arriving in the Missouri River territory as early as 800 BP.
The Arikara are unique among the three tribes in that they had their origin in the south and moved north. In the early years they lived along the Loup River in Nebraska. In the seventeenth century, they separated from the Skidi Pawnee and either migrated or were driven northward, following the Missouri River through what is now South Dakota. In 1804, they were located along the Missouri, between the Grand and Cannonball Rivers, in three large villages. From there, they gradually moved north eventually joining the Mandan and Hidatsa.
The Hidatsa apparently came from the east, settling for some time in and around the Devils Lake area, before making their move to the Missouri River.
QUESTIONS:
What are some evidences we find of ancient people in North Dakota?
What are some reasons that people such as a tribe of Indians might migrate from one place to another?
Before writing, how did people keep track of their history?
What resources did the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara use along the Missouri River to live?
How might people's lifestyles alter when changing from nomadic hunter/gatherers to sedentary agriculturalists? How would your life today change if you had to move often?
How did life change for the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara when they began trading with Euroamericans?
ACTIVITIES:
Each week choose one thing that signifies the events of that week and decide on a symbol to represent it. Draw it on a piece of paper. Add a new symbol each week. Then, once a month, referring to the symbol, tell the history of the past few weeks. This could be done each day, rather than each week, if you wish. Native Americans used this system as their form of history. Often, their symbol represented an entire year.
Archaeologically, prehistory and history are divided and further sub-divided when enough information is available to deem it necessary. Cultures or groups of people are placed in the different divisions of the past, making it easier for us to understand when a particular culture existed in relation to the other ones.
The time periods archaeologists use to classify human habitation of North America are:
Early Prehistoric Period (19,000 to 7,500 Before Present)
Paleo-Indian People (11,500 to 7,500 BP)
Middle Prehistoric Period (7,500 to 1,400 BP)
Archaic People (7,500 to 2,400 BP)
Early and Middle Woodland People (2,400 to 1,400 BP)
Late Prehistoric Period (1,400 BP to the year 1738)
Late Woodland People (1,000 BP to(Note: all three of these groups continued to live into the Early Historic Period.)
Plains Nomadic People (1,000 BP to
Plains Village People (1,000 BP to
Historic Period (1738 to present)
Identified tribes and Euroamericans(Note: the date 1738 is chosen for the beginning of the historic period in this area. This was the first documented visit to the people living along the upper Missouri River by Euroamerican Pierre la Sieur de la Verendrye.)
EARLY PREHISTORIC PERIOD:
Archaeologists believe that the first people to live in North Dakota were Indians descended from those who may have crossed the Bering Strait during the last period of glacial action.
These people hunted large animals such as mammoths, but we know little else about the way they lived. In North Dakota, the earliest remains of these people dates to about 11,500 BP. However, other groups were possibly here before that time.
These early Indian people are called Paleo-Indians. They followed herds of giant buffalo and mammoths, so they did not live in any one place for very long and were probably quite few in number. Because of this we know little about Paleo-Indian people. We do not know, for example, the kinds of homes they used or anything about their family life.
MIDDLE PREHISTORIC PERIOD
The Indians who lived in North Dakota during this period, the Archaic people, were also hunters. Their game, however, was smaller. In the thousands of years since the glaciers retreated, the prairie animals had changed. The giant buffalo had been replaced by smaller buffalo, and then by the even smaller modern buffalo. The animals of this time period were much like those of today.
Archaic people lived in small groups or bands. They were hunter/gatherers and traveled year-round to follow herds of game and find plants to eat.
To live on the move, the Archaic people had to have homes that could be put up or taken down quickly. They probably solved this problem by using conical, hide-covered tents, or tipis.
Much evidence of Archaic Indians can be found in North Dakota, but it is often buried. Archaeologists have located places where these people lived, killed game animals, and worked. At these sites are found tools made from stone or from animal bones which included dart points, scrapers, knives and grooved hammers.
A new weapon used during this period was the atlatl (at-lat-tul). This device was a short stick with a hook on one end. A short, light spear or dart was placed in the hook and slung much the same as an athlete might throw a javelin. With this device, a spear could be thrown further and harder, thus helping the hunters bring down more game. Atlatl darts were tipped with smaller, triangular points of stone. They were usually notched at the base for attachment to the dart.
About 2,000 BP, a third kind of culture appeared in what is now North Dakota. Their houses were usually built of wooden oval frames that were covered with hides or grasses. Each house was about ten feet wide and twenty feet long. Remains of villages of these woodland houses are found throughout North Dakota.
The Woodland people hunted, just as earlier groups had done. However, they also began to plant and grow crops for food. Another difference between Woodland and earlier people was pottery. Woodland people used clay to make pots for cooking and other purposes. These pots were shaped, dried and then hardened by placing them in fires. Each pot was about two feet tall, one foot across and had a pointed bottom.
They also differed from earlier native populations in the way that they buried their dead. Early plains people had placed their dead on raised platforms or under low piles of rock. The woodland people buried their dead in the ground and then built cone-shaped or round mounds over the graves. In the mounds were often placed goods that the departed person was thought to need in an after-life such as weapons, tools, jewelry, and pots. The pots placed in
burial mounds were usually much smaller and more highly decorated than those used for daily activities. Burial mounds are usually located on high points overlooking river valleys. Some of the mounds are shaped like animals and are called effigy mounds.
Woodland people also traded often with other groups. At places where Woodland people lived, archaeologists find sea shells or parts of such shells made into beads, masks and pendants. This probably indicated that the Woodland people were part of a trade network that reached very far from the northern plains. Another thing found at Woodland period sites is copper, probably from Minnesota, or Wisconsin. The copper is made into beads, knives and axes. It is the first evidence of use of metals by Indians in this area.
LATE PREHISTORIC PERIOD:
The Late Woodland culture was very similar to the Early and Middle Woodland. These people still raised crops, gathered food such as wild rice, roots, berries and hunted deer and buffalo. However, they spent more time fishing and ate more fish than the Early and Middle Woodland cultures. Some burial mounds and buffalo jump sites in North Dakota may be evidence of the Late Woodland peoples.
The Late Woodland people used pots with rounded bottoms and made small triangular arrow points. The pots with rounded bottoms may have been hung over fires, not placed on the coals as was done earlier. The small points were probably used with the bow and arrow. Although archaeologists don't know for sure, the Late Woodland people probably were the ancestors of the Assiniboine and Chippewa tribes. Later, other groups of Late Woodland people moved into North Dakota. These people were Sioux or Dakota Indians who were pushed west onto the plains and later became nomads.
The Plains Nomadic people were also living in North Dakota during the Late Prehistoric period and the early part of the Historic Period. These people moved often, following massive herds of bison. They may have developed from some Woodland people who moved onto the plains from the east and changed their way of living to fit their new homeland.
Nomadic people lived in tipis. To obtain food, they hunted animals, and gathered berries, roots and seeds. Sometimes the small groups joined together to hunt, but usually they stayed in very small bands and followed the bison herds. Because they traveled almost constantly they came into contact with other groups with whom they traded. As a result, they obtained things from people who lived far from the plains. During these centuries, more people lived on the plains than before. As a result, archaeologists find evidence that Plains Nomadic people lived all over North Dakota. Some of this evidence includes tipi rings, or circles of large stones that were used to hold down the edges of the tents. They also find buffalo jumps, places where the people
mined flint for arrow points, and places connected with daily life. The Plains Nomads usually "buried" their dead on scaffolds.
Since these people were constantly moving, they did not carry or waste many material goods. The sites where they lived or camped usually have very few artifacts. As a result, archaeologists must search these sites with great care to be sure that all the material is recovered for investigation. Special sites, such as flint quarries or buffalo jumps, may contain large amounts of material, but the artifacts found at these places tell us little about daily life. Because artifacts are scarce, tribal identifications are difficult. Most likely, the people who we call Plains Nomads were ancestors of the Sioux or Dakota, Assiniboine, Crow, Cheyenne, and perhaps the Arapaho and Blackfeet.
Some groups living in North Dakota during the Late Prehistoric Period were called Plains Village people. These people are the ones who lived at Knife River Indian Villages and are the ones archaeologists know the most about. There is one major reason why so much more is known about the Plains Village people than about the Late Woodland and Plains Nomadic culture. Many of this group's village sites were located along the Missouri River; when these sites were to be flooded by the Garrison and Oahe reservoirs during the 1950's and 1960's, special efforts were made to excavate the locations before they were destroyed. The villages along the Knife River were also investigated at this time. Because they would not be destroyed by the construction of the Garrison dam they were left intact, later to be protected as the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site. These sites provided much evidence of how the Plains Village people lived. The sites were also large and easy to find.
Plains Village people originally lived in the woodlands to the east. They may have left their original homelands to escape other Indian groups. For example, the group which became the Mandan moved from the area of southern Minnesota and northern Iowa to the plains river valleys in South Dakota about 1,000 BP; they then moved slowly north along the Missouri River until they reached North Dakota. The Hidatsa appear to have moved from central Minnesota to the area of Devils Lake in northeastern North Dakota. About 400 BP they started moving to the Missouri River valley and eventually settled near the Mandan. The Arikara (Ah-rick-ah-rah) moved into South Dakota in the 1400's, but did not move into North Dakota until much later.
Another group, the Cheyenne, may have moved from Minnesota to southeastern North Dakota and lived in Ransom County as a Plains Village people some 300 BP. They later moved west; when they did, their culture changed, and they became nomads.
HISTORIC PERIOD:
TRADITIONAL HISTORY
Until the Europeans arrived in North America, the Indians preserved their history orally. This oral tradition took the form of story telling. Often a person who had a very long story to tell, for example the story of a tribal group's migration into an area, might have a hide with symbols drawn on it which reminded him of the different parts of the story. Story tellers were well respected members of their tribal unit because without their ability to keep the history, the group would lose its roots.
Story telling not only passed on the tribal history but was also how many bits of information were passed from one generation to the next. Stories were also told as entertainment but they usually had some form of moral or message which the listener was to learn.
Another topic of story telling was of war or hunting exploits. These stories were often repeated and were a way of keeping one's prestige. The recounting of one's coups fits into this category. When a warrior was able to touch an enemy in battle and escape, a coup was counted. This feat of daring was something to be proud of and the story of how the coup was counted would be retold at different events and celebrations.
While the precise origins of the Hidatsa are not known, these people probably began to appear with other agricultural groups along the upper Missouri River about 1,000 BP. These people undoubtedly originated in the eastern part of North America and gradually moved to the Great Plains.
According to Hidatsa legends and tradition, they originated in the Devils Lake area. Their ancestors climbed a grape root that was growing beneath the waters there, and emerged on the surface of the earth. It is interesting to note that many cultures have a common belief that their ancestors lived beneath the surface of the earth, and came out by either climbing a root, or in some instances, by climbing a grape vine. In most of these stories, only part of the tribal group emerges before the vine or root is broken by a large or pregnant woman. In such cases, they believe that a part of their ancestral group is still beneath the surface of the lake (Hidatsa) or beneath the ground (Mandan). In time, the Hidatsa migrated to the west, and according to their beliefs, met the Mandans near the mouth of the Heart River.
CONTEMPORARY HISTORY
One reason for the difficulty in tracing the origins of the Hidatsa is that they have been identified by a variety of names. One such name, Minitaree (there are several spellings), was given to them by the Mandan. Minitaree means "people across the water". Hidatsa, which they call themselves, may mean "people of the willows," or may refer to the villages at the mouth of the Knife River (Figure 1) . A third name, applied by French trappers, was Gros Ventre (Grow Vaunt), which translates to "big bellies".
At some time following the meeting and settlement of the Hidatsa with the Mandan on the Heart River, there was an argument between some of the Hidatsa women over the stomach or "paunch" of a white buffalo. While the details are lost in antiquity, it is believed that this argument caused one segment to leave the tribe and move further west. This 'splinter' group formed the Crow tribe and settled in what is now Montana.
The Hidatsa remained along the Missouri, becoming closely associated with the Mandan, who probably taught them many of the agricultural practices associated with the river tribes. The Hidatsa maintained a stronger hunting tradition than either the Mandan or the Arikara.
It is probable that the Hidatsa arrived at the Missouri in three separate groups at different times. The first, called the Awatixa (Ah-wah-tee-Kah), came perhaps as early as 450 BP and probably joined the Mandan at Scattered Village on the Heart River, where the city of Mandan, North Dakota is now located. The Awatixa had been primarily agricultural, earthlodge people, living along the Red River and later along the Sheyenne River in eastern North Dakota.
The second contingent were the Awaxawi (Ah-waw-caw-wee), who came about 300 BP and settled in the vicinity of the Painted Woods, south of Washburn, North Dakota. Later they moved upstream and established themselves near the mouth of the Knife River.
The third and last group was the Hidatsa proper, who came from near Devils Lake some time between 1700 and the arrival of the first white people about 1738. As late as 1765, some Hidatsa were living near the mouth of the Heart River; however, when Lewis and Clark made their exploratory trip west in 1804, the Hidatsa were all living in three villages near the mouth of the Knife River.
The reasons for the migrations of the three Hidatsa sub-groups are rather vague. Perhaps the resources in their home areas had been exhausted, or pressure from other groups forced them to move on.
Tribal migration was difficult. The dog was the only beast of burden until about 250 BP in this area. At this time, the arrival of the horse allowed loads to be larger and distances covered to be farther.
ARRIVAL OF EUROPEAN AMERICANS
Pierre de Sieur de La Verendrye, was the first white man to visit these people along the Missouri and leave a record in 1738. After Verendrye, many trading expeditions from the French-Canadian Northwest Company and the British Hudson Bay Company arrived at the Mandan/Hidatsa villages from Canada. The Spanish made some attempts to establish a series of posts along the Missouri and some individuals, such as Jacques D'Eglise, in 1790, were licensed to hunt along the Missouri. The Spanish supported the formation of the Missouri Company in St. Louis, but two attempts to ascend the Missouri failed. A third attempt led by John Evans in 1796 did result in some contact, but his accomplishment was to dislodge a French-Canadian trader, Rene' Jesseaume, from his trading house and to raise the Spanish flag.
Much confusion existed in these years, as to what nation this area belonged. This confusion was not resolved until the purchase of the Louisiana Territory by the United States and the exploratory trip made by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. They wintered (1804-05) on the east bank of the Missouri, a few miles downstream of the Knife River. Over the winter there was much visiting between the expedition and the villagers.
During the early years of the fur trade, events occurred which had a devastating effect on the Indian tribes of the upper Missouri. Smallpox epidemics decimated the Village Indians in 1781, 1801, 1837, and 1856. Origins of the epidemics of 1781, and 1801 are uncertain, but it is possible they were spread through annual trading rendezvous or the theft of horses from Spanish sources in the Southwest. Epidemics of 1837 and 1856 were triggered by contagion from the steamboat passengers on the St. Peter's and the Clara, who had come up the Missouri River from Saint Louis.
The most profound effect on the villages was the loss of individual specialists within their culture--the pottery makers, the arrow makers and the political and ceremonial leaders. A population estimate of Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara prior to 1837 is about 7,000 people. Approximately 5,000 smallpox related deaths occurred, the Mandan being the heaviest sufferers.
There was a balance of power shift among the northern Plains Indians following each epidemic. Migratory hunting tribes forced the Mandan and Hidatsa to merge their villages. Greatly reduced by disease and with the Sioux encroaching, the Mandan and Hidatsa made the decision, in 1845, to move further north along the Missouri to a site called Like-A-Fishhook. Located on the north side of the Missouri on a projecting bluff, this new village could be easily fortified by erecting a stockade on the landward side of the point. The next year, the American Fur Company established Fort Berthold, so named in honor of the Berthold family of St. Louis, who were very active in the fur trade.
As the reservation system developed in the United States following the Civil War, the Mandan and Hidatsa were joined by the Arikara. During the next few years, most of the remaining scattered members of these three tribes moved to the Fort Berthold vicinity for mutual benefit and protection. The villages at the Knife River, as well as others, were abandoned and left to disintegrate.
The people of Fort Berthold lived together for many years, following their ancient agricultural practices on the rich bottlomlands of the Missouri River floodplain. In 1934, they officially became the Three Affiliated Tribes. In the middle 1900's, a series of dams were built which forced them to move to the plains above the river valley. This brought about considerable change in their way of life, and many of the most sacred places and historic sites of these people are now under the waters of Lake Oahe and Lake Sakakawea.
TRIBAL ORIGINS; AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL VIEW
The Mandan and Hidatsa are of Siouan language stock, indicating some similarity in origin, while the Arikara are Caddoan speakers.
The origins of the Mandan, like those of most Native American people, are lost in the shrouds of time; however, it is likely that they lived in the Ohio River Valley at one time and began their westward migration from there, arriving in the Missouri River territory as early as 800 BP.
The Arikara are unique among the three tribes in that they had their origin in the south and moved north. In the early years they lived along the Loup River in Nebraska. In the seventeenth century, they separated from the Skidi Pawnee and either migrated or were driven northward, following the Missouri River through what is now South Dakota. In 1804, they were located along the Missouri, between the Grand and Cannonball Rivers, in three large villages. From there, they gradually moved north eventually joining the Mandan and Hidatsa.
The Hidatsa apparently came from the east, settling for some time in and around the Devils Lake area, before making their move to the Missouri River.
QUESTIONS:
What are some evidences we find of ancient people in North Dakota?
What are some reasons that people such as a tribe of Indians might migrate from one place to another?
Before writing, how did people keep track of their history?
What resources did the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara use along the Missouri River to live?
How might people's lifestyles alter when changing from nomadic hunter/gatherers to sedentary agriculturalists? How would your life today change if you had to move often?
How did life change for the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara when they began trading with Euroamericans?
ACTIVITIES:
Each week choose one thing that signifies the events of that week and decide on a symbol to represent it. Draw it on a piece of paper. Add a new symbol each week. Then, once a month, referring to the symbol, tell the history of the past few weeks. This could be done each day, rather than each week, if you wish. Native Americans used this system as their form of history. Often, their symbol represented an entire year.