|
Arikara (also Arikaree, Ree) refers to a group of Native Americans that speak a Caddoan language. (other Caddo tribes were the Pawnee and Wichita.) They were a semi-nomadic group that lived on the plains of South Dakota for several hundred years. They lived in tipis and were an agricultural society. Their primary crop was corn (or maize), and it was such an important aspect of their society that it was often referred to as "Mother Corn." Their name comes from Pawnee ariki ("horn") in reference to their headdresses. Their name for themselves was tannish or sannish, meaning "the people." In sign language, the motions for their name was interpreted as "the corn eaters." Their culture was decimated by small pox in the late 1830s, and due to their reduced numbers, started to work closer to the Mandan and Hidatsa tribes who lived in the same area. Today the three tribes are still associated closely together and are known as the Three Affiliated Tribes. At the end of the 18th century, they established good trading relations with the French. Lewis and Clark visited them in 1804. During their involvement in conflicts among fur traders, they found themselves on the emigrant route to the West. The Dakota and smallpox epidemics between 1837 and 1856 decimated them. In 1880 the Arikara, Mandan, and Hidatsa were settled on the Fort Berthold reservation in North Dakota.
The Arikara were forced into Mandan territory by the Lakota (Sioux), between the Arikara War and the white settlement in the 1870s. The Arikara, who lived for many years near the Ft. Clark trading post/Knife River, joined the Hidatsa and Mandan at Like-a-Fishhook Village, near the Ft. Berthold trading post, in 1862. For protection and also for jobs, the Arikara men scouted for the U. S. Army, stationed at nearby Ft. Stevenson. In 1874, the Arikara scouts guided Custer on his Black Hills Expedition. In 1876, a large group of Arikara men led by Soldier accompanied Custer and the 7th Cavalry, this time on the Little Big Horn Expedition. It was the Arikara scouts who were in the lead when the village was attacked. Several scouts drove off Lakota horses, as they had been ordered, and others fought valiantly alongside the troopers. Three Arikara men were killed: Little Brave, Bobtail Bull, and Bloody Knife. During the subsequent confusion, the scouts were cut off from the troopers, and returned to the base camp as they had been directed. After the battle, in which Custer and some 260 others on the U.S. side were killed, the search for scapegoats resulted in undeserved smears directed at the scouts. Numbering around 3,000 in 1780; their culture was decimated by small pox in the late 1830s. Due to their reduced numbers, started to work closer to the Mandan and Hidatsa tribes who lived in the same area. Arikara is now spoken in North Dakota by a very few elders. Arikara is very close to the Pawnee language, but they are not mutually intelligible. Today the three tribes are still associated closely together and are known as the Three Affiliated Tribes.
|
||||
Gilman, Carolyn, Mary Lane Schneider et al; "The Way to Independence: Memories of a Hidatsa Indian Family, 1840-1920." St Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1987. 0-87351-209-X
|
|||||
| Christian-Webdesign | Please link to this site : http://www.nativeusa.org/ | ||||
 LINKS |
Three Affiliated Tribes home page - http://www.mhanation.com/ Discovering Lewis and Clark, history of tribe and interviews with members http://www.lewis-clark.org/content/content-channel.asp?ChannelID=149 |
||||
