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| The Hidatsa (called Minnetaree by their allies, the Mandan) are a Siouan people, a part of the Three Affiliated Tribes. The Hidatsa name for themselves is Nuxbaaga ("Original People"). The name Hidatsa, said to mean "Willows," was formerly borne by one of the tribal villages. When the villages consolidated, the name was adopted for the tribe as a whole. Their language is related to that of the Crow, and they are often considered a parent tribe to the modern Crow in Montana. Occasionally they have also been confused with the Gros Ventres in Montana.
Accounts of recorded history in the early 18th century identify three closely related village groups to which the term Hidatsa is applied. What is now known as the Hidatsa tribe is the amalgamation of these three groups, the Hidatsa proper, the Awatixa, and the Awaxawi (or Amahami) (Bowers 1965). These groups had different histories and the three Hidatsa village groups spoke distinct dialects and only came together after they settled on the Missouri River. The Amahami have a tradition similar to that of the Mandan, where they emerged from the earth, long ago, far to the southeast. Like the Mandan, they traveled northward, where they settled at Devil's Lake. Later they moved westward to the Painted Woods (near Square Buttes) and settled near a village of Mandans and another of Awatixa. The Awatixa originated not from the earth, but from the sky, led by Charred Body (Wood and Hanson 1986:34). According to their tradition, their first people lived near Painted Woods, "where they were created" (Bowers 1948:17-18). After that they always lived between the Heart and Knife Rivers along the Missouri. The Hidatsa proper, largest of the three, still with those who would become the River Crow, separated from the Amahami in what is now western Minnesota. First they settled to the north, then later moved south to Devil's Lake. In their travels they met the Mandans and then moved westward and settled with these distant relatives north of the Knife River. Later they moved to the mouth of Knife River. The Hidatsa originally lived in Miniwakan, the Devil's Lake region of North Dakota, before being pushed southwestward by the Lakota. As they migrated west, the Hidatsa came across the Mandan at the mouth of the Heart River. The two groups formed an alliance, and settled into an amiable division of territory along the area's rivers. In 1804, Lewis and Clark found the Hidatsa in three villages at the mouth of the Knife River, and the Mandans in two villages a few miles lower down on the Missouri River. Tribal appearance and customs have been documented by the visits of two artists of the American west. The allied tribes were first visited by George Catlin, who remained with them several months in 1832, and later by Karl Bodmer, a Swiss painter, who accompanied German explorer Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied on a Missouri River expedition from 1832 to 1834. Catlin and Bodmer's work are a unique record of a lifestyle which was quickly impacted and changed by disease and government regulation. The smallpox epidemic of 1837-1838 reduced the Hidatsa to about 500 people. The remaining Mandan and Hidatsa united, and moved farther up the Missouri in 1845. They eventually settled at Like-a-fishhook bend near Fort Berthold. They were joined there by the Arikara in 1862. The Hidatsa are a matrilineal people, with descent determined through the maternal line. As the early Mandan and Hidatsa heavily intermarried, children were taught to speak the language of their mother, but understand the dialect of either tribe. A short description of Hidatsa-Mandan culture, including a grammar and vocabulary of the Hidatsa language, was published in 1877 by Washington Matthews, a government physician assigned to the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. Later, during the early twentieth century, Gilbert Livingston Wilson carried out extensive ethnographic work with the elderly Hidatsa woman, Buffalo-Bird Woman, along with members of her immediate family at Fort Berthold. This work detailed traditional economy, ceremony, and day to day practices as remembered by Buffalo-Bird Woman who lived at Like-a-Fishhook Village. The Hidatsa Indians were originally called GrossVentre (Grow van tru) by French trappers and traders.They built earth-lodges on bluffs over-looking the Mississippi River. See the example of the earth-lodges in which they lived in the photo following. However, the culture of the Hidatsa Indians, along with other things, has changed significantly in the past years. One Hidatsa Indian group told their children about a hero known as Charred Body. He is thought to have led the original thirteen clans of the Hidatsa on a magical arrow that flew down from the world above to a site along todays Turtle Creek not far from Mandan, North Dakota. Here Charred Body bested the local monsters so that his people could begin their existence as human beings. The story had claimed to explain the origins of the members of the tribe and the world they live in. Hidatsa Indians are currently connected with the Mandan and the Arikara tribes. These tribes are referred to as the Three Affiliated Tribes. Today the Hidatsa share reservation life and businesses with the Mandan and Arikara near Fort Berthold. All three of these tribes had permanently lived in earth-lodge villages for centuries before the coming of the white man. Besides the similarity of social and economic life, the people of these tribes have differed in areas such as language. The Mandan and Hidatsa speak a Siouan dialect, while the Arikara are members of the Caddoan linguistic group being related to the Pawnee. There were also other differences between the tribes besides language. The Mandan and Hidatsa were village farmers, hunters, artists, merchants and bankers on the plains. There was even evidence found indicating these two groups of Indians were dealing with other Indians from the southwest. The Arikara insisted on acting as a broker in their bartering with the Mexican and the deep southwest Indians in trading for corn during the recurrent droughts, which plagued the southwest (http://www.mhanation.com). Evidence shows that these village people had a long-term migration. This migration is thought to have begun moving them up stream in prehistoric times. In the latter third of the 18th century, this migration was sharply accelerated because of the ravages resulting from the smallpox epidemic . However, the Hidatsa were not affected as much by the small pox due to many members being out on the prairies for annual summer buffalo hunts. Today these three tribes put on a number of annual culture fests. These include events for people to participate in and learn about the culture of the Hidatsa from past and present. Wide ranges of activities that the Hidatsa have valued for several thousand years are offered for everyone to participate in. Some of the activities include archeology talks, flint knapping, bead working, porcupine quill-work, brain tanning hides, black smith trade items, Northern Plains dances, Indian flute music, tipi raising/folding and etiquette and more. Music is also an important part of the cultural fests. Drums is the name given to a group of men and women who beat the dance rhythm in unison on a large drum while chanting or singing in their native tongue. See photo of Wayne Fox, hoop dancing. Bill Lutz took the photo at the Knife River Indian Village. Today education is valued to the Hidatsa.Education is one of the most important needs toward providing sound futures for the people of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation. These tribes are currently giving people the opportunity to earn G.E.D.s or participate in activities involving life-coping skills. There is also a community collage that offers classes in several areas over satellites. |
| The Hidatsa |
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