Part 3: American Indian Tribes of North Dakota

Part 3: In a Nutshell

  • The Mandan and Hidatsa lived in permanent earthlodge homes.
  • Besides bison hunting, agriculture was a means of livelihood for both the Mandan and Hidatsa.
  • The agricultural villages along the Missouri and Knife Rivers became major trading centers on the continent.
  • When horses were brought to the area, they became a valuable trade item.
  • On-A-Slant village was built beside the Missouri and Heart Rivers by several Mandan groups.
  • Europeans and Euro-Americans are sometimes called whites.
  • La Vérendrye, a French fur trader, was among the first non-Indians to set foot in North Dakota.
  • A severe smallpox epidemic in 1781 killed thousands of Mandan, Hidatsa, and people from other plains tribes.
  • In 1825, the Arikara (Sahnish) people moved from South Dakota and settled near the Mandan and Hidatsa.
  • In 1837 the most violent smallpox epidemic ever recorded in this area almost wiped out the Mandan people.
  • The Hidatsa and Arikara tribes lost thousands of people in the 1837 smallpox epidemic.
  • Like-A-Fishhook village was built by the Mandan and Hidatsa people beside the Knife River in 1845, and in 1862, the Arikara joined them.
  • The Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara tribes became known as the Three Affiliated Tribes.
  • “Dakota” means friend.
  • The Chippewa called the Dakota “adders” (snakes).
  • “Sioux” was the French way of saying “adder.”
  • The Great Dakota Nation was composed of the Lakota, Nakota, and Dakota groups.
  • The Dakota Territory was named after the Great Dakota Nation.
  • The Lakota Sioux, made up of seven major tribes, was the largest group of The Great Dakota Nation.
  • The Lakota had a very large hunting area and were the most nomadic of the Sioux groups.
  • The Dakota Sioux moved into North Dakota from Minnesota after conflicts with “white” settlers and U.S. soldiers.
  • The Nakota Sioux were pushed into North Dakota from Minnesota by the Chippewa.
  • The survival of the plains people depended on the bison, which has been called “a walking department store.”
  • Before 1860, about 60 million bison lived on the plains.
  • By 1900, the bison had almost become extinct.
  • The Chippewa, or Ojibwa, people came to North Dakota from the forests of Minnesota and Wisconsin.
  • The Chippewa did a lot of fur trapping and trading.
  • The Métis were people who were half Chippewa and half French or Scottish.
  • The Métis invented two-wheeled carts called Red River carts for carrying huge amounts of furs and hides.