Part 2: Early History of American Indians in North Dakota

Part 2: Vocabulary

Archaic:

  • Belonging to an earlier time

Archaeologist:

  • Person who studies remains of ancient people and places

Arikara:

  • Also called “Sahnish”
  • Entered North Dakota about 1825
  • Settled near the Mandan and Hidatsa people

Atlatl:

  • Weapon used for hunting by Archaic people
  • Stick with a handle on one end and a hook for a dart on the other end

Bering Strait:

  • Water that separates Russia in Asia from Alaska in North America

Bison:

  • Buffalo

Descendants:

  • Grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc.

Era:

  • A time period that lasted thousands of years
  • A change to another era happened when people changed the way they lived

Flint:

  • A hard stone found along the Knife River in North Dakota

Hidatsa:

  • Moved from forests of Minnesota to eastern North Dakota about 500 years ago
  • Settled near Mandan people about 400 years ago

History:

  • A written record of past events

Late Woodland culture:

  • May have been ancestors to the Mandan Indians
  • Appeared in North Dakota about 1,400 years ago

Mandan:

  • First modern Indian tribe in North Dakota
  • Settled along the Missouri River in North Dakota about 900 years ago

Nomadic:

  • Wandering

Oral history:

  • Spoken method of passing on information

Paleo-Indians:

  • Ancient ancestors of American Indians

Plains Nomadic people:

  • May have been ancestors of the Sioux Indians
  • Probably came from forests in the east
  • Lived in all parts of North Dakota

Plains Village people:

  • Descendants of the Woodland people
  • Appeared in North Dakota about 1,000 years ago

Prehistoric:

  • Before written records were kept

Pre-history:

  • Before people kept written records of happenings

Winter count:

  • Calendar and record of history using pictures drawn on a hide

Woodland people:

  • Came from forests in Minnesota and Wisconsin
  • Appeared in North Dakota about 2,500 years ago