Part 3: American Indian Tribes of North Dakota

Part 3: Vocabulary

Bartering:

  • Trading items for other items without exchanging money

Cache pit:

  • Used to store dried corn, nuts, berries, and squash

Chippewa:

  • Also called “Ojibwa”
  • Came to North Dakota from forests of Wisconsin and Minnesota
  • Lived in wigwams
  • Fur trappers

Commerce:

  • The business of trading

Council:

  • Group of people in charge

Dakota:

  • Means "friend"

Dakota Sioux:

  • Made up of four tribes
  • Moved into North Dakota from Minnesota after conflicts with white settlers and U.S. soldiers

Dakota Territory:

  • Large northern area west of Mississippi River
  • Named after The Great Dakota Nation

Double Ditch Indian Village:

  • Village near present-day city of Bismarck
  • Historic site

Earthlodge:

  • Dome-shaped home made of logs and covered with willow branches, grass, and earth
  • Used by Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara tribes

Epidemic:

  • Rapidly spreading disease

Euro-American:

  • An American with European ancestors

Fort Clark:

  • Trading post near present-day Washburn
  • Smallpox epidemic of 1837 started here

Immunity:

  • Protection from a disease

Lakota Sioux:

  • Made up of seven major tribes
  • Taller than most people of that time
  • Became expert horsemen
  • Most nomadic of the three Sioux groups

La Vérendrye:

  • Among the first non-Indians to set foot in North Dakota
  • First Euro-American person to record history in North Dakota

Métis:

  • People who are half Chippewa and half French or Scottish
  • Many settled in Chippewa communities
  • Good bison hunters and fur traders

Nakota Sioux:

  • Divided into two tribes
  • Pushed into North Dakota from Minnesota by the Chippewa
  • Settled in South Dakota and southern part of North Dakota

On-A-Slant:

  • Village built by the Mandan Indians about 400 years ago beside the Missouri and Heart Rivers
  • Near present-day city of Mandan

Pelts:

  • Hides with fur

Red River cart:

  • Two-wheeled cart pulled by oxen or horses
  • Developed by Métis
  • Could carry huge amounts of goods to major trade centers

Sioux:

  • Name the French called the Dakota
  • Means adder (snake) in the Chippewa language

The Great Dakota Nation:

  • Made up of thousands of people
  • Also called “The Great Sioux Nation”

Three Affiliated Tribes:

  • Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara tribes
  • Affiliated means “joined together”