LITMIR.BIZ

      Intercourse with the Arikara, Mandan, and Hidatsa

       Table of Contents

      Next to the Crows, the Kiowa have most to say of their friendship in these old days with the Arikara (Ree), Mandan, and Hidatsa or Minitari on Missouri river. For many years these three confederated tribes, now reduced to about 1,100 souls in all, have occupied jointly a single village on the northeastern bank of Missouri river, in the vicinity of old Fort Berthold, about opposite Knife river, in North Dakota. In 1805 the three tribes, with a small subtribe, now extinct, occupied eight villages, with a total population of nearly 6,000 souls. The Arikara were then considerably farther down the river, while the others were nearly in their present position. From the fact that Grand river, South Dakota, is known to the Dakota as Arikara river it is probable that the Arikara formerly had their residence there for a long period. In habits and home life the three tribes are almost identical, being sedentary agriculturists, living in substantial earth-covered log houses; but in language they are quite distinct. The Arikara or Ree are a branch, of the Pawnee and speak a dialect of that language; the Hidatsa, Grosventres, or Minitari were formerly a part of the Crows and speak a dialect of that language; while the language of the Mandan is distinct from either of the others, although remotely cognate with the Hidatsa. They are mentioned prominently by every traveler in that region during the last century, the best description of them being given by Matthews in his work on the Hidatsa.

      The definite recollection which the Kiowa have of these tribes shows that they must have been very intimate with them in former times, especially with the Arikara, whom they call K'át'á, "biters," designating them in the sign language by a twisting motion of the closed right band, with thumb extended, in front of the month, the allusion being to gnawing corn from a cob. In the north the sign is sometimes made with both hands, the right working against the left, the allusion then being to shelling corn. The Arikara are preeminently distinguished among the northern tribes as the corn-planting Indians, and are usually designated in pictographs by the figure of a man with an ear of corn. It is probable that they taught agriculture to the Mandan and Hidatsa. The Kiowa further identify the K'át'á as being called Paläni by the Dakota and as speaking a language like that of the Pawnee. Stumbling-bear claims to have met and talked with some of them on a former visit to Washington. They have more to say of the Arikara than of the others, probably because then, as now, they were the largest of the three tribes, and also, as the Kiowa themselves say, because the Arikara lived nearest, being probably located then, as at a later period, on Ree or Grand river, in South Dakota, which is called by their name in the various Indian languages. They describe the three tribes as living on the Missouri (Tsosâ P'a) river, in earth-covered grass houses (really log houses, filled in between the logs with grass and covered with earth), and cultivating corn and tobacco, which they traded to the Kiowa. One of the principal divisions of the Kiowa tribe, and the one to which the great Dohásän and several other prominent chiefs belonged, is the K`at'a or Arikara band, so called, the Kiowa state, on account of their special intimacy with the Arikara in the old times, and not because of Arikara descent. The name of the band must have originated, of course, subsequently to the first acquaintance of the two tribes.

      The Mandan they call Dóhón, "the last tipi," assigning as a reason for the name that they lived farthest toward the east. The Mandan, unlike the other tribes, did in fact have one of their villages on the farther (eastern) bank of the Missouri. They also sometimes call them Dowákohón, an older form of Dohon, and Sabă´, "stingy," perhaps from some trade dispute. In the sign language the Kiowa designate them by indicating tattoo marks, stating that the women, and sometimes the men, tattooed the arms, breast, and around the lips. This agrees exactly with Clark, who says that the proper sign for Mandan is intended to indicate tattooing on the chin and lower part of the face. He states also, on the authority of an old plainsman, that fifty years ago the Mandan women had a small spot tattooed on the forehead, together with a line on the chin, while of the men the chiefs alone were tattooed, this being done on one side, or one-half of the breast, or on one arm and breast (Clark, 4). It may be that the small tattooed circle on the foreheads of many Kiowa women is an imitation from their Mandan sisters. Matthews says that he has seen a few old men of the Hidatsa with parallel bands tattooed on the chest, throat, and arms, but not on any other part of the body, or on any young or middle-age persons in the tribe (Matthews, 3).

      The Hidatsa or Minitari are known to the Kiowa as Henóñko, a name which they can not translate. In this word the terminal ko is the tribal suffix, while Henóñ is the root, possibly a derivative from Herantsa, another form of Hidatsa, the Kiowa having no r in their language. To designate them in the sign language, they make a gesture as if dipping up water with the hand, referring to their common name of Minitari, "water crossers," or "water people." This sign is probably now obsolete in the north, as it is not noted by either Clark or Mallery. They say that the Henoñko called the Kiowa Datûmpáta. The Kiowa describe the three tribes as about the same in regard to house-building methods and the cultivation of corn and Indian tobacco. They have also a distinct recollection of the peculiar "bull boats," tub-shaped and covered with rawhide, used by the Mandan and their allies. They ascribe these boats more particularly to the Mandan, from whom perhaps the Arikara obtained them after moving up to the same neighborhood.