Arikara
The Arikara, also known as Ricaree, are a Native American nation primarily located in North and South Dakota, along the lower Missouri River basin. Historically, they were part of the Pawnee nation before migrating north to establish their own identity. The Arikara engaged in a blend of hunting, fishing, and agriculture, living in distinctive lodges made from natural materials. Their agricultural practices included cultivating corn, squash, and pumpkins, primarily managed by women. The Arikara were known for their trade relationships, exchanging agricultural products with both the American Fur Company and neighboring tribes, particularly the Sioux. Despite facing significant population declines due to smallpox epidemics in the late 18th and mid-19th centuries, the Arikara formed a lasting alliance with the Mandan and Hidatsa tribes, resulting in the establishment of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation. Today, they are recognized as a federally recognized tribe, primarily residing on the Fort Berthold Reservation, where they engage in various governmental and business initiatives to support their community.
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Arikara
- CATEGORY: Tribe
- CULTURE AREA: Plains
- LANGUAGE GROUP: Caddoan
- PRIMARY LOCATION: North Dakota, South Dakota
- POPULATION SIZE: 792 (2010 US Census); 17,460 as part of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation (2024 Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation)
The Arikara, or Ricaree, lived along the lower Missouri River basin in what is currently North and South Dakota. This prairie country was conducive to the Arikara's hunting and agriculture practices. The nation had originally been Pawnee, but it had at some point moved north up the Missouri to form its own nation. The nation maintained much of the Pawnee language yet was influenced by the neighboring Sioux and various other nations.
Hunting, farming, and fishing were all practiced by the Arikara. During the winter, the nation spent its time on the hunt, ranging as far as forty miles in search of bison. During this time, the people lived in lodges constructed of animal hides. Yet, these Indigenous Americans were not renowned as great hunters, nor did they keep many horses in their own possession. Rather, they served as intermediaries in the distribution of horses from the nomadic nations south and west of the Missouri to other nomadic nations north and east of the river.
When they were not engaged in hunting, the Arikara’s housing was more permanent. Huts were constructed by driving four posts into the ground and laying timbers lengthwise between them. Smaller twigs were then filled in and overlaid with rushes, willows, and grass. The entire structure was plastered thickly with mud, with a hole left in the top for smoke and one in the side for a door. The finished home was round. Each hut was excavated inside to a depth of 2 to 4 feet, making the interior tall enough for people to stand up and walk around. Beds were located around the extremity of the interior circle. A covered passage about 10 feet in length was then constructed outward from the side opening, sloping gently from the exterior to the interior, with a wooden door helping to shut out the elements. Trenches were dug around the outside of the huts to guide rainfall away. Huts were placed randomly within the village, 15 to 20 feet apart, with no paths of any regularity among the dwellings. Cellars were dug within the houses to store corn and other produce.
Corn was grown on family farms of about 1 acre each. Farming plots were separated by brush and rudely built pole fences. Women did the majority of the farming chores, using hoes and pickaxes made from shoulder blades of cows and deer, and rakes made from reeds. The corn, a variety of Indian corn with a small hard grain and stalks only 2.5 to 3 feet tall, was planted in April or May and then picked around the first part of August. The Arikara women picked the corn when it was still green, boiled it slightly, dried it, shelled it, and then stored it. Other popular crops were squashes, either boiled or eaten green, and pumpkins. Crops were subject to occasional floods by the Missouri River and drought. The Arikara held various rites and ceremonies related to the production of crops.
They also capitalized on their agricultural successes by trading crops with the American Fur Company for knives, hoes, combs, beads, paints, ammunition, and tobacco. In addition, they traded with the Sioux for buffalo robes, skins, and meats—and then, in turn, traded these items with Whites for guns and horses.
The Arikara were known to be good swimmers and anglers. The men would place willow pens in eddies of the river, and then throw the caught fish to shore. In the spring, the men would sometimes float out on melting ice cakes and gather rotting buffalo that had died in the winter, stack them on the shore, and then feast on the carcasses with fellow tribe members. Women were known to float out on ice floes in much the same manner to collect driftwood.
The Arikara were adept at making fired, unglazed pots; pans, porringers, and mortars for pounding corn; ornaments of melted beads; and skin canoes of buffalo hide and willows for hunting along the banks of the Missouri River. They made good use of the resources available to them and were generally considered to be a peaceful people.
A once prosperous people, the Arikara were stricken by a smallpox epidemic late in the eighteenth century that wiped out many of their people. The nation that Lewis and Clark encountered in 1804 was a much-reduced population of about 2,000. In 1823, they clashed with US forces over the death of their chief, who mysteriously died on a diplomatic mission to Washington, DC. By the middle of the nineteenth century, two more bouts of smallpox struck the nation and further diminished their numbers.
Following these devastating smallpox epidemics, in 1862, the Arikara joined the Mandan and Hidatsa at Like-a-Fishhook Village in North Dakota to form an alliance that was initially known as the Three Affiliated Tribes and later as the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation. They are a federally recognized Indigenous American nation located mainly on the Fort Berthold Reservation in western North Dakota, although most members live off-reservation. The nation provides government programs such as healthcare, law enforcement, and natural resource management, and participates in business ventures, including managing the valuable oil resources on their land.
Bibliography
"Arikara Indians." National Geographic, 30 June 2016.
"Fort Berthold Reservation - Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Tribes (Missouri River, West Central North Dakota)." University of Montana Natural Areas, www.umt.edu/native-garden/circles/mandan-hidatsa-arikara.php. Accessed 25 Oct. 2024.
MHA Nation, www.mhanation.com. Accessed 25 Oct. 2024.
"North Dakota Tribe Buys Idle Oil Pipeline from Enbridge: 'A Major Step.'" CBS News, 12 June 2023, www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/north-dakota-tribe-buys-idle-oil-pipeline-from-enbridge-a-major-step. Accessed 25 Oct. 2024.
Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College and North Dakota Department of Public Instruction. "History and Culture of the Mandan, Hidatsa, Sahnish (Arikara)." North Dakota Tribal History and Culture Series, 2002, commons.und.edu/nd-tribal-history-series/2/. Accessed 25 Oct. 2024.
"Paul Dyck Collection: Arikara." Buffalo Bill Center of the West, centerofthewest.org/explore/plains-indians/paul-dyck-collection-arikara. Accessed 25 Oct. 2024.
"The Sahnish (Arikara)." North Dakota Studies, www.ndstudies.gov/sahnish-arikara. Accessed 25 Oct. 2024.