The Arikara Tribe – Indians With Horns
The Arikara, also known as the Ree, are a fascinating Native American tribe with a rich history intertwined with the vast landscapes of the Great Plains. Belonging to the Caddoan linguistic family, their language shares close ties with that of the Pawnee, differing only in dialect. The name "Arikara" itself holds a clue to a distinctive aspect of their past, translating to "horn," a reference to a former custom of adorning their hair with bone pieces that resembled horns. This practice, though no longer prevalent, serves as a symbolic reminder of their unique cultural identity and traditions. Understanding the Arikara Tribe requires delving into their origins, migrations, interactions with other tribes and European settlers, and their enduring legacy.
The story of the Arikara Tribe begins with their connection to the broader Caddoan family, originating in the southwestern regions of what is now the United States. Oral traditions and historical accounts suggest that the Arikara were once associated with the Skidi, a prominent band within the Pawnee Confederacy. At some point during their shared journey through the expansive Missouri River Valley, the two groups diverged. The Skidi eventually settled along the Loup River in present-day Nebraska, while the Arikara continued their northeastern trajectory. They established villages on the bluffs overlooking the Missouri River, with evidence indicating settlements as far south as the area near modern-day Omaha. This northward movement was not without its challenges.
As the Arikara Tribe ventured further north, they inevitably encountered other indigenous groups, most notably the Sioux, who were expanding westward. These encounters often led to conflicts, punctuated by periods of peace and even alliances. When European explorers and traders began navigating the Missouri River, they encountered Siouan tribes who recounted the Arikara’s prior occupation of the region’s older village sites. This paints a picture of a dynamic landscape, with tribes constantly shifting, adapting, and interacting with one another.
The year 1770 marked a significant turning point in the history of the Arikara Tribe with the arrival of French traders. These initial interactions took place near the Cheyenne River, along the Missouri. Thirty-five years later, the Lewis and Clark expedition encountered the Arikara, finding their numbers diminished. The tribe then resided in three villages situated between the Grand and Cannonball Rivers in present-day South Dakota. By 1851, they had moved further upstream to the vicinity of the Heart River. This period was marked by significant upheaval for the Arikara Tribe and other native communities.
The relentless westward expansion of European colonists, coupled with a deliberate policy of instigating intertribal conflicts, resulted in the continuous displacement of numerous native populations. This pressure was particularly devastating for semi-sedentary tribes like the Arikara Tribe, who relied on settled villages and agricultural practices. The near-constant warfare with aggressive neighboring tribes, combined with the devastating smallpox epidemics that swept through the region during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, decimated their villages. The surviving members of these decimated villages were forced to consolidate, forming new, composite communities. This process significantly altered, and in some cases erased, their traditional social structures and organizational systems. During this period of immense hardship, the Arikara forged close bonds with the Mandan and Hidatsa tribes, eventually becoming their allies.
Despite initial friendly overtures to the United States during the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804, the Arikara Tribe eventually grew hostile due to the intrigues and rivalries between various trading companies, which caused significant suffering among the indigenous population. This resentment culminated in the Arikara War of 1823, triggered by an attack on an American trader’s boat that resulted in the deaths of 13 men and injuries to others. Although peace was eventually restored, the conflict, compounded by two consecutive years of crop failures, led the tribe to abandon their villages along the Missouri River and seek refuge with the Skidi Pawnee on the Loup River in Nebraska for a period of two years.
However, the Arikara Tribe‘s animosity towards white settlers made them unwelcome neighbors, prompting a request for their return to the Missouri River. In 1825, the Arikara entered into their first treaty with the U.S. government, acknowledging the nation’s supremacy over their lands and people. They agreed to trade exclusively with American citizens, pledged to protect their lives and property, and committed to resolving all disputes through the U.S. government.
Following the Mexican-American War, the U.S. government established a commission to delineate the territories claimed by tribes residing north of Mexico, between the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains. The Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1851 formally defined the lands claimed by the Arikara, Mandan, and Hidatsa tribes as lying west of the Missouri River, extending from the Heart River in North Dakota to the Yellowstone River, and up the Yellowstone to the mouth of the Powder River in Montana. The boundary then ran southeast to the headwaters of the Little Missouri River in Wyoming, skirting the Black Hills to the head of the Heart River, and then down the Heart River to its confluence with the Missouri.
Due to the non-ratification of the 1851 treaty, the land rights of the Arikara Tribe remained unresolved until 1880. In that year, an Executive Order formally established their present-day reservation, which included a trading post founded in 1845 and named after Bartholomew Berthold, an Austrian founder of the American Fur Company. Today, the Arikara, Mandan, and Hidatsa tribes share this land and are often collectively referred to as the Fort Berthold Indians, a name derived from their shared reservation.
The Dawes Act of February 8, 1887, led to the allotment of land to individual members of the Arikara Tribe. With the Secretary of the Interior’s approval of these allotments on July 10, 1900, the Arikara people became citizens of the United States, subject to the laws of North Dakota. The U.S. government established an industrial boarding school and three-day schools on the Fort Berthold reservation, while the Congregational Board of Missions supported a mission boarding school and a church. Population figures reveal a stark decline: Lewis and Clark estimated the Arikara population at 2,600 in 1804, including over 600 warriors. By 1871, the tribe numbered 1,650; by 1888, it had dwindled to 500; and the census of 1904 recorded a population of only 380.
Agriculture has been a cornerstone of the Arikara Tribe‘s existence for as long as their traditions recount. They cultivated crops such as corn, beans, squashes, and pumpkins, which served as their primary food source. In sign language, the Arikara are referred to as "corn eaters," with the hand movement mimicking the act of gnawing corn kernels from the cob. They carefully preserved the seeds of a specific type of small-eared corn, known for its nutritional value and flavor. The seed corn was traditionally stored in skins, hung near the fireplace within the lodge, and only kernels exhibiting signs of germination were used for planting.
The Arikara engaged in bartering with other tribes, such as the Cheyenne, exchanging corn for buffalo robes, skins, and meat. These goods were then traded with European traders for cloth, cooking utensils, guns, and other manufactured items. Women played a crucial role in these early trading activities. The Arikara hunted buffalo during the winter months, returning to their villages in the early spring to prepare for planting and process the hides.
Fishing was another important aspect of their sustenance, utilizing basket traps to catch fish. They were skilled swimmers and were known to capture buffalo that had become disabled while crossing rivers. Wood, essential for fuel and construction, was sourced from the river. When the ice broke in the spring, the Arikara would leap onto the ice floes, attach cords to trees carried by the current, and haul them ashore. This dangerous task involved men, women, and older children, showcasing their courage and agility.
Their boats were constructed from a single buffalo skin stretched over a willow frame, shaped like a basket and secured to a hoop. A woman could easily transport the boat and safely carry three men across the Missouri River. Before the arrival of European traders, the Arikara crafted their own cooking utensils from pottery. Mortars for grinding corn were painstakingly made from stone, while hoes were fashioned from the shoulder blades of buffalo and elk. Spoons were carved from the horns of buffalo and mountain sheep, and brooms and brushes were made from stiff, coarse grass. Knives were chipped from flint, and spears and arrowheads were made from horn and flint. Wedges of horn were used for splitting wood.
Whistles, mimicking the bleat of an antelope or the call of an elk, were used as decoys. Popguns and other toys were made for children, and flageolets provided amusement for young men. Garments were adorned with embroidered dyed porcupine quills, and tooth shells from the Pacific were highly valued as ornaments. Notably, the Arikara Tribe possessed the skill of melting glass and pouring it into molds to create colorful beads for trade. Their basket weaving traditions bear similarities to those practiced by former tribes in Louisiana, suggesting a connection to their ancestral origins in the southwestern regions.
The Arikara Tribe demonstrated remarkable linguistic resilience, maintaining their distinct language despite prolonged proximity and intermarriage with the Sioux tribes. At the turn of the 20th century, nearly every tribe member understood the language of neighboring tribes, yet remained fluent in their own. They also continued to construct their traditional earth lodges, grouped around an open space in the village center, often occupied by multiple families. Each village typically had a large lodge where ceremonies, dances, and other festivities took place. Religious ceremonies, in which individuals or villages had specific roles, reinforced community bonds through shared beliefs, traditions, teachings, and supplications centered on the desire for long life, sustenance, and safety.
In 1835, Prince Maximilian of Wied, a German explorer and naturalist, observed that Arikara hunters carried their game on their heads and backs, often over long distances, rather than loading it onto their horses. It was customary for the strongest carriers to share their meat with the poor, reflecting the traditional teaching that "the Lord of life told the Arikara that if they gave to the poor in this manner, and laid burdens on themselves, they would be successful in all their undertakings."
Corn held a central position in the Arikara’s religious practices, with rituals commencing in early spring with the first thunder. The corn ear was revered as an emblem and addressed as "Mother." Certain ceremonial corn ears were preserved for generations and treated with great reverence. Offerings, rituals, songs, and feasts accompanied the ceremonies. Rites were observed during planting, growth, and harvesting. Other sacred objects, kept in special shrines, were ceremonially associated with maize, including the skins of significant birds and seven gourd rattles that marked the changing seasons.
Elaborate rituals and ceremonies accompanied the opening of these shrines, revealing contents symbolic of the forces that sustain life and fertility. In addition to these ceremonies, quasi-religious gatherings featured feats of jugglery, highlighting the Arikara’s renowned sleight-of-hand skills, a trait shared with their Pawnee relatives.
The deceased were placed in a seated position, wrapped in skins, and buried in mound graves. The deceased’s property, except for personal belongings interred with the body, was distributed among relatives, with lineage traced through the mother. The Arikara Tribe was loosely organized into sub-tribes, each with its own village and name. Some of the sub-tribes included Hachepiriinu (Young Dogs), Hia (Band of Cree), Hosukhaunu (Foolish Dogs), Hosukhaunukare rihn (Little Foolish Dogs), Sukhutit (Black Mouths), Kaka (Band of Crows), Okos (Band of Bulls), and Paushuk (Band of Cut-throats).
Today, the Arikara Tribe is a part of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, located in New Town, North Dakota, continuing their legacy as resilient people with a unique history and culture.