Arikara

Member of an American Indian people who inhabited Nebraska before migrating north to the Missouri River, in North Dakota, in the 18th century. They are an offshoot of the Pawnee of Nebraska, with whom they share Caddoan linguistic and cultural traditions. Primarily a farming people, they adopted buffalo-hunting after acquiring horses but retained most of their traditional lifestyle, being nicknamed the ‘corn eaters’ by other Plains Indians. They also traded their produce. In 1862 they joined the Mandan and Hidatsa (two other Plains Indians groups) on the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota, forming an alliance known as the Three Affiliated Tribes. Population 1,600 (1990).

The Arikara lived in circular, dome-shaped earth lodges, up to 21 m/70 ft in diameter and supported internally by log pillars. Corn, beans, squash, watermelons, tobacco, and pumpkins were cultivated in farm fields allotted to family groups. They wore deerskin clothing and moccasins, the women wearing long, fringed garments made from two antelope skins, one for front and back. The men wore buffalo robes instead of shirts. Their main medicine ceremony was the Shunuwanuh, which lasted from midsummer into the autumn and featured daily performances of magic feats believed to have supernatural powers. Other important rituals included the sun dance to promote agricultural growth, and an adoption ceremony known as the ‘child’.

After separating from the Pawnee the Arikara eventually settled close to the junction of the Platte and Missouri rivers. During the 1780s they suffered a series of smallpox epidemics that devastated the population. They were also frequently attacked by neighbouring Plains Indians, including the Sioux, Wichita, Comanche, Kiowa, and Cheyenne, as well as the Mandan and Hidatsa, with whom they later formed an alliance. In 1804 the Lewis and Clark expedition made contact with the Arikara, remaining with them for five days to discuss future trading relations with the USA. The Fort Berthold Reservation was established in 1851 for the Mandan and Hidatsa, and the Arikara joined them in 1862. Although they had similar economies and social structures, the Mandan and Hidatsa were Siouan-speaking peoples and their customs also differed. They were formally joined together as the Three Affiliated Tribes in 1937.

Since its establishment in 1851, the Fort Berthold Reservation has shrunk from an original 5.4 million ha/13.5 million acres to less than 0.4 million ha/1 million acres. In 1954 the creation of the Garrison Reservoir (Lake Sakakawea) submerged 60,920 ha/152,300 acres of their farmland, including major communities and access roads, and split the reservation into five isolated areas, disrupting kinship and social ties. Many chose to move off the reservation.