Plains Tribe: the Hidatsa
Sometime in 1800, a young Shoshone girl was captured in an enemy raid and taken into slavery. The tribe who raided her village were the Hidatsa, a Sioan-speaking people living in what is now North Dakota. Their name for themselves is Hiraaca, a word which may refer to willow. The Mandan knew them as the Minataree, which has created confusion with another tribe of Natives, the Gros Ventre, who are sometimes also called Minataree. Originally, the word Hidatsa applied to one of their original villages, before being applied to the tribe as a whole.
Oral tradition states that what are now the Hidatsa came from the Devil's Lake region of North Dakota. The Knife River area was their home range when Europeans first encountered them. Originally, they were a powerful enough tribe that few other nations would challenge them. A cholera epidemic in 1782 diminished their population and left them vulnerable to other tribes. The Sioux attacked the village of Big Hidatsa in 1790, but the Hidatsa held them off. They raided far and wide in search of buffalo and other game, capturing Sacajawea from what is now Idaho in 1800. In 1804, Lewis and Clark encountered the Hidatsa and signed a treaty of peace with them, one which they never broke. In 1888, a Hidatsa leader stated that, "we have always been friends to the Whites." As long as it was in the Hidatsa power to remain friendly, they did, never having any fights against the Army.
George Catlin spent several months with the Hidatsa in 1832, and documented their regalia and customs in several paintings. Swiss artist Karl Bodmer did likewise in 1832 and 1834. By this time, the Hidatsa had allied with the Mandan, and intermarried with them. Children grew up knowing how to speak both languages. Another epidemic of smallpox reduced the Hidatsa to around 500 people. They and the Mandan moved further upriver to avoid the Sioux. They eventually settled with the Mandan and Arikara in Like-a-Fishhook Village. Repeated depredations by the Sioux led the three tribes to call on the Army for help. Some individuals served as Scouts in the Army. The three tribes sold land to the United States and were settled on the Fort Berthold Reservation, where they remain today.
Oral tradition states that what are now the Hidatsa came from the Devil's Lake region of North Dakota. The Knife River area was their home range when Europeans first encountered them. Originally, they were a powerful enough tribe that few other nations would challenge them. A cholera epidemic in 1782 diminished their population and left them vulnerable to other tribes. The Sioux attacked the village of Big Hidatsa in 1790, but the Hidatsa held them off. They raided far and wide in search of buffalo and other game, capturing Sacajawea from what is now Idaho in 1800. In 1804, Lewis and Clark encountered the Hidatsa and signed a treaty of peace with them, one which they never broke. In 1888, a Hidatsa leader stated that, "we have always been friends to the Whites." As long as it was in the Hidatsa power to remain friendly, they did, never having any fights against the Army.
George Catlin spent several months with the Hidatsa in 1832, and documented their regalia and customs in several paintings. Swiss artist Karl Bodmer did likewise in 1832 and 1834. By this time, the Hidatsa had allied with the Mandan, and intermarried with them. Children grew up knowing how to speak both languages. Another epidemic of smallpox reduced the Hidatsa to around 500 people. They and the Mandan moved further upriver to avoid the Sioux. They eventually settled with the Mandan and Arikara in Like-a-Fishhook Village. Repeated depredations by the Sioux led the three tribes to call on the Army for help. Some individuals served as Scouts in the Army. The three tribes sold land to the United States and were settled on the Fort Berthold Reservation, where they remain today.
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