Arikaree

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Former tribal area of ​​the Arikaree and today's reservation in North Dakota
" Member of the Brotherhood of Medicine Men, wrapped in his sacred bearskin " (Arikaree Indians, Edward Curtis 1908)

The Arikara , Arikaree , Ree or Sáhniš were once a militarily powerful semi-nomadic tribe of the Plains Indians along the Upper Missouri River (in Arikara: tswaarúxti' huukaahaánu' or čiinaanišíšu' ) and right between its two tributaries Cheyenne River and Grand River ( sáhniš husahaanu' or sáhniš sahaánu' ) in what is now Nebraska and South Dakota . Together with the Mandan and Hidatsa, they formed the largest and most important trading center on the Northern Plains in the 18th and early 19th centuries .

Strongly weakened by several epidemics and wars with hostile Lakota and Yanktonai , they moved up the Missouri in the middle of the 19th century and joined their former enemies, the Mandan and Hidatsa , in the settlement "Like-a-Fishhook Bend" ( Sahkahaáhniniʾ ) in 1862. near Fort Berthold, between the Little Missouri River ( iinahuukaahaahčitáwi ) and Knife River ( neesič sahánuʾ or neesítš husahaánuʾ ) in North Dakota .

language

The Arikara (Sáhniš) belongs to the Pawnee-Kitsai branch of the Northern Caddo languages ​​(Plains Caddo) and is so close to the Skiri / Skidi dialect of the Pawnee that it is considered by some linguists as a Pawnee dialect and not as an independent language is seen. In addition to the Arikara and Pawnee, the Wichita-speaking peoples (Wichita, Taovaya / Tawehash, Waco / Iscani / Hueco and Tawakoni / Towakoni) ( čirikú: NUx called) as well as the Kichai (Kitsai) were linguistically and culturally part of the Northern Caddo (Plains Caddo) . In 1990 90 tribal members still spoke their language; today there are only ten speakers left, and the language is therefore almost one of the extinct languages .

The Arikara were not only linguistically but also culturally close to the Pawnee ( called sčiíri ; see the similarity to Skiri / Skidi-Pawnee), from whom they split off shortly before the arrival of the Europeans in the 16th century and gradually followed suit over the next few centuries Moved north, becoming the northernmost Caddo-speaking tribe.

Names

Today's tribal name as Arikara, Arikaree or Ree is mostly derived from the Pawnee words ariktaahca ("high horns"), arikaraarurahwiʾat ("horns that rub over the ground / scratch the ground like a wapiti"), aríkaraar (" horned, have horns ”) or simply aríka (“ horn ”), which probably refers to their tradition of wearing two upright wapiti horns in their hair. Therefore, the Arikara are sometimes referred to in English as Elk People (" Wapiti (Elk) People ").

Arikara and Pawnee were from the Assiniboine ( psi'aákAt ) as panana and by the Dakota Sioux as phadáni referred, whereas the Lakota Sioux only the Arikara phaláni called all names refer to the relationship between the two peoples and meant as "liars" . The Skidi Pawnee called the Arikara astaráhi (əàstərə́hi, əàstərəhíru) and the South Bands Pawnee astárahi (both means: "grooved foot"), which is probably due to the name of the once important Arikara settlement Axtárahi (Axtə́RAhi) . A common nickname for the Arikara among the Pawnee was Nuxtaraawíš (literally: "Gray asses").

The Arikara, on the other hand, simply call themselves Sáhniš or Sahniš ("people"), other tribes referred to them generally as saNIsahníš , while the Europeans referred to them as sahNIstaaka ("white people", feminine form: sapaakIsaNIštaaká ).

history

The cultural roots of the Arikaree can be found among the tribes of the lower Mississippi Valley . The Arikaree lived along the rivers in fixed villages in earth houses , which offered better protection in the bitterly cold winters, but also remained cool in the hot summer months. When hunting they used the tipi , which was transported on travois pulled by dogs (later horses) ; Traditionally an Arikaree family owned 30-40 dogs, later horses became more and more important.

The Arikaree were experts in growing corn , beans and squash and other crops (sunflowers and the sacred tobacco plant). In the sign language common on the Plains , the Arikaree were therefore referred to as corn eaters . The women did the farm work, the men hunted deer, elk and also buffalo. They were excellent swimmers who had developed a special method to kill the buffalo as they crossed the rivers. They also took their wood supply in daring actions from the rivers in which the tree trunks were driven down during the spring flood. They made their round boats from sewn together buffalo skins , which were stretched with the skin side inwards over a frame of willow rods. Such a very light boat had a diameter of 90 to 120 cm and could carry up to three men across the river.

The semi-nomads lived in temporarily settled villages out of earth-covered huts. Village activities were monitored by interrogating the Holy Bundle, which was in the possession of the leading priest ( naawiinahčitawíʾuʾ or kunaačitawíʾuʾ ). This office and the post of chief ( neešaánuʾ ) seem to have been the hereditary prerogative of less ruling families. In addition, there were other priests ( kunaʾuxwaaruxtiíʾu ) who, however, held more the function of a healer and holy man - this office was usually not inherited, but the selected aspirants had to acquire the necessary spiritual and medical knowledge in a year-long “teaching”. Lower offices were connected with the warrior, dance and medicine societies / confederations. These societies / associations often found themselves together for large dance events, so there were the following dances at z. B. Medical societies: arikaraánuʾ (Stag Society), kohnít (Kohnit Society), kuúnux (Bear Society), neksaánuʾ (Ghost Society), saánat (Sioux Society) or naawiinahčitawíuʾ (Principal Medicine Society); Dance societies: haanuhnaaníhta (Dead Grass Hanging From The Waist Society), haanutkoótuʾ (Dead Grass Society), haanutkúsuʾ (Big Grass Society), hirúška (Hirushka Society), warrior societies: naanišinúxka (War Dance Society). There were also societies and their dances to which only women were allowed to belong, such as the staanišháhnini (Creek Women's Society) or staaniškoóhat (Women's Goose Society) or kaákaʾ (Crow Dance) and čiwihákux (Scalp Dance, Victory Dance).

The Arikaree were socio-politically a loose confederation of bands ( ačitaánuʾ ), each with at least one village ( isahkahaánuʾ or ituhčituúʾ ), separate proper names and a sacred bundle ( karuúxuʾ ). The holy bundle symbolized the unity of the band or the associated village and was preserved by a "priest / holy bundle priest" ( naawiinahčitawíuʾ ) or "keeper of the holy bundle" ( naawiinahčitawíu ) - usually the name of the holy bundle was also with the Band names identical.

The following bands, villages and their associated holy bundles are known:

  • Awaáhu Band ("Abandoned", "Left Behind"), Holy Bundle: awaáhu
  • Axtárahi ribbon , sacred bundle: axtárahi
  • Činihnaahtákux Band ("Ash on Hill", "Ash Tree on a Hill"), Holy Bundle: činihnaahtákux
  • Huukaawirát Band ("Far East", "Eastern"), Holy Bundle: huukaawirát
  • Šitiniišápit village ("Broken Arrow"), Holy Bundle: šitiniišápit
  • Nahuukaáta village ("By The Water Village", "River bank Village"), Holy Bundle: nahuukaáta
  • Naakaríka village (“Branch Sticking Out”), sacred bundle: naakaríka
  • Tuhkaatákux village ("Village Against A Hill", "Village at the Foot of the Hill"), Holy Bundle: tuhkaatákux
  • SahkahaáhniniʾDorf ("Like-a-Fishhook Bend", later called Ituhpakutkux - "be the old Village"), Holy Bundle:?
  • Naakaríka village , Holy Bundle:?
  • TuhkastahaánuʾDorf ("Buffalo Sod Village"), Holy Bundle:?
  • Iinahushaahčitáwi village (former village along the Grand River ( sáhniš husahaánuʾ )), Holy Bundle:?
  • Ituhwiísuʾ village ("Heart Village", along the Heart River ( wiisu sahaánuʾ )), Holy Bundle:?
  • Kuxkahaánuʾ village , Holy Bundle:?
  • Nuuneesáwatuunu Villages ("Over the Hill", name of several villages near Fort Clark south along the Missouri River), Sacred Bundle:?
  • Nuuneesawatuúnu Villages ("Over the Hill", name of several villages southeast of Wakpala), Holy Bundle:?

In the middle of the 19th century the following names for individual bands became known (Culbertson in Smithson. Rep. 1850, 143, 1851.):

  • Hachepiriinu Band or Xaačipiriínuʾ Band ("Young Dogs"): under the leadership of Chief Chinanitu ("The Brother") (there is the Young Dog Society of the same name).
  • Šhíʾa Band or Hia Band ("Cree Band"): under the leadership of Chief Cherenakuta ("Yellow Wolf").
  • Hosukhaunu Band ("Foolish Dogs"): led by Chief Sithauche (but more likely a dance company).
  • Hosukhaunukare rihn Band or Hosukhaunukarerihu Band ("Little Foolish Dogs"): led by the chief Tigaranish (but more likely a dance company).
  • Sukhutit Band ("Black Mouths")
  • Kaákaʾ Band or Kaka Band ("Band of Crows")
  • Hukós Band or Okos Band ("Band of Bulls")
  • Pahnišúkat Band or Paushuk Band ("Band of Cut-Throats") (there is the Cut-Throat Society of the same name).
  • Foxes Band (possibly the Fox Society called Naaniščiwákuʾ ).
Wife of Arikaree, Edward Curtis , 1909

The Arikaree became a hindrance to trading companies traveling up the Missouri in boats. A skirmish with American traders, in which 13 whites were killed, triggered the first campaign of the US Army against a Plains tribe in 1823. Although the Arikaree numbered between 3,000 and 4,000 tribesmen at the end of the 18th century, wars and smallpox epidemics reduced their population significantly during the following century. In the 1860s they joined the Mandan ( káNIt ) and Hidatsa ( wiitatshaáhkAt ) , which were also heavily decimated by epidemics, and the three tribes settled as The Three Tribes near Fort Berthold, in the vicinity of which the US government established the reservation of the same name in 1870. Around 1885 they began working on scattered family farms. As part of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 , the Arikaree officially merged with the Mandan and Hidatsa to form the Three Affiliated Tribes , now called Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, The Three Affiliated Tribes . In the 1950s, the construction of the Garrison Dam and the resulting damming of Lake Sakakawea destroyed several settlements and approximately 80% percent of the road network on the reservation, so that the tribe members had to relocate to new settlements and new roads had to be built Another move took place again due to the discovery of oil in the Williston Basin. The 2000 census found 775 Arikaree tribesmen. Today the Fort Berthold Reservation is divided into six political administrative units, which simultaneously reflect the larger settlement centers on the reservation: Four Bears (seat of the tribal administration and tribal government), Mandaree, Shell Creek (New Town), Lucky Mound (Parshall), Twin Buttes and White Shield. According to the 2010 Three Affiliated Tribes Enrollment Office Data , there were 12,204 members of the Three Affiliated Tribes (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara) of whom 6,341 lived on the reservation.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Arikara Separation from the Pawnee, told by Alfred Morsette
  2. ^ New Lakota Dictionary
  3. ^ American Indian Studies Research Institute Dictionary Database Search
  4. ^ Language Project - Arikara Dictionary
  5. ^ [1] Nebraska State Historical Society: Bands and Villages of the Arikara and Pawnee
  6. Time Line Of Historical Events Relating To The Three Tribes Of The Fort Berthold Indian Reservation ( Memento of March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ^ Arikara Indian Tribe History
  8. North Dakota Studies - The History and Culture of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Sahnish ( Memento of November 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive )

See also

Web links

Commons : Arikara  - collection of images, videos and audio files