Gros Ventre
The Gros Ventre ( French "fat belly" ) or Atsina are a North American Indian tribe from the Algonquin language family , who from approx. 1750 to approx. 1870 large areas of the Northern Plains in the south of the Canadian prairie provinces of Manitoba , Saskatchewan and Alberta and in northern Montana roamed in the US and claimed it as a tribal area. As nomadic bison hunters , they were culturally part of the Plains tribes. Historically, they were mostly enemies of the powerful Cree - Assiniboine , the Lakota , Cheyenne and later even the related Arapaho . Therefore, they were temporarily (circa 1793–1861) members of the previously hostile Blackfoot Confederation.
Once the Gros Ventre and later Arapaho out were five independent dialect and tribal groups along the Red River of the North from the North Minnesota southward to northern North Dakota and in the west of the Great Lakes in the area of culture area of Northeastern Woodlands lived that however, together with the Cheyenne, had to evade the pressure of the rifle-armed and militarily superior Ojibwe to the west and south-west; on this migration, the northernmost tribal group remained in northern Montana and south Manitoba and Saskatchewan at the beginning of the 18th century, while the four remaining tribal groups moved further south and south-west onto the Central Plains and the Front Range . Around 1750 , two separate tribes had developed: the Arapaho, who moved south and southwest, and the Gros Ventre, who remained in the north on the Northern Plains.
The Gros Ventre are now an officially recognized tribe with over 3,500 registered members who live with the Assiniboine in the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation.
Naming
They referred to themselves as Haa'ninin , A'aninin , Ahahnelin or A'ani ("people of the white clay (earth)", "people of the white chalk" or "lime people"), because they were convinced that they from the clayey river bank in their tribal area were formed by their creator. The tribal designation as Atsina, which is particularly widespread in Canada, probably comes from the language of the Blackfoot Confederation (around 1793–1861), which was allied at times, and is derived from Atsína (“like a Cree , ie enemy”, also “brave people”), another Blackfoot's name is Piik-siik-sii-naa ("snakes, i.e. enemies"). According to the Piegan Institute, the current Piegan name for the Gros Ventre Assinee is , with today's meaning as "Big Bellies".
After the Gros Ventre remained in the north, and thus a geographical separation from the four related tribal groups that had moved further south (the later Arapaho ), they contemptuously referred to the Gros Ventre as Hitouunenno , Hitúnĕna or Hittiuenina - because they felt superior to them ("Beggar", literally "parasite"). Since the French misinterpreted this designation in the sign language of the Plains as Gros Ventres ("fat bellies", instead of the sign for "hunger"), they have since been referred to in French as Gros Ventres or in English as Big Bellies . The Cheyenne , allied with the Arapaho, therefore also called the Gros Ventre Hestóetaneo'o ("those who beg for meat", "parasites").
In the language of the enemy Cree, they were known as Pawistiko Iyiniwak ('Rapids People', 'Waterfall People', 'Fall People' - 'People of the Rapids', 'People of the Falls') because they were originally along the Saskatchewan River Forks (the confluence of the North and South Saskatchewan Rivers ) lived, however, before the Cree Assiniboine, better armed with rifles ( Nehiyaw-Pwat or Iron Confederacy ) - also like the Arapaho, who originally also lived along the South Saskatchewan River - to the west and south had to evade. Another Cree name is Niya Wati Inew / Naywattamee ('They Live in Holes People'). The terms Waterfall Indians, Fall Indians or Rapid Indians commonly used in older English literature are derived from the Cree name . The also common naming as White Clay People is the Engl. Translation of your autonym.
The Arikaree called the Gros Ventre Kanahkúsuʾ and the Arapaho as Tuhkanihnaáwiš / Kun na-nar-wesh ('Gray Stone Village' or 'Colored Stone Village People').
Since the Hidatsa also referred to the Arapaho as E-tah-leh / Ita-Iddi ('Bison Path People'), the French probably adopted this name, so that in the older French-language literature both - Arapaho and Gros Ventre - also called Gens de Vache ("buffalo (bison) people") are known. The tribal names that appear in mostly English texts (e.g. Lewis & Clark) as Kananavich, Ca-ne-na-vich or Kanenavich seem to be corruptions of either the French naming Gens de Vache or the Arikara name.
In addition, they were often confused with the semi-settled Sioux-speaking Hidatsa (close relatives of the Absarokee (Crow)), as the two tribes were referred to by similar names: Minnetarees of Fort de Prairie , Minnetarees of the Prairie , Minnetarees of the Plains or Gros Ventre of the Prairie were called the Gros Ventre and the Hidatsa were called Minnetarees of the Missouri or Gros Ventre of the Missouri . This same naming is most likely due to a confusion by the Europeans, who used the tribal name in the sign language of the Plains for the Gros Ventre (the hands were run over the torso or belly to reproduce the word " hunger ", what the Arapaho name as Beggar / parasite roughly corresponded) as well as the similar one for the Hidatsa (the hands were placed across the chest, as the Hidatsa warriors had large tattoos on their chests there).
Way of life
They belonged to the Plains Indian culture and their main source of food was the American bison . In the middle of the 19th century, around 60 million animals lived on the Great Plains of North America. Before the Gros Ventre had horses, they panicked a herd of buffalo hunting. The animals running away in frantic flight were forced into a V-shape and driven to the edge of a cliff, from which they fell into the depths. Every year thousands of buffalos died in such places, often in such large quantities that the Gros Ventre could not consume all the meat, even though some of it was dried and processed into pemmican as winter stock . The skins were used as tent covers for the tipis and for clothing. After the adaptation of the horse and the firearms, the Plains culture reached its peak. The greater mobility brought about by the horse generally improved the quality of life, larger tipis could be built and more food could be transported.
history
The Arapaho and Gros Ventre were once a single tribe, living in the Red River Valley in northern Minnesota and adjacent Canada. In the early 18th century, the Gros Ventre split off and the Arapaho moved south. At the time of first contact with Europeans around 1754, the Gros Ventre lived on the Canadian prairies on the upper reaches of the Saskatchewan River and its tributaries. They had long been enemies of the Assiniboine and Cree and had to flee from them because their enemies had received firearms from the Hudson's Bay Company . Then in 1793 the Gros Ventre attacked the Hudson's Bay Company in South Branch House on the South Saskatchewan River near the present-day city of St. Louis and burned it down. The tribe then moved south to the Milk River and allied with the Blackfoot. Around 1870 the alliance with the Blackfoot broke up and the Gros Ventre had to seek protection from their former enemy, the southern Assiniboine.
reservation
The US government established the Fort Belknap reservation in 1888 , which members of the Gros Ventre now had to share with their former enemies, the Assiniboine. By 1904 there were only 535 tribal members. In 1990 the total population of Fort Belknap was 1,200, of whom only 111 spoke their mother tongue. The 2000 census of all Gros Ventre found 2,881 tribe members. Today the 3,682 tribesmen live in the Fort Belknap reservation, which they continue to share with the Assiniboine.
See also
literature
- Raymond J. DeMallie (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians . Vol. 13: Plains. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington 2001 ISBN 0-16-050400-7
- R. Flannery: The Gros Ventres of Montana. 2 volumes, 1953–1957.
- Alvin M. Josephy Jr.: 500 Nations. Frederking & Thaler, Munich 1996 ISBN 3-89405-356-9
- Alvin M. Josephy Jr.: The world of the Indians. Frederking & Thaler, Munich 1994 ISBN 3-89405-331-3
- Colin Taylor et al. a .: Indians. The indigenous people of North America. Bertelsmann, Gütersloh 1992
- Terry Brockie, Andrew Cowell Eds .: Aaniiih - Gros Ventre Stories. (Bilingual Algonquin / Engl.) University of Regina Press, 2017
Web links
- History of Gros Ventres (English)
- Atsina - Report of Lewis and Clark (English)
- Encyclopedia of North American Indians. Archived from the original on January 6, 2006 ; accessed on January 16, 2017 (English).
- History of Gros Ventres. Archived from the original on December 11, 2008 ; accessed on January 23, 2014 (English).
Individual evidence
- ^ The Piegan Institute
- ^ American Indian Studies Research Institute (AISRI) Dictionary Database Search
- ↑ Heritage Databank Consulting ( Memento of the original from October 31, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
