BULL. 30] 



ASSINIBOIN 



103 



drifted northwestward to the region 

 ahout L. Winnipeg, wiiere they were hy- 

 ing as early as 1670, and were thus lo- 

 cated on Lahontan's map of 1691. Chan- 

 vignerie (1736) place them in the same 



RED DOG — ASSINIBOIN 



region. Dobbs (Hudson Bay, 1744) lo- 

 cated one division of the Assiniboin some 

 distance n. w. of L. Winnipeg and the 

 other immediately w. of an imidentified 

 lake placed n. of L. Winnipeg. These 

 divisions he distinguishes as Assiniboin 

 of the Meadows and Assiniboin of the 

 Woods. In 1775 Henry found the tri])e 

 scattered along Saskatchewan and Assini- 

 boine rs. , from the forest limit well up to 

 the headwaters of the former, and this 

 region, between the Sioux on the s. and 

 the Siksika on the w., was the country 

 over which they continued to range 

 until gathered on reservations. Havdcn 

 (Ethnog. and Philol. Mo. Yal., IStiL') 

 limits their range at that time as fol- 

 lows: "The Northern Assiniboins roam 

 over the country from the w. banks of 

 the Saskatchewan and Assiniboin rs., in 

 a w. direction to the Woody mts., x. and 

 w. amongst some of the small outliers of 

 the Kocky mts. e. of the INIissouri, and on 

 the banks of the small lakes frequently 

 met with on the plains in that district. 

 They consist of 250 or 300 lodges. The 

 remainder of the tribe, now [1856] re- 

 duced to 250 lodges, occupy the dis- 

 trict defined as follows: Commencing at 

 the mouth of the White Earth r. on the 

 E., extending up that river to and as far 

 beyond its source as the Grand Coulee 

 and the head of La Riviere aux Souris, 



thence n. w. along the Coteau de Prairie, 

 or divide, as far as the beginning of the 

 Cypress mts., on the n. fork of Milk r., 

 down that river to its junction with the 

 Missouri, thence down the INIissouri to 

 White Earth r. , the starting point. Until 

 the year 1838 the tribe still numbered 

 from" 1,000 to 1,200 lodges, trading on the 

 Missouri, when the smallpox reduced 

 them to less than 400 lodges. They M'ere 

 also surrounded by large and hostile 

 tribes, who continually made war upon 

 them, and in this way their number was 

 diminished, though at the present lime 

 they are slowly on the increase." 



From the time they separated from the 

 parent stem and joined the Cree until 

 brought under control of the whites, they 

 were almost constantly at war with the 

 Dakota. As they have lived since the 

 appearance of the wiiites in the N. W. 

 almost wholly on the plains, without per- 

 manent villages, moving from place to 

 place in search of food, their history has 

 been one of conflict with surrounding 

 tribes. 



Physically the Assiniboin do not differ 

 materially from the other Sioux. The 

 men dress their hair in various forms; it 

 is seldom cut, but as it grows is twisted 

 into small locks or tails, and frequently 

 false hair is added to lengthen the twist. 

 It sometimes reaches the ground, but is 



ASSINIBOIN WOMAN 



generally wound in a coil on toji of the 

 head. Their dress, tents, and customs 

 generally are similar to those of the Plains 

 Cree, but they observe more decorum in 

 camp and are more cleanly, and their 



