548 



HIDATSA 



[B. A. E. 



known as Gros Ventres (q. v.), a name 

 applied also to the Atsina, a detached 

 tribe of the Arapaho. 



Accord inj? to their Own tradition the 

 Hidatsa came from the neighborhood of a 

 lake N. E. of their later home, and identi- 

 fied by some of their traditionists with 

 Mini-wakan or Devils lake, N. Dak. They 

 had here the circular earth-covered log 

 house, in use also by the Mandan, Arik- 

 ara, and other triltes living close along 

 the upper Missouri, in addition to the 

 skin tipi occupied when on the hunt. 

 Removing frona there, perhaps in conse- 

 quence of attacks l)y the Sioux, they 

 moved s. w. and allied themselves with 

 the ]Mandan, who then lived on the w. 

 side of the Mis.souri, about the mouth of 

 Heart r. The three tribes, Hidatsa, Man- 

 dan, and Arikara were all living in this 

 vicinity about 1765. From the Mandan 

 the Hidatsa learned agriculture. Some 

 time before 1796 these two tribes moved 

 up the river to the vicinity of Knife r., 

 where they were found by Lewis and 

 Clark in 1804, the Hidatsa being then in 

 three villages immediately on Knife r., 

 while the Mandan, in two villages, were 

 a few miles lower down, on the Missouri. 

 The largest of the three villages of the 

 tribe was called Hidatsa and was on the 

 N. bank of Knife r. The other two, Ama- 

 tiha and Am diami, or Mahaha, were on 

 the s. side. The last named was occupied 

 by the Amahami (Ahnahawayof Lewis 

 and Clark ) , formerly a distinct but closely 

 related tribe. In consequence of the in- 

 roads of the Sioux they had been so far 

 reduced that they had been compelled to 

 unite with the Hidatsa, and have long 

 since been completely absorbed. The 

 three villages together had a popula- 

 tion of alKjut 600 warriors, equivalent to 

 about 2, 100 souls. Of these the Amahami 

 counted about 50 warriors. There was no 

 change in the location of the villages until 

 after the terrible smallpox epidemic of 

 1837, which so greatly reduced the Indian 

 population of the upper Missouri, and in 

 consequence of which the survivors of the 

 three villages consolidated into one. In 

 1845 they, and about the same time the 

 remnant of the Mandan also, moved up 

 the river and established themselves in a 

 new village (see Hidatmti) close to the 

 trading post of Ft Berthold, on the n. l^ank 

 of the Missouri and some distance below 

 the entrance of the Little Missouri, in 

 North Dakota. In 1862 the Arikara 

 moved up to the same location, the three 

 tribes now occupying a reservation of 

 884,780 acres on the n. e. side of the Mis- 

 souri, including the siteof the village. In 

 1905 the Hidatsa ( Gros Ventres ) were offi- 

 cially reported to number only 471. 



Early writers describe the Hidatsa as 

 somewhat superior intellectually and 

 physically to their neighbors, although 



according to Matthews this is not so evi- 

 dent in later days. In home life, reli- 

 gious beliefs and customs, housebuilding, 

 agriculture, the use of the skin boat, and 

 general arts, they closely resembled the 

 Mandan with whom they were associated. 

 Their great ceremony was the Sun dance, 

 called by them Da-lipi-ke, which was ac- 

 companied with various forms of torture. 

 Their warriors were organized into vari- 

 ous military societies, as is the case with 

 the Plains tribes generally. 



Morgan (Anc. Soc, 159, 1877) gives a 

 list of 7 Hidatsa "gentes," which were 

 probably really original village names, or 

 possibly society names, viz: Mit-che-ro'- 

 ka (' knife ') , Min-ne-pii-ta ( ' water ' ) , Bii- 

 ho-liu'-ta ( 'lodge' ), Seech-ka-be-ruh-pii^- 

 ka ('prairie chicken'), E-tish-sho'-ka 

 (' hill people'), Ah-nah-ha-n:i^-me-te (an 

 unknown animal), E-ku^-p;i-be-ka ( 'bon- 

 net'). Thelistof "bands" given by Cul- 

 bertson (Smithson. Rep. 1850, 143, 1851 ) is 

 reallv a list of mflitary societies, viz: Fox, 

 Foolish Dog, Old Dog, Bull, and Black- 

 tailed Deers. 



Consult Clark, Ind. Sign Lang., 1885; 

 Cones, Exped. Lewis and Clark, 1893; 

 Orig. Jour. Lewis and Clark, i-viii, 1904- 

 05; Dorsey in 15th Rep. B. A. E., 1897; 

 Hayden, Ethnog. and Philol. Mo. Val., 

 1867; Matthews, Ethnog. and Philol. Hi- 

 datsa, 1877; Maximilian, Trav., 1843; Mc- 

 Gee in 15th Rep. B. A. E,, 1897. ( J. m. ) 



A-gutch-a-ninne. — Tanner, Narr., 58,1830. A-gutch- 

 a-ninne-wug. — Ibid, ('the settled people ': Chip- 

 pewa name). A-me-she'.— Havden, Ethnog. and 

 Philol., 402, 1802 ('people who live in earth 

 honses': Crow name). Ar-me-shay. — Anon. MS. 

 Crow vocab., B. A. E. Belantse-etea.— U. S. Ind. 

 Treaties, 354, 18'26. Belautse-etea.— Cass (1834) in 

 Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribe.s, ni, 609, 1853. E-nat'-za.— 

 Morgan in N. A. Kev., 47, Jan. 1870 (national 

 name: ci. Ehartsar). Gi-aucth-in-in-e-wug. — War- 

 ren in Minn. Hist. Coll., v, 178, 1885 ('men of 

 the olden time': Chippewa name). Gi-aucth- 

 in-ne-wug. — Ibid., 261. Grosventres. — For various 

 forms of this name applied to the Hidatsa, see 

 Oros ^'nitres. Hedatse. — Hamilton in Trans. 

 Nebr. Hist. Soc, i, 75, 1885. He-wa'-kto-kta.— 

 Cook, Yanktoa, MS. vocab., B. A. E., 184, 1S82. 

 Hewaktokto. — Matthews, Ethnog. and Philol., 

 3G, 1877 ( Dakota name) . He-war-tuk-tay. — Cor- 

 liss, Laeotah MS. vocab., B. A. E., 106, 1874. 

 Hidatsa.— Matthews. Ethnog. and Philol., 3, 1877 

 (own name). Hidatza.— Baxter in Harper's Mag., 

 June, ls,S2. Hidhatsa. — Dorsey in Am. Nat., 8'29, 

 1882. Manetores. — Ramsey in Ind. Aff. Rep., 75, 

 1849. Maniataris. — Du Lac, Voy. dan.s La., 225, 

 1805. Manitaries. — Maximilian, Trav., vii, 1843. 

 Mannatures. — Cumming in H. R-. Ex. Doc. 65, 34th 

 Cong., 1st sess., 8, 1856. Menetare. — Lewis and 

 Clark, Discov., 26, 1806. Me-ne-ta-rees.— Orig. 

 Jour. Lewis and Clark (1805), i, '249, 1904. Mene- 

 tarres. — Lewis and Clark, Discnv., '25, 1806. Me ne 

 tar res. — Orig. Jour. Lewis and C^lark ^1.S05) , i, '248, 

 1904 (also Mene tar res). Metaharta. — Lewis and 

 Clark, Exped., l, 121, 1S14. Miditadi.— Matthews, 

 Ethnog. and Philol., 193, 1887. Mimetari.— Meigs 

 in Smithson. Kep. 1857, 414, 1808. Minataree. — 

 Clark and Cass in H. R. Ex. Doc. 117, •20th Cong., 

 2d .sess., 98, 1829. Minatarees.— Bradbnrv, Trav., 

 109, 1817. Minatares.— Brown, West. Gaz., 215, 

 1817. Minatories. — Dougherty in H. R. Ex. Doc. 

 276, 25th Cong., 2d sess., 16, 183S. Minetaire.— 

 Drake, Bk. Inds., vi, 1848. Minetarees. — Lewis 

 and Clark, Exped., I, 163, 1817. Minetares.— Orig. 

 Jour. Lewis and Clark (1805), I, 3'24, 1904. Mine- 



