Arikara Tribe

To get started in American Indian Research

Indians of Montana &gt; Arikara Indians Indians of North Dakota &gt; Arikara Indians

Alternate names: Arickaree, Arikara, Ricara

To learn how to get started with American Indian research, find research facilities, and American Indian websites click here.

Tribal Headquarters
Three Affiliated Tribes 404 Frontage Road New Town, ND 58763

Phone Number: 1-701-627-4781 Fax Number: 1.701-627-3503


 * Three Affiliated Tribes Official Website of Arikara, Hidatsa and Mandan tribes

To learn how to get started with American Indian research, find research facilities, and American Indian websites click here.

History
In the 1700's the Arikara tribe came into contact with non-Indians and interacted with them through trade.

During the mid 1790's conflict with the Sioux, resulted in the tribe migrating to the Grand River area South Dakota where the Lewis and Clark Expedition located them in 1804.

The Tribe migrated again in 1823 to northern Nebraska, where in 1825 at Ricara Village, a peace treaty was signed which encouraged trade.

Tribal conflict with the Sioux and Mandan continued and the tribe once again in 1835 migrated settling near the Platte River in Nebraska

A smallpox epidemic in 1833 caused depopulation, one ramification was the tribal band combined which mixed family lines.

In 1862 the tribe joined the Mandan and Hidatsa tribes at Like-a-Fishhook Village, North Dakota.

In 1870 the tribe is assigned to Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota, where in 1934 the Mandan and Hidatsa tribes joined them.

With the contruction of the Garrison Dam, 1951-54, utilizing some of the land of the Fort Berthold Reservation, some tribal members were again required to relocate.

The population of the Arikara Indians in 1780 was estimated at 3,800. In 1910, their popuation was 444, and in 1980 it was 1,536.

Brief Timeline

 * Early 1799: Le Seyer a Spanish fur trader encountered the Arikara at present day-Fort Pierre, South Dakota
 * 1743 &amp; 1770: the tribe came into contact with French fur traders - along the Missouri River in South Dakota
 * 1794: pressured by the Sioux the tribe moved north above the Grand River
 * 1804: Lews and Clark expedition encountered the tribe
 * 1823: migrated to Northern Nebraska
 * 1825: Treaty
 * 1830: Sioux defeated the Arikara
 * 1832: intertribal conflict with the Sioux and Mandan led the tribe to resettle near Skidi Pawnee at the forks of the Platte River in Nebraska
 * 1835: migrated back to North Dakota
 * 1837: Smallpox epidemic- forced them to combine clans and mix family lines.
 * 1851: Treaty
 * 1862: the tribe joins Mandan and Hidatsa at Like-A-Fishhook Village
 * 1866: Treaty at Fort Berthold,
 * 1870: assigned to Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota
 * 1934: assigned to Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota; sharing with the Mandan and Hidatsa tribes
 * 1951-1954: the tribe was relocated for construction of Garrison Dam

Reservations
The Arikara Tribe is primarily associated with the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota.

Additional References to the History of the Tribe

 * Frederick Webb Hodge, in his Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, gave a more complete history of the Arikara tribe, with estimations of the population of the tribe at various time periods.
 * John Swanton's The Indian Tribes of North America
 * David Bushnell's Villages of the Algonquian, Siouan and Caddoan Tribes West of the Mississippi.
 * For additional history of the tribe, read more....

Tribal Headquarters
Three Affiliated Tribes 404 Frontage Road New Town, ND 58763

Phone Number: 1-701-627-4781 Fax Number: 1.701-627-3503

Agency Records
The following agencies of the Bureau of Indian Affairs had jurisdiction over the Arikara for the time periods indicated. BIA agencies were responsible to keep such records as census rolls, allotment (land) records, annuity rolls, school records, correspondence, and other records of individual Indians under their jurisdiction. For details, see the page for the respective agency.


 * Upper Missouri Agency 1824-1866
 * Fort Berthold Agency 1867-

Census Records
The Bureau of Indian Affairs compiled annual Indian Census Rolls on many of the reservations from 1885 to 1940. They list the names of individuals, their age, and other details about each person enumerated. For more information about these records, click here.

The following table lists the census rolls for the Arikara Indians:

Correspondence
There are several sets of correspondence between the supervising offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the local offices -- agencies, subagencies, etc. The correspondence is often historical in nature, including reports of the conditions among local groups of Indians, hostilities, plans for building facilities, activities of traders or missionaries, etc. Occasionally, there will be names of individuals but little detail about them. For more information about American Indian correspondence, click here.

The following table lists some correspondence relating to the Arikara Indians:

Treaties
During the latter part of the 18th Century and most of the 19th Century, treaties were negotiated between the federal government and individual Indian tribes. The treaties provide helpful information about the history of the tribe, but usually only include the names of those persons who signed the treaty. For more information about treaties, click here.

Treaties to which the Arikara Indians were a part were:


 * [[Media:Http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/ari0237.htm|1825]] July 18,at Ricara Village, peace and trade
 * 1851 September 17,at Fort Laramie
 * 1866 July 27,at Fort Berthold (unratified) " we, the said Aricara tribe of Indians agree to do all in our power to prevent the introduction or use of spirituous liquors among our people, and to this end we agree that should any of the members of our tribe encourage the use of spirituous liquors, either by using it themselves, or buying and selling it, whosoever shall do so shall forfeit his claim to any annuities paid by the Government for the current year;"

Tribal Office Records
The Tribal Office is responsible for enrollment records, vital records, tribal police records, tribal court records, employment records and many others. They are an entirely different set of records from those kept by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Most of them remain in the Tribal Office. For details, contact that office at the address for the Tribal Headquarters listed above.

Vital Records
Prior to the Indian Reorganization Act, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, through their agencies, may have recorded some vital events. Some were recorded on health forms, such as the "Sanitary Record of Sick, Injured, Births, Deaths, etc." Others were recorded as supplements to the "Indian Census Rolls." Some were included in the unindexed reports and other correspondence of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Some vital records for the Arikara Indians include:


 * Fort Berthold Agency, M959, births and deaths1924-1932, FHL Film: 576490 and deaths and marriages 1937-39, FHL Film: 576491

Important Web Sites

 * Three Affiliated Tribes Official Website
 * Arikara Indians Wikipedia
 * By-Laws of the Three Affiliated Tribes

Arikara

 * Carlson, Paul H. The Plains Indians. College Station, Texas: Texas A&amp;M University Press, c1998. FHL book 970.1 C197p

General

 * Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives; Record Group 75, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
 * Hodge, Frederick Webb. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1906 Available online.
 * Klein, Barry T., ed. Reference Encyclopedia of the American Indian. Nyack, New York: Todd Publications, 2009. 10th ed. WorldCat 317923332; FHL book 970.1 R259e.
 * Malinowski, Sharon and Sheets, Anna, eds. The Gale Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes. Detroit: Gale Publishing, 1998. 4 volumes. Includes: Lists of Federally Recognized Tribes for U.S., Alaska, and Canada – pp. 513-529 Alphabetical Listing of Tribes, with reference to volume and page in this series Map of “Historic Locations of U.S. Native Groups” Map of “Historic Locations of Canadian Native Groups” Map of “Historic Locations of Mexican, Hawaiian and Caribbean Native Groups” Maps of “State and Federally Recognized U.S. Indian Reservations. WorldCat 37475188; FHL book 970.1 G131g.


 * Vol. 1 -- Northeast, Southeast, Caribbean
 * Vol. 2 -- Great Basin, Southwest, Middle America
 * Vol. 3 -- Arctic, Subarctic, Great Plains, Plateau
 * Vol. 4 -- California, Pacific Northwest, Pacific Islands


 * Sturtevant, William C. Handbook of North American Indians. 20 vols., some not yet published. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1978–.


 * Volume 1 -- Not yet published
 * Volume 2 -- Indians in Contemporary Society (pub. 2008) -- WorldCat 234303751
 * Volume 3 -- Environment, Origins, and Population (pub. 2006) -- WorldCat 255572371
 * Volume 4 -- History of Indian-White Relations (pub. 1988) -- WorldCat 19331914; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.4.
 * Volume 5 -- Arctic (pub. 1984) -- WorldCat 299653808; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.5.
 * Volume 6 -- Subarctic (pub. 1981) -- WorldCat 247493742; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.6.
 * Volume 7 -- Northwest Coast (pub. 1990) -- WorldCat 247493311
 * Volume 8 -- California (pub. 1978) -- WorldCat 13240086; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.8.
 * Volume 9 -- Southwest (pub. 1979) -- WorldCat 26140053; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.9.
 * Volume 10 -- Southwest (pub. 1983) -- WorldCat 301504096; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.10.
 * Volume 11 -- Great Basin (pub. 1986) -- WorldCat 256516416; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.11.
 * Volume 12 -- Plateau (pub. 1998) -- WorldCat 39401371; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.12.
 * Volume 13 -- Plains, 2 vols. (pub. 2001) -- WorldCat 48209643
 * Volume 14 -- Southeast (pub. 2004) -- WorldCat 254277176
 * Volume 15 -- Northwest (pub. 1978) -- WorldCat 356517503; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.15.
 * Volume 16 -- Not yet published
 * Volume 17 -- Languages (pub. 1996) -- WorldCat 43957746
 * Volume 18 -- Not yet published
 * Volume 19 -- Not yet published
 * Volume 20 -- Not yet published


 * Swanton John R. The Indian Tribes of North America. Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin #145 Available online.
 * Waldman, Carl. Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes. New York, New York: Facts on File, 2006. 3rd ed. WorldCat 14718193; FHL book 970.1 W146e 2006.