Arikara Tribe

Guide to  ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

Tribal Headquarters
MHA Nation of Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara, Three Affiliated Tribes 404 Frontage Road New Town, ND 58763 Phone: 701-627-4781 Website

History
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This tribe is located in the following states:
 * Nebraska
 * North Dakota
 * South Dakota

Alternate names:=Arickaree, Arikara, Ricara The Arikara tribe was once part of the Northern branch of the Skidi Pawnee.

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 construction 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 Arikaras in 1780 was estimated at 3,800. In 1910, their population 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
 * 1824-66: The tribe was under the jurisdiction of the Upper Missouri Agency.
 * [Http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/ari0237.htm 1825 Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties] July 18,at Ricara Village, peace and trade
 * 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 September 17,at Fort Laramie
 * 1862: the tribe joins Mandan and Hidatsa at Like-A-Fishhook Village
 * 1866 July 27,at Fort Berthold (unratified)
 * 1867-80: The tribe was under the jurisdiction of the Fort Berthold Agency.
 * 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

Reservation
A reservation is a tract of land set aside for the occupation and use by Native Americans.

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....

Records
The majority of records of individuals were those created by the agencies. Some records may be available to tribal members through the tribal headquarters.They were (and are) the local office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and were charged with maintaining records of the activities of those under their responsibility. Among these records are:


 * Allotment records
 * Annuity rolls
 * Census records
 * Correspondence
 * Health records
 * Reports
 * School census and records
 * Vital records

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 Agency1867-80

The Tribe was also under the jurisdiction of the following Sperintendenies

St. Louis Superintendency

Central Superintendency

Dakota Superintendency

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:


 * [Http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/ari0237.htm 1825 Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties] 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 deaths 1924-1932, and deaths and marriages 1937-39,

Important Websites

 * 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.

General
See For Further Reading.