October 12, 2016
I’ve been doing research on Native American ancestry recently, including the Arikara Indians.
The Wikipedia article on the Arikara features this photograph, with the caption: “A member of the medicine fraternity, wrapped in his sacred bear-skin.”
I found this 1870 newspaper article in GenealogyBank’s Historical Newspaper Archives, describing an attack by the Sioux in which three Arikara were killed.
Looking closely at this article, I found this detail.
It says:
The man killed by the Sioux was one of the best hunters in the tribe, and his death is a severe blow to many dependent upon him for meat.
By 1870 there were very few Arikara left. According to one report, in 1871 there were only 1,650 members of the tribe remaining.
According to Wikipedia, the Arikara: “Today… are enrolled with the Mandan and the Hidatsa as the federally recognized tribe known as the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation.”
That same Wikipedia article confirmed that the Sioux routinely attacked the Arikara in a 19th Century version of ethnic cleansing. “Groups of Sioux were the ones who gained most by the weakening of the Arikara. They attacked the vulnerable Arikara and increased ‘the pace of Sioux expansion’ west of the Missouri.”
The Arikara are the Native Americans that attacked Leonardo DiCaprio multiple times in the movie The Revenant.
Searching in another of GenealogyBank’s collections, Historical Documents and Records, I found this long article on the Arikara.
GenealogyBank is a rich source of Native American history. It is your best source for learning more about your family and the day to day experiences of their lives. GenealogyBank’s newspapers go back to 1690, chronicling day after day of America’s history.
GenealogyBank’s more than 2 billion articles are America’s newspaper repository of record.
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