Travels in North Dakota, Part IV: Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site

By Lotte Govaerts

 

This post is part of a series on a recent trip to North Dakota. You can find previous installments here, here, and here.

 

Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site includes 1758 acres of National Park, just north of Stanton, North Dakota. Inside the park boundaries are over 50 archaeological sites, estimated to span a period of about 8000 years. The main points of interest are the remains of the large villages that gave the park its name.

 

A Map of Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site. Source: National Park Service.

 

Here is a Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site introductory video by the National Park Service:

 

Awatixa X’ie or “Lower Hidatsa” village was established by the Awatixa Hidatsa subgroup around 1525 , and was occupied until 1780-85. The village covered 10 acres and there were at least 50 earth lodges. Approximately 500 to 600 people lived here until the village was abandoned after the smallpox epidemic that struck the area in the early 1780s. The survivors temporarily moved away before returning to the area to establish Awatixa Village, which was occupied ca. 1790-1834. This village included approximately 60 lodges, though the population fluctuated over time. It was burned in a raid in 1834. Awatixa Village is also sometimes referred to as Sakakawea Village, because this is the village where Sakakawea lived before she joined the Lewis and Clark expedition. The site has partly eroded into the river. Hidatsa Village, or Big Hidatsa was founded by the Hidatsa-proper Hidatsa subgroup around 1600. This village covered approximately 15.5 acres, and included some 100 earth lodges. Population estimates for this village range between 830 and 1200. It was abandoned in 1845.

 

The entrance to the visitor center at Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, in summertime. Mat and I were far too cold to take a picture of the exterior of the building when we visited during a blizzard. Photo: National Park Service.

 

When Mat and I visited Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, it was still extremely cold and windy, so we did not walk any of the trails or see any of the village sites. Fortunately, there is a lot to see indoors at the visitor center, as well. The exhibits inside include artifacts recovered from the village sites, alongside decorative arts made by Northern Plains Indians and replicas of tools and other objects. Below are just a few examples.

 

 

An exhibit case showing tools made out of animal bone. Our archaeological collections here at NMNH include many of these bones without the wooden handles, as you may have seen in previous blog posts. Photo: Lotte Govaerts

 

An exhibit case showing some local artifacts, including Knife River flint, glass beads, and metal tinklers. Photo: Lotte Govaerts

An exhibit case showing porcupine quill decorations alongside glass bead decorations. Photo: Lotte Govaerts.

Another exhibit case showing quill- and bead work. Photo: Lotte Govaerts

A "bull boat" replica. These were made out of willow frames, covered with bison skin. Photo: Lotte Govaerts.

 

The ranger on duty also took us inside the earth lodge replica just outside the visitor center. The earth lodge is furnished, though wintertime displays are a bit more sparse than those you can see there during summer.

 

 

A photo of the outside of the earth lodge at Knife River Indian Villages, during nicer weather. Photo: National Park Service.

 

Inside the earth lodge. Mat listens to the ranger telling us many things about the park, the region, and their history. As you can see, there was no fire going, but we were sheltered from the wind inside, so we were able to stay out there for quite a while without freezing. Photo: Lotte Govaerts.

 

A diagram of the inside of an earthlodge. Source: National Park Service.

 

 

That concludes this post about our visit to Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site. Stay tuned for the next (and last) installment in this series, in which I will discuss my visit to Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site.

 

Further Reading:

Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site

Ahler, Stanley A., and Marvin Kay, eds. 2007. Plains Village Archaeology: Bison-Hunting Farmers in the Central and Northern Plains. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.

Ahler, Stanley A., Thomas D Thiessen, and Michael K Trimble. 1991. People of the Willows: The Prehistory and Early History of the Hidatsa Indians. Grand Forks, North Dakota: University of North Dakota Press.