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Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, also known as the Three Affiliated Tribes, are a Native American group comprised of a union of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara peoples, whose native lands ranged across the Missouri River basin in the Dakotas. Hardship and forced relocations brought them together in the late 19th century. Today, the group is based out of the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota.
The current tribal chairman is Tex G. Hall, who assumed office in 1998.
Mandan
The Mandan are a Native American tribe from around North Dakota. They are now a part of the Three Affiliated Tribes.
At their height the Mandan had a prosperous farming and trading culture. This amazed American explorers who had come to view Natives as savage nomads. Some would even speculate that the Mandan were not natives at all, but rather were lost whites. Though almost certainly not the case, it was bolstered by the racial attitudes that dominated 19th century America. Yet the theory persists in some circles, with tie-ins to the dubious Kensington Stone and Madoc pre-1492 European exploration theories.
Lewis and Clark stayed with the Mandan when they passed through the region, including the winter of 1804-1805.
Smallpox wiped out much of the Mandan and eventually forced them to band together with the Hidatsa and later the Arikara to survive. When settlers began arriving in the late 1800s they were placed on the Fort Berthold Reservation.
Hidatsa
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The Hidatsa were allies of the Mandan and eventually banded together with them.
Arikara
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The Arikara were forced into Mandan territory by the Lakota (Sioux), relatively recently.
See also
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