Tribe: The Nakota are also called the "Assiniboine," from the Ojibwe word "Asinii-bwaan." They were originally part of the Yanktonai Sioux tribe but broke away in 1640 AD.
Meaning of Name: "Nakota" means "the allies." "Assiniboine" means "Stone Sioux" because they boiled their meat by dropping heated stones into the pot. (Think 'Pot-roast,' 'Stew' and 'Braised.')
Location: The Nakota lived in the Northern Great Plains, but currently live in southern Alberta and Manitoba in Canada and in the northern parts of Montana and North Dakota in the United States.
Original Language: Siouan.
Tribal Affiliations: The Cree, the Crow, the Mandan, the Hidatsa, the Arikara and the Sioux on occasion.
Traditional Enemies: The Sioux, the Gros Ventre and the Blackfoot, who were also their trading partners on occasion.
Traditional Style of Housing: Teepees, which used to be only about twelve feet high, until the Nakota acquired horses, at which time, they increased the size of their teepees, I guess so that both rider and horse could get through the entrance-flap. Once they became unmanageably large, they were probably erected by the Nakota men. They probably also had larger teepees that served as town halls, and smaller ones that served as menstrual lodges and sweat-lodges.
Traditional Attire: The men wore breechcloths with leather leggings, fringed and beaded shirts, and moccasins. For wars and ceremonies, the men wore long feathered headdresses or buffalo headdresses. Until the white man came, the women wore long fringed and decorated dresses made of mountain goat skin or deerskin. After the white man came, the women wore wool or cotton dresses with rounded yokes decorated with rows of beads, bells, cowrie shells, Dentalia shells, elk teeth and quills set in a design that was passed down from mother to daughter and had symbolic significance. Turtle designs indicated protective qualities, spider web and dragon fly designs indicated the kinship with the thunder-being, and some designs indicated a special event that had happened in that person's life. To use another person's identifying design was like copyright infringement and ought not to be done.
Traditional Foods: The nomadic Nakota followed the buffalo, which they ate along with the available bighorn sheep, rabbit, deer and occasional fish, all of which they probably flavored with prairie sage, juniper berries, wild onion and wild garlic that the women had gathered. Like the other Plains people, the women also gathered and cooked or raw buffalo berries, currants, crabapples, chokecherries, elderberries, gooseberries, cherries, wild plums, rhubarb, juneberries, honey-locust pulp, black walnuts, hazelnuts, strawberries, sunflower seeds, wheatgrass, wild rye, fiddlehead ferns, squash, and the sap from the sugar maple. They had to trade with the more settled tribes in order to obtain corn and milled flour.
Position of Women: Like the other the People of the Plains, Nakota women owned their own teepees, took care of the kids, did the housework, cooked, went along on hunting trips to take care of the meats and hides, did the sewing, and kept the home-fires burning while the men waged war. Only the men could become chiefs.
Nakota Courtship: The Nakota probably followed the courtship patterns of their parent tribe, the Sioux. Because this was a patriarchal culture, the fathers set the bride-price of their daughters, who had little say in the entire process. One bride might be worth anywhere from one to one hundred horses, which is why horses were so greatly valued by the Sioux, and her value was judged not only on her looks, but on her virginity and skills at domestic chores, beadwork, sewing, tanning and culinary skills. Once a young Nakota man expressed an interest in getting married, his mother would begin to work on her future daughter-in-law's teepee and furnishings. This teepee, once completed, would go up the next time the tribe set up camp. The rest of the tribe, upon seeing the new teepee, would wait breathlessly to see whose household was going to be presented with horses, because that was the family of the girl the ardent young bachelor wanted to impress. If the father of the prospective bride accepted the bride-price of horses, and added them to his own herd, the match was made. If not, I guess that the groom and his family took down the teepee and stowed it away for the next bride.
Interesting Tidbits: The Nakota traded actively fur-for-goods with the French, the English, the Canadians and the Americans, particularly with regards to the Hudson Bay Company.... The Nakota live on reservations or reserves with Cree, Saulteaux, Sioux and Gros Ventre, except for the Nakota of Manitoba who do not.
Traditional Religion: Traditional tribal religion, Native American Church and Christianity.
Slavery and the Nakota: I have read nothing that indicates that the Nakota participated in the slave trade or took prisoners during war and turned them into slaves. This doesn't mean that they didn't, though.
Current Population: There are 3,500 registered Nakota.
Current Sources of Tribal Revenue: Mostly real estate deals, some manufacturing and a casino-resort in Alberta, Canada.
Famous Nakota: None that I have heard of.
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