• Aerial photograph of Big Hidatsa National Historic Landmark, located within Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site.

    Knife River Indian Villages

    National Historic Site North Dakota

Explore the lives of the Northern Plains Indians on the Upper Missouri

Earthlodge people hunted bison and other game, but were in essence farmers living in villages along the Missouri and its tributaries. The site was a major Native American trade center for hundreds of years prior to becoming an important market place for fur traders after 1750.

Did You Know?

Bow and Quiver

That Plains Indian boys were expected to learn to ride horse as early as four to five years of age and were given a bow and arrow as soon as they were able to walk?