TEACHER'S GUIDE
The purpose of this Teacher's Guide is to provide history and social science teachers, at all grade levels, with information and activities about the American Indians of the Northern Plains, who lived in the area of the Knife River where it enters the Missouri. This area is now Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site.
This TEACHER'S GUIDE contains the following:
This Teacher's Guide is a composite of many people's work. Paraphrasing
from many sources has been done to help with clarity and accuracy. If
you need specific information, please contact us at (701)745-3309 and
we will be glad to provide the exact bibliographic references or information
on where you can get further details.
Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site was established by
Congress in 1974. This area was once the homeland of the Hidatsa and
Mandan Indians. The park, which consists of 1758 acres of land on both
sides of the Knife River, is located one quarter mile north of the town
of Stanton and 60 miles northwest of the capital city of Bismarck.
Many groups of people used this area for hunting, as great herds of
bison came to the river for water. The Hidatsa and Mandan lived near
the confluence of the Knife and Missouri Rivers in earth-covered, dome-shaped
structures called earthlodges.
The Knife River was named for a type of locally available flint. For
thousands of years this quartz material was used by American Indians
for making tools. Knife River flint, as it became known, was widely
traded and has been found in archeological sites as far as New York,
Missouri, Ohio, and Alberta, Canada.
The most famous visitors to the Knife River area were Lewis and Clark
during their 1804-1805 winter encampment at Fort Mandan, located a few
miles south on the east side of the Missouri. The Hidatsa village, AWATIXA
(ah-wah-tee-Kah), was the home of Sakakawea (Sah-gah-gah-wee-ah) and
her husband, Toussaint Charbonneau. They were hired by Lewis and Clark
as interpreters to accompany them to find a northwest passage to the
Pacific Ocean. This village was later visited by other famous traders
and travelers such as Alexander Henry, John Bradbury, Henry Brackenridge,
Prince Maximilian, and artists Karl Bodmer and George Catlin.
Nearly decimated by smallpox in 1837 and constantly harassed by the
Sioux, the Hidatsa and Mandan were forced to abandon the Knife River
area in 1845.
The park contains numerous archaeological sites, including the remains
of 3 villages which once were occupied by several thousand people, areas
where small groups camped for short periods of time, trails, burial
sites, and many different activity areas.
Specific information on the culture and lifeway of the Hidatsa and Mandan
peoples contained in this Teacher's Guide should prove useful in your
history and social science classes. We would like to further develop
and improve the Teacher's Guide so it can be used as an aid in teaching
these subjects. Any comments will be given full consideration when the
Teacher's Guide is reprinted.
Please send your comments to:
Knife River Indian Villages NHS
P.O. Box 9
Stanton, ND 58571-0009
(701)745-3309
or
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