The Assiniboines

The Assiniboins or Assiniboines are sometimes called the Stone Sioux, Hohe, and Nakota or Nakoda Sioux. Lewis spelled Assiniboine—the name was not only a native nation but a well-known river in Canada—at least seven different ways. In the “Estimate of the Eastern Indians,” Clark describes three bands:

Manetopa [Crane or Canoe]. Oseegah [Girls]. Mahtopanato [Big Devils]. Are the descendants of the Sioux, and partake of their turbulent and faithless disposition: they frequently plunder, and sometimes murder, their own traders. The name by which this nation is generally known was borrowed from the Chippeways, who call them Assinniboan, which, literally translated, is Stone Sioux, hence the name of Stone Indians, by which they are sometimes called.^[2]Moulton, Journals, 3:432. Band name translations, in brackets, provided by Douglas R. Parks, Handbook of North American Indians: Plains Vol. 13, ed. Raymond J. DeMallie (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian … Continue reading

At the time of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the Assiniboines were nomadic hunter-gatherers roaming primarily along the rivers in Saskatchewan and western Manitoba. They often dropped south into present-day Montana and North Dakota, especially in their role as middle-men between the English trading companies and the Hidatsas to the south. That trade relationship become critical when in 1777, the establishment of Hudson’s House near Atsina territory ended their trade relationships with the Blackfeet and Atsinas to the west.^[3]Raymond J. DeMallie and David Reed Miller, Handbook of North American Indians: Plains, 574.

While building Fort Mandan, the captains met Chief Chechank and seven other Assiniboines who had come to trade among the Knife River Villages:

at 10 oClock A M the Black Cat the Mandin Chief and Lagru Che Chark Chief & 7 men of note visited us at Fort Mandan, I gave him a twist of Tobacco to Smoke with his people & a Gold Cord with a view to Know him again
—William Clark, 13 November 1804^[4]Apparently the French called him La Grue, French for “The Crane” and his native name was Chechank, meaning “old crane.” Moulton, Journals, 3:235; James P. Ronda, Lewis and … Continue reading

Notable in their exchange with Chief Chechank is that the Assiniboines were not given the standard diplomatic speech, Indian presentation flag, or peace medals. Although Jefferson and Lewis hoped the boundaries of the Louisiana Purchase extended north of the 49th Parallel,^[5]Lewis took on a great risk when left the Great Falls of the Missouri to locate the source of the Marias River. It did not lead him north of the 49th Parallel, but did lead him to a fatal encounter … Continue reading they knew the rivers most frequented by the Assiniboine flowed into Hudson Bay. Thus, they were subjects of the British crown, not the United States. As such, the captains hoped to create a favorable impression with a gift of tobacco and a gold cord.

Five days later, on 18 November 1804, Posecopsahe (Black Cat) told of a Mandan council to consider whether to stop trading with the bothersome Assiniboine and instead rely on the trade goods from St. Louis promised by the captains. Citing the unfulfilled promises of John Evans in 1796, the Mandans were inclined to continue with the Assiniboines rather than risk another broken promise. The devil you know is safer than the angel you don’t, perhaps.^[6]For a fuller analysis of the implications the expedition had on Assiniboine trade, see Ronda, 89–90.

The meeting on 13 November 1804 would be the expedition’s only direct encounter with Assiniboines. The captains did, however, continue to hear stories and see signs of their presence. On 4 March 1805, they were told how an Assiniboine trading envoy transformed into a horse raid at one of the nearby Hidatsa villages.

On 8 May 1805, while traveling along the Missouri’s Northern Reach, they came across the place where an Indian had removed the hair from a pronghorn antelope skin. Lewis stated: “we do not wish to see those gentlemen just now as we presume they would most probably be the Assinniboins and might be troublesome to us.” Given the threat the Americans posed to remove the Assiniboines as middle-men in the European trade, perhaps it was lucky more encounters were not forthcoming.

Today, some Assiniboines are members of the Fort Peck Assiniboine-Sioux Tribe, Fort Peck Reservation; others belong to the Gros Ventre & Assiniboine Tribes, Fort Belknap Reservation. The two speak similar, but distinct dialects of the Assiniboine language. In Canada, many are members of various First Nations groups in Saskatchewan, Canada where both dialects can also be found.^[7]DeMallie and Miller, 572.