Knife River Indian VillagesJul 10, 2009
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Flying Geese sculpture is a tease along I-94 to go see others...
Earthlodge is a replica of Hidatsa homes in village where Sakakawea lived
horses were kept just inside entrance to the house to prevent theft
I found out about this Historic Site by reading the newspaper from the Theodore Roosevelt NP. I planned on spending an hour at the most, but ended up spending almost 3 hours here! I got there in time to listen to a ranger explain about the life of the Northern Plains Indians from hundreds of years ago all the way to current times. She took us to a replica of an earthlodge that the women built and owned, with help from the men. These were their summer homes. Winter homes were smaller and not so durable, as they were meant to last only one season down by the river, while the summer homes lasted for 10 or more years up on the plains where their gardens were. I was intrigued by how they used almost every part of the buffalo for their livelihood. They hung buffalo hoofs at their entry door as a doorbell! They used porous bones as paint brushes. The shoulder blades made great hoes or scoopers. Their ingenuity is amazing to me.
I walked the path down to the Knife River and saw the fields where their villages used to be. All that's there now is indentations in the ground where each earth lodge used to be. Here is another case where I wish I had some means to become airborne to see the whole thing better. The museum of artifacts is very interesting and informative. I like their bull boats - round floating devices that carried lots of supplies and people over the river.
Hearing about how they were almost lost due to smallpox in 1837 was very sad. It was also saddening to hear about how they signed treaties with us that promised them certain sections of land or better living conditions or means to have the quality of life that we have and then we didn't live up to our end or had ulterior motives that tricked them into doing what we wanted.
I then visited a Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center but found out that I was back in Central Time again and was too late to go into the Center. But I also found out that it would have cost me $7 and I probably wouldn't have paid it anyway. Mom and I saw a great Center at a rest stop near the Mississippi for free a few years ago!
