August 13, 2021

KNIFE RIVER INDIAN VILLAGES NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE

564 County Rd 37, Stanton, ND 58571

“The Knife River Indiian Villages National Historic Site, which was established in 1974, preserves the historic and archaeological remnants of bands of Hidatsa, Northern Plains Indians, in North Dakota. This area was a major trading and agricultural area. Three villages were known to occupy the Knife area.” Wikipedia

On my way from Bismarck to the Medora area I took a side trip off of I-94 to visit the Knife River Indian Villages, and I’m glad I did.

The visitors center houses a small museum with a lot of interesting information about the Hidatsa tribes that lived in this area. These Native Americans were mainly farmers, along with hunters of bison and other game. Their villages because known as trade centers for Native Americans and later important market places for fur traders after 1750.

Outside the visitors center is a reconstructed Earthlodge, Hidatsa garden, and village sites. The Earthlodge was exactly like the lodges at the Mandan village in Fort Abraham Lincoln, though this lodge had more furnishings inside.

A short walk along a trail led to Awatixa Xi’e Village. While there are no reconstructions here, one is able to see where different Earthlodges once stood. The lodges were built to last around 10 years, thus the ground inside the lodge settled and you can see these sunken circles to this day. If you go to Google Earth and put in Knife River Indian Villages you can easily see the village layouts.

Further down the path you arrive at Awatixa Village, where it is believed Sakakawea, female guide for Lewis and Clark lived.

The visitors center also has a short video giving more details about the life of the Hidatsa and Mandan Indians from the area.