Arikara is a
Caddoan language
The Caddoan languages are a family of languages native to the Great Plains spoken by tribal groups of the central United States, from present-day North Dakota south to Oklahoma. All Caddoan languages are critically endangered, as the number of sp ...
spoken by the
Arikara Native Americans who reside primarily at
Fort Berthold Reservation in
North Dakota
North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, ...
. Arikara is close to the
Pawnee language, but they are not
mutually intelligible.
The Arikara were apparently a group met by
Lewis and Clark in 1804; their population of 30,000 was reduced to 6,000 by
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
.
History
For several hundred years, the Arikara lived as a semi-
nomad
A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...
ic people on the
Great Plains
The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, a ...
in present-day
United States of America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
. They are believed to have separated as a people from the
Pawnee in about the 15th century. The
Arzberger site
The Arzberger site, designated by archaeologists with the Smithsonian trinomial 39HU6, is a major archaeological site in Hughes County, near Pierre, South Dakota. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964. It is a large fortified vill ...
near present-day
Pierre, South Dakota, designated as a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...
, is an archeological site from this period, containing the remains of a fortified village with more than 44 lodges.
During the sedentary seasons, the Arikara lived primarily in villages of
earth lodges. While traveling or during the seasonal bison hunts, they erected portable ''
tipis'' as temporary shelter. They were primarily an agricultural society, whose women cultivated varieties of corn (or maize). The crop was such an important staple of their society that it was referred to as "Mother Corn".
Traditionally an Arikara family owned 30–40 dogs. The people used them for hunting and as sentries, but most importantly for transportation in the centuries before the Plains tribes adopted the use of horses in the 1600s. Many of the Plains tribes had used the ''
travois,'' a lightweight transportation device pulled by dogs. It consisted of two long poles attached by a harness at the dog's shoulders, with the butt ends dragging behind the animal; midway, a ladder-like frame, or a hoop made of plaited thongs, was stretched between the poles; it held loads that might exceed 60 pounds. Women also used dogs to pull travois to haul firewood or infants. The travois were used to carry meat harvested during the seasonal hunts; a single dog could pull a quarter of a
bison
Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised.
Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North A ...
.
In the late 18th century, the tribe suffered a high rate of fatalities from
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
epidemics
An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time.
Epidemics of infectiou ...
, which so reduced their population as to disrupt their social structure. Due to their reduced numbers, the Arikara started to live closer to the
Mandan
The Mandan are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains who have lived for centuries primarily in what is now North Dakota. They are enrolled in the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation. About half of the Mandan still re ...
and
Hidatsa
The Hidatsa are a Siouan people. They are enrolled in the federally recognized Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota. Their language is related to that of the Crow, and they are sometimes considered a paren ...
tribes in the same area for mutual protection. They migrated gradually from present-day
Nebraska
Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...
and
South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large po ...
into
North Dakota
North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, ...
in response to pressure from other tribes, especially the
Sioux, and European-American settlers. During the
Black Hills War, in 1876 some Arikara served as scouts for Lt. Col.
George Armstrong Custer in the
Little Bighorn Campaign.
The three tribes are settled on the
Fort Berthold reservation in North Dakota.
Phonology
Consonants
Arikara has the following consonant
phoneme
In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language.
For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-wes ...
s: Notably, it is one of the very few languages without
Arikara distinguishes between the affricate [] and the consonant cluster /t+/:
* ''čipátš'' 'knotweed' =
[AISRI Online Arikara Dictionary. Available online at http://zia.aisri.indiana.edu/~dictsearch/. Accessed 12-27-2015]
Voiced consonants in Arikara have
voiceless allophone
In phonology, an allophone (; from the Greek , , 'other' and , , 'voice, sound') is a set of multiple possible spoken soundsor ''phones''or signs used to pronounce a single phoneme in a particular language. For example, in English, (as in '' ...
s. Whenever a
sonorant
In phonetics and phonology, a sonorant or resonant is a speech sound that is produced with continuous, non-turbulent airflow in the vocal tract; these are the manners of articulation that are most often voiced in the world's languages. Vowels ar ...
precedes a devoiced vowel, that sonorant devoices as well.
* ''čiíRA'' 'hello (male greeting)' =
* ''táWIt'' 'three' =
* ''NAhaá'U'' 'his or her child' =
Vowels
Arikara also has the following vowel phonemes:
Current status
Arikara is now spoken in
North Dakota
North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, ...
by a very few elders. One of the last fluent speakers, Maude Starr, died on January 20, 2010.
She was a certified language teacher who participated in Arikara language education programs.
Language revitalization
Language revitalization, also referred to as language revival or reversing language shift, is an attempt to halt or reverse the decline of a language or to revive an extinct one. Those involved can include linguists, cultural or community groups, o ...
efforts are continuing. As of 2014, speakers are centered on
White Shield, North Dakota
White Shield ( ari, nahtasuutaaká, hid, maanaagi iixodagish) is a census-designated place (CDP) lying within the boundaries of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation. It is located "on" the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in McLean County, Nor ...
. The language is taught at
Fort Berthold Community College, White Shield School, and at the Arikara Cultural Center.
Arikara is extensively documented, with several volumes of
interlinear texts of Arikara stories,
a learner's introductory text,
and
linguistic studies.
As of 2014,
iPhone and
iPad
The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, ...
Arikara language apps are available.
The language is used in the 2015 film ''
The Revenant'' starring
Leonardo DiCaprio as
Hugh Glass
Hugh Glass ( 1783 – 1833) was an American frontiersman, fur trapper, trader, hunter and explorer. He is best known for his story of survival and forgiveness after being left for dead by companions when he was mauled by a grizzly bear.
No reco ...
, a mountain man who interacted with Arikara people and learned the language in the 19th century.
Bibliography
* Campbell, Lyle (1997). ''American Indian languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America'', New York: Oxford University Press. .
* Mithun, Marianne (1999). ''The Languages of Native North America'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (hbk); .
References
External links
Arikara online dictionary search pageArikara Traditional NarrativesOLAC resources in and about the Arikara language
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arikara Language
Endangered indigenous languages of the Americas
Caddoan languages
Native American language revitalization
Endangered Caddoan languages
Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation