A New Village - Awatixa or Sakakawea Village

An Earthlodge (Awa-adi)

• The upper Missouri region was dotted with earthlodge villages, during the Plains Village Period, for over 1000 years.

Awatixa Xi'e Village (Lower Hidatsa)

Garden and Drying Stage

• Waheenee and Cold Medicine on drying stage.

Geology of the Area

Knife River Earthlodge

• The Hidatsa, Mandan and Arikara lived in earth and wood structure called “awahte” (Awa-adi in Hidatsa) or earthlodge.

Knife River Villages

• Mandan and Hidatsa people hosted Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and the men accompanying them over the winter of 1804–1805. Their many connections with people living up and down the Missouri River were incredibly important to the success of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Northern Plains National Heritage Area

• The Northern Plains National Heritage Area amplifies the nationally important heritage that flows from the Missouri River in central North Dakota. This includes the interconnected stories of explorers and settlers, tribal citizens, origins of various agrarian lifeways, and the expansion of the United States reflected within this lived-in landscape.

Smallpox Arrived at the Little Village.

• Stop #4 Smallpox arrives in the little village 1781

What Happened to the Earthlodge Builders?

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