The Gros Ventre (or Atsina) were a tribe of Native Americans that traditionally lived in what is now northern Montana and southern Saskatchewan, Canada. The name Gros Ventre means “big belly” in French and refers to the way the tribe was identified in sign language. The Gros Ventre called themselves the Ah-ah-nee-nin, meaning “white clay people.”

Society and culture

Like other Plains Indians, the Gros Ventre depended on the buffalo (bison) for their survival. Their primary food was buffalo meat. They also used buffalo hides to make clothing and portable, cone-shaped tepees. Gros Ventre women decorated their family's clothes with dyed porcupine quills.

The Gros Ventre performed many religious ceremonies. The most important was the Sun Dance, during which young warriors displayed their readiness for battle. Young men were sent on journeys known as vision quests in which they sought the aid of spirits. Sacred pipes were central to the ceremonial life of the Gros Ventre.

History

The Gros Ventre once may have lived near the Great Lakes as part of the Arapaho tribe. By 1700, however, they were a separate people and lived on the northern plains. In the mid-18th century non-Indian traders began coming to Gros Ventre territory. The outsiders brought with them diseases such as smallpox. These diseases killed many tribe members.

By the end of the 1700s they Gros Ventre had allied themselves with the powerful Blackfoot people for protection against tribes such as the Cree, Assiniboin, and Crow. As part of the Blackfoot confederacy, the Gros Ventre signed a treaty with the United States in 1855. Soon afterward, however, they split from their Blackfoot allies.

In 1888 the United States government established the Fort Belknap Reservation in northern Montana for the surviving Gros Ventre. They were later made to share their reservation with the Assiniboin, their traditional enemies.

At the end of the 20th century about 3,000 people were enrolled in the Gros Ventre tribe. Many make their living though farming and ranching. In recent decades the Gros Ventre have revived a number of their traditions. Among them is the ceremonial use of the Flat Pipe and Feathered Pipe, the two sacred pipes that have survived.