The Assiniboin (also spelled Assiniboine) tribe of Native North Americans were originally part of the Yanktonai Dakota. In the 17th century, they split from the Yanktonai and moved west into what are now the states of Montana and North Dakota and the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. They were known as skilled buffalo hunters.

Society and culture

The Assiniboin's name came from an Ojibwa Indian word meaning “one who cooks with stones.” It referred to their custom of using stones heated in a fire to boil cooking water. In Canada, they became known as the Stonies.

The Assiniboin were divided into several bands. Each band spent much of the year following the great buffalo herds that roamed their territory. The buffalo provided the Assiniboin with nearly everything they needed to live. Buffalo meat provided most of their food, while buffalo hides were used to make their clothing and shelter. When they had extra meat and hides, they traded it to other tribes for corn and other farmed foods.

On the hunt, the Assiniboin lived in cone-shaped tepees made from wooden poles covered with buffalo hides. Women put up and took down these houses. They also prepared the hides, cooked meals, sewed clothing, and collected seeds, fruits, and other wild plants.

Assiniboin warriors protected their people and hunting grounds from enemy tribes. Their greatest enemies were the Dakota Sioux and the Blackfoot. Their allies, the Cree, often joined the Assiniboin in battling these powerful tribes.

History

By the late 17th century, the French and the English began building trading posts near the Assiniboin's territory. The Assiniboin welcomed these new trading partners. The tribe offered furs and pemmican (preserved buffalo meat) in exchange for European goods such as metal tools, cloth, and guns.

Unfortunately for the Assiniboin, the Europeans also brought with them diseases such as measles and smallpox. These diseases spread quickly and killed many of the tribe. Weakened by disease and warfare, the Assiniboin signed their first treaty with the United States government in 1851. They gave up much of their traditional territory for reservation lands. The Assiniboin in the United States eventually settled on two reservations in Montana, Fort Belknap and Fort Peck. Those in Canada moved to several reserves in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Assiniboin preserve traditions such as hand games and the sun dance. By the end of the 20th century, there were about 5,000 Assiniboin living in the United States and about 3,000 in Canada.