Gros Ventre

By JOHN BEIERLE

A’ani, Atsina, Fall Indians, Gros Ventre of the Prairie, Haaninin, Hitunena, Minnetarees of Fort de Prairie, Rapid Indians, White Clay People

The Gros Ventre are an Algonkian-speaking Native American group closely related to the Arapaho. They call themselves A’ani or “White Clay People, and are commonly known by the Blackfoot’s derogatory name of Atsina. The derivation of the name “Gros Ventre” comes from the sign language motion for these people, which suggested a swollen belly, or gros ventre in French. Historically the Gros Ventre were a nomadic people ranging widely on the Great Plains. Eventually, in the nineteenth century, they moved to and occupied a wide tract of land in Montana. In 1888 they were moved to the Fort Belknap Reservation in northern Montana, established for them by the U. S. government, and shared with the Assiniboin. They have remained there ever since.

In 1950 the estimated Gros Ventre population on the reservation was 1,100; the combined Gros Ventre-Assiniboin population in 1980, as 1,870. In the early twenty-first century descendants of the Gros Ventre (Atsina) numbered 2815.

The Gros Ventre speak an Algonquian language closely related to Arapaho and is part of the Arapaho section of the Algonquian Plains language family.

By the mid 1700s, a profitable trade developed between the GrosVentre and the Cree but relations between the two tribes began to deteriorate as the Cree gradually moved into the Gros Ventre’s hunting grounds. The establishment of trading posts in the area in 1778 by the Hudson’s Bay Company and the North West Company brought in a flood of new trade items to the Gros Ventre: provisions, wolf skins, and horses were exchanged for guns, gunpowder, cloth, metal tools, and liquor. Competition for trade between Gros Ventre, Cree, as well as the Assiniboin of the region for the goods offered by the trading posts resulted in a period of intense warfare. By the 1790s as the Gros Ventre were increasingly pressed by the well-armed Plains Cree and Assiniboine who were viewed as allies of the Euro-American traders, relations with the traders deteriorated. Believing the traders responsible for this situation because they offered more favorable trade advantages to their enemies, the Gros Ventre, in 1794-1795, attacked several trading posts on the Saskatchewan. This action simply worsened their predicament and to avoid further conflict, in 1795 and subsequent years, bands of Gros Ventre began to move south toward the Upper Missouri River region where they were observed living among the Arapaho. As they moved southward, however, they began to encroach on the Crow, provoking that tribe to hostility. The Gros Ventre then sought alliance with the Blackfoot with whom they controlled the region in the following decades, preventing competition from other groups. At this time warfare was still continued with the Cree, Assiniboin, and Crow, and by the mid-nineteenth century, the Gros Ventre were also facing pressure from the Sioux. With the dissolution of the alliance with the Blackfoot in 1860, the Gros Ventre attempted to forge new alliances with their former enemies the Crow and Assiniboin in order to neutralize to some extent the larger and more powerful groups that threatened them.

As the end of the nineteenth century approached, the decline of the buffalo herds on which the Gros Ventre were so dependent endangered their way of life to such extent that they turned to the U. S. government for help. Under the terms of the Fort Belknap agreement of 1888, the

Gros Ventre were willing to cede their territorial claims for life on a reservation in northern Montana. The wording of the agreement also allowed other tribes to be placed on this reservation as well, so the Assiniboin soon joined the Gros Ventre.

Historians/ethnologists generally believe that the ancestors of the GrosVentre probably originated from the Great Lakes region, and until the middle of the seventeenth century, were part of the Arapaho people. At that time they lived in the Red River area of Minnesota where they engaged in limited horticulture. About 1650 the Gros Ventre separated from the Arapaho and moved to Saskatchewan. During this period horticulture was abandoned, except for the cultivation of tobacco, and the Gros Ventre became nomadic hunters. With the obtainment of horses in the middle of the eighteenth century their culture became oriented toward equestrian buffalo hunting.

Aboriginally, the Gros Ventre were divided into twelve autonomous bands. In winter, the bands camped separately, usually in wooded areas along waterways as protection from the harsh weather. In the warmer months they coalesced for the spring and fall bison hunts, and for various ceremonies, including the Sun Dance. At these times, they camped in a circle, with an opening facing to the east, and with each band having its own place in the circle.

Subsistence was based on the hunting of the buffalo (bison), supplemented by the gathering of wild food plants. Before the Gros Ventre acquired horses, they hunted buffalo by impounding them in corrals or driving them over cliffs. With horses, they abandoned these older methods of hunting and the hunters usually rode into the herd and killed as many as they could before the herd disappeared. Every part of the buffalo was used in some way—the meat was roasted, boiled, or dried, the hides used for clothing, tipi covers, and trade with the Euro-Americans. The tipi covers could also be converted into round boats for crossing large rivers. Deer, elk, and antelope were also hunted, and berries, fruits, and roots were collected by women. Men engaged in hunting and warfare, while women did most of the work around the camp, including food preparation and preservation.

In the early eighteenth century the Gros Ventre traded with the Cree and Assiniboine who served as middlemen for trade exchanges with other Native American groups, and at other times they fought with these same middlemen. In 1778 the Hudson’s Bay Company established a trading post on the North Saskatchewan River and carried on an active trade with the Gros Ventre. Other posts were soon established by both the Hudson’s Bay Company and the North West Company on the North and South Saskatchewan Rivers. Trade competition between Gros Ventre, Cree, and Assiniboine precipitated intense warfare between these groups. With the belief that the traders were allies of their “on” and “off” enemies, and gave them special trading priviliges, the Gros Ventre attacked three trading posts on the Saskatchewan (1794-1795). The resulting conflict eventually drove the Gros Ventre south toward the upper Missouri. Here, in 1831, peaceful relations were established with the American Fur Company, and the Gros Ventre grew rich in horses and other trade goods.

As with other plains groups, the Gros Ventre observed very distinct divisions of labor. Men made their weapons, shields, and ceremonial equipment, and were responsible for hunting, skinning, and butchering game, for obtaining and caring for horses, and for waging war. Women’s activities involved gathering plant foods, preparing and preserving food stuffs, moving camp and setting up the tipis, caring for children, collecting firewood and water, and making clothes and other household equipment.

Historically the Gros Ventre were nomadic hunter-gatherers consisting of from ten to twelve bands, each of which consisted of several related families who occupied a specific territory for the hunting and gathering purposes of its members. Under the provisions of the Fort Belknap agreement of 1888 with the United States government, the Gros Ventre agreed to cede their territorial claims to previously utilized lands for a reservation and economic assistance from the government. They and the Assiniboin were then placed on the Fort Belknap Reservation in northern Montana where the Gros Ventre made use of the land available to them for stock raising and the growing of hay and grain. With the discovery of gold in the southern part of the reservation, government officials coerced the Gros Ventre and Assiniboin to sell their land for the sum of $360,000, thus reducing the size of the reservation even more. After a court battle with the U.S. government, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled that the people of the reservation, not the Euro-American settlers, had the rights to the Milk River area.

The primary social unit of the Gros Ventre was the band consisting of closely related families. These bands, sometimes referred to as clans (sibs), were patrilineal, with a son belonging to his father’s band. Bands were exogamous and incest taboos were applied to all blood and intergenerational affinal relationships. Relatives were classified as those toward whom “respect” and often “avoidance” was expected, such as one’s parents, as well as their siblings and sibling’s spouses, parents-in-law, and siblings of the opposite gender. Those relatives allowed more freedom of behavior toward one another were ego’s grandparents and grandchildren, siblings of the same gender, and in-laws of the same generation. Child-parent relationships were characterized by reserved behavior that tabooed any talk dealing with sex or marriage. Serious conversations about such topics, however, could take place between the parent and child of the same gender. Throughout life the child was supposed to always address and refer to their parents only by relationship terms, never by personal names.

Gros Ventre kinship terms involved the use of the reference “father” to apply to father’s brother, male cousin, and mother’s sister’s husband. The term “mother” was used to include mother’s sister, female cousin, and father’s brother’s wife. The term “aunt” is applied to father’s sister and female cousins; “uncle” for mother’s brother and male cousins. Heightened reserve in terminology still characterized cross-sex relationships, for a man would never address his “aunt” directly unless she was by herself and he needed specific information. Under no circumstances would he linger to carry-on further conversation with her. This would also apply to a woman and her “uncle”. There was no specific term for “cousin” since sibling terms of address were use without distinguishing between parallel and cross-cousins.

Marriage was prohibited for those related by blood, no matter how remote the tie. This also applied to affinal relatives, except those who were classified as in-laws of the same generation. Thus those individuals who addressed one another as brother-in-law and sister-in-law could be considered possible mates, but relatives-by-marriage in any other category were prohibited from marrying. Generally, girls were given in marriage prior to puberty, usually around the age of twelve, when they were supposed to have been trained in woman’s work. Boys delayed marriage until they were about twenty when it was believed they had acquired sufficient hunting skills to provide for a family. Marriages were arranged between the groom to be and one or other of the bride’s male kinsmen – father, uncle, or brother. Either side could take the initiative, but the bride herself was not consulted. Because of the disparity of ages between husband and wife many of the women were widowed at an early age, as the result of their husband being killed in warfare, or divorced, usually at the initiation of the husband. Remarriage was quickly arranged for them and most women were married three or four times during their lifetime. Marriage itself simply involved the cohabitation of husband and wife, validated through the giving of presents by the groom to his bride’s family. Both the levirate as well as the sororate were practiced, as was polygyny. Elopements did occasionally occur, but were relatively rare.

The basic domestic unit among the Gros Ventre was the patrilocal extended family consisting of a man, his wife or wives, their children, and sometimes other male relatives. Matrilocal residence was generally not practiced because of the very strict mother-in-law avoidance with the mother-in-law and son-in-law forbidden to speak, look, or be in the same tipi with each other. Elderly women, along with their granddaughters or nieces, who were being trained in women’s tasks, occupied their own tipis near the dwelling of the extended family. Each of the households comprising a band relied on mutual aid in hunting and collecting activities.

The most important method of child training according to the Gros Ventre, was oral instruction. Almost every day a child’s parents would lecture the son or daughter on what was considered proper behavior in the society. Certain topics, however, could not be discussed when both boys and girls were present together, and would be reserved for fathers to speak about them in private to his son; mothers to their daughters. Grandparents also played an important part in the socialization of their grandchildren; when in trouble the grandchild could discuss any matter with his grandparents who would give counsel, but never scold. Grandmothers, or sometimes other female relatives such as a widowed aunt, were expected to train girls in skills and techniques appropriate to their gender, and also what to expect on the physical side of marriage. Boys had much more freedom in the society than girls, and were assigned special tasks at a relatively early age, such as the care of horses. Also their early play with bow and arrow served as training for later life when they were expected to join the men in hunting and warfare.

The concept of authority among the Gros Ventre was based on their idea of the proper relations of the individual to the supernatural. The authority roles in the society were legitimized by participation in a system of age groups by means of which sacred knowledge was acquired through a series of sacred ceremonies or lodges. Thus, as they aged, men attained different kinds of leadership responsibilities. The entire social system of the Gros Ventre was oriented in terms of this age-grade (age group) system, the central symbol of which was the offering of a pipe. When a boy reached the age of 15 or 16, he, in conjunction with other boys of the same age, formed a named age-set. Subsequently, this age-set, by common agreement of its members, could decide to join one of the two men’s societies, either the Wolf or Star moiety, each of which had peacekeeping or social functions. Membership in both the age-sets and moieties was for life, and all were bound to aid one another in whatever endeavors were undertaken. In addition, members of a newly formed age-set could make a religious vow to join one of the age-graded sacred societies, the first of which was the Fly Lodge, then the Crazy Lodge, which conveyed sacred knowledge of a higher order than the first. The Crazy Lodge was usually joined by a man and his wife, or an appropriate substitute, but not a kinswoman. The power acquired here had to do with fertility. After initiation into the Crazy Lodge, the man and his wife were eligible to join successively the Kit Fox and Dog Lodges which conveyed curative power, long life, and success in war. As elders in the society men could join the last grade in the series, called nannanehao’we which gave men the power to attract buffalo. The one lodge available to women was the benonteas’we.

Traditionally the Gros Ventre were divided into from ten to twelve autonomous bands, each led by a chief who made decisions for the band on consultation with other male members of the group. In addition to this “head” chief, there were other so-called chiefs in the band who achieved this status because of their prowess in war. These bands were not sibs proper, but composed primarily of kin related by marriage. With the scattering of the bands throughout tribal territory during the colder part of the year, each band comprised an almost complete economic-political unit, and any band, if it wished, could secede from the tribe either temporarily or permanently.

Social control was maintained in the society by the unique relationship called “enemy friends”. Both the Wolf and Star moieties were highly competitive in the acquisition of war honors and in the display of generosity. Individuals from one moiety selected an “enemy friend” from the opposite moiety who was then expected to challenge one another in battle as well as in generosity. This relationship was initiated by the giving of a gift, taken from an enemy, to one’s competitor. From this point on anything said or done to an “enemy friend” had to be endured with equanimity. Thus this relationship between individuals acted as means of social control in the society by acting as an outlet to prevent competition between the two moieties, on a much larger scale.

The Gros Ventre have a long history of external conflict with both neighboring tribes, such as the Cree and Assiniboine as well as the Euro-American traders, dating from approximately the mid-eighteenth century to the late nineteenth (see section entitled HISTORY AND CULTURAL RELATIONS in this paper). Much of the conflict situations resulted from horse raids, from competition for trade, and from the infringement of one tribal group on the territory of another. Alliances were made and soon broken (e. g. Gros Ventre and Blackfoot). Internal conflicts within Gros Ventre society often occurred and were generally settled by the families involved, sometimes with the aid of the band chief.

The religious beliefs of the Gros Ventre centered on a supernatural being called The One Above. This being was the ultimate source of life, and power possessed by other supernatural being and by humans themselves. Endowed with these powers, humans could cause good or bad things to happen through thought alone. This concept formed the basis of Gros Ventre religion. The powers delegated by The One Above varied in kind and degree as it was given to various natural and supernatural phenomena (e. g., thunder, sun, animals, rocks, mountains, whirlwinds, and ghosts). This power could be tapped by humans by communicating with The One Above generally through the vision quest by means of fasting, prayer, or offerings. Prayers were conveyed to The One Above through words and thought, and sometime by using a pipe, smoke, steam, or singing. Once acquired, this power could be used by humans for curing, assuring success in particular ventures, to foretell events, and to harm (by means of sorcery).

Priests, called keepers, took care of the medicine bundles and were responsible for performing the bundle rituals. During the nineteenth century these bundle keepers were replaced every few years by new keepers chosen by the ex-keepers. Traditionally the keepership of the bundles was said to have been hereditary in one band. In earlier times the bundle keepers had the exclusive right to use certain herbs, such as sage and peppermint, in treating patients.

Traditionally the Gros Ventre ceremonial organization was similar to that of the Arapaho the fundamental features of which involved the grouping of men by ages and the observance of a series of a half-dozen age-set specific ceremonies: the fly-dance (for young men or boys), the crazy dance, the kit-fox dance, the dog-dance;, the “soldiers’ lodge” dance, and the drum dance. In addition to the above there was a single ceremony called the Sun Dance, similar in observance to other plains tribal groups. The latter ceremony differs from the others listed in not being connected with age, or with any society-like association of individuals.

As symbols of the power of creation and the place of the Gros Ventre in the universe, the tribe possessed two medicine bundles representing their special relationship with The One Above, and the basis for their health and happiness. These bundles, called the Flat Pipe Bundle and the Feathered Bundle, contained a variety of ritual objects such as sacred pipes, carved effigies, whistles, dried bird skins, etc. These bundles formed an important focus for two of the major ceremonials of the Gros Ventre, the Flat Pipe and Feathered Bundle ceremonies, in which personal supernatural powers and visions formed a significant role.

Minor ceremonies associated with infants and youth were naming and ear-piercing ceremonies.

With the killing of the last buffalo in 1884, the Gros Ventre ceremonial organization virtually disappeared.

Buffalo were central to the lives of the Gros Ventre, as was typical of other nomadic hunters of the Great Plains. From the buffalo they not only obtained a major part of their subsistence, but also shelter and dress. In the fall of the year buffalo hides were in prime condition and were prepared for use by women. These hides were scraped, tanned, and often decorated, then sewn together to form the coverings of the tipis. Deer, elk, and antelope were also hunted and their hides made into various types of wearing apparel. Basically this everyday clothing was unornamented, but sometimes special clothing was made for ceremonial occasions which were painted with designs, embroidered with dyed porcupine quills, or even with glass beads obtained in trade. Additional ornamentation included polished deer hooves, used as “tinklers”, and for women and girls, elk teeth and dentalia. Decorative fringes on clothing were made from animal fur, and the hair of slain enemies.

Pottery was at one time made by the Gros Ventre but hasn’t been made now for many years.

Songs also formed an important part of Gros Ventre life and were used to accompany ceremonial dancing, and by doctors (shaman) in curing.

Illness, so the Gros Ventre believed, was caused by physiological or supernatural causes. In the latter case, breach of taboos, the malevolence of particular supernatural beings, or human sorcery were the causative factors. Preventives and treatments involved both natural and supernatural remedies. Physiological ailments were treated with herbal curatives, bloodletting, minor surgery (e. g., lancing of gums and boils), massage, and heat therapy. Well-meaning thoughts and encouraging words were also considered essential to all successful treatments. Remedies for curing of supernatural causes were owned and used by individuals with special doctoring powers (i.e., shaman), who expected payment for their services. These individuals, used the remedies applied by herbal doctors in conjunction with techniques of psychotherapy and sleight-of-hand (sucking out foreign objects from a patient), to bring about a cure. Other medical specialists involved individual with skills in extracting arrowheads or bullets, for removing tumors, curing facial paralysis, treating snake bites, or in preventing or promoting conception.

When death occurred the body of the deceased was washed and dressed in its best clothes by friends (not relatives), and accompanied by personal belongings, placed in trees, on high rocks, or in caves away from predatory animals. Burial in the ground is of relatively recent origin. At the death of a prominent man, his own lodge might serve as his last resting place. The body was laid in the lodge along with his personal belongings and rich furnishing, and the dwelling closed.

As soon as word of a death was circulated all relatives of the person, especially women, were supposed to gather to cry and mourn for the deceased, while very close kin not only cried and wailed but cut their hair and caste off their good clothes and dressed themselves in old, worn out ones. Close kin sometimes expressed their great grief by going off alone to the plains or hills, crying aloud while wandering about, and sleeping without shelter. In the case of a warrior killed in battle, close relatives would often express their greatest grief by tearing off their clothes and gashing their arms and legs.

At death the souls of all except murderers went to a barren region in the north while that of murderers stayed where their bodies lay or wandered around and “bothered” the living. Ghosts were conceived as being invisible entities, but could be detected by their whistling, speaking, and calling about human habitations. A medicine-man or person with spirit power could summon a ghost helper to give knowledge about past, present, future, or distant happenings, as well as counsel and direction in illness or danger.

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