The Assiniboine or Nakota speak a Siouan language closely related to the Sioux (Dakota) and Stoney. The name 'Assiniboine', given by the Ojibwa, refers to the group's practice of dropping hot rocks into water to boil food. Today the Assiniboine reside on reservations in Canada and the United States.
The Assiniboine are noted in the Jesuit Relation of 1640 as having split from the Yanktonai Sioux sometime previous to contact due to socio-political concerns. Linguistic evidence, however, indicates that the Assiniboine split from the Sioux at about the same time as all other Siouxian dialects. Like other groups the pre-contact population is difficult if not impossible to determine, likewise estimates after contact are widely divergent. By the time Europeans established sustained contact with the Assiniboine in the 1700s disease had reduced their population. Their 19th-century homeland covered much of eastern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan, western Manitoba, northeastern Montana, and northern North Dakota, with the majority of the bands living in the US by the 19th century. Population estimates range from 1,500 to 2,000 in 1789, to 28,000 in 1823, and 5,000 in 1863. As of 1998 the US and Canada recognized more than 6,000 people as Assiniboine, with the majority residing in the US.
Similar to other plains people the Assiniboine's preferred food source was the buffalo. Prior to horses, buffalo were killed through the use of pounds or jumps in the spring through fall and by foot in the winter. Even with the adoption of horses the Assiniboine continued to rely on these methods for capturing buffalo.
Spiritually the Assiniboine life centered around the concept of wakan (the conceptualization of great power that is unknown and unknowable to humans). Elements of both the physical and spiritual world were possessed of this power and needed to be treated with respect. Spirits could be called upon for assistance provided the right conditions were met and the individual possessed the ability to do so. Central to the Assiniboine culture was the sun dance, which was normally held in early June. For this celebration Assiniboine bands gathered to celebrate the Divine, as well as engage in social and political interactions. Despite efforts from the late 1800s to the 1950s by Christian missionaries as well as US and Canadian governments to destroy these celebrations, they have survived and continue to be practiced.
The basic unit of governance among the Assiniboine was the band. A chief, who held his position based on merit, led the band. Nevertheless, the chief usually came from the largest and most respected family within the band. When the Assiniboine bands came together no single chief assumed a leadership position. Instead the bands camped in a circle with each remaining responsible for its own affairs. Chief's councils consisted of any man who had achieved success in war or hunting. The Soldiers' Society, whose members were selected by the band council, carried out its orders. Camp arrangements reflect Assiniboine politics - with the Soldiers' Lodge, which is also where the council met, at the center. It was in turn surrounded by the lodges of the community. This form of governance was replaced by band governments created through Indian legislation in both Canada and the United States.
The Assiniboine prior to the 1600s appear to have maintained a close relationship with the Yanktonai Sioux by participating in wars against the Cree. This changed as European traders entered the region and began arming the Cree in the late 17th century. The Assiniboine made peace with the Cree which made them enemies of the Sioux. From the late 1600s until the reservation period the Assiniboine and Cree remained steadfast allies. Additionally, the Assiniboine fought the Blackfoot, Gros Ventures, and Chipewayan for access to buffalo and horses. By the 1760s the Assiniboine were using horses as pack animals and for transportation. Within thirty years of adopting the horse, the Assiniboine became integrated into the horse-raiding and warfare patterns that dominated the plains. Nonetheless, the Assiniboine continued to be seen as a poor group by their neighbors because of their inability to acquire enough horses and their continued reliance on dogs as pack animals.
The treaty and reservation periods in both Canada and the United States led to attempts by the settler societies to assimilate the Assiniboine. This period began in 1851 in the US and 1874 in Canada. Subsequent treaties in the 1880s saw further land erosion in the US. In Canada land loss continued until 1901. Today the Assiniboine reside on the Fort Belknap and Fort Peck reservations in Montana, the Paul Band and Alexis Band reserves in Alberta, and the Carry the Kettle Assiniboine, Mosquito-Grizzly Bear's Head, Whitebear reserves in Saskatchewan. The Assiniboine have no reserves in their former territories in Manitoba.
Today the Assiniboine are taking advantage of oil and gas resources, casinos, tourism, ranching, and farming. On both sides of the international border the Assiniboine are pursuing land claims to recover lost lands, missing annuity monies, and other issues involving the administration of treaties and trust accounts. Monies raised through successful land claims have been used to assist communities with economic development.
Further Reading
DeMallie, Raymond and David Reed Millar. "Assiniboine." In Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 13: Plains, ed. Raymond J. DeMallie, 572-595. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 2001.
Denig, Edwin Thompson. J. N. B. Hewitt, ed. The Assiniboine. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2000.
New York: AMS Press, 1978.
Rodnick, David. The Fort Belknap Assiniboine of Montana: A Study in Culture Change.
Symington, D. F. Hunters of the plains: Assiniboine Indians. Toronto: Ginn, 1972. Miller, David, Dennis J Smith, Joseph R. McGeshick, James Shanley, and Caleb Shields. The History of the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Montana, 1800-2000. Helena, MT: Montana Historical Society Press, 2008.
VanStone, James W. Ethnographic collections from the Assiniboine and Yanktonai Sioux in the Field Museum of Natural History. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1996.
