Description
The Gros Ventre are a historically Algonquian-speaking Native American tribe located in northcentral Montana. Today, the Gros Ventre people are enrolled in the Fort Belknap Indian Community of the Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana, a federally recognized tribe with 7,000 members, also including the Assiniboine people. The name used by the Gros Ventre, means "White Clay People". The French used the term Gros Ventre, which was mistakenly interpreted from sign language. They were once known as the "Gros Ventres of the Prairies", as the Hidatsa people were similarly called the "Gros Ventres of the Missouri". In the early 18th century, the combined tribe came under pressure from the Ojibwe, and started a migration to the upper Missouri River Valley. During the migration, the large tribe split into the Arapaho and the Gros Ventre, possibly near Devil's Lake. These groups, along with the Cheyenne, were among the last to migrate into Montana, due to pressure from the Ojibwe.
Language
Atsina, or Gros Ventre was the ancestral language of the Gros Ventre people of what is today Montana, United States of America. The last fluent speaker died in 2007, though revitalization efforts are underway.
Culture
The Gros Ventres are believed to have lived in the western Great Lakes region 3,000 years ago, where they lived an agrarian lifestyle, cultivating maize. The Gros Ventre acquired horses in the mid-18th century. The earliest known contact of Gros Ventre with settlers was around 1754, between the north and south forks of the Saskatchewan River. Exposure to smallpox severely reduced their numbers. The Gros Ventre were divided into 12 bands, each of which was led by a chief who usually made decisions in consultation with other male members of the band. Chiefs were awarded their status because of their prowess in war. In winter, the bands usually camped separately but came together in the spring and fall for large buffalo hunts and various ceremonies. They subsided primarily on buffalo but also hunted deer, elk, and antelope, and the women collected berries, fruits, and roots.