Famous Assiniboine


Famous Assiniboine Chiefs and Leaders

According to the white historians, the Assiniboine were once a part of the Yanktonai Sioux (Nakota Sioux) living in the Lake Superior region of present-day northern Minnesota and southwestern Ontario. They say the Assiniboine split from the Yanktonai in the 1600s and began their migration west. The Assiniboine were often bitter ememies of the Nakota Sioux (also spelled Nakoda) peoples after that.

Assinaboine historians say this split never happened and the Assinaboine were always a separate people from the Sioux Indians. At one time, there were as many as 40 bands of Assinboine people.

During the eighteenth century, Assinaboine migrations brought them into the Northern Plains of Alberta and Montana. 

The Assiniboine Indians are original people of MontanaNorth DakotaAlberta, and Saskatchewan. Most Assiniboine people are still living there today. 

In the United States, the Assiniboine Indians live on two reservations, Fort Belknap and Fort Peck. A reservation is land that belongs to an Indian tribe collectively and is under their control.

The Assiniboines at Fork Belknap share a reservation with the Gros Ventre, and the Assiniboines at Fort Peck share a reservation with the Sioux.

In Canada, there are eight separate bands of Stoney Assiniboines, each with its own reservation (known as a reserve in Canada.) 

Their native language is Nakoda. The Nakoda language spoken in Canada is significantly different than the one spoken in the United States. Most linguists consider them two distinct languages, Stoney (Canadian) and Assiniboine (American.) 

Here is a list of famous Assiniboine Indians

Dolly Akers or Dolly Smith Cusker Akers (March 23, 1901 – June 5, 1986) – First woman elected to the Tribal Executive Board of the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation and the first Native American elected to the Montana Legislature.

Chief Rosebud – Met with Lewis & Clark.

Crazy Bear (Mah-To-Wit-Ko, also known as Foolish Bear, 1785–1856) was an Indian chief of the Assiniboine tribe. He is best known as a skilled negotiator with the American Fur Company at Fort Union, North Dakota; and for his participation and representation at the Fort Laramie Treaty Council of 1851—where he was a signatory of the treaty.

 Chief Wets-It was an Assiniboine war leader of Ft Peck, Montana. He was among the leaders of the Assiniboin delegation to Omaha Exposition.

 Wets-It married Katie Cambell Wetsit and had several children. His son, Joshua Wets-It was an informant for John Ewes.

Roxy Gordon (March 7, 1945 – February 7, 2000) was a Choctaw and Assiniboine poet, novelist, musician and activist. He lived in Talpa, Texas, and had a following in England. In the 1970s, he ran a country music magazine, Picking up the Tempo, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Frank W. Warner aka Pisappih Timbimboo(1861–1919) – He was one of the first Native Americans to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Minnie Two Shoes (1950—2010) – Journalist, activist, publicist for the American Indian Movement, and co-founder of the Native American Press Association.

 

Assiniboine Tribes

Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation (Montana) (F)
Fort Belknap Indian Community of the Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana (Assinaboine and Gros Ventre) (Montana)(F)

 

Article Index:

Assiniboine Chief Crazy Bear

Crazy Bear (Mah-To-Wit-Ko, also known as Foolish Bear, 1785–1856) was an Indian chief of the Assiniboine tribe. He is best known as a skilled negotiator with the American Fur Company at Fort Union, North Dakota; and for his participation and representation at the Fort Laramie Treaty Council of 1851—where he was a signatory of the treaty.