The Hidatsa & Mandan family structure is based on a matriarchy utilizing clans to define kinship, inclusion & acceptance. Historically these Kinship and Clan systems influenced almost every aspect of social , economic, and ceremonial life. Membership in a clan is given from the mother to the child. This kinship system is very different from the main-stream "Euro-American" kinship system. The basic nuclear family is extended to included a child's maternal relatives. Maternal kinship roles are brought closer to the child by this extension. A few examples of this extension of kinship common among the Mandan and Hidatsa:
All your mothers' sisters are your mothers.
All your mother's brothers are your brothers (younger or older depending on age)
All your father's brothers are your fathers also.
Maternal grandmother's brothers are either your older or younger brothers.
Maternal grandfather's sisters are your grandmothers (exception: when your father and your maternal grandfather are of the same clan, then they are "father's sister".
Paternal Grandmother's brothers are your fathers.
Paternal Grandfather's sisters are sometimes your grandmothers.
For Women, your mother's brothers wives are your sister-in-laws.
Women: All your brothers and sisters children are your sons and daughters.
Men: your brothers children are your sons and daughters ; sisters children are your brothers and sisters.
Anyone of the same clan, your fathers clan, or historically your mothers fathers clan was considered a blood relative and not appropriate for marriage.
if the mother was clanlless because she had belonged to a different tribe, the child assumed the clan of the other children of the household.
A child also receives indirect membership in their father's clan and is known as "a child" of that clan.
"In spite of the traditional late arrival of the Hidatsa-proper and the Awaxawi on the Missouri River, the clan names now employed are concerned with incidents or events occurring along the Missouri River and in no instance reflect incidents or events relating to their former residences to the east or northeast. The traditions and mythology indicate that two different clan systems were once in vogue: (1) the 13-clan system of the Awatixa; and (2) the 7-clan system of the Awaxawi and Hidatsa-proper" (Bowers, Hidatsa social, c1965)
Of the original 13 Awatixa clans eight are know today to have received names and still existed in 1932 when Alfred Bowers did his research on the Fort Berthold Reservation. The remaining five are thought to have been absorbed by the others.
"One Hidatsa Indian group told their children about a hero known as Charred Body. He is thought to have led the original thirteen clans of the Hidatsa on a magical arrow that flew down from the world above to a site along today’s Turtle Creek not far from Mandan, North Dakota. Here Charred Body bested the local monsters so that his people could begin their existence as human beings"
| Waxikena | Equates to the Hidatsa Maxoxati clan. |
| Tamisik | Equates to the Hidatsa Knife clan. |
| Prairie Chicken | Equates to the Hidatsa Prairie Chicken clan and members did not inter-marry. |
| Speckled Eagle | Lived primarily at the Awaxawi village, but thought to be the remnants of the Nuptadi. Absorbed by the Prairie Chicken Clan. |
Today there are seven clans which remain intact of the Four Clan (Nagi-Do-ba) and Three Clan (Nagi-Ne-we):
|
Three Clan |
Four Clan |
| Knife | Waterbuster |
| Alkali Lodge | Prairie Chicken |
| Low Cap | Wide Ridge (extinct) |
| Dirt or Mud Dripping |
It is said that a person comes into this world through his or her mother's clan and leaves through the father's clan. Clan membership and kinship roles determine how family members communicate, conduct themselves, and interact with each other. Clan relatives are responsible for the behavior of their members, taking care of their orphans and elders and protecting fellow members of the Clan. Each clan has an origin story that can be retold by their members.
" ... The Clans are significant to the present day particularly for social and burial rites. The fathers clan is significant for a number of required duties, such as the right to name clan children, and assume the responsibilities for officiating the funeral and burial ceremonies for their clan children." [History and Culture]
Subdivisions and Villages.— The Arikara are sometimes spoken of as a confederacy of smaller tribes each occupying its own village, and one account mentions 10 of these, while Gilmore (1927) furnishes the names of 12, including 4 of major importance under which the others were grouped. These were as follows:
Awahu, associated with which were Hokat and Scirihauk.
Hukawirat, with which were associated Warihka and Nakarik.
Tukatuk, with which were associated Tsininatak and Witauk.
Tukstanu, with which were associated Nakanusts and Nisapst.
Bowers, Alfred W. Hidatsa social and ceremonial organization Washington, D.C. : U.S. Print. Off., 1965.
Gilman, Carolyn, 1954., The way to independence : memories of a Hidatsa Indian family, 1840-1920 / Carolyn Gilman, Mary Jane Schneider ; with essays by W. Raymond Wood ... [et al.]. (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1987).
History and culture of the Three Affiliated Tribes Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation : Resource guide / Three Affiliated Tribes. Education Department. New Town, ND : Three Affiliated Tribes Education Dept., [1994].
Yellow Wolf, John. Three Clan (Knife Clan, Ma Xho Xha Da Clan, Low Cap Clan) Four Clan (A Wa Xia Clan, Ee E Shoo Ca (Wide Ridge) Clan, Prairie Chicken Clan, Waterbuster Clan) : Fort Berthold Indian Reservation: unpublished manuscript, c1976, 1981.