The Mandan , Hidatsa , and Arikara Nations came together in the nineteenth century after several devastating smallpox epidemics. In 1934, they formally joined together to become the Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold. Today, the Three Affiliated Tribes maintain just under one million acres of land on the Fort Berthold Reservation in northwestern North Dakota. As a government, the Three Affiliated Tribes administer a variety of services for their citizens, including economic programs, healthcare, and education.
"The Mandan and the Hidatsa have been allies for many centuries. The Mandan began sort of an upriver migration . . . and along the way they were joined by the Hidatsa people. . .
Things [were] changing rapidly on the Great Plains in the upper Missouri region area.
. . . This was after the smallpox epidemics nearly wiped them out and meanwhile the Arikara were being harassed by the Sioux . . . They [Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara] found themselves in pretty dire straits and so, in [the] 1830s they found themselves together along the Missouri River at a place called Like-a-Fishhook Village. And they became allies."
Marilyn Hudson describes the events that contributed to the Mandan , Hidatsa , and Arikara becoming the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation. The alliance of the Mandan , Hidatsa , and Arikara Nations contributed to the safety of the tribes during times of great loss and violence. This alliance is now permanent.
