Arikara Tribe, Pawnee Nation gather in North Dakota

WHITE SHIELD, N.D. (AP) – Arikara tribal members metg with representatives from the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma at a gathering over the weekend in North Dakota to start re-establishing ties.

They met at the White Shield powwow, the Minot Daily News reported. The goal was to establish a plan that includes alternating visits by representatives of each tribe between North Dakota and Oklahoma every year, said Herb Adson, Cultural Resources Division director for the Pawnee Nation.

Roughly 30 Pawnee Nation representatives were expected to attend. Reconnecting with the Arikara has been discussed by his tribe for years, Adson said.

“Three hundred or 400 years ago, we were one tribe,” Adson said. “One of the ideas is to get things going and re-establish our ties. We both share a lot of similarities.”

The Arikara now occupy the Fort Berthold Reservation in the heart of North Dakota’s oil patch with the Mandan and Hidatsa tribes. The Pawnee Nation is headquartered in Pawnee, a city in northeastern Oklahoma.

Adson said the Pawnee Nation has also reached out to restore its relationship with the Wichita people, who have their headquarters in western Oklahoma. They want to take a similar approach with the Arikara, he said.

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Information from: Minot Daily News, http://www.minotdailynews.com