Seasonal Economic and Settlement Patterns of the Arikara

Abstract

That the Arikara were characterized by seasonal economic activities accompanied by varying settlement patterns during the Late Prehistoric and EarlyContact Periods is amply documented in the archaeological records and journals of the first explorers of the Missouri Valley. In spite of the abundant data, however, several aspects of the seasonal changes of economic and settlement patterns still remain subjects of speculation. Since there seems to have been so much regional and time variation in these patterns the observations presented in this report should be considered tentative.