Hidatsa language, culture to be featured at Fort Union
Hidatsa language, culture to be featured at Fort Union
Fort Union Trading Post will be hosting the first of their new cultural programs series and activities between 10:00 am and 5:00 pm the weekend of June 13th & 14th. The programs offered will highlight Hidatsa history, language and culture.
In partnership with Fort Union Trading Post, students from New Town School Hidatsa Language and Culture class will be presenting the programs to the public.
The Hidatsa people have had ties to Fort Union throughout the fort’s history and after the fort no longer functioned as a trading post. Fort workers such as Rudolf Frederick Kurz wrote extensively in 1851 about the contact the tribe had with the fort. Kurz states, “Slept little last night. First, the Hidatsa sang their war song. As I was getting to bed, they began another chant in the interpreter’s room and accompanied their singing with the drum.” Kurz later says, “According to Indian custom, eight Hidatsa and seven Assiniboine sat opposite one another and were playing a game.”
This rich history will come to life again as Hidatsa students, teachers and elders present these teachings of their language and culture here at Fort Union.
