The Hazen collection: A new source on Arikara material culture

Abstract

Scholarly knowledge of nineteenth century Arikara history and culture has been informed by archaeological investigation, documentary sources, and community knowledge as recorded in the twentieth century and carried today. Ethnographic objects in museum collections have not made as great a contribution, in part because of a dearth of reliably documented material. This paper introduces an important collection from General William B. Hazen that has only recently been recognized as associated with the Arikara. Assembled at Fort Buford in the 1870s, it documents the material culture of the scouts who served there, the families who accompanied them, and the residents of a nearby Hidatsa village. Detailed information on the assembly and transfer of the collection reveals processes and agencies in the movement of objects out of Native communities and into museum holdings.