The Gros Ventres (from French: big belly) are a Native American tribe located in northcentral Montana, also known as the Atsina, which is considered an inaccurate and derogatory name. There are currently 3,682 members and they share Fort Belknap Indian Reservation with the Assiniboine, their historical enemies. Gros Ventre is a name that was given to the people by the French who misinterpreted their sign language. Instead, the Gros Ventre people ...
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The Gros Ventres (from French: big belly) are a Native American tribe located in northcentral Montana, also known as the Atsina, which is considered an inaccurate and derogatory name. There are currently 3,682 members and they share Fort Belknap Indian Reservation with the Assiniboine, their historical enemies. Gros Ventre is a name that was given to the people by the French who misinterpreted their sign language. Instead, the Gros Ventre people refer to themselves as A'ani or A'aninin, which means "white clay people". The Arapaho and the A'aninin were a single large tribe that lived along the Red River valley in northern Minnesota and Canada. In the early 1700s the large tribe split into two; forming the A'aninin and the Arapaho. The Arapaho went south and the A'aninin stayed in the Saskatchewan region.
Atsina is thought to be a Blackfoot word for "gut people", the other Arapaho who considered them inferior called them Hitúnĕna, meaning "beggars". Other interpretations have yielded...
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