Knife River Indian Villages - Stanton, North Dakota

This remote-feeling park is home to the remains of three large Hidatsa village sites. One, the Awatixa Village, was where Sakakawea (or Sacajawea) and husband Toussaint Charbonneu lived before being hired by Lewis and Clark to join the Corps of Discovery in 1804. The Hidatsa lived in large, round earthlodges, anything up to 60 feet in diameter. There is a reconstruction of a lodge at the visitor center and the depressions left where they once stood can be seen at all three village sites (it must be said that these are more impressive in aerial photos than they are from the ground!).

If you go:
The Awatixa Xie village site is accessible via an easy quarter-mile trail from the Visitor Center, and the Sakakawea village is another half-mile further on. The third site, the Big Hidatsa Village, is located at the north end of the park. The park is open all year round; Visitor Center hours are 8 am - 6 pm (summer) and 8 am - 4.30 pm (winter).

Phone Numbers:

+1 (701) 745-3300