Celebrating Native American Culture | Video

Michelle San Miguel | 7/29/2012

Hundreds of people are celebrating Native American culture this weekend. Knife River Indian Villages near Stanton held its 31st annual Culture Fest. The park was home to hundreds of Native Americans and people can still see depressions on the ground where earthlodges once sat.

On Sunday afternoon, guests were learning more about Native culture, playing traditional Mandan-Hidatsa games.

"People would come from all over the Northern Plains to these villages to trade for flint and of course the corn squash, sunflower and beans that the ladies would have grown in their gardens," said Chief of Interpretation and Cultural Resources Craig Hansen.

Archaeologists were also at the park that afternoon, completing a geophysical survey. Archaeologists say it`s a nondestructive way to survey the land. These villages haven`t been surveyed in over 30 years.

Archaeologists hope the survey will give them better insight on what kinds of things are underground and what was inside the earthlodges.

"One of the things that we`ve found here at lower head Hidatsa Village is possibly a perimeter ditch or defensive earthwork or bastion around the southern end of the site," said archaeologist Jay Sturdevant.

Archaeologists are also completing a 3D topographic model of the park.

The park will be holding a photography workshop on Saturday, September 29. Admission is free.

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