or Nakota
North American Plains Indian people living mostly on reservations in Montana, U.S., and Saskatchewan and Alberta, Can.
They speak a band s, each with its own chief and council, and were generally friendly with whites. The bands moved their camps frequently in pursuit of migrating buffalo. Prowess in war consisted of taking scalps and horses and of touching the enemy ("counting coups") during battle. Their numbers were severely reduced by smallpox in the 1820s and '30s, after which most were placed on reservations. Some 3,900 people claimed sole Assiniboin descent in the 2000 U.S. census. There are somewhat fewer in Canada.
Assiniboin, placating the spirit of a slain eagle, photograph by Edward S. Curtis, 1908; from ...
Courtesy of the Newberry Library, Chicago, Ayer Collection