THE ASINIBOIN
The Asiniboin were originally part of the Wazi-kute gens of the Yanktonai (Ihañktonwanna) Dakota. According to the report of E.T. Denig to Governor I.I. Stevens,[5] "the Asiniboin call themselves Dakota, meaning Our people." The Dakota style them Hohe, "rebels," but Denig says the term signifies "fish eaters," and that they may have been so called from the fact that they subsisted principally on fish while in British territory.
Lists of the gentes of this people have been recorded by Denig, Maximilian, and Hayden, but in the opinion of the present writer they need revision.
Asiniboin gentes
| Denig | Maximilian | Hayden |
| We-che-ap-pe-nah, 60 lodges, under Les Yeux Gris | Itschcabinè, Les gens des filles. | Wi-ić-ap-i-naḣ, Girls' band. |
| E-an-to-ah, Stone Indians, the original appellation for the whole nation; 50 lodges, under Premier qui Voile. | Jatonabinè, Les gens des roches, the Stone Indians of the English. Call themselves "Eascab." | I'-an-to'-an. Either Inyan tonwan, Stone Village or Ihanktonwan, End village or Yankton. J.O.D.) |
| Wah-to-pan-ah, Canoe Indians, 100 lodges, under Serpent. | Otaopabinè, Les gens des canots. | Waḣ-to'-pap-i-naḣ |
| Wah-to-pah-han-da-toh, Old Gauché's gens, i.e., Those who row in canoes; 100 lodges, under Trembling Hand. | Watópachnato, Les gens de l'age. | Waḣ-to'-paḣ-an-da-to, Gens du Gauché or Left Hand. |
| Wah-ze-ah we-chas-ta, Northern People (so called because they came from the north in 1839); 60 lodges, under Le Robe de Vent. | O-see-gah (of Lewis and Clark, Discoveries, p. 43, 1806). | Waḣ-zi-ah, or To-kum-pi, Gens du Nord. |
The following gentes have not been collated: Of Maximilian's list, Otopachgnato, les gens du large, possibly a duplication, by mistake, of Watopachnato, les gens de l'age; Tschantoga, les gens des bois; Tanin-tauei, les gens des osayes; Chábin, les gens des montagnes. Of Hayden's list, Min'-i-shi-nak'-a-to, gens du lac.
The correct form in the Yankton dialect of the first name is Witcinyanpina (Wićiɳyaɳpina), girls; of the second, probably Inyantonwan (Iɳyaɳ toɳwaɳ); the third and fourth gentes derive their names from the verb watopa, to paddle a canoe; the fifth is Waziya witcacta (Waziya wićaṡta). Tschan in Tschantoga is the German notation of the Dakota tcan (ćaɳ), tree, wood. Cha in Chábin is the German notation of the Dakota word ḣe, a high ridge of hills, a mountain.
In his report to Governor Stevens, from which the following information respecting the Asiniboin is condensed, Denig used the term "band" to denote a gens of the tribe, and "clans" instead of corporations, under which latter term are included the feasting and dancing societies and the orders of doctors, shamans, or theurgists.
These bands are distinct and occupy different parts of the country, although they readily combine when required by circumstances, such as scarcity of game or an attack by a large body of the enemy.
The roving tribes call no general council with other nations; indeed, they are suspicious even of those with whom they have been at peace for many years, so that they seldom act together in a large body. With the exception of the Hidatsa, Mandau, and Arikara, who are stationary and live in a manner together, the neighboring tribes are quite ignorant of one another's government, rarely knowing even the names of the principal chiefs and warriors.