’Ɔ’ɔ́ɔ́ɔ́naakíit’ɔ
"The Whiteclay Language"
The Whiteclay language (Gros Ventre) is an Algonquian language and within that language family is a sub-group of what linguists call the Arapahoan subfamily. This subgroup of dialects consists of Whiteclay, Northern and Southern Arapaho. Fort Belknap Indian Community is the only place that homes Whiteclay speakers. There are roughly 30 second language learners and no current fluent first language speakers.
Historically the Whiteclay people resided near the falls of the North Saskatchewan River. This is where the misnomer "Gros Ventre" came from, French-Canadian fur traders misunderstood their sign for Water falls for Big Belly. At that time the territory was primarily the northern plains of Saskatchewan and Alberta. In later times, they moved south, residing in southern Saskatchewan, Alberta and northern Montana. After the treaties of the late 1800s, the Whiteclay territory was reduced to portions of northern Montana and eventually forced to settle on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in 1888.
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