ARIKARA, a semi-sedentary Plains tribe of Indians, the northernmost offshoot of the Caddoans, combining maize farming with bison hunting. Traditionally and by speech they are a branch of the Pawnee. During the 19th century they were affiliated with the Siouan Mandan and Hidatsa, the three groups living in per manent settlements of earth-covered lodges on the Missouri river in North Dakota, and being known as "Village Indians" in distinc tion from the surrounding nomadic hunting tribes. The population has shrunk from two or three thousand to a few hundred. Maize rituals, mound burial, house type, organization on a village instead of band basis, indicate Arikara culture as basically of the type prevalent about the lower Mississippi, subsequently. remodelled on the Plains. In fact, it may have been their example that led the Mandan and Hidatsa to adopt settled life.