a member of a North American Indian people living along the Missouri River in W North Dakota
the Caddoan language of this people
Origin:
Fr Aricara < Pawnee arikará·ruʾ, elk, lit., horns; explained as an allusion to a hairstyle formerly worn by male members of this people
See Arikara in American Heritage Dictionary 4
nounpl.Arikara or A·rik·a·ras
a. A Native American people formerly inhabiting the Missouri River valley from Kansas into the Dakotas and now located in western North Dakota. Traditional Arikara life was based on agriculture and trade with the Plains Indians to the west.