Hawksnest

Legend has it that some time during the late 1800s, a party of Dakota Sioux were camped at a high vista overlooking the prairies of the James River valley. They were traveling between Fort Yates and Fort Totten and were wary because they feared an attack by the Ojibwe.

One of the Sioux warriors noticed an eagle flying into a tree with a piece of meat that appeared to have been cut by a knife. They ascertained that it had probably stolen some meat from the Ojibwe camp. The warriors followed the path that the eagle had came from and soon encountered the Ojibwe. A battle broke out. It is unknown who won the battle, but from that time forward the place was known as "Huya Wayapa Adhi" or the place where the eagle brings something home in it's beak.

Adapted by Kade M. Ferris, MS
(adapted from The WPA Guide to North Dakota, The Northern Prairie State – Federal Writers' Project)

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