In later years the three tribes, Arikara, Hidatsa, and Mandan, were closely associated, living in the vicinity of Fort Berthold, on the left bank of the Missouri and about 60 miles above Fort Clark, the Arikara having arrived at Fort Berthold, during the month of August, 1862. Evidently their ways of life and customs were quite similar, and Matthews, in his work on the Hidatsa in particular, but in which he treats of the three tribes in general, said: "For cleaning the village-grounds, they had rakes made of a few osiers tied together, the ends curved and spreading. Their most important agricultural implement was the hoe. Before they obtained iron utensils of the white traders, their only hoes were made of the shoulder-blades of elk or buffalo, attached to wooden handles of suitable length ... as late as 1867, I saw a great number in use at Fort Berthold, and purchased two or three, one of which was sent to Washington, and, I presume, is now on exhibition in the museum of the Smithsonian Institution." (Matthews, (1), p. 19.) Several rakes of this description are in the collection of the National Museum, Washington. One, bearing the legend "Arickaree," which was obtained at Fort Berthold, is shown in plate 54, _a_ (U.S.N.M. 6353). It measures 4 feet 10 inches in length and is formed of six pieces bound together. It is also of great interest to know that the hoe which was sent by Dr. Matthews to the museum is perfectly preserved. It is here reproduced in plate 54, _b_ (U.S.N.M. 6326). Written on it is this legend: "Ree Indians. Ft Berthold Dacotah Ter. Drs Gray and Matthews." The length of the scapula, that of a buffalo, is about 14 inches. Both handle and blade are worn smooth from use. The specimen is one of much importance. It will be recalled that Bradbury in 1811 referred to the "medicine lodge," then standing in the center of the large Arikara village. Matthews, more than 60 years later, mentioned a similar structure then standing at the village near Fort Berthold, and said concerning it: "The medicine-lodge of the Arickarees is larger than that of the Mandans, and is used for a greater variety of ceremonies. Some of these performances, consisting of ingenious tricks of jugglery and dances, representative of various hunts, we might be inclined to call theatrical rather than religious. Probably these Indians consider them both worshipful and entertaining. It is often hard to tell how much of a religious ceremony is intended to propitiate the unknown powers, and how much to please the spectators." (Matthews, (1), p. 10.)