North of the Ioway were an Algonquian nation known as the A'ani, whose territory extended from southern Canada, through western Minnesota & eastern N. Dakota & may have extended as far south as northeast South Dakota.Pritzker 319 Many of the cultural traits among the Sioux that do not exist among other Siouan peoples—including hairdos—originated with the A'ani. One of the first to be driven off by the Sioux, they moved west & north, splitting into the tribes known as the Gros Ventre and the Arapaho. They are not to be confused with the Hidatsa, who were also called Gros Ventre by the French.
