Belly River
River
82 H
Flows north-east into Old Man River, Approximately 16 km north-west of Lethbridge.
The Belly River was one of the names recorded in 1874 by the International Boundary Commission. It either comes from the Atsina aboriginal group, or it may refer to the large bend or belly in the river where it makes a loop to the south near Lethbridge. It is likely the former. The name for the Belly River was once recorded as Mokowanis River. According to a modern Blackfoot dictionary, Móókoan is the root word meaning "stomach." The Atsina, an offshoot of the Arapaho, often travelled through this region to hunt buffalo in the summer. The Atsina were as known as the Gros Ventres was, or "[people of the] large
stomachs" by the early French speaking explorers.