Raymond Bial - The People and Culture of the Mandan

Published in 2017 by Cavendish Square Publishing, LLC

243 5th Avenue, Suite 136, New York, NY 10016

Copyright 2017 by Cavendish Square Publishing, LLC

First Edition

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This publication represents the opinions and views of the author based on his or her personal experience, knowledge, and research. The information in this book serves as a general guide only. The author and publisher have used their best efforts in preparing this book and disclaim liability rising directly or indirectly from the use and application of this book.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Ryckman, Tatiana, author. | Bial, Raymond, author.

Title: The people and culture of the Mandan / Tatiana Ryckman and Raymond Bial.

Other titles: Mandan.

Description: New York : Cavendish Square Publishing, [2017] | Series: First peoples of North America | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016033895 (print) | LCCN 2016034175 (ebook) | ISBN 9781502622495 (library bound) | ISBN 9781502622501 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Mandan Indians--Juvenile literature.

Classification: LCC E99.M2 B53 2016 (print) | LCC E99.M2 (ebook) | DDC 978.400497/522--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016033895

Editorial Director: David McNamara

Editor: Kristen Susienka

Copy Editor: Rebecca Rohan

Associate Art Director: Amy Greenan

Production Coordinator: Karol Szymczuk

Photo Research: J8 Media

The photographs in this book are used by permission and through the courtesy of: Cover Edward S. Curtis/ Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images; p. 6 Jason Lindsey/Alamy Stock Photo; p. 8, 43 DEA PICTURE LIBRARY/Getty Images; p. 11 Barney Burstein/Getty Images; p. 12 Public Domain/ www.demis.nl/File:Hidatsa01.png/Wikimedia Commons; p. 15 Suzanne L & Joseph T. Collins/Getty Images; pp. 18-19, 22, 29, 30, 48, 55, 61, 64, 66, 69, 102 Raymond Bial; p. 24 George Catlin/File:Catlin mandan village.jpg/Wikimedia Commons; p. 26 Marilyn Angel Wynn/Native Stock/Getty Images; p. 33 (left) Charles Willson Peale/File:William Clark-Charles Willson Peale.jpg/Wikimedia Commons; (right) Charles Willson Peale/File:Meriweather Lewis-Charles Willson Peale.jpg/Wikimedia Commons; p. 35 Public Domain/File:Lewis and Clark Expedition Maps (12).jpg/Wikimedia Commons; p. 36-37 Roberto A Sanchez/Getty Images; p. 40 Edward S. Curtis/File:Mandan girls gathering berries. JPG/Wikimedia Commons; p. 45, 50 INTERFOTO/Alamy Stock Photo; p. 56 Amstockphoto/iStock/Thinkstock. com; p. 58 The Print Collector/Getty Images; p. 71 NativeStock/North Wind Picture Archives; p. 73 MPI/Archive Photos/Getty Images; p. 76 Karl Bodmer/Public Domain/File:Dance of the Mandan women 0028v.jpg/Wikimedia Commons; p. 83 Florilegius/Alamy Stock Photo; p. 84 North Wind Picture Archives; p. 88 Bob Pool/Getty Images; p. 95 John Crawford Fraser/ Thinkstock.com ; p. 96 Linda Davidson/TWP/Getty Images; pp. 98, 99, 100, 112 Marilyn Angel Wynn/ NativeStock.com ; p. 104 Edward S. Curtis/Library of Congress; p. 106 Karl Bodmer/File:Karl Bodmer Travels in America (46).jpg/Wikimedia Commons; p. 108 917 Collection/Alamy Stock Photo; p. 110 Floyd H. McCall/The Denver Post via Getty Images; p. 111 Courtesy Kathy Whitman-Elk Woman.

Printed in the United States of America

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book would not have been possible without the generous help of many individuals and organizations that have dedicated themselves to honoring the customs of the Mandan.

We would like to thank the staff at Cavendish Square Publishing and all who contributed to finding photos and other materials for publication. Finally, we would like to thank our families and friends for their encouragement and support along our writing journey.

Amy Mossett, a Mandan-Hidatsa woman, is dressed in traditional clothing.

AUTHERS NOTE

At the dawn of the twentieth century, Native Americans were thought to be a vanishing race. However, despite four hundred years of warfare, deprivation, and disease, Native Americans have persevered. Countless thousands have lost their lives, but over the course of this century and the last, the populations of Native tribes have grown tremendously. Even as Americas First People struggle to adapt to modern Western life, they have also kept the flame of their traditions alivethe languages, religions, stories, and the everyday ways of life. An exhilarating renaissance in Native American culture is now sweeping the continent from coast to coast.

The First Peoples of North America books depict the social and cultural life of the major nations, from the early history of Native peoples in North America to their present-day struggles for survival and dignity. Historical and contemporary photographs of traditional subjects, as well as period illustrations, are blended throughout each book so that readers may gain a sense of family life in a tipi, a hogan, longhouse, or in houses today.

No single book can comprehensively portray the intricate and varied lifeways of an entire tribe, or nation. We only hope that young people will come away with a deeper appreciation for the rich tapestry of Native American cultureboth then and nowand a keen desire to learn more about these first Americans.

Artist George Catlin painted this image of a Mandan Okipa ceremony in the nineteenth century.

CHAPTER ONE

Lone Man came to the Heart River, where there was a hill nearby shaped like a heart ... this he decided was to be the heart of the world, and this hill is still holy to our people.

Scattercorn, Mandan woman

A CULTURE BEGINS

W hen European settlers first traveled across North America in the 1700s, they met a tribe along the Upper Missouri River called the Mandan. Nearly four thousand tribespeople were living on the plains of central North Dakota in earth lodges, where they welcomed weary travelers. The Mandan settled in villages and developed an agrarian society. European traders and trappers who traveled along the Missouri were welcomed into the Mandan villages and their warm dwellings, where they learned about the tribes and kept detailed notes about what they learned.

Origins

Speaking a Siouan language, the Mandan may have originally lived in the forests of the lower Missouri River Valleyfar from the northern prairies that would become their home. Some scholars believe they may have originated as far away as present-day Ohio. Traditionally, they referred to themselves as Numakaki, meaning People. Like other Native American tribes, they raised corn and other crops, and they hunted and gathered. As early as 1000 CE, the Mandan may have begun to migrate northwestward, up the Missouri River. Eventually, they settled along the upper Missouri near the mouth of the White River on the