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The first
known account of the Mandan is that of the French trader, Sieur
de la La Verendrye, in the fall of 1738. McKenzie visited the
Mandan in 1772. Written accounts came from Lewis and Clark who
arrived among the Mandan in the fall of 1804. They furnish only
the location and early condition of the archaeological remains
both of the Mandan and Arikara. Alexander Henry, a trader
for the Northwest Company, came to trade fur with the Mandan
in 1806. After Henry Brackenridge and Bradbury came to
the area together in 1810. They wrote additional information
about the Mandan, but mostly about the Arikara.
The next visitor was the artist, George Catlin, who visited
in the spring of 1833. Maximilian, Prince of Wied-Neuwied, spent
the winter months of 1833-34 among the Mandan. Maximilian may
be recognized as the best of the various authorities. (Will,
Spinden, pp. 86-88). According to McKenzie and Sieur de la La
Verendrye, the nine villages they visited in 1738 and 1772,
were the oldest villages. Verendrye described the Mandan as
being in full power and prosperity. The Mandan had not yet suffered
the losses by disease and war, which caused them to leave these
villages.
Lewis and Clark wrote in their journals on March 10,1805, "The
Mandan's formerly lived in six large villages at and above the
mouth of the Heart River. " Maximilian says, "After
the first alliance with the Hidatsa, the Mandan's lived in eight
or nine villages at and above the Heart River." These
villages were abandoned between 1772 and 1804. (Will, Spinden,
p.90).
The Mandan had a origin narrative of coming out of the earth.
In relating their story to Maximilian, they came from the east
out of the earth and entered the Missouri at the White Earth
River in South Dakota. The eastern origin corresponds with that
of the rest of the Siouxan stock to which the Mandan's, both
linguistically, and to a considerable extent, culturally belong.
The Ohio valley would seem to have served as a point of dispersal
where the Plains members of the Siouxan stock are supposed to
have moved in four successive migrations. The earliest
group to leave consisted apparently of the Mandan, Hidatsa,
and Crow, and of these the Mandan were probably a number of
years ahead of the other tribes.
The Mandan's have vivid recollections of the coming of
the Hidatsa many years later and established fixed villages
on the Heart River. They describe the Hidatsa as a wild
wandering people whom they taught to build stationary villages
and to raise corn, pumpkins and other vegetables, and who soon
moved up to the Knife River. (Will, Spinden, p. 97). In
the earliest historical accounts the Mandan were firmly established
in stationary villages in the neighborhood of the Heart River.
Verendrye says they were a large and powerful nation and feared
none of their neighbors. Their manufactures were almost
necessities among the other tribes, and in trade they were able
to dictate their own terms. Their forts were well fortified.
The smallest village he visited had one hundred and thirty houses.
Verendrye's son visited one of the larger villages, declared
that it was twice as large. There were at least one thousand
houses in several villages. Lewis and Clark declared that
in the two villages of one hundred huts there were three hundred
and fifty warriors. At this rate there should have been
at least fifteen thousand Mandan in 1738 dwelling prosperously
in large and well-fortified towns. (Will, Spinden, p. 99).
The Mandan had created an focal point of trade on the Missouri
River. All of the plains tribes came to barter for agricultural
good and products. Called the "Marketplace of the
Central Plains", the Mandan established what was to be
the forerunner of trading posts that came later to the area.
There is little information for the next sixty-six years.
The Mandan prospered and grew powerful up to 1772. Their
remaining history is summed up in their own tradition as related
to Lewis and Clark and Maximilian. Formerly they lived happily
and prosperously in nine large villages on the Missouri near
the mouth of the Heart River. Six or seven of these villages
were on the west side and two or three were on the east side
of the river. For a great many years they lived there
when one day the smallpox came to those on the east side of
the river. The survivors then proceeded up the river some forty
miles where they settled in one large village. After
the smallpox reduced the villages on the west to five, the five
went up to where the others were, in the neighborhood of some
Arikara, and settle in two villages. A great many Mandan
had died and they were no longer strong and fearless. They made
an alliance with the Arikara against the Sioux. All this happened
before 1796 and is chronicled in Henry and Schoolcraft.
Lewis and Clark found the two villages one on each side and
about fifteen miles below the Knife River. Both villages consisted
of forty to fifty lodges and united could raise about three
hundred and fifty men. Lewis and Clark describe them as
having united with the Hidatsa and engaging in continual warfare
against the Arikara and the Sioux.
The description given by Lewis and Clark agrees with the conditions
two years later when Henry visited them. In 1837, smallpox attacked
them again, raged for many weeks and left only one hundred and
twenty-five survivors. The Mandan's were taken in by the Arikara,
with whom they intermarried. They separated, again forming
a small village of their own at Fort Berthold. In 1850
there were three hundred and eighty- five Mandan, largely of
mixed blood, living. There are only a few of the full-blooded
Mandan left. The culture has changed, the language has
changed, and as a nation the Mandan are practically extinct.
(Will, Spinden, p. 101). In 1700, the entire section of the
Missouri from the Cannonball to the mouth of the Yellowstone
was occupied by groups of Mandan, Hidatsa, and Crow. The
largest villages were near the mouth of Heart River. The
Nuptadi and Nuitadi bands were living on both banks of the Missouri.
The Awigaxa band of Mandan and the Awaxawiband of Hidatsa lived
further upstream at the Painted Woods. All these bands
practiced agriculture and were less nomadic than the Awatixa
band of Hidatsa and the Crow. These groups moved little until
the close of the 18th century, when their populations were sharply
reduced by smallpox and other epidemics. Each village had an
economic unit, hunting and protection for older remaining people,
and each had a garden section. The Mandan were divided into
bands while living at the Heart River. The bands were Is' tope,
meaning "those who tattooed themselves"; Nup'tadi
(does not translate), which was the largest linguistic group;
Ma'nana'r "those who quarreled"; Nu' itadi "our
people"; and Awi' ka-xa (does not translate). These groups
combined as the tribe was decimated with each smallpox epidemic.
(Bowers, 1950).
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