Chapter XXV: Account of the Mandan Indians (4)

A great many Mandans and Manitaries believe that they have wild animals in their body; one, for instance, affirmed he had a buffalo calf, the kicking of which he often felt; others said they had tortoises, frogs, lizards, birds, and so forth. Among the Manitaries we saw medicine dances of the women, where one pretended that she had a head of maize in her body, which she cast out by dancing, and then ate, after it had been mixed with wormwood. Another discharged blood, but of this we shall speak in the sequel. Similar feats are seen among the Mandans also. They likewise relate a number of foolish stories of miraculous and supernatural events. Thus, a girl refused to marry, and had no intercourse with the other sex. One night, while she was asleep, a man lay down by her side, on which she awoke, and saw him go away in a white buffalo robe. As he returned on the two succeeding nights, she resolved to mark him, and stained her hand with red. He appeared, and she gave him a blow, with her hand, on his back, not being able to hold him. On the following day she examined all the robes in the whole village, but could not find the mark of her hand, till at length she discovered it on the back of a large white dog. Some months after, as the Indians are fully persuaded, she was delivered of seven young dogs. The people consider owls as medicine birds, and pretend to hold conversations with them, and to understand their attitudes and voices; often, indeed, they keep these animals alive in their huts, and look upon them as soothsayers. I shall, subsequently, have occasion to speak of the manner in which they catch all kinds of birds of prey, which feed on the flesh of dead animals, particularly eagles, which they sometimes preserve alive. They frequently look upon them as medicine.

{384} Many instruments used by the Whites, especially mathematical, are a great medicine, or charm, in their eyes, because they do not comprehend the use of them. Thus, the Indian women were frequently embarrassed when we looked at them through a telescope, because they believed that we had the power of penetrating their inmost thoughts, and of discovering their past and future actions.

The division of time, especially that of the year into months, is pretty conformable to nature; they count the years by winters, and say so many winters have passed since such an event. They are able to reckon the winters either by numbers, or on their fingers, for their numerals are very complete.

1. The month of the seven cold days, answering to our January.

2. The pairing month--February.

3. The month of weak eyes--March.

4. The month of game. Some call it the month of the wild geese.
It is likewise often called the month of the breaking-up of the
ice--April.

5. The month in which maize is sown, or the month of
flowers--May.

6. The month of ripe service berries.

7. The month of ripe cherries.

8. The month of ripe plums.

9. The month of ripe maize.

10. The month of the falling leaves.

11. The month in which the rivers freeze.

12. The month of slight frost.[308]

Here and there other names are given to the months, but the above are the most common.

The chief occupations of the Indians, besides adorning and painting their persons, looking in the glass, smoking, eating, and sleeping, are the chase and war, and these fill up a great part of their time. The principal beast of chase is the buffalo, or, rather, the buffalo cow. The men generally go hunting in a body, on horseback, in order to be the more secure against a superior force of their enemies. The equipments of their horses are much like those of the Blackfeet, and their saddle resembles the Hungarian; though, now, they sometimes obtain saddles from the Whites, which they line and ornament with red and blue cloth. In riding, they never leave hold of their whip, the handle of which is made of wood, and not of elk's horn, as among the more western nations. They never wear spurs. In the summer time, if the herds of buffaloes are dispersed to great distances in the prairie, the chase, of course, requires more time and exertion; but in winter, when they approach the Missouri, and seek shelter in the woods, a great number are {385} often killed in a short time.[309] On these hunting excursions the Indians often spend eight or ten days; generally they return on foot, while the horses are laden with the spoil.[310] The buffaloes are usually shot with arrows, the hunters riding within ten or twelve paces of them. If it is very cold, and the buffaloes keep at a distance in the prairie (which happened in the winter of 1833-34), they hunt but little, and would rather suffer hunger, or live only on maize and beans, than use any exertion; and when, towards spring, many drowned buffaloes float down the river with the ice, the Indians swim or leap with great dexterity over the flakes of ice, draw the animals to land, and eat the half putrid flesh, without manifesting any signs of disgust. It is remarkable how instantly their famished dogs know and take advantage of the hunting excursions of their masters. When the horses return laden with the spoils of the chase, the children in the village utter a cry of joy, of which the dogs seem perfectly to understand the import, for they simultaneously set up a loud howl, run towards the prairie, the scene of the chase, and partake, with their relations, the wolves, of what the hunters have left behind. When a hunter has killed an animal, he generally eats the liver, the kidneys, and the marrow of the large thigh bones, raw. If an Indian has procured some game he usually shares it with others. The entrails and skin always belong to the person who shot the animal. If an eminent man, who has performed some exploit, comes up when the animal has been just killed, and demands the tongue, or some other good part, it cannot be refused him. Dogs are not employed in hunting by the Mandans and Manitaries. They shoot deer and elks in the forests, antelopes and bighorns in the prairies, the Black Hills, and the neighbouring mountains. They make parks, as they are called, to catch antelopes, but not buffaloes. Brackenridge says, that the Indians drive the antelopes into the water and kill them with clubs;[311] but this can only have happened in isolated places when some accident gave them the opportunity. The Manitaries make these cabri parks more frequently than the Mandans. They choose a valley, between two hills, which ends in a steep declivity. On the summit of the hills, two converging lines, one or two miles in length, are marked out with brushwood. Below the declivity they erect a kind of fence, fifteen or twenty paces in length, composed of poles, covered and filled up with hay and brushwood. A number of horsemen then drive the cabris between the ends of the lines marked out by the brushwood, which are very distant from each other, and ride rapidly towards them. The terrified animals hasten down the hollow, and at length leap into the enclosure, where they are killed with clubs, or taken alive.[312] There are not many bears in this country; and the Indians are not fond of hunting them, because it is often dangerous, and the flesh, when roasted, is not very good. Brackenridge is mistaken when he says, that these Indians always shout before they enter the forest, in order to frighten the bears.[313] If they did so they would, at the same time, frighten all other kinds of animals, and we see at once, from this statement, that that traveller was no sportsman.

{386} The wolf and the fox are sometimes shot with a gun, as well as the white hare, in the winter time, or they are caught in traps. They set for the wolves very strong traps. The prairie wolf is not easily caught, being very cautious. Foxes are caught in small traps, which are covered with brushwood and buffaloes' skulls, to conceal them. Many such traps are seen everywhere in the prairies, which are surrounded with small stakes, that the animals may not enter them sideways. Beavers are now caught, in great numbers, in iron traps, which they procure from the Whites. Small animals, such as the ermine, are caught with horse-hair springes, set before their burrows. The manner in which birds of prey are caught is said to be very remarkable. The birdcatcher lies down at full length in a narrow pit made on purpose, and exactly large enough to hold him. As soon as he has lain down, the pit is covered with brushwood and hay, pieces of meat are laid upon it, and a crow, or some such bird, fastened to it. The eagle, or other bird of prey, is said to descend, and to sit down, in order to eat, on which the birdcatcher seizes it by the legs. I would not believe this had not men worthy of credit given me their word for it. In this manner they catch the eagle, called, by the English, the war-eagle, and the golden eagle (_Aquila chrysaetos_), the Quiliou, or _oiseau de medicine_, of the Canadians, which I was not so fortunate as to meet with, and which they highly value, as I have already stated.[314]

Next to the chase, war is the chief employment of the Indians, and military glory the highest object of their ambition. It is well known that Indian bravery is very different from that of the Whites; for wilfully to expose themselves to the enemy's fire would, in their eyes, not be bravery, but folly. Cunning and stratagem give them the advantage over the enemy; their strength lies in concealing their march, and surprises at daybreak. He who kills many enemies without sustaining any loss is the best warrior.

When a young man desires to establish his reputation in the field, he fasts for four or seven days, as long as his strength permits him, goes alone to the hills, complains and cries to the lord of life, calls incessantly to the higher powers for their aid, and only goes home, sometimes, in the evening, to sleep. A dream suggests his medicine to him. If the lord of life makes him dream of a piece of cherry-tree wood, or of an animal, it is a good omen. The young men who take the field with him have then confidence in his medicine. If he can perform an exploit his reputation is established. But whatever exploits he may perform, he acquires no respect if he does not make valuable presents; and they say of him, "He has indeed performed many exploits, but yet he is as much to be pitied as those whom he has killed." A man may have performed many exploits, and yet not be allowed to wear tufts of hair on his clothes, unless he carries a medicine pipe, and has been the leader of a war party. When a young man, who has never performed an exploit, is the first to kill an enemy on a warlike expedition, he paints a spiral line round his arm, of whatever colour he pleases, and he may then wear a whole wolf's tail at the ankle or heel of one foot. If he has first killed and touched the {387} enemy he paints a line running obliquely round the arms and another crossing it in the opposite direction, with three transverse stripes. On killing the second enemy he paints his left leg (that is, the leggin) of a reddish-brown. If he kills the second enemy before another is killed by his comrades, he may wear two entire wolves' tails at his heels. On his third exploit he paints two longitudinal stripes on his arms, and three transverse stripes. This is the exploit that is esteemed the highest; after the third exploit no more marks are made. If he kills an enemy after others of the party have done the same, he may wear on his heel one wolf's tail, the tip of which is cut off. In every numerous war party there are four leaders (partisans, karokkanakah), sometimes, seven, but only four are reckoned as the real partisans; the others are called bad partisans (karokkanakah-chakohosch, literally, _partisans galeux_).[315] All partisans carry on their backs a medicine pipe in a case, which other warriors dare not have. To become a chief (Numakschi) a man must have been a partisan, and then kill an enemy when he is not a partisan. If he follows another partisan for the second time, he must have first discovered the enemy, have killed one, and then possessed the hide of a white buffalo cow complete, with the horns, to pretend to the title of chief (Numakschi). Dipauch, who related these particulars, had himself done all these, and was an eminent man among his people, but had never assumed that title. He had given five horses for his white buffalo hide. All the warriors wear small war pipes round their necks, which are often very elegantly ornamented with porcupine quills.[316]

As soon as they advance to attack the enemy every one sounds his pipe, and all together utter the war whoop, a shrill cry, which they render tremulous by repeatedly and suddenly striking the mouth with the hand. Those who fast and dream, in order to perform an exploit, are entitled to wear a wolf's skin. A warrior has a right to wear as many eagles' feathers as he has performed exploits. All Indians, on their military expeditions, erect, in the evening, a sort of fort, in which they are, in some measure, secure against a sudden attack. In Major Long's expedition to the Rocky Mountains, it is stated, that they often make _caches_ (hiding-places) in these forts; but we did not observe any such on the Missouri.[317] The Indians, on their expeditions, always set a watch by night as soon as they are near the enemy, and often send out scouts to considerable distances. At such a post the Indians are very vigilant and active; after an engagement they do not bury the dead, but, if they have not time to carry them away, leave them on the spot where they fell. The scalps, called, by the Canadians, _les chevelures_, are often preserved for a long time stretched upon small hoops, and the hair is afterwards used as an ornament to the dress of the men. The skin of the scalp is generally painted red. The Mandans, Manitaries, and Crows, never torture their prisoners like the Pawnees and the eastern nations. When a prisoner has arrived at the village, and eaten maize, he is considered as one of their own nation, and no person ever thinks of molesting him. Often, however, the women hasten out to meet {388} the prisoners ere they reach the village, and kill them; this is especially an act of revenge for their husbands or sons who may have fallen in the battle.

When a young man desires to become a leader, or partisan, he first gains, by gifts, the favour of the other young men, and then dedicates a medicine pipe, which is a plain, unornamented tube. This ceremony is accomplished by a four days' fast, and supplications for assistance to the lord of life, the first man, &c. &c., and other supernatural beings. He then addresses the young men, and calls upon them to give him their support in his undertakings. If a sufficient number testify their readiness to accompany him in a warlike expedition, and such an expedition is determined upon, they dance and feast in the medicine lodge for several successive nights, from whence, too, they generally march off by night.

The women never accompany these expeditions. On setting out the men are badly clothed, and not painted. They do not depart in a body, but, for the most part, singly, or in small detached parties. At a certain distance from the village they halt upon an isolated hill, open their medicine bags, and, after the men have sat down in a circle, the partisan produces his medicine pipe, which all present smoke; the person who smokes last, then spreads his medicines on the ground, or hangs them up, and from them foretells the fate of the expedition. The Indians manifest much gravity and decorum on solemn occasions like these.

When the warriors return from their expedition, the scalps are carried on in advance, on high poles: if they have performed any exploits, they paint their faces black; very frequently the whole body is thus disfigured. The women and children go out to meet them, and they enter the village performing the scalp dance. This dance is then repeated four successive nights in the medicine lodge, and is subsequently danced in the open space, in the centre of the village. If the campaign took place in the spring, it is danced, at intervals, till the fall of the leaf in autumn; if in the autumn, it is danced till spring, but should any of the nation be killed in the interim all festivities immediately cease. In the scalp dance the Indians paint themselves in various ways, form a semicircle, advance, and retreat amid the din of singing, the beating of the drum and schischikué. The wives of those men who have obtained the scalps carry them on long rods.[318]

All the distinguished deeds performed by a war party are placed to the account of the partisan. All the scalps that are taken belong to him, and also the horses that they have captured. He who has killed an enemy is a brave man, and reckons one exploit; but the partisan rises the highest on that account, even though he had not seen any of the enemies who have been slain. When he returns home, the old men and women meet, and sing the scalp song, on which he must make them all presents of value. He gives away all the captured horses, and valuable articles, and is afterwards a poor man, but his reputation is great. Successful partisans afterwards become chiefs, and are highly respected by their nation. The Indian youths go to war when they are only fourteen or fifteen years of age. Sometimes they make excursions on horseback in the winter.

{389} The Mandans and Manitaries make excursions as far as the Rocky Mountains, against their enemies, the Blackfeet, and against the Chippeways, to the country of Pembina.[319] Their other enemies are the Sioux, the Arikkaras, the Assiniboins, and the Chayennes (spelt, by the English, Shiennes). They are at peace with the Crows.

The weapons of the Mandans and Manitaries are, first, the bow and arrow. The bows are made of elm or ash, there being no other suitable kinds of wood in their country. In form and size they resemble those of the other nations; the string is made of the sinews of animals twisted. They are frequently ornamented. A piece of red cloth, four or five inches long, is wound round each end of the bow, and adorned with glass beads, dyed porcupine quills, and strips of white ermine. A tuft of horse-hair, dyed yellow, is usually fastened to one end of the bow. Pehriska-Ruhpa has such a weapon in his hand.[320] The quiver, to which the bow-case is fastened, is made of panther or buffalo skin; in the first case, with the hair outwards, the long tail hanging down, and, as among the Blackfeet, lined with red cloth, and embroidered in various figures with white beads. Their handsome quivers are made of otter skin, which are much esteemed. A very beautifully ornamented one, belonging to the Crows, is represented.[321] Narrow strips of skin hang down at both ends of the quiver. The arrows of the Mandans and Manitaries are neatly made; the best wood is said to be that of the service berry (_Amelanchier sanguinea_). The arrows of all the Missouri nations are much alike,[322] with long, triangular, very sharp, iron heads, which they themselves make out of old iron: it is but slightly glued to the shaft of the arrow, which is rather short, and generally remains in the body of the wounded animal. They know nothing of poisoning their arrows. The arrow-heads were formerly made of sharp stones: when Charbonneau first came to the Missouri, some made of flint were in use, and in the villages they are still met with, and in all those parts of the United States where the expelled or extirpated aborigines formerly dwelt. We were told that, in the prairie, near the Manitari villages, there is a sand hill, where the wind has uncovered a great number of such stone arrow-heads. Almost all the Mandans and Manitaries now have guns, which they ornament with bits of red cloth, on the brass rings of the ramrod, and at the butt-end {390} with brass nails. Besides the ramrod belonging to the gun, the Indians always carry another long ramrod in their hands, which they generally use. The pouch is made of leather, or cloth, often beautifully ornamented with beads, or porcupine quills, and is hung on the back by a piece of skin, or a broad strip of cloth of some lively colour. Their clubs and tomahawks are of various kinds. Many have a thick egg-shaped stone fastened to a handle, covered with leather, or without leather.[323] Others have small iron tomahawks,[324] but not tomahawks with pipes fixed to them. The large club with the broad iron point[325] is called manha-okatanha, or mauna-schicha. A simple, knotty, wooden club is called mauna-panischa.[326]

Many Mandans likewise carry lances, and I was told that they had a remarkably handsome one, of which, however, I did not obtain a sight. These Indians have shields, which do not differ from those of the tribes already mentioned. They all wear, in their girdle, behind, their large knife, which is indispensable to them in hunting and in war. Some use, for the handle of the knife, the lower jaw of a bear, with the hair and teeth remaining.[327] The bow and arrows are, even now, much esteemed by all the nations living on the Missouri, while those that have been entirely driven from that river (the Osages) greatly prefer the gun; the former, therefore, are capital archers, which cannot be affirmed of the Osages. The Mandans and Manitaries are said to fight well in their manner, and there have been frequent instances of individual bravery. One of their most distinguished warriors, at this time, is Mato-Topé, of whom we shall often have to speak in the sequel. He has killed more than five chiefs of other nations. The father of Mato-Topé, whose name was Suck-Schih (the handsome child), behaved exactly {391} in the same manner as the Manitari chief, Kokoahkis, mentioned by Say.[328] He went, one evening, wrapped up in his robe, into a hut of the hostile Arikkaras, as the young men of the village often do, ate with his face covered, so that he was taken for a young Arikkara; then laid himself down by the side of a woman, and afterwards cut off a lock of her hair, with which he retired. He might have killed the woman, as Kokoahkis did, but refrained from doing so.

Wounds appear to be healed with remarkable ease. In cases of arrow wounds, they like to force the arrow quite through, that the iron head may not remain in the wound. Men and women are often scalped, in battle, who afterwards come to themselves, and are cured. Such a large wound on the head is rubbed with fat; the medicine man fumigates it, singing at the same time. Disorders are not uncommon among the Indians. The Mandans and Manitaries often suffer from diseases in the eyes; many are one-eyed, or have a tunicle over one eye. In inflammation of the eye they have a custom of scratching the inner eye with the leaf of a kind of grass, resembling a saw, which causes them to bleed very much, and this may often occasion the loss of the eye. Rheumatism, coughs, and the like, are frequent, because they go half naked in the severest cold, and plunge into ice water. Much benefit is often derived from their steam-baths, in a well closed hut, where a thick steam is produced by pouring water on hot stones. They then immediately go into the cold, roll themselves in the snow, or plunge into a river covered with drifting ice, but do not return to a warm hut, as the Russians do. Many Indians are said to have died on the spot by trying this remedy. Some suffer from gout; but all who survive these violent remedies are stronger and more hardy. Another remedy is trampling on the whole body, especially the stomach, as is practised also among the Brazilians. This operation is performed with such violence, as often to occasion hard swellings in the intestines, or ulcers, especially in the liver. The steam-bath is used as a remedy in all kinds of disorders. Vaccination, the application of which met with no difficulties among several nations on the great lakes, especially the Chippeways, is not yet practised among the Mandans and Manitaries. Spitting of blood is said to be frequent, but not pulmonary consumption. Gonorrhoea is very common; they affirm that all venereal disorders come to them from the Crows beyond the Rocky Mountains. For such disorders they often seat themselves over a heated pot, but very frequently burn themselves. They cut open buboes, lengthwise, with a knife, and then run for a couple of miles as fast as they can. The jaundice is said not to occur among them. It appears that they are not acquainted with emetics, but, if they feel anything wrong in the stomach, they thrust a feather down the throat, and thus produce vomiting. Their purgatives are obtained from the vegetable kingdom. The poison-vine often produces swellings, especially in children. As rattlesnakes are rare in the vicinity of the villages, it is, of course, seldom that any one is bitten by them; these Indians are said, however, to have very good remedies against the bite. Frozen limbs are rubbed with snow. {392} When blindness arises from the dazzling brightness of the snow, which it very frequently does in March, they bathe the eyes with a solution of gunpowder and water. They often have recourse to bleeding, which they perform with a sharp flint, or a knife. They often apply to the Whites for medicine, and willingly follow their prescriptions. These Indians have also various remedies for their horses; thus, when a horse has the strangury, they give it a piece of a wasp's nest.

When a Mandan or Manitari dies, they do not let the corpse remain long in the village; but convey it to the distance of 200 paces, and lay it on a narrow stage, about six feet long, resting on four stakes about ten feet high, the body being first laced up in buffalo robes and a blanket.[329] The face, painted red, is turned towards the east. A number of such stages are seen about their villages, and, although they themselves say that this custom is injurious to the health of the villages, they do not renounce it. On many of these stages there are small boxes, containing the bodies of children wrapped in cloth or skins. Ravens are usually seen sitting on these stages, and the Indians dislike that bird, because it feeds on the flesh of their relations. If you ask a Mandan why they do not deposit their dead in the ground, he answers--"The lord of life has, indeed, told us that we came from the ground, and should return to it again; yet we have lately begun to lay the bodies of the dead on stages, because we love them, and would weep at the sight of them." They believe that every person has several spirits dwelling in him; one of these spirits is black, another brown, and another light-coloured, the latter of which alone returns to the lord of life. They think that after death they go to the south, to several villages which are often visited by the gods; that the brave and most eminent go to the village of the good, but the wicked into a different one; that they there live in the same manner as they do here, carry on occupations, eat the same food, have wives, and enjoy the pleasures of the chase and war. Those who are kind-hearted are supposed to make many presents and do good, find everything in abundance, and their existence there is dependent on their course of life while in the world.[330] Some of the inhabitants of the Mandan villages are said not to believe all these particulars, and suppose that after death they will live in the sun or in a certain star.

They mourn for the dead a whole year; cut off their hair, cover their body and head with white or grey clay, and often, with a knife or sharp flint, make incisions in their arms and legs in parallel lines, in their whole length, so that they are covered with blood. For some days after death the relations make a loud lament and bewailing. Often a relative, or some other friend, covers the dead, as they express it: he brings one or two woollen cloths, of a red, blue, white, or green colour, and, as soon as the body is laid on the stage, mounts upon the scaffolding, and conceals the body beneath the covering. A friend who will do this is, in token of respect, presented, by the family of the deceased, with a horse. If it is known beforehand that a person intends doing this honour to the dead, a horse is at once tied near the stage, and the friend, having performed {393} this last office, unties the animal and leads it away. If a Mandan or Manitari falls in battle, and the news of his death reaches the family, who are unable to recover the body, a buffalo skin is rolled up and carried to the village. All those who desire to lament the deceased assemble, and many articles of value are distributed among them. The mourners cut off their hair, wound themselves with knives, and make loud lamentations. Joints of the fingers are not cut off here, as among the Blackfeet, as a token of mourning, but as signs of penance and offering to the lord of life and the first man.[331]

_a._ Scaffolds for the dead, and poles with offerings. Plates
14 and 25 (see accompanying atlas, our volume xxv).
_b._ The Mandan village--Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush.
_c._ The open space in the centre of the village.
_d._ The ark of the first man.
_e._ The stream in which the dishes are washed.]

The English and French find the pronunciation of the Mandan language extremely difficult; while to a German, or a Dutchman, it is considerably easier, because it contains very many gutturals, like _ach_, _och_, _uch_, in German. The nasal sounds, on the contrary, are few, but they frequently speak in a very indistinct way, having the mouth scarcely opened. The vowels are often softened, and much depends on the way in which the accent falls. The vowels _a_ and _u_ are often only half pronounced, but occur very frequently. I collected many words, as specimens of the language, and wrote down phrases, and made an attempt to compile a grammar of the Mandan language, but the completion of it was, unfortunately, hindered by unfavourable circumstances.[332] Several old persons assured me that they perfectly remembered that, in their youth, many resemblances between the Mandan and Manitari languages did not then exist, which have since gradually crept in; the two languages being then quite different, which, indeed, they are still, in the main. As nations and allies, however, they have reciprocally adopted many words and expressions, and hence there is a better understanding among them now than heretofore, and their intercourse is greatly facilitated. Time will, undoubtedly, produce a still closer approximation.[333] It is a remarkable fact, and proves how easily the separation of single tribes, and even villages, of one and the same nation, leads to changes in the language, and transitions into other dialects. An example of this kind was presented in the two Mandan villages, where many diversities of language had already taken place. I collected several specimens of this kind, and, to me, it was highly interesting. The Mandans are more apt in learning foreign languages than many other nations. Thus, the majority of them speak the Manitari language, whereas but few of the latter understand the Mandan language. Most of the American nations, at least, those on the Missouri, are said to have no maledictory words or terms of abuse; the Mandans have nothing of the kind but the expression--"bad people." The article is wanting in the Mandan language, and there is no distinction of gender, except in addressing a man or a woman. For my observations on the Mandan language, I am chiefly indebted to the kindness and patience of Mr. Kipp, who had lived eleven years among that people, had married an Indian wife, and had attained a perfect knowledge of the language. The Mandan names always have a signification, and are often equivalent to whole sentences: all surrounding objects are made use of in giving {394} names. I subjoin a few singular specimens: "The bear which is a spirit;" "The bull which is a spirit;" "I hear somebody coming;" "There are seven of them married to old women," &c.

In conclusion I would say that some have affirmed that they have found, in North America, Indians who spoke the Gaelic language; this has been said of the Mandans; but it has long been ascertained that this notion is unfounded, as well as the assertion that the Mandans had a fairer complexion than the other Indians.[334]

FOOTNOTES:

[207] Maximilian must have been misinformed in regard to the Canadian-French form for the name of this tribe. Probably the earliest account is that of La Vérendrye, who visited them in 1738-39. See Douglas Brymner, _Canadian Archives_, 1889, pp. 2-29, for the journal of this expedition. La Vérendrye had been informed by the Assiniboin, that the Mandan, whom he called "Mantannes," were a different race from the Indians; he was therefore disappointed when upon meeting them he discovered their similarity to other known tribesmen. He was conducted in much state to their villages, of which there were five along the Missouri, and remained among them several weeks, reaching his fort on the Assiniboin January 10, 1739, upon the return journey.--ED.

[208] There is evidence both from the number of deserted Mandan villages on the Missouri, and from the accounts of the early travellers--and this accords with Mandan tradition--that the numbers of the tribe had formerly been larger and their villages more numerous; Bougainville, in his _Mémoire sur la Nouvelle France_ (1757), cited in _Northern and Western Boundaries Ontario_ (Toronto, 1878), p. 83, speaks of seven fortified villages; and David Thompson, who visited them in 1797-98, found the same number. Lewis and Clark reported that forty years before their visit, there had been nine, and that the population had wasted before the attacks of the Sioux and the ravages of smallpox.--ED.

[209] La Vérendrye (_Canadian Archives_, 1889, p. 5) gives their aboriginal name as Ouachipouanne.--ED.

[210] Warden is mistaken when he says (Vol. III. p. 559), that the Mandans are descended from the Crows; for this is applicable to the Manitaries, of whom we shall speak afterward.--MAXIMILIAN.

[211] For Heart River see our volume v, p. 148, note 91. The modern North Dakota town of Mandan takes its name from the traditional Mandan village near its site.--ED.

[212] Lewis and Clarke write this name Rooptahee, which is incorrect. (See Account of their Journey, Vol. I. p. 120.) These celebrated travellers passed the winter among the Mandans, and give many particulars respecting them, which, on the whole, are correct; but their proper names and words from the Mandan and Manitari languages are, in general, inaccurately understood and written. It is said, they derived their information from a person named Jessáume, who spoke the language very imperfectly, as we were assured everywhere on the Missouri. Of this kind are many of the names mentioned by those travellers, which neither the Indians nor the Whites were able to understand; for instance, Ahnahaways (Vol. I. p. 115), a people who are said to have formerly dwelt between the Mandans and the Manitaries; likewise Mahawha, where the Arwacahwas lived (_ibid._); the fourth village is said to have been called Metaharta, and to have been inhabited by Manitaries (_ibid._); of all these names, except, perhaps, Mahawha, which ought probably to be Machaha, nobody could give us the slightest information, not even Charbonneau, though he has lived here so many years. It is necessary to be much on your guard against bad interpreters, and I acted in this respect with much caution. All the information given by me, respecting Indian words and names, was carefully written down from the statements of sensible, well-informed men of these nations. I have endeavoured to write down their language exactly, according to its real pronunciation, in doing which, the German guttural sounds were of great assistance to me, as it is that of the Missouri Indians. Mr. Kipp and Charbonneau, with some of the others who have lived long among these Indians, daily assisted me, during a long winter, with much patience and kindness, in this work.--MAXIMILIAN.

[213] See Dr. Morse's Report, p. 252. He speaks (p. 349) of the Mandans, Blackfeet, Rapid (Fall) Indians, and Assiniboins. His tables of the Indian population of the United States are in page 362.--MAXIMILIAN.

[214] Say, who, in general, gives a very accurate description of the North American Indians (see Major Long's Travels), lays too much stress, as it appears to me, on the character of the receding of the forehead; for, by a comparison of a great many skulls, I have fully convinced myself of the contrary. Say affirmed, also, that the facial angle is not so small as Professor Blumenbach supposes. The Indian features, as far as my experience reaches, cannot be called either Mongol or Malay, the latter of which is more perceptible in the Brazilians, notwithstanding the manifest affinity with the North Americans. The learned traveller, Augustus de St. Hilaire, even attributes to the Brazilians a conformation of the skull, according to which those people are endowed with inferior intellectual faculties. (See Voyages dans les Districts de Diamande). The missionary, Parker, in his Travels to the Columbia River, p. 155, expresses himself, in this respect, entirely in accordance with my views; and D'Orbigny confirms them in respect to the South Americans, in the conformation of whose skulls he found considerable diversities.--MAXIMILIAN.

[215] La Vérendrye (_Canadian Archives_, 1889, p. 21) says, "This nation is mixed white and black. The women are fairly good-looking, especially the white, many with blond and fair hair." All later travellers, also, note the presence of grey eyes and hair among the Mandan. If this arose from admixture with Caucasians, it probably was due to French _coureurs des bois_, who ranged far among the Western tribes. See, however, on this subject, Matthews, _Hidatsa_, pp. 43-45, who thinks fairness of skin but a variation of the usual Indian type.--ED.

[216] François le Vaillant (1753-1824) was born in Dutch Guiana, where his father held an official position. Returned to Holland at the age of ten, he completed his education in Paris, and embarked (1780) for the exploration of Africa. His two journeys lasted five years, but their results were more valuable to the other natural sciences than to geographic discovery. He published _Voyages dans l'interior de l'Afrique_ (Paris, 1790-96).

François Péron (1775-1810), a younger naturalist, served first in the Revolutionary armies (1792-95). In 1800-04 he accompanied Baudin on his voyage to Southern lands and waters, publishing the results as _Voyage de découvertes aux terres australes_ (Paris, 1811-16). His collections of natural history, both plants and animals, were noted.--ED.

[217] Haec deformitas a viris ipsis ut dicunt, tractibus sæpe repetitis producitur. In nonnullis labia externa in orbem tres ad quatuor digitis transversos prominent; in aliis labia interna valde pendent; immo virorum ars in partibus ipsis figuras artificiose fictas format.

Foemina hac raritate curens parvi oestimata, et neglecta est.

Moris est in Mandans, Moennitarris, et in Crows, magis autem in Moennitarris; in Mandans, a mulieribus dissolutis, magis quam ab uxoribus hic mos perversus adhibitur.--MAXIMILIAN.

[218] Volney has many inaccuracies in what he says of the colour of the Indians (Vol. II. p. 435). According to him, the children are born quite white like the Europeans; that the women are white on the thighs, hips, and lower parts of the body, where the skin is covered by the clothing; that it is wholly erroneous to suppose that the copper colour is natural to them, &c. Mr. Von Humboldt has long since refuted all these assertions.--MAXIMILIAN.

[219] See p. 267 for plan of hand looking-glass.--ED.

[220] See Plate 50, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.--ED.

[221] Such feathers are represented in Plate 54, figures 13, 14, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.--ED.

[222] See Plate 46, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv, "which," Maximilian says, "is the best representation hitherto given of it."--ED.

[223] See his portrait, Plate 47, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.--ED.

[224] See journal of La Vérendrye, _Canadian Archives_, 1889, p. 13: "I acknowledged that I was surprised [upon meeting the Mandan], expecting to see a different people from the other Indians, especially after the account given me. There is no difference from the Assiniboines; they are naked, covered only with a buffalo robe, worn carelessly without a breech clout."--ED.

[225] There is a print of such a robe in Major Long's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, and another in Plate 54, Fig. 1., of my atlas [See our volume xxv]. The original was painted by Mato-Topé himself, and the figures on it represent some of his principal exploits, in which he killed, with his own hand, five chiefs of different nations.--MAXIMILIAN.

_Comment by Ed._ See James's _Long's Expedition_, in our volume xiv, p. 202. See also group of painted robes in Catlin, _North American Indians_, ii, pp. 240-249; on the entire subject see Garrick Mallery, "Picture Writing of American Indians," in Bureau of Ethnology _Report_, 1888-89.

[226] For description of this ornament see our volume xiv, p. 235.--ED.

[227] See our volume xv, p. 71.--ED.

[228] The early travellers speak of the fortifications of the Mandan villages. La Vérendrye (_Canadian Archives_, 1889, p. 17) mentions "ramparts" and "trenches." Bougainville (_Northern and Western Boundaries of Ontario_, p. 83) says the villages are surrounded by staked earthworks with a moat; Catlin (_North American Indians_, i, p. 81) describes this village as picketed upon one side only--that exposed to the prairie.--ED.

[229] See p. 267 for illustration of this peculiar cylinder of planks, used as a religious emblem. Catlin, _North American Indians_, i, p. 88, says it was called the "Big Canoe."--ED.

[230] See p. 267 for illustration of Mandan huts. Alexander Henry (_Henry-Thompson Journals_, i, pp. 337-339) gives an account of the process of building these huts. The Mandan houses were the most elaborate Indian dwellings north of New Mexico, and characterized the tribal stage of industrial development. The energy required to cut and prepare the timbers with the rude implements in vogue, indicates an advance upon the industry of the wandering prairie tribes. See L. H. Morgan, "Houses and House Life of American Aborigines," in Geographical and Geological Survey of the Territories, _Contributions to Ethnology_, 1881, iv, pp. 125-130. A few of these huts may still be seen on the Fort Berthold reservation, North Dakota. See O. D. Wheeler, "Last of the Mandans," in _Wonderland_, 1903, who suggests that these Mandan dwellings were the forerunners of the sod-houses of the early settlers.--ED.

[231] See Bodmer's drawing of the interior of the hut of Dipauch, Plate 52, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.--ED.

[232] See p. 285 for illustration of a Mandan bed. La Vérendrye (_Canadian Archives_, 1889, p. 21) speaks of these beds as "made like tombs surrounded with skins." Catlin gave a more detailed description, in _North American Indians_, i, pp. 82, 83. A buffalo skin stretched upon the poles, with the fur side uppermost, made a comfortable reclining place. The curtains were frequently adorned with Indian embroidery or picture writing.--ED.

[233] See our volume xiv, pp. 188-190, 208.--ED.

[234] It was into these caches, which he speaks of as "caves," that La Vérendrye's bag of Indian presents disappeared upon his first visit to their villages in 1738-39; _Canadian Archives_, 1889, p. 17. Furthermore he says (p. 21), "Their fort is full of caves, in which are stored such articles as grain, food, fat, dressed robes, bear skins."--ED.

[235] For such a sledge drawn by dogs see Plate 29, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.--ED.

[236] See Plate 54, figure 4, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.--ED.

[237] See p. 247 for drawing of head of this animal.--ED.

[238] See p. 105 for illustration of a horn drinking-cup or spoon.--ED.

[239] I brought to Europe specimens of the several kinds of maize grown among the Mandans; these have been sown, but only the early species were ripe in September, 1835. The heads have by no means attained the same size, on the Rhine, as in their native country. There the plant attains a height of five or six feet, and the colours of the grains are very various, bright, and beautiful: while, on the Rhine, the plant grew to the height of four or four and a half feet. The later sorts grew to the height of ten feet, and were not quite ripe at the end of October. (See Bradbury, [our volume v, p. 158, note 96], for an account of the maize of the Mandans.)

According to Tanner (page 180), an Ottowa Indian first introduced the cultivation of maize on the Red River, among the Ojibuas, or Chippeways.--MAXIMILIAN.

[240] La Vérendrye presumably first introduced the tobacco of the whites to these people. Upon first meeting the Mandan chief, he "presented me with a gift of Indian corn in the ear, and of their tobacco in rolls, which is not good, as they do not know how to cure it like us. It is very like ours, with this difference, that it is not cultivated and is cut green, everything being turned to account, the stalks and leaves together. I gave him some of mine, which he thought very good."--ED.

[241] For a good description of pemmican see Franchère's _Narrative_, our volume vi, p. 380, note 197.--ED.

[242] The only form of cannibalism practiced among the North American Indians, after they were known to the whites, was the custom of eating the heart or the flesh of a brave enemy, in order to acquire the victim's courage or other desirable qualities. As torture of prisoners was more common among Eastern than Western tribes, this practice may be the one referred to by Maximilian. Consult Livingston Farrand, _Basis of American History_ (New York, 1904), pp. 226, 243.--ED.

[243] Catlin (_North American Indians_, i, pp. 118-120) finds apologies for the custom of polygamy, which he says is chiefly confined to the chiefs and medicine men of the tribe.--ED.

[244] Lewis and Clark describe this process of primitive bead-making, related to them by Garreau, the Arikkara interpreter, in _Original Journals_, i, pp. 272-274; see also Catlin, _North American Indians_, ii, p. 261. If the Mandan acquired this art from the Snake Indians, as tradition avers, their pounded glass was probably obsidian from the cliffs of the upper Yellowstone. See also Matthews, _Hidatsa Indians_, pp. 22, 23.--ED.

[245] The Mandan art of ceramics, with its similarity to the productions found in the mounds of the Eastern states, has been frequently noted. Compare _Henry-Thompson Journals_, i, p. 328; Catlin, _North American Indians_, i, p. 116; ii, pp. 260, 261; and W. H. Holmes, "Aboriginal Pottery of the Eastern United States," in United States Bureau of Ethnology _Report_, 1898-99, pp. 197-201, with illustrations.--ED.

[246] See Plate 48, with buffalo boats in the foreground, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv. For a description of the process of making these bull-boats, see _Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition_, v, pp. 325, 326; for a vivid account of the manner of navigating them, see _Henry-Thompson Journals_, i, pp. 331, 332.--ED.

[247] Consult on the subject of courtship and marriage, Catlin, _North American Indians_, i, pp. 120, 121. Matthews, _Hidatsa Indians_, pp. 52-54, claims that the custom of the more reputable families is not mere wife-purchase, but is based upon mutual respect, and the ability of the husband as a hunter and provider.--ED.

[248] Matthews, _Hidatsa Indians_, p. 15, criticises Maximilian for this statement, saying "Why boast of a deed which was no great achievement?" Catlin likewise extols the chastity of girls in respectable families. The evidence of Alexander Henry is in the opposite direction. Consult also Bradbury, in our volume v, p. 166.--ED.

[249] See Plate 54, figure 6, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.--ED.

[250] Consult Matthews, _Hidatsa Indians_, pp. 54-57. Communication with the mother-in-law was formerly considered improper.--ED.

[251] The berdash was noted by most early travellers among Western Indians. Marquette found them among the Illinois (Thwaites, _Jesuit Relations_, lix, p. 129). See also _Henry-Thompson Journals_, i, pp. 53, 348.

For Mc Kenzie see Franchère's _Narrative_, in our volume vi, p. 185, note 4. Tanner is noted in our volume xxii, p. 390, note 367. George Henry, Baron von Langsdorff (1774-1852), was a German scientist and traveller who entered Russian service, making several journeys in the interest of that power. In 1803-07, he visited Kamschatka and Russian America as far as California, returning overland through Siberia. Maximilian here refers to his description of this journey, published first as _Bemerkungen auf einer Reise um die Welt in 1803-07_ (Frankfort, 1812), and translated as _Voyages and Travels in various parts of the World during the years 1803-07_ (London, 1813-14). Langsdorff later visited Brazil under the auspices of the Russian government.--ED.

[252] For these two savants see our volume xxii, notes 27 and 87 respectively.--ED.

[253] See Plate 55, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv, and p. 285 for illustration of Mandan letter in hieroglyphics.--ED.

[254] The dentalium shells were by intertribal exchange brought from the Pacific Ocean; the Mandan prized them so highly that white traders began to import them, and Matthews reports (_Hidatsa_, p. 28) that ten of these shells would buy a superior buffalo robe.--ED.

[255] See the amusing description by Catlin (_North American Indians_, i, pp. 197, 198) of a horse-race in which he participated.--ED.

[256] The following account by Maximilian of the societies or bands among the Mandan is the most complete description by any early traveller, of these peculiar social organizations. J. O. Dorsey, "Omaha Sociology," in United States Bureau of Ethnology _Report_, 1881-82, pp. 342-355, classifies these societies or corporations according to their purpose--as those organized for sacred ends, for bravery or war, or simply for social pleasure. According to Maximilian's account these purposes would appear to be commingled, and several of the bands to have been organized for general police and governmental purposes.--ED.

[257] See our volume xxiv.--ED.

[258] See p. 113 for badge of Raven band.--ED.

[259] See Plate 56, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.--ED.

[260] See Plate 51, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.--ED.

[261] See account of buffalo dance of the Omaha (Dorsey, _op. cit._, in note 256, pp. 347, 348), also in James's _Long's Expedition_, our volume xv, p. 127. This is not the same ceremony as that intended to attract the buffalo, or the buffalo-medicine dance, for which see _post_.--ED.

[262] A similar dance was practiced among the Omaha, by whom it was known as the grizzly bear dance. See Dorsey, _op. cit._, p. 349.--ED.

[263] The bow-lance is a large bow, to one end of which the iron point of a lance is fastened. It serves only for show, and is never used in serious combat. It is very handsomely adorned with eagle's feathers, frequently with red cloth also, and, when completely decorated, is worth from 100 to 250 florins. It descends from father to son, and cannot be obtained except at a high price. Sometimes a horse or more must be given for it.--MAXIMILIAN.

[264] For a representation of this dance see Plate 28, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.--ED.

[265] See our volume xxii, p. 361, for illustrations of Mandan pipes.--ED.

[266] For Indian music compare Bradbury's _Travels_, in our volume v, p. 116, and accompanying note.--ED.

[267] See Dorsey's description of this game, _op. cit._, pp. 337, 338; Catlin also speaks of it as "Tchung-kee," and remarks upon the grace and agility developed by it. For a description of this game as practiced among the Pawnee, see our volume xv, pp. 214, 215.--ED.

[268] See Plate 81, figure 14, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.--ED.

[269] See p. 285 for illustration of a child's dart of stag-horn.--ED.

[270] The hoop and the stick are represented in Plate 81, figure 15, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.--ED.