CHAPTER XXV

ACCOUNT OF THE MANDAN INDIANS

In communicating the information contained in the following chapters,

in which I mean to treat especially of some tribes of the aborigines

of North America, I shall take it for granted that the reader is

acquainted with the interesting and important particulars which have

been given us by Messrs. Edwin James, T. Say, and Schoolcraft. Dr. E.

James speaks especially of the origin of the North American Indians, of

their near affinity to each other; of the recently broached hypothesis

of their descent from the Israelites, which he proves to be groundless,

and which is contradicted by the bodily conformation of the Indians,

and also of the injudicious and unjust treatment which they suffer

from the Anglo-Americans. According to him many of the Indian nations

would long since have been converted to the Christian religion, and

have settled in fixed abodes, like the Cherokees, &c., if the earlier

missionaries had better understood the work on which they were sent. It

is notorious that this subject was treated, in early times, with the

most unwarrantable want of discretion, and positive ignorance; that

the greatest injustice was exercised towards the Indian population,

and that, even now, wrongs untold are heaped on this much to be pitied

and oppressed race. A large portion of those nations has entirely

disappeared, and the accounts which have been preserved of them are

extremely imperfect; others are expelled from their native seats, mixed

together in small fragments of various tribes, half degenerated, and

consequently now affording but little that can interest the inquirer.

Such were the Indians whom Volney saw: only to the west and north-west

of the Mississippi may the Indians be yet found in their original

state. Before, however, I speak of them in general, I will describe

more in detail a small tribe which has hitherto been very imperfectly

known.

The Mandans (called by the Canadians, les Mandals),[207] by which name

these Indians are generally known, though it was originally given

them by the Sioux, were formerly a numerous people, who, according to

the narrative of an aged man, lately deceased, inhabited thirteen,

and {335} perhaps more villages.[208] They call themselves Numangkake

(_i. e._, men), and if they wish to particularize their descent, they

add the name of the village whence they came originally.[209] Some,

for instance, call themselves Sipuske-Numangkake, the men of the

pheasant or prairie hens, from the village Sipuska-Mihte, pheasant

village; others, Mato-Numangkake, the men of the bear, from the village

Mato-Mihte, bear village, &c. &c. Another general name of this people

is Mahna-Narra, the sulky, because they separated from the rest of

their nation, and went higher up the Missouri.

The early history of the Mandans is involved in obscurity; their own

traditions and legends will be discussed in the sequel, when treating

on their religious ideas. They affirm that they descend originally

from the more eastern nations, near the sea-coast.[210] Though the

above-named villages do not all exist at this time, these Indians still

call themselves by their several names. They formerly dwelt near the

Heart River:[211] when Charbonneau arrived here at the end of the last

century, the two Mandan villages, which are still standing, were about

six or eight miles further down the Missouri. The smallpox and the

assaults of their enemies have so reduced this people, that the whole

number now reside in two villages, in the vicinity of Fort Clarke.

These two villages are Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush (the southern village),

about 300 paces above Fort Clarke, and on the same side of the river,

and Ruhptare,[212] about three miles higher up, likewise on the

same bank. The first had, at the time of our visit, sixty-five huts,

and contained about 150 warriors; the other, thirty-eight huts and

eighty-three warriors. According to this, the tribe had not more than

230 or 240 warriors; and, on the whole, scarcely 900 or 1000 souls;

Dr. {336} Morse,[213] therefore, estimates the number of these people

rather too high, when he states it at 1250 souls.

The Mandans are a vigorous, well-made race of people, rather above the

middling stature, and very few of the men could be called short. The

tallest man now living was Mahchsi-Karehde (the flying war eagle),

who was five feet ten inches two lines, Paris measure (above six feet

English). In general, however, they are not so tall as the Manitaries.

Many of them are robust, broad-shouldered, and muscular, while others

are slender and small limbed. Their physiognomy is, in general, the

same as that of most of the Missouri Indians, but their noses are not

so long and arched as those of the Sioux, nor have they such high cheek

bones. The nose of the Mandans and Manitaries is not broad--sometimes

aquiline, or slightly curved, and often quite straight. Their eyes are,

in general, long and narrow, of a dark brown colour; the inner angle is

often rather lower in childhood, but it is rarely so in maturer age.

The mouth is broad, large, rather prominent, and the lower jaw broad

and angular. No great difference occurs in the form of the skull: in

general I did not find the facial angle smaller than in Europeans, yet

there are some exceptions.[214] Their hair is long, thick, lank, and

black, but seldom as jet and glossy as that of the Brazilians: that of

children is often only dark brown, especially at the tips; and Bradbury

speaks of brown hair among the Mandans. There are whole families

among them, as well as among the Blackfeet, whose hair is grey, or

black mixed with white, so that the whole head appears grey.[215] The

families of Sih-Chida and Mato-Chiha are instances of this peculiarity.

The latter chief was particularly remarkable in this respect: his

hair grew in distinct locks of brown, black, silver grey, but mostly

white, and his eyebrows perfectly white, which had a strange effect

in a tall otherwise handsome man, between twenty and thirty years of

age. They encourage the growth of their hair, and often lengthen it by

artificial means. Their teeth, like those of all the Missouri Indians,

are particularly fine, strong, firm, even, and as white as ivory. It

is very seldom that you see a defect or a tooth {337} wanting even

in old people, though, in the latter, they are often worn very short,

which is chiefly to be attributed to their chewing hard, dry meat. The

women are pretty robust and sometimes tall, but, for the most part,

they are short and broad shouldered. They are but few who can be called

handsome as Indians, but there are many tolerable and some pretty

faces among them. It is usually said of the Mandan women that they, in

some respects, have a natural conformation, such as Le Vaillant and

Péron[216] ascribe to the Hottentot women; but it seems to be owing,

in the Mandan women, less to nature than to artificial means.[217] The

children have frequently slender limbs, and very prominent bellies.

Deformed persons are very rare among the Mandans. I, however, saw a

very little dwarf with a long, narrow face, and one man who squinted.

Persons who had lost the sight of one eye, or with a cataract, are by

no means uncommon. There were several deaf and dumb, among whom two

brothers and a sister were all born with this defect. Some goîtres, or,

rather, thick necks among the women, are, doubtless, caused by too

great exertions in carrying burdens on their backs. Instances where

joints of the fingers are wanting are frequent, but these come under

the head of voluntary mutilations.

The colour of these Indians is a fine brown, sometimes reddish, more

or less dark, which might, sometimes, come under the denomination

of copper colour. In some it is more of a greyish-brown, in others

yellowish; after a thorough ablution the skin of some of them appears

almost white, and even some colour in their cheeks.[218] They do not

disfigure their bodies, only they make some apertures in the outer rim

of the ear, in which they hang strings of beads, brass or iron rings of

different sizes, or shells, the last of which they obtain from other

Indian tribes. If they are questioned respecting these shells, they

answer that they were brought from the sea. These Indians are vain,

and in this respect childish, like all savage nations. They are very

fond of ornament, and the young men have always a little looking-glass

suspended from their wrists. The traders sell these looking-glasses in

a pasteboard case, which, however, is immediately changed for a solid

wooden frame, and attached to the wrist by a red ribbon or a leather

strap. The looking-glasses are framed in various ways; the rude frame

is often painted red, or with stripes of different colours, with

footsteps of bears or buffaloes carved on it. Nay, sometimes these

{338} frames are of a considerable size, divided at one end like a

boot-jack, and ornamented with brass nails, ribbons, pieces of skin

and feathers.[219] Some had very ingeniously fastened this important

appendage to their fan made of an eagle's wing. The Indian dandy is

constantly consulting his mirror, and, if he has been travelling,

especially in the high winds so prevalent here, he immediately has

recourse to his looking-glass, and his disordered dress is most

carefully arranged.

It is remarkable that the men are far more vain than the women, and the

latter are obliged to be greatly inferior to the lords of the creation

in their attire and adornments. The costume of the Mandans is rather

simple: by far the greatest attention is paid to the head-dress. Their

hair is parted transversely across the middle of the head, the front

hair combed smoothly down, and generally divided into three flat bands,

two of which hang down on the temples, and are generally plaited. To

these plaits they attach the ornament already mentioned, which consists

of two strips of leather or cloth closely embroidered with white or

azure glass beads, and intertwined with brass wire, as represented in

the portrait of Pehriska-Ruhpa.[220] If the ground of this ornament is

red or blue, it is studded with white beads, and if the ground is white

the beads are blue. They put this ornament in their hair and pull it

over the temples; a long string is fastened to the underpart, which

reaches to the waist, and is adorned with alternate rows of blue beads

and white dentalium shells. Between these two singularly decorated

plaits there is, in the centre of the forehead, a smooth flat lock

reaching to the nose, which is not ornamented, but only tied with a red

ribbon. The back hair falls smoothly from the crown of the head to the

waist, and is divided into many tails, an inch and a half or two inches

broad, which are smeared with brownish or red clay. When the hair is

not naturally long enough it is frequently lengthened with other human

hair, often that of enemies whom they have killed, which is fastened

on with rosin. At the back of the head they sometimes wear a long stiff

ornament in the shape of a ruler, three or four fingers broad, made of

small sticks entwined with wire, which is fastened to the hair, and

reaches down to the shoulders. It is covered with porcupine quills,

dyed of various colours, in very neat patterns. At the upper end of

this ornament an eagle's feather is affixed horizontally, the quill end

of which is covered with red cloth, and the tip is ornamented with a

bunch of horse-hair dyed yellow. The lower white half of the feather

is frequently dyed red with vermilion, and the quill covered with dyed

porcupine quills.[221] When the Indians are not in their best dress,

when they are travelling, or going to the chase, they fasten their long

hair in a thick bunch. {339} When, however, they are full dressed,

they put a variety of feathers in their hair, frequently a semicircle

of feathers of birds of prey, like radii, or sunbeams, or a bunch

of tail feathers of the raven placed in a similar manner. Sometimes

they have a thick tuft of owl's feathers, or small rosettes made of

broad raven's feathers, cut short, in the centre of which is the tail

of a bird of prey spread out like a fan. These feather ornaments are

frequently determined according to the several bands or unions, of

which I shall speak in the sequel. They likewise wear the large horned

feather cap; this is a cap consisting of strips of white ermine, with

pieces of red cloth hanging down behind as far as the calves of the

legs, to which is attached an upright row of black and white eagle's

feathers, beginning at the head and reaching to the whole length. Only

distinguished warriors, who have performed many exploits, may wear this

head-dress.[222]

If they give away one or more of these head-dresses, which they

estimate very highly, they are immediately considered men of great

importance; the regular price of such a cap is a good horse; for a

single eagle's feather is always valued at one or two dollars. On

their buffalo robes they often represent this feather cap, under the

image of a sun. Very celebrated and eminent warriors, when most highly

decorated, wear in their hair various pieces of wood, as signals

of their wounds and heroic deeds. Thus Mato-Topé[223] had fastened

transversely in his hair a wooden knife, painted red, and about the

length of a hand, because he had killed a Chayenne chief with his

knife; then six wooden sticks, painted red, blue, and yellow, with

a brass nail at one end, indicating so many musket wounds which he

had received. For an arrow wound he fastened in his hair the wing

feather of a wild turkey; at the back of his head he wore a large

bunch of owl's feathers, dyed yellow, with red tips, as the badge of

the Meniss-Ochata (the dog band). The half of his face was painted

red, and the other yellow; his body was painted reddish-brown, with

narrow stripes, which were produced by taking off the colour with the

tip of the finger wetted. On his arms, from the shoulder downwards,

he had seventeen yellow stripes, which indicated his warlike deeds,

and on his breast the figure of a hand, of a yellow colour, as a

sign that he had captured some prisoners. A warrior so adorned takes

more time for his toilette than the most elegant Parisian belle.

The colour with which they paint their bodies is mixed with grease.

When in mourning they colour the face and hands white. The women and

children paint only their faces red, leaving the hair its natural

colour. The Mandans and Manitaries, and all the Indians of the Upper

Missouri, often wear the handsome necklace made of the claws of the

grizzly bear. These claws are very large in the spring, frequently

three inches long, and the points are tinged of a white colour,

which is much esteemed; only the claws of the fore feet are used for

necklaces, which are fastened to a strip of otter skin, lined with red

cloth, and embroidered with glass beads, which hangs down the back

like a long tail. Such a {340} necklace is seldom to be had for less

than twelve dollars; and very often the owners of them will not part

with them on any terms. The Mandans adorn themselves with many other

kinds of necklaces, such as strings of glass beads, scented roots, or

fungi, elks' teeth, for 100 or 150 of which they will, in exchange,

give a horse, or something equivalent. These Indians generally wear

no covering on the upper part of the body; the leather shirt of the

Assiniboins, Sioux, Crows, Blackfeet, and other nations that live more

to the north and north-west, are seldom used among them; yet a few

individuals have obtained them from those Indians, either as presents,

or by barter. Even in the midst of winter, the Mandans wear nothing on

the upper part of the body, under their buffalo robe.[224] They paint

their bodies of a reddish-brown colour, on some occasions with white

clay; and frequently draw red or black figures on their arms. The face

is, for the most part, painted all over with vermilion, or yellow,

in which latter case the circumference of the eyes and the chin are

red. There are, however, no set rules for painting, and it depends

on the taste of the Indian dandy; yet, still, a general similarity

is observed. The bands, in their dances, and also after battles, and

when they have performed some exploit, follow the established rule.

In ordinary festivals, and dances, and whenever they wish to look

particularly fine, the young men paint themselves in every variety

of way, and each endeavours to find out some new mode. Should he find

another dandy painted just like himself, he immediately retires and

makes a change in the pattern, which may happen three or four times

during the festival. If they have performed an exploit, the entire

face is painted jet black. Sometimes, though seldom, the Mandans adorn

the wrist and upper arm with polished steel bracelets, which they

obtain from the merchants; often they wear many brass rings on their

fingers, and are, on the whole, excessively fond of ornaments and

finery. The chief article of their dress is the ample buffalo robe,

called mahita, or mih-sha, which is often very elaborate and valuable.

In dry weather these buffalo robes are worn with the hair inwards, and

in rainy weather with the hairy side outwards. They are tanned on the

fleshy side, and painted either white or reddish-brown, and ornamented

with a transverse band of blue or white glass beads, and three large

rosettes of the same beads, often of very tasteful patterns, at

regular intervals. The centre is frequently red, surrounded with sky

blue, embroidered with white figures, or sometimes the reverse. The

transverse band is worked with variously dyed porcupine quills, and

is then narrower. This, however, is now old-fashioned, and was worn

before the coloured glass beads were obtained in such numbers from

the Whites. Other robes are painted with a reddish-brown ground, and

black figures, especially of animals; others have a white ground, with

representations of their heroic deeds in black, or in gay colours, with

the wounds they received, the loss of blood, the killed, the prisoners,

the arms they have taken, the horses stolen (the number of which is

indicated by the number of horseshoes), in black, red, green, or yellow

figures, executed in their yet rude style of painting. The {341}

nations on the Missouri are all in the habit of painting such robes;

but the Pawnees, Mandans, Manitaries, and Crows, are the most skilful

in this art.[225] Another mode of painting their robes is, to represent

the number of valuable presents they have made. By these presents,

which are often of great value, they acquire reputation and respect

among their countrymen. On such robes we observed long red figures,

with a black circle at the termination, placed close to each other in

transverse rows; they represent whips, indicating the number of horses

given, because the whip belonging to the horse is always bestowed with

the animal. Red or dark blue transverse figures indicate cloth or

blankets given; parallel transverse stripes represent fire-arms, the

outlines of which are pretty correctly drawn. The robe is frequently

cut, at the bottom, into narrow strips, like fringe, and ornamented

on the sides with tufts of human hair, and horse-hair dyed yellow and

green, and with glass beads. Formerly the Indians painted these robes

more carefully than they now do, and it was possible to obtain one for

five musket balls and some powder; now they are far inferior, and eight

or ten dollars is not unfrequently paid for them. A robe handsomely

painted is equal in value to two not painted.

Their leggins are fastened with straps to their leathern girdles, and

are embroidered at the outer seam with stripes, one or two inches in

breadth, of porcupine quills, of beautiful various colours, and often

with blue and white beads, and long leathern fringes, which form at

the ankle a thick bunch, which trails upon the ground. The leather

of which their leggins are made is, for the most part, stained of a

reddish-brown, or pale red, usually with clay, sometimes white, and

often marked below the knee with black transverse stripes. They, as

well as all the tribes of North America, use what the English call a

breechcloth (Nokka), which is a narrow strip of woollen cloth, striped

black and white, which passes between the thighs under the girdle,

before and behind, where it hangs down. Their shoes, which are made of

buck skin, or buffalo leather, are generally plain, or very slightly

ornamented; but, in full dress, they are embroidered with coloured

rosettes, or strips of dyed porcupine quills or beads. Those men who

have performed exploits wear, round the ankles, wolf's tail, or pieces

of otter skin, which are lined with red cloth, and trail on the ground.

In the summer, when the men are at home, and go about in state, they

carry the fan of eagle's feathers in their hands, which we have before

described. What the Anglo-Americans call "the crow," which is worn by

the warriors of the nations of the Mississippi, and the Lower Missouri,

is wholly unknown among the tribes of the Upper Missouri, the Sioux,

Assiniboins, Crows, Mandans, Arikkaras, Manitaries, and Blackfeet.[226]

The boys are generally naked, and in winter merely have a robe thrown

over them; the girls are dressed in leather in summer as well as

winter. The women wear a long leather {342} garment, with open sleeves,

and a girdle round the waist; the hem of this dress is often scolloped

and fringed; they ornament the wrists with iron rings, and tie strings

of glass beads round their necks, and sometimes in their ears. Their

leggins, called, by the Canadians, mitasse, are short, reaching only

from the ankle to the knee. Their shoes are simple, and without any

ornament.

Tattooing is in use among these people, but by no means general. Most

commonly only the left half of the breast and the corresponding arm are

marked with black parallel stripes, and a few other figures. The lower

arm and some of the fingers are occasionally marked; the men do not

tattoo their faces, and they are far inferior in this art to the New

Zealanders and other nations of the South Seas. Among the women such

designs are sometimes seen, but not frequently, and they are chiefly

among the women's band of the white buffalo cow. The point of the

needle is dyed a dark blue with the bark of the willow soaked in water.

In Major Long's Travels to the Rocky Mountains it is stated that the

Crows rub their bodies with castoreum, on account of its pleasant

scent.[227] I must observe, however, that the custom is not confined

to one nation, but is practised by the Mandans, Manitaries, Crows, and

Blackfeet, and most of the other tribes of the Upper Missouri. They

mix the castoreum with a red colour, and with it rub their face and

frequently their hair.

Having obtained a clear idea of the outward appearance of these

Indians, we will next consider their habitations, villages, and

domestic life. Their villages are assemblages of clay huts, of

greater or less extent, placed close to each other, without regard to

order. Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush, the largest of the Mandan villages, was

about 150 or 200 paces in diameter, the second was much smaller. The

circumference forms an irregular circle, and was anciently surrounded

with strong posts, or palisades, which have, however, gradually

disappeared as the natives used them for fuel in the cold winters. At

four places, at nearly equal distances from each other, is a bastion

built of clay, furnished with loop-holes, and lined both within and

without with basket-work of willow branches. They form an angle, and

are open towards the village; the earth is filled in between the

basket-work; and it is said that these bulwarks, which are now in a

{343} state of decay, were erected for the Indians by the Whites.[228]

There is nothing of the kind at Ruhptare. The huts, as I have before

remarked, stand close to each other, leaving, in the centre, an open

circular space, about sixty paces in diameter, in the centre of which

(among the Mandans) the ark of the first man is set up, of which we

shall speak in the sequel. It is a small cylinder, open above, made of

planks, about four or five feet high, fixed in the ground, and bound

with climbing plants, or pliable boughs, to hold them together.[229]

[Illustration: Hand looking-glass]

[Illustration: Cylinder of planks]

[Illustration: Mandan huts]

At the north end of this circular space is the medicine lodge, in which

festivals are celebrated, and certain customs practised, which are

connected with the religious notions of this people, which we shall

treat of in the sequel. At the top of a high pole, a figure is here

placed, made of skins, with a wooden head, the face painted black, and

wearing a fur cap and feathers, which is intended to represent the

evil spirit, Ochkih-Hadda (corresponding with the devil), or a wicked

man, as they affirm, who once appeared among them, had neither wife

nor child, and vanished, and whom they now stand greatly in dread of.

Other grotesque figures, made of skins and bundles of twigs, we saw

hanging on high poles, most of them being offerings to the deity. Among

the huts are many stages of several stories, supported by poles, on

which they dry the maize. The huts themselves are of a circular form,

slightly vaulted, having a sort of portico entrance. When the inmates

are absent the entrance is shut up with twigs and thorns; and if they

wish merely to close the door they put up a skin stretched out on a

frame, which is shoved aside on entering. In the centre of the roof is

a square opening for the smoke to find vent, over which is a circular

sort of screen made of twigs, as a protection against the wind and

rain, and which, when necessary, is covered with skins.[230]

The interior of the hut is spacious, tolerably light, and clean. Four

strong pillars towards the middle, with several cross beams, support

the roof. The inner circumference of the hut is formed by eleven or

fifteen thick posts, four or five feet in height, between which other

rather shorter ones are placed close to each other. On these shorter

posts, which are all of an equal {344} height, are long rafters,

inclining to the centre; they are placed near each other, and bear the

roof. On the outside the huts are covered with a kind of mat, made of

osiers, joined together with bark, and now the skeleton of the hut

is finished. Over this hay is spread, and the outer covering is of

earth. The men and women work together in erecting these huts, and

the relations, neighbours, and friends, assist them in the work. The

building of the huts, manufacturing of their arms, hunting, and wars,

and part of the labours of the harvest, are the occupations of the

men; every other kind of work is left to the women, who, though in

general well treated, are obliged to perform all the really laborious

work. The women fetch fuel, in heavy loads, frequently from great

distances, carry water, and, in winter, blocks of ice into the huts,

cook, tan the skins, make all the clothing, lay out the plantations,

perform field labour, &c. &c. In the centre of the hut a circular

place is dug for the fire, over which the kettle is suspended. This

fire-place, or hearth, is often enclosed with a ledge of stones. The

fuel is laid, in moderately thick pieces, on the external edge of the

hearth, crossing each other in the middle, when it is kindled, and

the pieces gradually pushed in as they burn away. The Indians are not

fond of large fires. The inmates sit round it, on low seats, made of

peeled osiers, covered with buffalo or bear skin. Round the inner

circumference of the hut lie or hang the baggage, the furniture, and

other property, in leather bags, the painted parchment travelling bags,

and the harness of the horses; and on separate stages there are arms,

sledges, and snow-shoes, while meat and maize, piled up, complete the

motley assemblage.[231] The beds stand against the wall of the hut;

they consist of a large square case, made of parchment or skins, with a

square entrance, and are large enough to hold several persons, who lie

very conveniently and warm on skins and blankets.[232]

In the winter huts they place, at the inside of the door, a high screen

of willow boughs, covered with hides, which keeps off the draught of

air from without, and especially protects the fire.

The summer huts are very cool, and, generally speaking, have no

unpleasant smell. Mr. Say gives a very good description, and a

tolerably accurate print, of a Konza lodge, or hut,[233] and, with

{345} some slight differences, the mode of building resembles, in the

main, those of the Mandans, Manitaries, and Arikkaras. Among these

differences are the mats which are fastened all round in the first

hut, and which I did not observe among the tribes that I visited.

The beds, too, are arranged in a different manner. The Mandans and

Manitaries are seen in their huts, sitting round the fire, employed

in all kinds of domestic labour. The man has, generally, no clothing

except the nokka, and is often merely smoking, but the women are never

idle. In winter, that is, at the beginning or middle of November,

these Indians remove, with the greater part of their effects, to the

neighbouring forest, where their winter huts are situated. These

consist of precisely similar huts, of rather smaller dimensions. Their

departure from the summer huts is determined by the weather, but, as

before-said, is generally about the middle of November; and their

return, in the spring, is usually about the latter end of February,

or the beginning of March, so that we may reckon that they may pass

above eight months in their summer quarters. Inside of the winter huts

is a particular compartment, where the horses are put in the evening,

and fed with maize. In the daytime they are driven into the prairie,

and feed in the bushes, on the bark of poplars. There are, probably,

above 300 horses in the two Mandan villages; some of the people,

indeed, do not possess any, while others, again, have several. The

Mandans and Manitaries, like all the other Indians of this country,

sometimes make what are here called caches, or hiding-places, in the

vicinity of their villages. These caches are holes, or magazines,

underground, often so artfully contrived that it is very difficult to

discover them.[234] The Indians frequently go from their winter to

their summer village, to fetch any articles they may happen to want,

as they invariably leave part of their property behind. When they

quit their huts for a longer period than usual, they load their dogs

with the baggage, which is drawn in small sledges, made of a couple

of thin, narrow boards, nine or ten feet in length, fastened together

with leather straps, and with four cross-pieces, by way of giving them

firmness. Leather straps are attached in front, and drawn either by men

or dogs. The load is fastened to the sledge by straps.[235] When the

snow is deep, they use snow-shoes,[236] which are described by Captain

Franklin, only those of the Mandans are much smaller, about two feet

and a half long; whereas in the north their length is from four to six

feet. The Mandans and Manitaries have not, by any means, so many dogs

as the Assiniboins, Crows, and Blackfeet. They are rarely of the true

wolf's colour, but generally black, or white, or else spotted with

black and white. Among the nations further to the north-west they more

nearly resemble the wolf, but here they are more like the prairie wolf

(_Canis latrans_).[237] We likewise found, among these animals, a brown

race, descended from European pointers, hence the genuine bark of the

dog is more frequently heard here, whereas among the western nations

they only howl. The Indian dogs are worked very hard, have hard blows,

and hard fare; in fact, they are treated just as this fine animal is

treated among the Esquimaux.

{346} The Mandans are hospitable, and often invite their acquaintance

to come and see them. Their pipes are made of the red-stone, or of

black clay. They obtain the red pipe-heads chiefly from the Sioux;

sometimes they have wooden heads lined with stone; the tube is plain,

long, round or flat, on the whole, of the same shape as among the

Sioux, but they are not so fastidious about ornamenting their pipes

as other tribes. They smoke the leaves of the tobacco plant, which is

cultivated by them; the bark of the red willow (_Cornus sericea_),

which they obtain from the traders, is sometimes mixed with the

tobacco, or the latter with the leaves of the bearberry (_Arbutus uva

ursi_). The tobacco of the Whites, unmixed, is too strong for the

Indians, because they draw the smoke into their lungs; hence they do

not willingly smoke cigars.

The meals of the Mandans are served in wooden dishes. The spoons

are generally large and deep; they are made of the horn of the

bighorn;[238] sometimes they are yellow, or else they are shallow, made

of black buffalo's horn. They have a considerable variety of dishes.

The Indians residing in permanent villages have the advantage of the

roving hunting tribes, in that they not only hunt, but derive their

chief subsistence from their plantations, which afford them a degree

of security against distress. It is true, these Indians sometimes

suffer hunger when the buffalo herds keep at a great distance, and

their crops fail; but the distress can never be so great among the

Missouri Indians, as in the tribes that live further northwards. The

plants which they cultivate are maize, beans, French beans, gourds,

sunflowers, and tobacco (_Nicotiana quadrivalvis_), of which I brought

home some seeds, which have flowered in several botanic gardens.

Of maize there are several varieties of colour, to which they give

different names. The several varieties are:--1. White maize. 2. Yellow

maize. 3. Red maize. 4. Spotted maize. 5. Black maize. 6. Sweet maize.

7. Very hard yellow maize. 8. White, or red-striped maize. 9. Very

tender yellow maize.[239]

The beans are likewise of various sorts--small white beans, black, red,

and spotted beans. The gourds are--yellow, black, striped, blue, long,

and thick-shelled gourds.

The sunflower is a large helianthus, which seems perfectly to resemble

that cultivated in our gardens. It is planted in rows between the

maize. There are two or three varieties, with red, and black, and

one with smaller seeds. Very nice cakes are made of these seeds. The

tobacco {347} cultivated by the Mandans, Manitaries, and Arikkaras,

attains a great height, and is suffered to grow up from the seeds,

without having any care whatever bestowed upon it. It is not

transplanted. When it is ripe the stalks are cut, dried, and powdered;

or the leaves, with the small branches, are cut into little pieces.

The taste and smell are disagreeable to an European, resembling

camomile rather than tobacco. The plant is not now so much cultivated

as formerly, being superseded by the more pleasant tobacco of the

Whites; but the species is still preserved.[240] It is only on solemn

occasions, for instance, in negotiations for peace, that this tobacco

is still smoked; the seed is, therefore, preserved in the medicine bag

of the nation, that the plant may never be lost. When they mean to

smoke this tobacco, a small quantity of fat is rubbed on it.

The cultivation of the maize and other fields, of which each family

prepares three, four, or five acres, takes place in the month of

May. Rows of small furrows are made, into which the grains of maize

are thrown singly, and covered with earth. Three times in the summer

the plants are hoed, and the earth heaped up against them, that the

moisture may have better access to them. The harvest takes place in

October, when men, women, and children, each lend a helping hand.

At present the women use, in their field labour, a broad iron hoe,

with a crooked wooden handle, which they obtain from the merchants.

Charbonneau recollected the time when they used the shoulder blade of

the buffalo for this purpose. The fields are never fenced, but lie

quite open and exposed.

The wild plants of the prairie are used by the Mandans, and other

people of the Upper Missouri; and to those before-mentioned, I can

only add the feverolles (_Faba minor equina_), a fruit resembling the

bean, which is said to grow in the ground, but which I did not see;

there are many other roots in the prairie, which are used for food.

The gourds are eaten fresh as well as dry. The beans are seldom eaten

of one kind, but many sorts are mixed together. The maize is boiled

or roasted, then pounded, mixed with fat, and made up into small cakes

and baked. There are, of course, many other ways of dressing it. The

sweet maize has a very pleasant taste, especially when it is in what is

called the milky state; it is then boiled, dried, and laid by for use.

All kinds of animals serve the Mandans for food; the bear, when it

is young and fat, the wolf, the fox, in short, everything except the

horse; the ermine is not eaten by many; and of birds they dislike the

turkey-buzzard, and the raven, because they feed on the dead bodies

deposited on the stages. They have a great aversion from serpents,

but eat the turtle; the buffalo is the chief object of their chase,

as it supplies them with skins, meat, tallow, marrow-bones, sinews,

and many other necessaries. Next to the buffalo the beaver is the most

indispensable to them, since it not only furnishes them with valuable

skins, but supplies them with delicate food, the fat tail, especially,

being considered quite a dainty morsel by the Indians. Pemmican,[241]

{348} which is so favourite a dish among the northern Indians, is not

much in use among the Mandans. Their only drink is water, for they are

unacquainted with the method of preparing fermented liquors. They did

not obtain any spirits, either from the American Fur Company, or the

agents of Messrs. Soublette and Campbell; hence an intoxicated person

is scarcely ever seen. They are extremely fond of sugar, and likewise

of salt, which they procure from their lakes, and, if the supply is

insufficient, purchase from the Whites. They are likewise fond of

coffee and tea, well sweetened. It has been affirmed, that several

North American nations, especially those which speak the Algonquin

language, are cannibals, and more particularly the Chippeways and the

Potawatomis; but I found no trace of this unnatural custom among the

Missouri nations.[242]

Two, and sometimes three, families usually live together in an Indian

hut, commonly the father, with his married sons or sons-in-law.

Polygamy is everywhere practised, and the number of wives differs;

however, they have very seldom more than four, and, in general,

only one.[243] The women are very skilful in various kinds of work,

particularly in dyeing and painting the buffalo robes. They extract a

red colour from the roots of the savoyenne, or from buffalo berries;

yellow from a lichen of the Rocky Mountains; black from helianthus, as

well as from a black stone or clay; blue and green they extract from

European substances. Among the Mandans, Manitaries, and Arikkaras, the

women, as Lewis and Clarke relate, manufacture beads from coloured

glass. They powder those which they have obtained from the traders,

and mould them into different shapes.[244] This custom is, however,

no longer common. The dyeing of the skins, of which many travellers

have spoken, employs a great portion of the women's time. These three

nations understand the manufacture of earthen pots and vessels, of

various forms and sizes. The clay is of a dark slate colour, and burns

a yellowish-red, very similar to what is seen in the burnt tops of the

Missouri hills. This clay is mixed with flint or granite, reduced to

powder by the action of fire. The workwoman forms the hollow inside of

the vessel by means of a round stone which she holds in her hand, while

she works and smooths the outside with a piece of poplar bark. When the

pot is made, it is filled and surrounded with dry shavings, and then

burnt, when it is ready for use. They know nothing of glazing.[245]

With respect to their boats, the North Americans are far more expert

than the Brazilians, Patagonians, and other South Americans, who live

on the banks of rivers, and yet have contrived no means to pass them.

The Chippeways and other northern nations have handsome vessels of

birch bark; the Esquimaux makes his kiack, which is curiously covered

with seal skin; and on the Missouri, especially among the Mandans,

there are boats of buffalo skin, which are represented in the plates

accompanying this work.[246] They are very light, of a circular form,

stretched on a frame of several pieces of wood crossing each other, and

may be carried on the shoulder of a single individual.

If a young Indian desires to marry, and has obtained the consent of

the girl, he endeavours to procure that of her father; when he is

certain of this, he brings two, three, nay, even eight or {349} ten

horses, and fastens them to the hut of the young woman, who gives them

to her father. The latter then takes other horses, and if he has them

not himself, his relations assist him, and these horses are fastened,

in return, to the hut of the intended son-in-law. In such a case an

estimate is previously made of the number of horses possessed by the

woman's relations, for all presents are returned in equal number. The

bride next boils some maize, and daily carries a kettle or dish filled

with it to the hut of the bridegroom. After some time has elapsed, the

young man repairs to the hut of his bride, where he passes the night

with her, and the marriage is considered as complete. The young couple

often continue to reside in the hut of the father-in-law, but they

more frequently build a new hut for themselves; sometimes, however,

they afterwards separate. The father-in-law is, subsequently, the

principal person in the hut; everything depends on him, and is done

on his account, and for him; if game is killed, the flesh is first

presented to him, &c.[247] There are often many children in these

Indian families; some had as many as ten; yet, on the whole, the

Indians have not so many children as the Whites, doubtless because they

keep them longer at the breast. They are extremely fond of them, but

the children are often weak and sickly, in consequence, it is supposed,

of the hard labour which the women have to perform. I was universally

assured that the new-born children are of a reddish colour. The births

are, in general, extremely easy, and the mother bathes in the river

immediately afterwards, even if it is frozen; in ten days the child

is considered as safe, having got over the most dangerous period. A

person is paid to give it the name chosen by the parents and relations.

The child is held up, then turned to all sides of the heavens, in

the direction of the course of the sun, and its name proclaimed. They

have cradles for their infants, consisting of a leather bag, which

is suspended by a strap to a cross beam in the hut. These cradles of

the Mandans are not so elegant and beautifully worked as those which

we saw among the Sioux and Assiniboins. The children of these Indians

are subject to no kind of discipline whatever; they may do and say

whatever they please, and nobody finds fault with them. Everything is

done to excite a spirit of independence and self-will in the boys; if

the mother speaks to one of them, he will very likely slap her face, or

kick her, nay, sometimes he will do the same to his father, who says,

coolly, bowing his head, this boy will one day become a famous warrior.

The men sometimes treat their wives very brutally; and it has not

unfrequently happened, that a woman, after such treatment, has left the

hut and hanged herself on a tree. This lately happened in the case of

an aged woman, whose grown-up son had ill-treated her. She was missed,

and was afterwards found suspended from a tree. The women have nothing

to indemnify them for their incessant and laborious work, not even good

clothing, for this right of the fair sex in Europe is claimed among the

Indians by the men. It is singular that these women, who are condemned

constantly to work like slaves, refuse to do any work whatever if they

marry a white man, and, the Whites being entirely in the power of the

Indians, and the relations of their wives, they are obliged to submit

to this. Sisters have great {350} privileges among these Indians. All

the horses which a young man steals, or captures in war, belong to

them. If an Indian returns from an expedition on horseback, and meets

his sister, he will immediately alight, and give her the horse; on the

other hand, if he wishes to possess some object of value belonging to

his sister, for instance, a dress, he goes and abruptly demands it,

and immediately receives it; even should it be the very dress she is

wearing, she will take it off at once, and give it to her brother.

Prudery is not a virtue of the Indian women; they have often two,

three, or more lovers: infidelity is not often punished. There was

only one woman among the Mandans, a piece of whose nose was cut off,

a circumstance which is very common among the Blackfeet. If an Indian

elopes with a married woman, the husband whom she has abandoned avenges

himself by seizing the seducer's property, his horses and other things

of value, to which the latter must quietly submit. Such a woman is

never taken back. If a man has the eldest daughter of a family for

his wife, he has a right to all her sisters. A chief business of the

young men among these Indian tribes is to try their fortune with the

young maidens and the women, and this, together with their toilet,

fills up the greater part of their time. They do not meet with many coy

beauties.[248] In the evening, and generally till late at night, they

roam about the villages, or in the vicinity, or from one village to the

other. They have a singular mode of displaying their achievements in

this field, especially when they visit the women in their best dresses.

On these occasions they endeavour to gain credit by the variety of

their triumphs, and mark the number of conquered beauties by bundles of

peeled osier twigs, painted red at the tips. These sticks are of two

kinds. Most of them are from two to three feet in length, others five

or six feet. The latter, being carried singly, are painted with white

and red rings alternately, which indicates the number of conquests.

The shorter sticks are only painted red at the tips, and every stick

indicates an exploit, the number of which is often bound up into a

pretty large bundle. Thick fasces of this kind are carried about by the

dandies in their gallant excursions. Among the Mandans these sticks are

generally quite plain; among the Manitaries, on the contrary, there is,

usually, in the middle of the bundle, one larger stick, at the end of

which there is a tuft of black feathers. These feathers indicate the

favourite, and the dandies tell everybody that she is the person for

whom this honour is intended.[249]

If these people have had familiar intercourse with a person who wore

the white buffalo robe, a piece of skin of that colour is fastened to

the stick; if she wore a red blanket, or buffalo robe, a piece of red

cloth is fastened to the stick. This custom, which is well known among

the Mandans and Manitaries, has not, to my knowledge, been mentioned by

any traveller.

They have distinct names for the several degrees of relationship. The

father's brother is called father, and the mother's sister, mother;

cousins are called brothers and sisters. The {351} mother-in-law never

speaks to her son-in-law; but if he comes home, and brings her the

scalp of a slain enemy, and his gun, she is at liberty, from that

moment, to converse with him.[250] This custom is found among the

Manitaries, who have, doubtless, borrowed it from the Mandans, but not

among the Crows and Arikkaras. Among the Chippeways, and the Algonquins

in general, the name must not be changed; and persons with the same

name must not marry, but consider each other as brothers and sisters.

Among all the North American Indian nations there are men dressed and

treated like women, called by the Canadians, Bardaches, of whom Mc

Kenzie, Tanner, Langsdorff, and others, have spoken;[251] but there was

only one such among the Mandans, and two or three among the Manitaries.

Volney, and some other writers, have spoken rather too unfavourably

of the moral character of the aborigines of North America, and their

domestic habits. According to them, distrust and hostile feeling

prevail among them, for which reason they never leave their huts

unarmed; but I can bear witness that they are frequently seen in their

villages, as well as in the environs, without arms, and that it is

only at greater distances, and when they appear in state, that they

carry their weapons in their hands. I have never observed any disputes

among them, but, on the contrary, much more unity and tranquillity than

in civilized Europe. It has often been asserted that the Indians are

inferior in intellectual capacity to the Whites; but this has been now

sufficiently refuted; and Harlan is not wrong in saying that, among

the races of men, of which Blumenbach reckons five,[252] the American

should be ranked immediately after the Caucasian. If man, in all his

varieties, has not received from the Creator equally perfect faculties,

I am, at least, convinced that, in this respect, the Americans are not

inferior to the Whites. Many of the Mandans manifest a great thirst

for knowledge, and many desire to hear something of objects of a

higher order; and if they were not so much attached to the prejudices

inherited from their ancestors, many of them might be very easily

instructed. The bad examples which they so often observe in the white

men, who roam about their country in quest of gain, are not calculated

to inspire them with much respect for our race, or to improve their

morality. And if they have not been found inclined to the Christian

religion, this is, certainly, in some measure, the consequence of

the bad conduct of the Whites, who call themselves Christians, and

are often worse, and more immoral, than the most uncivilized of the

Indians. Many American and foreign works have taken notice of the

striking good sense and wit, the correct judgment of the Indians, in

all the occurrences of daily life, and it would be mere repetition here

to quote examples. One is often at a loss to answer their questions,

founded on correct and natural judgment. The inactive mode of life

natural to the Indians, which disdains all laborious exertion, is a

great obstacle to their adopting a different system. But they are not

deficient in talent for drawing, music, &c., and this is quite manifest

at first sight. Several Mandans not only took much pleasure in drawing,

but had a decided talent for it. The hieroglyphics are well known,

which the Indians employ {352} instead of writing; for instance, the

figures on their robes, the drawing of Mato-Topé, and the subjoined

Indian letter from a Mandan to a fur trader.[253]

[Illustration: Mandan bed]

[Illustration: A Mandan letter, in hieroglyphics]

[Illustration: Child's dart, of stag-horn]

The following is the explanation of the hieroglyphic figures contained

in it:

The cross signifies, "I will barter, or trade." Three animals are drawn

on the right hand of the cross: one is a buffalo; the two others, a

weasel (_Mustela Canadensis_), and an otter. The writer offers, in

exchange for the skins of these animals (probably meaning that of a

white buffalo), the articles which he has drawn on the left side of the

cross.

He has, in the first place, depicted a beaver very plainly, behind

which there is a gun; to the left of the beaver are thirty strokes,

each ten separated by a longer line; this means, I will give thirty

beaver skins and a gun for the skins of the three animals on the right

hand of the cross.

Many of them dispute, with great earnestness, on more elevated

subjects; thus, they inquired our ideas of the various heavenly bodies,

and of the origin of the universe, as they, themselves, declare their

own silly traditions to be insufficient. Some, indeed, thought our

ideas on these subjects much more silly than their own. They laughed

outright, when we affirmed that the earth was round, and revolved about

the sun. Others, however, would not reject our views, and were of

opinion that, as the Whites could do so much which was incomprehensible

to them, it was possible they might be right on this point also.

In all works that treat of these remarkable people, we find recorded

very energetic and well-digested speeches of their chiefs. They

frequently use very appropriate figures, and often said bitter truths

to their white oppressors. Dr. Morse quotes some such phrases, used

at the conclusion of treaties of peace, or declarations of war, which

express much in a few words. Thus, in declarations of war: "The blood

of our wives and children smokes on the ground! The bones of our

warriors and old men are uncovered, and whiten the earth! The tomahawk

is raised!" And on the conclusion of peace: "The bones of our warriors

are buried! the tomahawk is buried! the blood of our women and children

is covered! The path which leads to them must be kept clean; no weeds

may grow there. The chain which binds us together must not become

rusty." {353} Or, on the contrary: "The chain begins to rust," &c. &c.

Though these people often manifest great energy of character, many have

committed suicide on account of disappointments in love, or of wounded

honour, of which Dr. Morse relates a remarkable instance, where an

Indian killed himself because he was reproached with cowardice, after

his mother had suffered death for him. Many travellers speak of the

extraordinary memory of the Indians; several of them relate the entire

history of their people in a continuous narrative.

The Mandans and Manitaries are proud, and have a high sense of honour.

If a person expresses a wish to possess some article belonging to

them, he generally receives it as a present, but a present of equal,

or greater value, is always looked for in return. They estimate all

their effects at a very high rate, ascribing to them an imaginary and

far too great value; and a trifling thing is often paid for with one or

two horses. Among the articles of great value is the skin of a white

buffalo cow. Fifteen florins are paid for a small ermine skin; whereas,

a wolf's skin may be purchased for a small quantity of tobacco. One

or two horses are frequently given for a feather cap; a horse for 100

or 150 elks' teeth, or for a handful of dentalium shells.[254] The

men are much given to indolence, when they cannot pursue their chief

avocations, hunting and war. In general, the Mandans and Manitaries are

not dangerous, and, though there are many rude and savage men among

them, they are, on the whole, well-disposed towards the Whites: the

former, especially, manifest this, and have many good and trustworthy

men among them. Some of them are addicted to thieving, especially the

women and children; and it is said, that many of the Manitaries, when

they meet the Whites in the prairie, though they do not kill them, as

they used to do, generally plunder them.

They have always free access to the forts of the trading companies;

and, as at Fort Clarke, there was no separate apartment for the

Indians, we were molested by them, during the whole day, in every room;

nay, they often took the place of the owners, which, during the severe

cold in the winter time, was quite intolerable, as they stood in front

of the fire, with their large buffalo robes, and kept the warmth from

coming into the apartment. They require to be always regaled, which

is generally done, and it was estimated that in one year they smoked

200 lbs. of tobacco at the expense of the Company. A few among them,

indeed, manifested a much greater delicacy of feeling than the mass of

them, and left the dining-room when the dinner-hour approached; but

only a very small proportion possessed this correct sense of propriety,

for the others generally came just at our dinner time; it is true they

had but little meat in the winter season, and fared but badly. Disputes

and quarrels are very rare among them; but duels are frequent; and

revenge for blood is still exercised.

Many of them are particularly cleanly in their persons, and bathe

daily, both in winter and summer; their hands, however, are often

smeared with colours and fat, nay, sometimes the whole body is

bedaubed. The women are, in general, less cleanly, particularly their

hands, {354} which arises from their continual and severe labour. They

generally let their nails grow long.

The rude inhabitants of the prairies are extremely agile and hardy;

they bathe, in the depth of winter, in the half frozen rivers, and

wear no covering on the upper part of their body under the buffalo

robe; they are very expert swimmers, even when quite young. I have

already observed that all these nations swim in the same manner as

the Brazilian Tapuyas, which is confirmed by other writers. They

often practise riding on horseback without a saddle, and very swift

horse-racing.[255] They are capital marksmen with the bow; all their

senses are remarkably acute.

Among the Mandans, and all the nations of the Upper Missouri, as well

as among most of the North American tribes, there are certain bands

or unions or companies, which are distinguished from the others, and

kept together by certain external badges and laws.[256] They have

three kinds of war or signal pipes, which are hung round the neck,

and are among the badges of the unions, which divide the men into six

classes, according to their age. The first band or union is composed

of "the foolish dogs," or "the dogs whose name is not known." They

are young people from ten to fifteen years of age, and wear a pipe

made of the wing bone of the wild goose, which is but small. When they

dance, three of them have a long broad piece of red cloth hanging from

the back of the neck to the ground. Like every distinct class they

have a particular song to accompany their dance. Formerly old people

likewise belonged to this band, but then they never dared to retreat

before the enemy; this has since been changed to the present limited

rule. If a boy desires to enter the first band in order to become a

man, he goes to a member of it, addresses him by the appellation of

father, and endeavours to purchase the rank, the dance, the song, and

the war pipe belonging to it, for certain articles of value, such as

blankets, cloth, horses, powder, ball, and the like, which the father

pays for him. If this place is sold to him he has a right to all the

distinctions and privileges of the band, and he who sold it thereby

renounces all claim to it, and endeavours to purchase admission to

a higher band. The dances of the several classes are in the main

very similar, but there is a particular song belonging to each,

and sometimes even a different step. The drum and schischikué must

likewise be purchased at the same time. The latter, among this band, is

spherical, with a handle, and is made of leather.

The second class or band is that of the crows or ravens; it consists

of young men from twenty to twenty-five years of age. Frequently young

people are in none of the bands for half a year or more. They then

go to the band of the crows, and say, "Father, I am poor, but I wish

to purchase from you." If the possessor agrees, they then receive

the raven's feathers, which the band wear on their heads, a double

war-pipe, consisting of two wing bones of a goose joined together, a

drum, schischikué, the song and the dance. Each of these bands has a

leader, called, {355} by the Americans, head-man, who decides on the

sale of its rights and attributes. This head-man is chiefly applied

to when any one wishes for admission; a festival then takes place in

the medicine lodge, which is continued for forty successive nights,

of which I shall speak in the sequel.[257] They dance, eat, and smoke

there; the purchasers defray the expenses, and give up their wives

every night to the sellers, till the fathers, as they are called, are

satisfied, and transfer their rights to the purchasers, with which the

festival concludes.

The third class or band is that of the soldiers, the most eminent

and esteemed warriors. In their dances they paint the upper part of

the face red, and the lower part black. Their war pipe is large, and

made of the wing bone of a crane. Their badges are two long straight

sticks bound with otter skin, to which owl's feathers are appended.

When they go to war, they plant these sticks in the ground in front of

the enemy, and, this done, they dare not leave them, not unlike the

colours in a European army. They have a similar stick ornamented with

raven's feathers.[258] They likewise have a dance and song peculiar

to their band, and must purchase their admission into higher classes.

Their schischikué or rattle is made of iron plate, in the form of a

small kettle, with a handle. They likewise possess two tobacco pipes,

which are used for smoking on special occasions. Two men keep and carry

with them these pipes. All the higher classes may, at the same time,

belong to the band of the soldiers, who act as police officers; it

is, however, understood that all the members must be satisfied with

the purchase. If but one object to the sale, the bargain cannot be

concluded. It often happens that some individuals do not immediately

give their consent, in order to raise the price and sell to more

advantage afterwards. These soldiers, as they are called, form a kind

of committee, which decides all the principal affairs, particularly

general undertakings, such as changes of their places of abode, buffalo

hunting, and the like. If the buffalo herds are in the vicinity, they

watch them, and do not suffer them to be disturbed by individuals, till

a general chase can be undertaken.

If, during this time, any one fires at a wolf or other animal, the

soldiers take away his gun, ill-use, and sometimes beat him, to which

he must submit; even the chiefs are not spared on these occasions. The

Whites living in the neighbourhood are subject, during such a time, to

the same laws, and the soldiers have often taken their hatchets from

the woodcutters of the fort, or forbidden them to cut wood, that the

buffaloes might not be disturbed by the noise.

The fourth band, that of the dogs, wear in their dance a large cap

of coloured cloth, to which a great number of raven's, magpie's, and

owl's feathers is fastened, adorned with dyed horse-hair and strips of

ermine; they have a large war pipe of the wing bone of a swan. Three

of them have the same strips of red cloth hanging down the back, as

have been mentioned, when speaking of the first band. The head is

generally adorned with a thick tuft of owl's, magpie's, and raven's

feathers hanging down behind, and often all the three kinds of feathers

are mixed together. {356} The three men before-mentioned, who wear

the strips of red cloth (the dogs, properly so called), are obliged,

if any one throws a piece of meat into the ashes, or on the ground,

saying, "There, dog, eat," to fall upon it, and devour it raw, like

dogs or beasts of prey. The schischikué of this band is a stick, a

foot or a foot and a half long to which a number of animals' hoofs are

fastened. The costume of these three dogs is shown in the portrait of

Pehriska-Ruhpa.[259]

The fifth band is that of the buffaloes. In their dance they wear the

skin of the upper part of the head, the mane of the buffalo, with its

horns, on their heads; but two select individuals, the bravest of all,

who thenceforward never dare to fly from the enemy, wear a perfect

imitation of the buffalo's head, with the horns, which they set on

their heads,[260] and in which there are holes left for the eyes,

which are surrounded with an iron or tin ring. This band alone has a

wooden war pipe, and in their union they have a woman, who, during

the dance, goes round with a dish of water, to refresh the dancers,

but she must give this water only to the bravest, who wear the whole

buffalo's head. She is dressed, on these occasions, in a handsome new

robe of bighorn leather, and colours her face with vermilion. The men

have a piece of red cloth fastened behind, and a figure representing

a buffalo's tail; they also carry their arms in their hands. The men

with the buffaloes' heads always keep in the dance at the outside of

the group, imitate all the motions and the voice of this animal, as

it timidly and cautiously retreats, looking around in all directions,

&c.[261]

The sixth band is that of the black-tailed deer. It consists of all the

men above fifty years of age, who, however, likewise dance. Two women

belong to the band, who wait on them at the dance, cook, carry water

round to refresh them, and the like. All the men of this band wear a

garland of the claws of the grizzly bear round their heads, and all

insignia of their warlike exploits about their bodies, such as feathers

on their heads, tufts of hair on their arms and legs, scalps, painting,

&c.[262]

All these bands, as well as the following dances, are bought and sold,

and, as has been already observed, on these occasions, the buyer must

give up his wife to the seller during the festivity. But if a young

man is still unmarried, he will sometimes travel to a great distance

to another village, to ask a friend or companion for his wife, who

accordingly goes with him, and, on the evenings of the dance, gives up

his wives for him. A man often brings three or four, and even more,

wives, and gives them to his father, as he is called, as soon as the

dancing, eating, smoking, and the relating of their exploits, are

concluded. Thus one woman after the other comes, as will be described

in the account of the buffalo medicines of the Manitaries, strikes,

with her hand, the arm of the man whom she will favour, and goes to the

entrance of the tent, where she waits till he follows her. The man so

invited often keeps his seat, and bows down his head; the woman then

goes home, brings articles of value, such as guns, robes, blankets,

&c., which she lays, piece by piece, before him, till he is satisfied,

stands up, and follows her.

{357} There are other dances which are bought and sold, among which

are a second dance of the third band, and the dance of the half-shorn

heads, which the lower class may buy before they are old enough to

belong to the third band.

The medicine feast, the insignia, and the dance belonging to the

half-shorn heads, will be described in the sequel. Another dance is

that of the old dogs. The band of the dogs can buy it of the buffaloes

before they can become buffaloes, or purchase their admission to the

fifth band. In the dance of the old dogs they paint themselves white,

the hands red and black, and wear a girdle of the skin of the grizzly

bear, and a bunch of feathers hanging down at the back of the head.

What is called the hot dance is now danced at Ruhptare, and by the

Manitaries, who bought it from the Arikkaras. It is executed by the

little dogs, whose name is not known. A large fire is kindled on the

occasion, and a quantity of live coals is scattered on the ground,

about which the young men dance, quite naked and barefooted. The

hands, with the lower part of the arms, and the feet and ankles, are

painted red. A kettle, with meat cut in small pieces, is hung over

the fire; and when the meat is done they plunge their hands into the

boiling water, take out the meat, and eat it, at the risk of scalding

themselves. The last comers are the worst off, having to dip their

hands the deepest into the boiling water. During the dance they have in

their hands their weapons and the schischikué.

There is another dance which will be described in one of the following

chapters. The dance is accompanied with the schischikué and drum, and

is generally performed in a circle: the dancers carry in their hands

the bow-lance,[263] which is adorned with feathers and bears' entrails.

The Mandan women are divided precisely in the same manner as the men,

into four classes, according to their age. The youngest band is called

"the band of the gun." They wear in their hair some down feathers of

the eagle, and have their peculiar dance.

The next class into which they obtain admission by purchase is "the

river class." When they dance they wear an eagle's feather, fastened to

the fore part of the head with a piece of white ribbon, which projects

on the left side, and is entwined round the quill with grass.

The third class consists of the women of the hay, who, when they dance,

put on their best clothes, and sing the scalp song.

The fourth and last class is the band of the white cow. They paint one

eye with some colour according to their taste, generally sky-blue.

On the chin, this class, mostly consisting of aged women, tattoo

themselves with black lines; round their heads they wear a broad piece

of the skin of a white buffalo cow, something like a hussar's cap, with

a tuft of feathers in it. A more {358} particular description of the

dress of this band is given in the sequel.[264]

These unions, or bands, give occasion to many festivities, with

singing, music, and dancing, but they have likewise other dances

and diversions. One of these is the scalp dance, which may be more

appropriately described among the usages of war. Their musical

amusements are very simple. The mode of singing varies but little among

all the American Indians; it consists of broken, deep exclamations,

often intercepted by loud shouts, and is accompanied by a violent

beating of time on the drum, and the rattling of the schischikué.

Besides these two instruments, the Mandans have long wooden pipes, at

the lower end of which there is generally an eagle's feather hanging

by a string.[265] Other pipes are thicker, about twenty inches long,

and are perforated with holes; in this respect they differ from the war

pipe. They are sometimes ornamented with pieces of skin, &c. These are

the only musical instruments of the Indians besides the war pipes.[266]

The Indians have also many games; the game called billiards, by the

French Canadians, is played by two young men, with long poles, which

are often bound with leather, and have various ornaments attached to

them. On a long, straight, level course, or a level path in or near

the village, they roll a hoop, three or four inches in diameter,

covered with leather, and throw the pole at it; and the success of

the game depends upon the pole passing through it. This game is also

practised among the Manitaries, and is described, in Major Long's

Travels to the Rocky Mountains, as being played by the Pawnees, who,

however, have hooked sticks, which is not the case with the tribes here

mentioned.[267]

The women are expert at playing with a large leathern ball, which

they let fall alternately on their foot and knee, again throwing it up

and catching it, and thus keeping it in motion for a length of time

without letting it fall to the ground. Prizes are given, and they often

play high. The ball is often very neat and curiously covered with dyed

porcupine quills.[268] Card-playing has not yet reached these Indians,

though it is in use among the Osages and other tribes. The children

of the Mandans and Manitaries play with a piece of stag's horn, in

which a couple of feathers are inserted; this is thrown forward, the

piece of horn being foremost.[269] About the middle of March, when the

weather is fine, the children and young men play with a hoop, in the

interior of which strips of leather are interwoven; its diameter is

about a foot. This hoop is either rolled or thrown, and they thrust

at it with a pointed stick; he who approaches the centre most nearly

is the winner.[270] {359} As soon as the ice in the rivers breaks up,

they run to the banks and throw this interlaced hoop into the water.

In the summer time the Mandans and Manitaries often amuse themselves

with races in the prairie, for which they have the best opportunity in

the vicinity of their villages; twenty young men, or more, often run at

once, and on these occasions there is always high betting. Some of them

are very swift runners, and can hold out a long time.

The Mandans and Manitaries are extremely superstitious, and all

their important actions are guided by such motives. They have most

strange ideas of surrounding nature, believe in a multitude of

different beings in the heavenly bodies; offer sacrifices to them;

invoke their assistance on every occasion; howl, lament, fast,

inflict on themselves cruel acts of penance, to propitiate these

spirits; and, above all, lay very great stress upon dreams.[271]

Some of their traditions have a resemblance to the revelations of

the Bible; for instance, Noah's Ark and the Deluge, the history of

Samson, &c. The question here arises whether these particulars have

not been gradually introduced among them, from their intercourse

with Christians, and this seems highly probable. If they have not

yet embraced the Christian religion, it would, however, appear that

they have adopted some portions which strike them as being either

remarkable or interesting.[272] The belief in a future life, or a

better state of things after death, exists among all the American

nations; this is confirmed by D'Orbigny (Voyages, tom. iii. p. 90), who

justly blames Azara for denying all religious ideas to the people of

Paraguay.[273] In order to obtain correct information respecting all

their traditions and ideas, we persuaded Dipauch[274] to enliven our

long winter evenings by his narratives, which he readily agreed to do.

He spoke with much seriousness and gravity, and I had a most excellent

interpreter in Mr. Kipp. I give these narratives, which are often

extremely silly, as they were written down from his communications,

though I must beg my reader's patience and indulgence. It was not

possible to curtail them or to choose only the more interesting parts,

since all their traditions and legends have a certain connection, and

really possess some influence on the actual mode of life of this people.

According to Dipauch, these Indians believe in several superior beings,

of whom the lord of life, Ohmahank-Numakshi, is the first, the most

exalted and the most powerful; who created the earth, man, and every

existing object.[275] They believe that he has a tail, and appears

sometimes {360} in the form of an aged man, and, at others, in that of

a young man. The first man, Numank-Machana, holds the second rank; he

was created by the lord of life, but is likewise of a divine nature.

The lord of life gave him great power, and they, therefore, worship and

offer sacrifices to him. He is nearly identical with Nanabush among the

Chippeways, or the people of the Algonquin language, who, according

to the notion of those tribes, acts as mediator between the creator

and the human race. Nanabush and the creator frequently had disputes,

and the Mandans have similar legends. Omahank-Chika, the evil one of

the earth, is a malignant spirit, who has, likewise, much influence

over men, but who is not as powerful as the lord of life and the first

man. The fourth being is Rohanka-Tauïhanka, who lives in the planet

Venus, and it is he who protects mankind on the earth; for without

his care the race would have been long since extinct. A fifth being,

who, however, has no power, is something like the wandering Jew, ever

in motion, and walking on the face of the earth in human form. They

call him the lying prairie wolf. Besides these there is a sixth being,

Ochkih-Hadda, whom it is difficult to class, and of whom they have a

tradition, that whoever dreams of him is doomed soon to die. He appears

to figure in their traditions as a kind of devil, is said to have once

come to their villages, and taught them many things, but has not since

appeared. They are afraid of him, offer sacrifices to him, and have in

their villages a hideous figure representing him.[276] They worship

the sun, because they believe it to be the residence of the lord of

life. All their medicines or sacrifices are offered chiefly to the

sun, or rather to the lord of life, as inhabiting it. In the moon, say

they, lives the old woman who never dies, and who wears a white band

from the front to the back of the head; sacrifices and offerings are

likewise made to her. They do not know who she is, but her power is

great. She has six children, three sons and three daughters, who all

live in certain stars. The eldest son is the day (the first day of the

creation), the second is the sun, in which the lord of life has his

abode. The third son is the night. The eldest daughter is the star that

rises in the east, the morning star; and they call her, "the woman who

wears a plume." The second daughter, called "the striped gourd," is a

high star which revolves around the polar star; and, lastly, the third

daughter is the evening star which is near to the setting sun.

The old woman in the moon desired to find a wife for her son, and

brought a girl, whom she desired to wait outside the door. When the old

woman sent out to fetch her, they found in her place a toad; indignant

at the exchange, the toad was boiled in a vessel, that it might be

destroyed. But this could not be done, nor could it be eaten, and it

was, therefore, cursed, on which it remained always visible as a spot

in the moon. The narrator could not say whether the sun was large or

small, but, at all events, it was glowing hot. The son married a woman

whom they called "the narrow-leaved wormwood." They had a son, of

great promise, who appeared destined to act an important part. He was

very skilful in making arrows, and versed in all kinds of hunting and

catching of animals. He shot birds for his mother, though she had {361}

forbidden him to kill the prairie larks, yet he shot all his arrows

at these birds, but he was unable to kill any. Upon this, one of the

birds said to him, "Why will you kill me, since I am related to you?"

He dug up in the moon the pomme blanche (_Psozalea esculenta_), for

which his mother reproved him, because, through the hole which he had

dug, they could see the Manitari villages in the earth beneath. And his

mother said, "See, all those men are our relations; I did not intend

to descend to the earth yet, but now we must go thither." The father

once ordered the son to shoot a buffalo for him, and to bring him all

the sinews of the animal; but the son twisted a rope with part of those

sinews, in order thereby to let himself down to the earth. Accordingly

he descended to the earth in the vicinity of the Little Missouri, but

his rope reached only to the top of the trees. If he had had all the

sinews of the buffalo, his rope would have reached the ground, but now

remained suspended, and swung backwards and forwards. A large stone was

thrown at him from the moon, which stone was in existence not very long

since. The stone, however, could not kill him, he being medicine, that

is, charmed.

The Mandans believe that the thunder is produced by the motion of the

wings of a gigantic bird. When this bird flies softly, as is usually

the case, he is not heard, but when he flaps his wings violently, he

occasions a roaring noise. This huge bird is said to have only two

toes on each foot, one behind and the other before. It lives in the

mountains, where it builds an immense nest, as big as Fort Clarke. Its

food consists of deer and other large animals, the horns of which are

heaped up round the nest. The glance of its eyes produces lightning;

it breaks through the clouds, the canopy of heaven, and makes a way

for the rain. The isolated and peculiarly loud claps of thunder are

produced by a gigantic tortoise, which lives in the clouds. When the

lightning strikes, it is a sign of anger. They believe the stars to be

deceased men. When a child is born, a star descends and appears on the

earth in human form; after death it reascends and appears again as a

star in the heavens.

The rainbow is a spirit accompanying the sun, and is especially visible

at its setting. Many affirm that the northern lights are occasioned

by a large assembly of the medicine men and distinguished warriors

of several nations in the north, who boil their prisoners and slain

enemies in immense cauldrons. The Chippeways are said to call this

phenomenon "the dancing spirit," and the milky way, "the path of the

ghosts."

Dipauch related a history of the creation and the origin of the Mandan

tribe, in the following manner. Though this narrative is equally silly

and tiresome, I subjoin it, as giving an idea of the intellectual

condition of this people, and the nature of their conversations.

Before the existence of the earth, the lord of life created the first

man, Numank-Machana, who moved on the waters, and met with a diver or

duck, which was alternately diving and rising again. The man said to

the bird, "You dive so well, now dive deep and bring up some earth."

{362} The bird obeyed, and soon brought up some earth, which the first

man scattered upon the face of the waters, using some incantations,

commanding the earth to appear, and it appeared. The land was naked;

not a blade of grass was growing on it; he wandered about and thought

that he was alone, when he suddenly met with a toad. "I thought I

was here alone," said he, "but you are here, and who are you?" It

did not answer. "I do not know you, but I must give you a name. You

are older than I am, for your skin is rough and scaly; I must call

you my grandmother, for you are so very old." He went further and

found a piece of an earthen pot. "I thought I was here alone, but

men must have lived here before me." Thereupon he took the potsherd

and said, "I will give you also a name, and, as you were here before

me, I must, likewise, call you my grandmother." On going further he

met with a mouse: "It is clear," said he to himself, "that I am not

the first being; I call you also my grandmother." A little further

on he and the lord of life met. "Oh, there is a man like myself,"

exclaimed he, and went up to him. "How do you do, my son?" said the

man to Omahank-Numakshi; but he answered, "I am not your son, but you

are mine." The first man answered, "I dispute this." But the lord of

life answered, "You are my son, and I will prove it; if you will not

believe me, we will sit down and plant our medicine sticks which we

have in our hands in the ground; he who first rises is the youngest,

and the son of the other." They sat down and looked at each other for

a long time, till, at length, the lord of life became pale, his flesh

dropped from his bones, on which the first man exclaimed, "Now you are

surely dead." Thus they looked at each other for ten years, at the

end of which time, when the bare bones of the lord of life were in a

decomposed state, the first man rose, exclaiming, "Now he is surely

dead." He seized Omahank-Numakshi's stick, and pulled it out of the

ground; but at the same moment the lord of life stood up, saying, "See

here, I am your father, and you are my son," and the first man called

him his father. As they were going on together, the lord of life said,

"This land is not well formed, we will make it better." At that time

the buffalo was already on the earth. The lord of life called to the

weasel, and ordered him to dive and bring up grass, which was done. He

then sent him again to fetch wood, which he brought in like manner. He

divided the grass and the wood, giving one half to the first man. This

took place at the mouth of Heart River. The lord of life then desired

the first man to make the north bank of the Missouri, while he himself

made the south-west bank, which is beautifully diversified with hills,

valleys, forests, and thickets. The man, on the contrary, made the

whole country flat, with a good deal of wood in the distance. They then

met again, and, when the lord of life had seen the work of the first

man, he shook his head and said, "You have not done this well: all is

level, so that it will be impossible to surprise buffaloes or deer, and

approach them unperceived. Men will not be able to live there. They

will see each other in the plain at too great a distance, and will be

unable to avoid each other, consequently they will destroy each other."

{363} He then took the first man to the other side of the river,

and said, "See here, I have made springs and streams in sufficient

abundance, and hills and valleys, and added all kinds of animals and

fine wood; here men will be able to live by the chase, and feed on the

flesh of those animals." They then both proceeded to the mouth of the

Natke-Passaha (Heart River), in order, according to the directions

of the lord of life, to make medicine pipes. He himself made them of

ash, lined with stone. The man, on the contrary, made his pipes of

box-alder, a soft wood. They placed these pipes together, and the lord

of life said, "This shall be the heart, the centre of the world; and

this river shall be the Heart River." Each of them had now his pipe in

his hand, and when they met any creature, the lord of life laid the

pipe down before it: on doing this to a buffalo, it said, "This is not

enough; there must be something to smoke in the pipe." And the lord of

life said, "Then do you get something to smoke." On which the buffalo

cleared a spot on the ground with his fore foot, and said, "When the

rutting time of the buffaloes approaches, come here and you will find

something to smoke." The lord of life accordingly sent at the time

appointed to fetch tobacco, but it was not yet dry and prepared; he

therefore ordered the buffalo to be called, which at once spread out

the leaves and dried them; and the lord of life smoked, and found the

tobacco very good. The bull then taught him to pull off and smoke the

flowers and the buds, for these are the best parts of the plant.

The lord of life and the first man were now resolved to create the

human race. They began their operations near the bank of the Missouri;

and, in order to promote the increase of the species, they placed the

part necessary for that purpose in the forehead; but the frog came up

out of the water, and said, "How foolish you are!" and altered the

situation of the part. "What business have you to speak?" said the

lord of life, and struck the frog upon the back with his stick, and

since that time the frog has had a humped back. God had made man, and

told him he should increase and multiply, but not live longer than a

hundred years; since, otherwise, there would not be room enough for

all. The first man now said to his father, "When buffaloes are hunted,

the skins of the animals killed must be immediately taken off to wear

as robes, the stomach must be emptied, and pemmican made of the flesh."

The lord of life, however, answered, "This would not be advisable. Men

would then quarrel and destroy each other. Let them rather take the

animals home, and tan the hides, then they will have robes for their

own use, and for sale." And it appeared that the lord of life was

always right.

The first man was once on the banks of the Missouri, when a dead

buffalo cow, in the side of which the wolves had eaten a hole, floated

down the stream. A woman was on the bank, who called to her daughter,

"Make haste, pull off your clothes, and bring the cow on shore." The

first man heard this, and brought the cow to the spot. The girl eat

some of the flesh, which the first man gave her, and became pregnant.

She was ashamed, and said to her mother, that "she could not tell how

she came into this state, as she had had no intercourse with any man,"

and her mother was {364} ashamed with her. The daughter was afterwards

delivered of a son, who grew with extraordinary rapidity, and soon

became a robust young man.[277] He was immediately the first chief of

his people--a great leader among men. The first thing he did was to

build a boat, which understood whatever he said to it. He filled it

with men, ordered it to cross the river and come back, and in this

manner he sent it over several times. The new chief was of the nation

of the Numakshi (the Mandans). A saying was then current among these

people, that on the other side of the great water, or the sea, there

lived white men, who possessed wampum shells. Bodies of fifteen or

twenty men were frequently sent thither, but they were all killed.

Hereupon the chief said, "I will send my boat thither, with eight men;

this is the right number." And the boat went, arrived at the right

place, and brought to the white men the red mouse hair (beaver hair),

which they highly valued. They were well received, feasted in the

dwellings, and materials for smoking were given them. Each received

buffalo skins filled with wampum shells, and the boat returned quickly.

The boat then went, for the second time, with eleven men, and the lord

of life accompanied it. He had dressed himself in mean apparel, and

took with him a large hollow cane. On their arrival they went into a

village, but the first man remained sitting near the boat, and dug

a deep hole, over which he seated himself. The inhabitants of the

village agreed to kill the strangers by overfeeding them, and, with

this view, gave them abundance of food. The first man, to whom the

overplus of the provisions was brought, let them drop through his cane

into the hole, and the white men were astonished at the quantity of

provisions consumed. They then agreed to kill them by smoke; but the

first man made the smoke pass through his cane, and their plan was

again defeated. They now thought of killing them by means of women, all

of whom they left at their disposal.[278] As they could not kill the

strangers either by eating, smoking, or women, they gave them as many

wampum shells as they could take in their boat, and sent them away.

When the children learnt that the boat understood what was said to it,

they ordered it to go down the river to the white people; it obeyed,

and was never afterwards seen.

The first man now said to the Numangkake that he should leave them,

and never return; that he was going to the west; but that, in case

of need, they might apply to him, and he would assist them. They

were living in a small village, on Heart River, when their enemies

surrounded them, and threatened to destroy them. In this great distress

they resolved to apply to their protector; but how were they to get to

the first man? One man proposed to send a bird to him; but birds could

not fly so far. Another thought that the eyesight must be able to reach

him; but the prairie hills were in the way. At last, a third said that

thought would undoubtedly be the best means of reaching the first man.

He wrapped himself in his robe and fell to the ground. Soon afterwards

he said, "I think!--I have thought!--I return!" He threw off his {365}

robe, and was in a profuse perspiration all over. "The first man will

quickly come," he exclaimed; and he was soon there, fell furiously on

the enemy, drove them away, and immediately vanished. Since that time

he has not been again seen.

The lord of life once told the first man, that if the Numangkake should

go over the river they would be devoured by the wolves; on which they

both crossed the river, and killed all the old wolves. They ordered the

young wolves not to devour men in future, but to confine themselves

to buffaloes, deer, and other wild animals. They threw the old wolves

into the north ocean, where they became putrid, and their hair swam

on the surface of the water, from which the white men originated. The

lord of life also told the Numangkake, that when they had boiled their

maize they should keep up only a small fire for the rest of the day;

and this they still do. When the fire would not burn, they were to take

the larger brands from below, and lay them on the top. When the lord

of life was a little below Heart River, in the spring, when the first

wild geese flew past, he told them to wait, because he would fly with

them, and assumed the form of a goose. The Indians are accustomed to

shout and halloo when they see the flocks of geese, by which they are

frightened, and thrown into confusion. So it happened on this occasion

to the lord of life, and he fell to the ground. He was carried into the

hut of the chief, who sent for the youngest woman to pluck the goose,

but it bit her, and she gave it to the oldest, who was likewise bitten;

so that the lord of life escaped. He then flew to the Manitaries. A

young woman, who refused to marry, was here whipped and beaten by him.

She went to the lower village, and complained that God had punished

her, because she would not marry. A young man, who wished to have her

for his wife, took the dress of the lord of life, as she was resolved

to marry none but him. She now desired to know whether her lover was

really what he pretended to be, and with this view placed some pointed

stakes in the ground, on which he must wound himself in the night, if

he were not of a superior nature. He came and wounded himself, on which

she fell on him, took away all his clothes and hid them, so that he

looked for a long time both for them and his weapons. When day came,

two long lines, like fishing lines, were hanging down from the sun to

the earth, and near to the place where the girl was. A voice called

to her, from above, to climb up by the lines; that the clothes were

no longer in the place where she had hidden them; it was, therefore,

the lord of life who had appeared to her under the form of the young

man. The girl took hold of the lines, and the sun seemed to come down.

Several of her relations, and other men, pulled the lines, but could

not draw the sun down, while the lord of life lay quietly in it. A very

strong man, who was able to pull up the largest trees by the roots, and

cast them from him, was not able to do anything on this occasion; the

line turned round his shoulders. "I can pull up the largest trees,"

said he, "and my strength is greater than that of all other men

united, and yet I cannot break this small line." To which the lord

of life answered, "If you reach and kill me, the human race will be

destroyed from the face of the earth."

{366} At the time that the first man had incensed the Whites by his

voracity, the latter made the water rise so high that all the land

was overflowed. On this, the first man advised the ancestors of the

Numangkake to build a wooden tower, or fort, upon an eminence, assuring

them that the water would not rise higher than that point. They

followed his advice, and built the ark, on the lower side of Heart

River, on a large scale, and a part of the nation was preserved in this

building, while the remainder perished in the waves. In remembrance of

the kind care of the first man, they placed in each of their villages a

miniature model of this ark, one of which still exists in the village

of Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush. The waters afterwards subsided, and they still

celebrate the festival of Okippe in honour of this ark, of which we

shall have to speak in the sequel.[279]

Before the first great deluge, the Numangkake lived below ground, but

a band of them (the same of which we have been speaking) took up their

abode above ground at an earlier period. They believe that there are

four stories below ground and as many above, and they now inhabit the

fourth from below. The band which first came above ground is called by

them Histoppa (those with the tattooed countenance), and these, for the

most part, perished in the great deluge. Those who lived under ground

one day perceived a light over their heads, which made them desire

to ascertain what was above. They accordingly sent up a mouse, which

looked about, returned, and reported that the land above was similar

to that which they inhabited. They then sent up a certain animal,

called by them, Nahsi, about the size of a polecat, and distinguishable

by black stripes on its face and legs. Perhaps this was the racoon,

which is not now to be found in this part of the country. This animal,

when he came back, said that it was much more pleasant above than

below. They, therefore, ordered the badger to dig a larger opening,

as the present issue was too small. After the badger had performed

his task, the black-tailed deer was ordered to go up and enlarge the

opening by means of his horns. He ran about the whole day, ate service

berries, and returned in the evening. His tail was at that time white,

but as this deer returned at sunset, and the sun went down at the very

moment when his tail only was above ground, that was ever afterwards

black.

The Numangkake now resolved to go up. The great chief, with his

medicine and his schischikué in his hand, went first. They climbed up,

one after another, by the aid of a branch of a vine; and when exactly

half their number had ascended, and a corpulent woman was halfway

up the vine, it broke, and the remainder of the nation fell to the

ground.[280] This happened in the neighbourhood of the sea-shore. Those

who had reached the surface went on till they came to the Missouri,

which they reached at White Earth River. They then proceeded up the

Missouri to Moreau's River.[281] At that time they knew nothing of

enemies. Once, when a Mandan woman was scraping a hide, a Chayenne

Indian came and killed her. The Mandans followed the traces of this

new enemy till they came to a certain river, where they all turned

{367} back with the exception of two, the husband and the brother of

the woman who was killed. These two men went on till they discovered

the enemy, killed one of them, and took his scalp with them. Before

they got back to their village they found some white clay which they

had never seen before, and took a portion of it with them. When they

came to their great chief, the first who had climbed up the vine, and

whose skull and schischikué they still preserve, as a relic, in the

medicine bag of the nation, they gave him the white clay, with which

he marked some lines on his schischikué. The name of this chief was,

at first, Mihti-Pihka (the smoke of the village), but when he ascended

to the surface of the earth he called himself the Mihti-Shi (the robe

with the beautiful hair). When he had received the clay and the scalp,

he commanded all his people to shoot buffaloes, but only bulls, and to

make shields of the thickest part of the hide, which they did. When

this was done, they asked the chief what were his next commands? To

which he replied, "Paint a drooping sunflower on this shield" (as a

sort of medicine, or amulet), on which the sister of the chief said,

"You are fools! paint a bean on it; for what is smoother than a bean to

ward off the arrows?"

The chief now introduced the establishment of the bands or unions, and

founded first that of "the foolish dogs." He made four caps of crow's

feathers, and commissioned the Mandans to make a number of similar

ones. He then gave them the war pipe and song, and exhorted them to

be always valiant and cheerful, and never to retreat before the point

of the arrow. He also gave them the strips of red cloth which hang

down behind, and added that, if they would follow his directions, they

would always be esteemed as brave and worthy men. The chief then made

two of the bent sticks covered with otter skins, and gave them the

kana-kara-kachka, and then two others adorned with raven's feathers,

which he also presented to them. The first represent the sunflower,

and the latter the maize. "These badges," said he, "you are to carry

before you when you go against the enemy; plant them in the ground, and

fight to the last man, that is to say, never abandon them." He next

founded the band of "the little foolish dogs," and assembled many young

men, whom he ordered to paint their faces of a black colour, and gave

them a song of their own, with the war whoop at the end, and said he

would call them "the blackbirds." He afterwards went to war with his

people against the Chayennes. They reached the enemy and laid all their

robes in a heap together. The chief wore a cap of lynx skin, and had

his medicine pipe on his arm. He did not join in the action, but sat

apart on the ground during the whole time that it lasted. They fought

almost the whole day, drove the enemy into their village, and were then

repulsed, which happened three or four times, and one of the Numangkake

was killed. When the chief was informed of this, he ordered them to go

to the river and bring him a young poplar with large leaves, which he

planted in the ground near to the enemy, and challenged the Chayennes

to attack him; but they answered, they would wait for his attack. As

{368} he would [not] commence the combat, the enemy shot at him, but

their arrows only grazed his arm and robe. He then held up the poplar,

which suddenly shot up to a colossal size, was thrown, by a violent

storm which arose, among the enemies, crushed many of them, and obliged

the Chayennes to retreat across the Missouri.

The Numangkake now went up the Missouri to beyond the Heart River,

where a Mandan village had long stood. An old man of their tribe was

fishing at this place, when four men appeared on the opposite bank.

On his inquiring who they were, they told him their names, and put

the same question to him, which he answered; and, having an ear of

maize with him, he fastened it to an arrow, and shot it over to the

strangers. Finding the maize very agreeable to the taste, they called

to him and said that, within four nights, a great many men would come,

for whom he would do well to prepare plenty of food. They then returned

to their camp, and gave their countrymen an account of the maize. They

had likewise tasted the pomme blanche, and several other vegetables,

but considered the maize as the best of all. The camp was accordingly

broken up, and they proceeded slowly onwards. The Numangkake expected

the strangers for four nights; they cooked and made everything ready

for their reception, but, as their visitors did not make their

appearance at the end of the fourth night, they ate the provisions

themselves. A year passed by, and the strangers did not come; the

second and the third year likewise; at length, in the spring of the

fourth year, all the surrounding hills were covered with red men. Thus,

instead of four days, four years had elapsed. The new comers crossed

the river, and built a village near the Numangkake, and the name of

Manitaries was given, _i. e._, those who came over the waters.[282]

The principal chief of each nation met, and had a conference together.

The Manitari chief asked the other whence they procured so much red

maize? To which he replied, "When we fought with our enemies, and they

killed our wives and children in the maize fields, the maize grew up,

and was for the most part red." To which the Manitari chief replied,

"that he would assist them with his people against their enemies."

Already on the following day many Chayennes came and killed a number

of women in the plantations; the united nations attacked them, killed

many during the whole day, and drove them back to a small river which

falls into the Missouri. The two allied nations now remained united,

but, being so numerous that the country did not afford them sufficient

subsistence, the Mandans said to the Manitaries, "Remove higher up the

Missouri: this whole country belongs to us. There are the rivers Little

Missouri, Yellow Stone, and Knife River, on the banks of which you can

settle, but do not go beyond the latter river, for it is only in this

case that we shall remain good friends. If you go too far we shall have

disputes, make peace and again disagree; but if you remain on this side

there will be constant friendship between us." The Manitaries removed

as proposed, but built {369} one of their villages on the other side of

Knife River, which frequently occasioned dissension between them, and

it is only within these fourteen years that permanent peace and concord

have existed between the two people.

At the time when our narrator was a young man, the Arikkaras were near

and dangerous enemies to the Mandans. They often fought with them as

well as with the Sioux. When one of the two allied nations fought

alone, it was almost always defeated, but when they were combined they

generally triumphed. The preceding long narrative throws, as I have

said, much light on the actual condition of this people, and of their

prevalent superstitious customs.

At the time of their first alliance with the Manitaries, the Mandans

are said to have inhabited eight or nine villages on the two banks of

the Missouri, on the Heart River, and higher upwards. Subsequently

a great number of the Mandans were carried off by the smallpox, and

their enemies, the Sioux, entirely destroyed their largest village,

and massacred the inhabitants. The remaining population then collected

in the two villages that still exist--Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush and

Ruhptare.[283] Previously to the devastations of the smallpox, the

Sioux were not very dangerous enemies to the Mandans, because they

lived at too great a distance from them, but the Chayennes and the

Arikkaras were their natural adversaries. I shall now proceed to treat

of the religious and superstitious practices which still prevail among

them.

These Indians are full of prejudice and superstition, and connect all

the natural phenomena with the before-mentioned silly creations of

their own imaginations. They undertake nothing without first invoking

their guardian spirit, or medicine, who mostly appears to them in a

dream. When they wish to choose their medicine or guardian spirit, they

fast for three or four days, and even longer, retire to a solitary

spot, do penance, and even sacrifice joints of their fingers; howl

and cry to the lord of life, or to the first man, beseeching him to

point out their guardian spirit. They continue in this excited state

till they dream, and the first animal or other object which appears to

them is chosen for their guardian spirit or medicine. Every man has

his guardian spirit.[284] There is, in the prairie, a large hill where

they remain motionless many days, lamenting and fasting; not far from

this hill is a cave, into which they creep at night. The choice and

adoration of their medicine are said to have been taught them by the

strange man or spirit who appeared in their villages many years ago,

and has not since been seen, and of whom mention has already been made

by the name of Ochkih-Hadda. He is said also to have taught them the

art of tattooing, and to have instituted their medicine feasts. In

all natural phenomena, which are not of daily occurrence, they see

wonders, and indications of favourable or unfavourable events. If the

falling stars are numerous, or in a certain direction, it is to them

an indication of war, or of a great mortality in the human race. They

were not willing to have their portraits painted, because they alleged

that they should soon die if their portraits came into other hands;

{370} at least they endeavoured to obtain the portrait of the painter

as an antidote. One of their chiefs never smoked out of a stone pipe,

but always used a wooden one. Mato-Topé never partook of other people's

tobacco, but always smoked by himself, with the doors shut. They do

not willingly show their medicines or amulets, which are usually kept

wrapped up in a bundle or bag, and never opened except on important

occasions. They have particular medicine pipes, or, as the English call

them, medicine stems, which are uncovered and used for smoking only on

solemn occasions. Many make such pipes according to their own taste;

such, for instance, was the pipe of Dipauch.[285] The bowl was nearly

in the form of a Turkish pipe, and was made of brownish-red clay; the

tube, which was rather short and thick, represented the lord of life

in human form, but which it required some stretch of the imagination

to discover. The nation preserves a celebrated pipe of this kind as a

sacred relic, which no stranger is permitted to see. It has been in

their possession since remote ages, and they offered to show it to

me for the value of 100 dollars.[286] The Indians cannot obtain such

pipes but at a considerable expense: many of the necessary ornaments

are not to be procured among them, such as the upper bill and the

red crown of a species of woodpecker (_Picus pileatus_, Linn.), a

bird which is not found so high up the Missouri. For the head of one

of these woodpeckers, which was brought from St. Louis, they gave

a large handsome buffalo robe, worth six or eight dollars. If a man

possesses such a pipe, he sometimes conceives the idea of adopting a

medicine son. The young man whom he is to choose appears to him in a

dream; it is, however, requisite that he should be of a good family,

or have performed some exploit. He acquaints him with his intention,

and, after having provided two similar medicine pipes, he asks his

newly-adopted son, whether he is ready to undergo the ceremony of

the pipes? The latter frequently answers in the affirmative, and the

time for the ceremony is fixed: but, if he has not yet made up his

mind, it is deferred. The adoptive father then chooses two young

men, who practise the medicine dance together, with the two pipes in

their hands. The father often dances, in the morning, on the roof of

his hut, and instructs these two young men. When the time arrives,

and the adopted son is ready for the ceremony, the father, with all

his relations, and the two young dancers, repairs to the hut of his

newly-chosen son, and brings him a present of maize, cloth, blankets,

kettles, and other valuable articles. The father takes his son by the

hand and makes him sit down, after which the company dance round him,

with the two pipes; they sing, accompanied by the drum and schischikué,

the two young dancers keeping time to the music with their pipes. When

the ceremony is over, and the presents laid in one or two heaps, the

relations of the medicine son bring horses, cloth, blankets, and other

things of value, which the two parties reciprocally divide between

them. The father then again takes his son by the hand, makes him rise

from his seat, and dresses him in new clothes from head to foot, and

likewise paints his face according to his fancy. The dress and pipe

are henceforth his property, and he is considered as a real son, who

must support and defend his father. {371} This custom exists among

most of the nations on the Missouri, and even among the Esquimaux

there is a somewhat similar usage.[287] If the adopted son and father

have not happened to meet for a long time, they make presents to each

other; the father gives the son a new dress, and the latter presents

him with a good horse. Among all the Indian nations of North America,

there is a particular class of men, who are specially engaged in all

the above-mentioned ceremonies and medicines. They are, also, the

physicians, and are called, among the Mandans, Numak-Choppenih, which

signifies medicine man.[288]

The skin of a white buffalo cow is an important article, and an eminent

medicine in the opinion of the Mandans and Manitaries. He who has

never possessed one of them is not respected. Suppose two men to be

disputing about their exploits, the one an old veteran warrior, who

has slain many enemies, the other, a young lad without experience;

the latter reproaches the other with never having possessed a white

buffalo cow hide, on which the old man droops his head, and covers his

face for shame. He who possesses such a hide generally offers it to

the lord of life, to whom he dedicates it, or, which is equivalent, to

the sun, or to the first man. He collects, perhaps, in the course of

a whole twelvemonth, various articles of value, and then hangs them

up all together on a high pole in the open prairie, generally in the

neighbourhood of the burying-place, or in the village before his hut.

Distinguished men and chiefs of eminence are for the most part poor,

because, in order to gain reputation and influence, they give away

everything of value which they possess. A large number of relatives

is one of the chief means of acquiring riches, for a young man who

wishes to distinguish himself, and to be liberal, does honour to the

whole family, who assist him to the utmost of their power. When one of

his relations has anything of value, the young man goes to the owner

to demand it, and not unfrequently takes it away without ceremony.

Sometimes he hangs his head in silence, and then something of value

is given him, a handsome dress, a horse, &c. If he wishes to gain

reputation and a claim to distinction, it is necessary that he should

make presents. All the people in the village notice very accurately

what presents are made, and the donor has a right to display all

such presents painted on his robes, and in this manner to hand down

his reputation to posterity, as has been already related. This and

military glory are, in the eyes of these men, the greatest virtues.

They dare not draw a stroke too much on their robes for the horses,

guns, &c., which they have given away, for the young men keep a most

strict account against each other, and universal ridicule would be the

immediate consequence of violating this rule. Among the distinctions of

any man, the white buffalo hide is the greatest. He who has not been

so fortunate as to kill a white buffalo himself, which is generally

the case, as these animals are very rare, purchases a hide, often at a

great distance from home, and other nations bring them hither, being

well aware of the great value attached to them by the Mandans.[289] The

hide must be that of a young cow, not above two years old, and be taken

off complete and tanned, with the horns, {372} nose, hoofs, and tail.

The value of ten to fifteen horses is given for it. A certain Mandan

gave ten horses, a gun, some kettles, and other articles, for such

a hide. The white hide of a bull or of an old cow is by no means so

valuable. The white hide of a young cow suffices for all the daughters

of a family.

They do not wear it as a robe, like the Manitaries, or, at the

utmost, the wife, or one of the daughters of the family, wears it once

at some great festival, but never a second time. The Mandans have

particular ceremonies at the dedication of the hide. As soon as they

have obtained it they engage an eminent medicine man, who must throw

it over him; he then walks round the village in the apparent direction

of the sun's course, and sings a medicine song. When the owner, after

collecting articles of value for three or four years, desires to offer

his treasure to the lord of life, or to the first man, he rolls it

up, after adding some wormwood or a head of maize, and the skin then

remains suspended on a high pole till it rots away. At the time of

my visit there was such an offering at Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush, near the

stages for the dead without the village. Sometimes, when the ceremony

of dedication is finished, the hide is cut into small strips, and the

members of the family wear parts of it tied over the head, or across

the forehead, when they are in full dress. If a Mandan kills a young

white buffalo cow, it is accounted to him as more than an exploit,

or having killed an enemy. He does not cut up the animal himself,

but employs another man, to whom he gives a horse for his trouble.

He alone who has killed such an animal is allowed to wear a narrow

strip of the skin in his ears. The whole robe is not ornamented, being

esteemed superior to any other dress, however fine. The traders have,

sometimes, sold such hides to the Indians, who gave them as many as

sixty other robes in exchange. Buffalo skins with white spots are

likewise highly valued by the Mandans; but there is a race of these

animals with very soft silky hair, which has a beautiful gold lustre

when in the sunshine: these are, likewise, highly prized, and sold

for ten or fifteen dollars, and, sometimes, for the value of a horse.

Besides the white buffalo skins which are offered in sacrifice and hung

on poles, there are, in the vicinity of the villages of the Mandans

and Manitaries, other strange figures on high poles.[290] These figures

are composed of skin, grass, and twigs, which, it seems, represent the

sun and moon, perhaps, also, the lord of life, and the first man. The

Indians resort to them when they wish to petition for anything, and

sometimes howl and lament for days and weeks together.

The Mandans have several medicine festivals, of which the Okippe, or

the penitential ceremony of the ark, is by far the most remarkable.

It is celebrated in the spring or summer, and I regret to say that I

cannot describe it as an eye-witness. I am, however, enabled to give a

circumstantial description of it, word for word, as it was communicated

to me by men initiated in the mysteries of the nation.[291]