Description
The Mandan are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains who have lived for centuries primarily in what is now North Dakota. They are enrolled in the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation. About half of the Mandan still reside in the area of the reservation; the rest reside around the United States and in Canada. The exact origins and early history of the Mandan are unknown. Early studies by linguists gave evidence that the Mandan language may have been closely related to the language of the Ho-Chunk or Winnebago people of present-day Wisconsin. According to 19th-century anthropologist Washington Matthews, the name Numakiki means “people.”
Language
Mandan is an extinct Siouan language of North Dakota in the United States.
Culture
In the 19th century the Mandan lived in dome-shaped earth lodges clustered in stockaded villages; their economy centred on raising corn (maize), beans, pumpkins, sunflowers, and tobacco and on hunting buffalo, fishing, and trading with nomadic Plains tribes. The Mandan also made a variety of utilitarian and decorative items, including pottery, baskets, and painted buffalo robes depicting the heroic deeds of the tribe or of individuals. The Mandan villages acted as a central meeting place for many tribes (such as Crows, Crees, Assiniboins, Cheyennes, Atsinas, and Sioux) who visited them beginning in June of each year and stayed for perhaps a month trading for goods.