Mandan Indians
"A North Dakota winter" (Encarta 95) Life on the plains is hard. The winters are long and so very cold. Few trees block the strong winds out of the mountainous west. The plains yield little to sustain a family. So we work, we grow food, we hunt, and we trade our surplus for goods brought by the nomadic tribes. The Mandan people were a Native American tribe of the northern plains. They struggled against a hostile climate, prospered though harassed by hostile tribes, and created a rich cultural lifestyle in prehistoric America. This is the story of the Mandan people before, during, and after the invasion of the Europeans. The Mandans believed they were created beneath the earth, and lived there for a long time. After a dispute between "First Man" and "Lord of Life" a hole opened that allowed a grapevine to grow down to them. With the vine came light and the chance to leave their subterranean confines. With the help of other animals (spirit animals) the hole was enlarged and they began to climb out,
As a sign of good faith gifts were given to each of the chiefs, smaller gifts for the Indians of lesser status. Lewis and Clark sought out people experienced in Indian communication, trade, and customs. The season for the return of the buffalo coincided with the willow trees on full leaf. September 23rd 1804, the expedition was near present day Pierre South Dakota where the first government sanctioned encounter with the Teton Sioux took place. Onlookers tried to appease the grizzlies by tossing food to them. Lewis sent a scouting team farther north and west. The name Mandan is thought to be a corrupted version of "Miwatani" which is believed to be a name the Sioux used to refer to the Mandan villagers (Densmore, pg 3). This village was located farther north near a trading post called Fort Berthold. The main interactions between separate Mandan villages were conducted in Dance Societies or Clubs that met periodically (Densmore, pg 84). Lewis and Clark left the Tetons on September 29th. However the tribe now possessed all they had ever possessed, before the white man came. Two thousand five hundred dollars was appropriated from congress and Jefferson's instructions to Lewis were sent on June 20th 1803.
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Acceptance Essays
