a. Interior of a Mandan lodge. George Catlina. Interior of a Mandan lodge. George Catlin
b. Scene in a Mandan village. George Catlinb. Scene in a Mandan village. George Catlin
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 39
"MIH-TUTTA-HANG-KUSCH," A MANDAN VILLAGE Karl Bodmer, 1833"MIH-TUTTA-HANG-KUSCH," A MANDAN VILLAGE Karl Bodmer, 1833
"The interior of the hut is spacious, tolerably light, and cleanly. 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 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.... 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." (Maximilian, (1), pp. 342-344.)
Fig. 6.—Typical earth lodges.Fig. 6.—Typical earth lodges.
Among the many interesting paintings made by Bodmer during his journey with Maximilian is one of the large Mandan village, plate39, looking down the Missouri, showing the cluster of earth lodges on the summit of the cliff which terminates abruptly at the river. A structure rather lower than the others, on the immediate edge of the level area, is probably the "bastion," as represented in the plan, figure4, pointing out over the cliff. Beyond the village, but evidently screened from view by the high cliff upon which the latter stood, was Fort Clark, near the mouth of a small stream which flowed into the Missouri.
In these large circular structures the beds stood against the wall and the single opening faced inward. These were described by Catlin and clearly indicated in his drawing of an interior of a lodge, plate38,a. In Maximilian's work (p. 344) is a sketch of such a bed which shows it as a unit, not attached to the wall, and capable of being moved about. The sketch is reproduced in figure7. These were so formed and inclosed in skins as to protect the occupants from the cold blasts of air which must have circulated about in the interior of the lodge during certain seasons of the year. And as additionalprotection "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." And Maximilian related how, about the middle of November or before, the Indians removed to their winter huts which were in a timbered area, and thus more protected from the winds and storms of winter. There they remained until the latter part of February, or the beginning of March, being governed by the climatic conditions. Thus about four months of the year would be spent in their winter village. As the greater part of their possessions would be deposited in underground caches they made frequent trips between their villages to get what was desired—food, clothing, skins, and other supplies. In the winter, when the frozen prairie was covered with ice and snow, they made use of sledges drawn by dogs to transport their goods from place to place. The sledges were "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."
Fig. 7.—Inclosed bed.Fig. 7.—Inclosed bed.
On the evening of November 30, 1833, Maximilian returned to Fort Clark from a visit of a few days to the villages a short distance above. They passed through "the forest-village belonging to the inhabitants of Ruhptare," referring to the winter village of the people of the smaller Mandan town. They entered one of the winter lodges, and "there was an abundance of meat hanging up in this hut, as they had had a very successful buffalo hunt." After returning to Fort Clark Maximilian wrote: "The Mandan village near the fort was now entirely forsaken by the inhabitants. The entrances to the huts were blocked with bundles of thorns; a couple of families only still remained, one of which was that of Dipauch, whom Mr Bodmer visited every day, in order to make a drawing of the interior of the hut. Instead of the numerous inhabitants, magpies were flying about, and flocks of snow buntings were seen in the neighbourhood about the dry plants of the prairie, where the Indian children set long rows of snares, made of horsehair, to catch them alive." (Op. cit., p. 425.) The drawing made by Bodmer of the interior of the lodge proves to be one of his most interesting pictures. It was reproduced as platexix, and is here shown in plate40.
The people of Mih-tutta-hang-kusch having removed to their winter settlement, prepared to have "a great medicine feast," and Maximilian was invited to be present, and so, as he recorded in his narrative, "we proceeded thither, on the 3rd of December, in the afternoon. Mr. Kipp took his family with him, and Mato-Topé and several other Indians accompanied us. We were all well armed, because it was asserted that a band of hostile Indians had been seen among the prairie hills on the preceding day. Our beds, blankets, and buffalo skins were laid on a horse, on which Mr Kipp's wife, a Mandan Indian, rode. Thus we passed, at a rapid pace, through the prairie, along the Missouri, then below the hills, which are pretty high.... After proceeding about an hour and a half we reached the village in the wood, which is the winter residence of the inhabitants of Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush. We stopped at the hut of Mr. Kipp's father-in-law, Mandeek-Suck-Choppenik (the medicine bird), who accommodated us with a night's lodging. The description of this hut may serve for all the winter huts of these Indians. It was about twenty paces in diameter, and circular;his the fence or wall of the hut, supported inside by strong, low posts, on which rests the vaulted roof, which has a square hole to let the smoke escape;gis the entrance, protected by two projecting walls covered above. Atfis the door, consisting of a piece of leather stretched on a frame. Atd dthere is a cross wall of considerable height, made of reeds and osier twigs woven together, to keep off the draught of air. Ate e ethere is another cross wall, only three feet high, behind which the horses stand;ais the fireplace, round which, atc c c c, are the seats of the inmates, consisting of benches formed of basket-work, covered with skins;b b b bare four strong pillars which bear the roof, and are very well united above by cross beams. Atithere was a large leather case for the beds in which the family slept. A chain, with a large kettle, was suspended from the roof over the fire, to cook our supper, consisting of very pleasant flavoured sweet maize."(Op. cit., pp. 425-426.) A plan of the lodge is given on page 426, here reproduced as figure8.
Fig. 8.—Plan of the interior of a Mandan lodge.Fig. 8.—Plan of the interior of a Mandan lodge.
The "great medicine feast" was to begin the evening of their arrival at the winter village and to last 40 nights. That evening "after seven o'clock we repaired to the medicine lodge; it was entirely cleared, except that some women sat along the walls; the fire burned in the centre, before which we took our seats, near the partitiond d, with several distinguished men of the band of soldiers. At our left hand, the other soldiers, about twenty-five in number, were seated in a row; some of them were handsomely dressed, though the majority were in plain clothes. They had their arms in their hands, and in the centre were three men who beat the drum." (Op. cit., pp. 426-427.) The lengthy detailed account of what followed during the course of the "feast" is most interesting, but will not be mentioned in this sketch.
As among the many neighboring tribes of the Missouri Valley, the buffalo served as the principal source of food for the Mandan. Often sufficient meat could be secured very near the towns; again it would be necessary to undertake long journeys in search of the moving herds. It will be recalled that on January 13, 1805, when the mercury stood 34° below zero, Lewis and Clark saw "nearly one half of the Mandan nation" pass down the frozen Missouri on a hunt to last several days. And a few years later, just at the beginning of summer, June 25, 1811, Brackenridge wrote: "At ten, passed an old Mandan village; and at some distance above, saw a great number of Mandan Indians on their march along the prairie. They sometimes go on hunting parties by whole villages, which is the case at present; they are about five hundred in number, some on horseback, some on foot, their tents and baggage drawn by dogs. On these great hunting parties, the women are employed in preserving the hides, drying the meat, and making a provision to keep. Very little of the buffalo is lost, for after taking the marrow, they pound the bones, boil them, and preserve the oil." (Brackenridge, (1), p. 260.) On such trips away from their permanent earth-lodge villages the Mandan made use of the skin-covered tipi.
In addition to the food supplied by the chase the people of the permanent villages had large gardens in which they raised quantities of corn and beans of various sorts, gourds and sunflowers of several varieties, and of the seeds of the latter "very nice cakes are made." Many animals in addition to the buffalo, and various plants besides those cultivated in the gardens, served the Mandan for food.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 40
"THE INTERIOR OF THE HUT OF A MANDAN CHIEF" Karl Bodmer, 1833"THE INTERIOR OF THE HUT OF A MANDAN CHIEF" Karl Bodmer, 1833
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 41
a. Mandan wooden bowl. Marked "Ft. Berthold, Dacotah Ter. Drs. Gray and Matthews." Diameter 7¼ ¼ inches, depth 2 inches. (U.S.N.M. 6341)a. Mandan wooden bowl. Marked "Ft. Berthold, Dacotah Ter. Drs. Gray and Matthews." Diameter 7¼ ¼ inches, depth 2 inches. (U.S.N.M. 6341)
b. Mandan earthenware jar, collected by Drs. Gray and Matthews. (U.S.N.M. 8407)b. Mandan earthenware jar, collected by Drs. Gray and Matthews. (U.S.N.M. 8407)
c. Wooden bowl. Marked "Bowl of Mandan Indians, Dakota T. Drs. Gray and Matthews—U. S. A." Diameters 10¾ and 9¼ inches, depth 3½ inches. (U.S.N.M. 8406)c. Wooden bowl. Marked "Bowl of Mandan Indians, Dakota T. Drs. Gray and Matthews—U. S. A." Diameters 10¾ and 9¼ inches, depth 3½ inches. (U.S.N.M. 8406)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 42
a. Spoon, marked "Buffalo horn spoon, presented by Gen. T. Duncan." Length about 10 inches. (U.S.N.M. 12259)a. Spoon, marked "Buffalo horn spoon, presented by Gen. T. Duncan." Length about 10 inches. (U.S.N.M. 12259)
b. Spoon made of horn of mountain sheep. "Mandan Indians, Dacotah Ter. Drs. Gray and Matthews." Extreme length 16½ inches. (U.S.N.M. 6333)b. Spoon made of horn of mountain sheep. "Mandan Indians, Dacotah Ter. Drs. Gray and Matthews." Extreme length 16½ inches. (U.S.N.M. 6333)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 43
"MINATARREE VILLAGE" George Catlin"MINATARREE VILLAGE" George Catlin
At the time of Catlin's and Maximilian's visits to the Mandan the latter were making and using their primitive forms of utensils such as had been in use for generations. Wooden mortars, bowlshollowed out of hard knots, spoons made of the horn of buffalo and mountain sheep, and, most interesting of all, dishes and vessels made of pottery—all these were used in the preparation or serving of food. Some remarkable examples of wooden bowls made by the Mandan are now preserved in the collection of the United States National Museum, Washington. One of the most interesting is shown in plate41,c(U.S.N.M. 8406), and another, of simpler form but equally well made, in plate41,a(U.S.N.M. 6341). Both examples were evidently quite old even when collected. They are fashioned out of maple knots, worked thin and smooth, and are beautiful specimens. Large spoons, often termed "drinking cups," were, as already mentioned, made of the horns of buffalo and mountain sheep. The former were extensively used by many tribes, and usually resembled the one shown in plate42,a. The spoons made of mountain-sheep horns were often much larger and thinner, of a yellowish hue, and the handles were frequently bent into form or decorated. A very beautiful spoon of this sort is shown in plate42,b. (U.S.N.M. 6333.)
Pottery dishes and vessels, so Catlin wrote, "are a familiar part of the culinary furniture of every Mandan lodge, and are manufactured by the women of this tribe in great quantities, and modelled into a thousand forms and tastes. They are made by the hands of the women, from a tough black clay, and baked in kilns which are made for the purpose, and are nearly equal in hardness to our own manufacture of pottery; though they have not yet got the art of glazing, which would be to them a most valuable secret. They make them so strong and serviceable, however, that they hang them over the fire as we do our iron pots, and boil their meat in them with perfect success." (Op. cit., p. 116.) Maximilian described the art of pottery making among the Mandan as exactly like that of the two associated tribes, the Hidatsa and Arikara. He wrote regarding the three tribes that they "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." (Op. cit., p. 348.) This was probably the simple process of manufacture followed by the widely scattered tribes, and the apparent ease with which the vessels were made accounts for the great quantities offragments now discovered scattered over ancient village sites. Two small vessels made by the Mandan, and collected by Dr. Matthews half a century ago, are in the National Museum collection, and one is shown in plate41,b. Very few perfect specimens exist, several being in the collection of the State Historical Society of North Dakota. The specimens in the National Museum are rather small, but some very large vessels were made and used in boiling their food.
Bows and arrows were the principal weapons of the Mandan. The heads of the arrows, at the time of Maximilian's stay among the people, were made of thin bits of iron, although persons then living remembered the use of stone. Lances and clubs were likewise made and used, and when mentioning the latter Maximilian said, "a simple, knotty, wooden club is called mauna-panischa," and gives, on page 390, a woodcut of such a weapon. It is of interest to know that an example of this peculiar form of weapon, which at once suggests the traditional club of Hercules, is preserved in the Museo Kircheriana, in Rome. It is one of four specimens now belonging to the museum which were collected by Maximilian, the other three being a knife sheath, a horse bridle, and a saddle blanket, all being beautifully decorated with colored quillwork. The club is shown in figure9, after a drawing made for the writer in 1905 by Dr. Paribeni, of the museum. The smaller end is bound or braided with tanned skin, to serve as a handle, and around the upper end of the wrapping is a band of quillwork similar in workmanship to that on the other objects. All are remarkably well preserved, and several specimens in the Ethnological Museum in Florence may have belonged to the Maximilian collection.
Fig. 9.—Wooden club.Fig. 9.—Wooden club.
The Mandans, like other tribes of the upper Missouri Valley, were very expert in the art of dressing skins, especially those of the buffalo. They used two forms of implements, one of which is similar to those shown in plate12,a; the second, rather more complicated, is represented in plate34,c. This is a beautiful old specimen now in the National Museum. The handle is formed of a piece of elk antler; the blade is of clear, brownish flint, well chipped. Other similar objects are preserved in the collection.
How fortunate it was that Catlin and Maximilian chose to spend much time among the Mandan during the years 1832, 1833, and 1834. A few years later, in the spring of 1837, the dreaded smallpox swept away the greater part of this most interesting nation, and "when the disease had abated, and when the remnant of this once powerful nation had recovered sufficiently to remove the decaying bodies from their cabins, the total number of grown men was twenty-three, of women forty, and of young persons sixty or seventy. These were all that were left of the eighteen hundred souls that composed the nation prior to the advent of that terrific disease, and even those that recovered were so disfigured as scarcely to be recognized." (Hayden, (1), p. 433.) Soon those who survived deserted their old village near Fort Clark and removed a few miles above, and the town was, about this time, occupied by the Arikara. It is interesting to know that the small remnant of the Mandan continued to follow their own peculiar customs and to maintain their tribal unity although so reduced in numbers. It will not be necessary in the present sketch to trace the later history of the tribe.
In recent years the State Historical Society of North Dakota has caused surveys to be made of the more important village sites in that State. In addition to the plans of the sites, showing the position of the earth lodges, they have been fortunate in obtaining drawings of the Mandan and Hidatsa villages, made by a Mandan living on the Fort Berthold Reservation. In writing of the picture and plan of the "most important historical site of the Mandan tribe in the state, the one visited and described by Lewis and Clark, Catlin, and Maximilian," Libby said: "The Indian chart and the map of the village as it appears to-day are here shown. It is seen that the two representations are not essentially unlike. The grouping of the houses about a common center, at one side of which is the holy tepee, is the predominating characteristic of each." The Indian drawing, although crude, shows some details omitted by Catlin in his many sketches; but the map (fig.10) is of the greatest interest. It shows the site near Fort Clark as it appeared about the year 1908, and to quote from the description: "In the center of the tepees, on the space devoted by the old Mandans to the 'big canoe' and cedar post of the 'elder man,' stands now a large tepee (shown in dotted outline) which was placed there by the Arikara who occupied the village after the small-pox scourge of 1837 had killed or driven away the original inhabitants." The structures surrounding the open space were occupied by the principal men of the village, and the names as given by Libby were secured by him from "Bad Gun, Rushing War Eagle, son of the Ma-ta-to-pe or Four Bears, whose portrait Catlin painted." In the list of names "Tepee No. 1 was the holy tepee and was alsoused by Lance Shoulder," and "No. 2 was occupied by Four Bears." The list includes fifteen names. At the time the survey was made the entire ditch could not be traced, but its general course could be followed, thus indicating the approximate boundary of the town, "beyond which only a few tepees are located." (Libby, (1), pp. 498-499.)
Fig. 10.—Plan of the Mandan village at Fort Clark.Fig. 10.—Plan of the Mandan village at Fort Clark.
When it is realized how little is known regarding the arrangement of the many ancient villages which once stood in the country east of the Mississippi, villages which in their time were probably as large and important as those of the Mandan of the last century, it is not possible to overestimate the value of the work of the Historical Society in causing to be made an accurate survey of the sites and in securing descriptions of the villages from some who remember them. A generation later this would not have been possible.
Two tribes are regarded as constituting this group: The Hidatsa proper, known to the earlier writers as the Minnetarees, and to others as the Gros Ventres of the Missouri; and the Crows. The Hidatsa and the Crows were, until a few generations ago, one people, but trouble developed and the latter moved farther up the Missouri to the Rocky Mountains, and there they were discovered by the early explorers of the region.
The Amahami may have been a distinct tribe, and as such were recognized by Lewis and Clark, but according to their own traditions they, together with the Hidatsa and Crows, once formed a singletribe. Their language differs only slightly from that of the Hidatsa. During the early years of the last century their one village stood at the mouth of Knife River. Already greatly reduced in numbers, they suffered during the epidemic of 1837, and later the majority of those who had survived became more closely associated with the Hidatsa.
The Hidatsa, also known as the Minnetarees and designated by some writers the Gros Ventres of the Missouri, a name which must not be confused with Gros Ventres of the Prairie often applied to the Atsina, lived when first known to Europeans near the junction of the Knife and Missouri Rivers, in the eastern part of the present Mercer County, North Dakota. Some are of the belief that it was the Hidatsa and not the Mandan whom the French, under La Verendrye, visited during the autumn and winter of 1738, but in the present sketch the Mandan are accepted as undoubtedly being the tribe at whose villages the French remained.
The Hidatsa villages as seen by Catlin and Maximilian during the years 1832, 1833, and 1834 had probably changed little since the winter of 1804-05, when Lewis and Clark occupied Fort Mandan, their winter quarters, some 8 miles below the mouth of Knife River. Describing the villages, Catlin said the principal one stood on the bank of Knife River and consisted of 40 or 50 earth-covered lodges, each from 40 to 50 feet in diameter, and this town being on an elevated bank overlooked the other two which were on lower ground "and almost lost amidst their numerous corn fields and other profuse vegetation which cover the earth with their luxuriant growth.
"The scenery along the banks of this little river, from village to village, is quite peculiar and curious; rendered extremely so by the continual wild and garrulous groups of men, women, and children, who are wending their way along its winding shores, or dashing and plunging through its blue waves, enjoying the luxury of swimming, of which both sexes seem to be passionately fond. Others are paddling about in their tub-like canoes, made of the skins of buffaloes." (Catlin, (1), I, p. 186.) Among the great collection of Catlin's paintings belonging to the United States National Museum, in Washington, is one of the large village. The original painting is reproduced in plate43. A drawing of the same was shown as plate in Catlin's work cited above. The work is crude but interesting historically, and conveys some idea of the appearance of the town, although in this, as in other paintings by the same artist, the earth lodges are very poorly drawn, failing to show the projection which served as the entrance and having the roofs too rounded and dome-shaped. Bodmer's sketches are far superior.
On June 19, 1833, Maximilian, aboard the steamboatAssiniboin, left Fort Clark bound for Fort Union at the mouth of the Yellowstone. Soon after passing the Mandan village of Ruhptare, so Maximilian wrote: "We saw before us the fine broad mirror of the river, and, at a distance on the southern bank, the red mass of the clay huts of the lower village of the Manitaries, which we reached in half an hour. The Missouri is joined by the Knife River, on which the three villages of the Manitaries are built. The largest, which is the furthest from the Missouri, is called Elah-Sa (the village of the great willows); the middle one, Awatichay (the little village), where Charbonneau, the interpreter, lives; and the third, Awachawi (le village des souliers), which is the smallest, consisting of only eighteen huts, situated at the mouth of Knife River.... The south bank of the river was now animated by a crowd of Indians, both on foot and on horseback; they were the Manitaries, who had flocked from their villages to see the steamer and to welcome us. The appearance of this vessel of the Company, which comes up, once in two years, to the Yellow Stone River, is an event of the greatest importance to the Indians.... The sight of the red brown crowd collected on the river side, for even their buffalo skins were mostly of this colour, was, in the highest degree, striking. We already saw above a hundred of them, with many dogs, some of which drew sledges, and others, wooden boards fastened to their backs, and the ends trailing on the ground, to which the baggage was attached with leather straps." (Maximilian, (1), pp. 178-179.)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 44
a. Original pencil sketcha. Original pencil sketch
b. Finished picture of the same "WINTER PICTURE OF THE MINATARRES Karl Bodmer, 1833b. Finished picture of the same "WINTER PICTURE OF THE MINATARRES Karl Bodmer, 1833
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 45
a. Manner of carrying basket similar to that shown in plate 52, aa. Manner of carrying basket similar to that shown in plate52, a
The ring-and-pole game.The ring-and-pole game.
c. Hidatsa group with bull-boats. At Fort Berthold, July 13, 1851 FROM KURZ'S SKETCHBOOKc. Hidatsa group with bull-boats. At Fort Berthold, July 13, 1851 FROM KURZ'S SKETCHBOOK
As told in the preceding section, Maximilian returned from Fort Union to Fort Clark, where, with the artist Bodmer, he spent the long winter. While near the Mandan towns he made several visits to the Hidatsa villages a few miles above, and learned much of the manners and ways of life of the people. He again spoke of the three villages on the banks of Knife River, "two on the left bank, and the third, which is much the largest, on the right bank." He continued: "At present the Manitaries live constantly in their villages, and do not roam about as they formerly did, when, like the Pawnees and other nations, they went in pursuit of the herds of buffaloes as soon as their fields were sown, returned in the autumn for the harvest, after which they again went into the prairie. In these wanderings they made use of leather tents, some of which are still standing by the side of their permanent dwellings" (p. 395). He then described the dress and general appearance of the people and continued: "The Manitari villages are similarly arranged as those of the Mandans, except that they have no ark placed in the central space, and the figure of Ochkih-Hadda is not there. In the principal village, however, is the figure of a woman placed on a long pole, doubtless representing the grandmother, who presented them withthe pots, of which I shall speak more hereafter. A bundle of brushwood is hung on this pole, to which are attached the leathern dress and leggins of a woman. The head is made of wormwood, and has a cap with feathers. The interior of their huts is arranged as among the Mandans: like them the Manitaries go, in winter, into the forests on both banks of the Missouri, where they find fuel, and, at the same time, protection against the inclement weather. Their winter villages are in the thickest of the forest, and the huts are built near to each other, promiscuously, and without any attempt at order or regularity. They have about 250 or 300 horses in their three villages, and a considerable number of dogs" (pp. 396-397). Bodmer's picture of the "Winter Village of the Minatarres," made during the winter of 1833, is probably the most accurate drawing of an earth-lodge village in existence. It was given as plate xxvi by Maximilian, which is here reproduced as plate44,b. A pencil sketch which may be considered as the original sketch made by Bodmer, and from which the finished picture was made, is now in the E. E. Ayer collection preserved in the Newberry Library. Unfortunately the drawing is unfinished but is very interesting historically. It is shown in plate44,a.
Maximilian then referred briefly to the creation myth of the people with whom he was then resting. The entire surface was once covered with water. There were two beings: one a man who lived in the far Rocky Mountains who made all; the other was the old woman called grandmother by the members of the tribe. "She gave the Manitaries a couple of pots, which they still preserve as a sacred treasure," and "When their fields are threatened with a great drought they are to celebrate a medicine feast with the old grandmother's pots, in order to beg for rain: this is, properly, the destination of the pots. The medicine men are still paid, on such occasions, to sing for four days together in the huts, while the pots remain filled with water." Such were the superstitious beliefs of these strange people.
November 26, 1833, Maximilian, Bodmer, and several others went from Fort Clark to the winter village to attend "a great medicine feast among the Manitaries." They passed the two Mandan towns and during the journey saw a large stone, "undoubtedly one of those isolated blocks of granite which are scattered over the whole prairie, and which the Indians, from some superstitious notion, paint with vermilion, and surround with little sticks, or rods, to which were attached some feathers." The little party had seen much of interest on the way, and it was late in the day when they arrived at the village, "the large huts of which were built so close to each other that it was sometimes difficult to pass between them." Herds of buffalo having been reported in the vicinity of the village, a party of Indians had decided to start after them the following day, and planned "to implore the blessings of heaven upon their undertaking by a greatmedicine feast." This appears to have been a ceremony arranged by the women of the village. The structure in which the dance took place was not one of the earth-covered lodges of the town, but a rather temporary shelter of unusual shape. As described by Maximilian: "Between the huts, in the centre of the village, an elliptical space, forty paces or more in length, was enclosed in a fence, ten or twelve feet high, consisting of reeds and willow twigs inclining inwards. (See the woodcut.) [Fig.11.] An entrance was left ata;brepresents the fence;dare the four fires, burning in the medicine lodge, which were kept up the whole time. Atethe elder and principal men had taken their seats; to the right sat the old chief, Lachpitzi-Sihrisch (the yellow bear); some parts of his face were painted red, and a bandage of yellow skin encircled his head. Places were assigned to us on the right hand of the yellow bear. Atf, close to the fence, the spectators, especially the women, were seated: the men walked about, some of them handsomely dressed, others quite simply; children were seated round the fires, which they kept alive by throwing twigs of willow trees into them." Here follows a description of the ceremony, and it is related how six elderly men who had been chosen by the younger ones to represent buffalo bulls, entered the inclosure. They came from the hut opposite and when they were within, and after certain formalities, were seated atc. The ceremony was attended by smoking, the pipes were "brought first to the old men and the visitors; they presented the mouth-piece of the pipe to us in succession, going from right to left: we each took a few whiffs, uttered, as before, a wish or prayer, and passed the pipe to our next neighbours.... The six buffalo bulls, meantime, sitting behind the fire, sang, and rattled the medicine sticks, while one of them constantly beat the badger skin. After a while they all stood up, bent forward, and danced; that is, they leaped as high as they could with both their feet together, continuing to sing and rattle their sticks, one of them beating time on the badger. Their song was invariably the same, consisting of loud, broken notes and exclamations. When they had danced for some time, they resumed their seats.
Fig. 11.—Plan of a ceremonial lodge.Fig. 11.—Plan of a ceremonial lodge.
"The whole was extremely interesting. The great number of red men, in a variety of costumes, the singing, dancing, beating the drum, &c., while the lofty trees of the forest, illumed by the fires, spread their branches against the dark sky, formed atout ensembleso striking and original, that I regretted the impracticability of taking a sketch of it on the spot."
Fig. 12.—Plan of the large Hidatsa village.Fig. 12.—Plan of the large Hidatsa village.
Two days after the dance, on November 28, 1833, Maximilian visited the chief Yellow Bear in his lodge. The interior presents an interesting appearance: "The beds, consisting of square leathern cases, were placed along the sides of the spacious hut, and the inmates sat round the fire variously occupied. The Yellow Bear, wearing only his breech-cloth, sat upon a bench made of willow boughs, covered with skins, and was painting a new buffalo robe with figures in vermillion and black, having his colours standing by him, ready mixed, in old potsherds. In lieu of a pencil he was using the more inartificial substitute of a sharp-pointed piece of wood. The robe was ornamented with the symbols of valuable presents which he had made, and which had gained the Yellow Bear much reputation, and made him a man of distinction." (Maximilian, (1), pp. 419-423.)
Among the historic village sites which have been studied and surveyed by the State Historical Society of North Dakota, as mentioned in the preceding sketch of the Mandan, was that "of the largest Hidatsa village on Knife river." The map made for the society is here reproduced in figure12. This, to quote Libby, "shows the present appearance of the ... largest Hidatsa village site, located just north of the mouth of Knife river. From the position and direction of the doorways, it is seen that these villages show no such large grouping as is characteristic of the Mandan village...." It was observed that the circles marking the positions ofthe earth lodges were much deeper in the Hidatsa villages than in the two Mandan sites. In the former the extreme depth below the "highest part of the rim was often three feet and very commonly over two feet," but on the Mandan sites the depressions were quite shallow. And "in many cases it was observed that in and near the Hidatsa villages were mounds of debris of varying heights, while nothing of the kind was seen on or near Mandan sites." (Libby, (1), p. 500.) Noting these characteristic features of the two groups of villages, or rather of the villages of the two tribes, should reduce the difficulty of identifying other ancient sites in the upper Missouri Valley.
The several quotations already made refer to the earth-covered lodges of the Hidatsa, but the same people also made use of the typical skin tipi, although less often mentioned by the early writers. They probably resembled the structures used by the Crow. On November 8, 1833, when Maximilian was returning to Fort Clark from the mouth of the Yellowstone, he wrote: "At twelve o'clock we were opposite the first Manitari summer village, and saw, on the other side, many Indians.... The invitations to land became more vociferous and numerous." Going ashore "we were immediately conducted, by a distinguished man, Ita-Widahki-Hisha (the red shield), to his tent, which stood apart on the prairie, on the summit of the bank. The white leather tent was new, spacious, and handsomely ornamented with tufts of hair of various colours, and at each side of the entrance, finished with a stripe and rosettes of dyed porcupine quills, very neatly executed. It had been well warmed by a good fire, a most refreshing sight to us. We took our seats around it, with the numerous family, the brother and uncle of the chief, young men, women, and children. The chief had rather a long beard, like the Punca chief, Shudegacheh, and his right breast was tattooed with black stripes.... A large dish of boiled maize and beans was immediately set before us; it was very tender and well dressed, and three of us eat out of the dish with spoons made of the horn of buffalo, or bighorn; after which the red Dacota pipe went round." (Maximilian; (1), p. 316.) This must have been a beautiful example of the buffalo-skin tipi, new and white, decorated with quillwork and tufts of hair.
Continuing down the Missouri to Fort Clark they passed women in their "round leather boats," and saw others, "proceeding towards the river, with their boats hanging on their heads and down their backs."
An example of a "bull-boat" and paddle is shown in plate35,b. It was collected among the Hidatsa and is now preserved in the collection of the National Museum. It is a specimen of great interest and rarity, though once so extensively used by the tribes of the MissouriValley. Several boats of this sort are shown by Bodmer in his picture of the Mandan village (pl.39), and Kurz likewise left many drawings of these peculiar craft (pl.45,c).
In addition to the several forms of structures already mentioned, the Hidatsa evidently erected a very secure temporary lodge when away from their villages on hunting trips. On November 7, 1833, when descending the Missouri, and just before arriving at Fort Clark, Maximilian wrote: "Our breakfast was prepared at nine o'clock, when we lay to on the north bank, in a narrow strip of forest, where we found some old Indian hunting lodges, built, in a conical form, of dry timber. They had, doubtless, been left by the Manitaries, who had come thus far on their hunting excursions. The lower part of the huts, or lodges, was covered with the bark of trees; the entrance was square, and bones were scattered in all directions. We proceeded with a bleak, high wind, saw the singular clay tops of the hills, and, in the forest, the stages made of poles, where the Indian hunters dry the flesh of the animals they have taken in the chase. About twelve o'clock we came to the spot where some stakes indicated the former site of a Mandan village.... We are now in the centre of the territory of the Manitaries." (Maximilian, (1), pp. 314-315.) Probably the danger of attack by their enemies made necessary the erection of these comparatively secure shelters.
About the year 1845 many Hidatsa removed from the vicinity of Knife River and reared a new village not far from Fort Berthold, some 60 miles up the Missouri from old Fort Clark. They were joined from time to time by other members of their tribe, and also by many of the remaining Mandan. In 1862 the Arikara became the third tribe to settle near Fort Berthold. But in 1850 the Arikara continued to occupy the old Mandan town just below Fort Clark, the large village of earth lodges so often visited and mentioned by the explorers and traders during the early years of the last century. It is quite evident the new settlement of the Hidatsa did not differ in appearance from the old Mandan town, the later home of the Arikara, and on June 13, 1850, Culbertson wrote from Fort Berthold: "The village, with its mud lodges, differs nothing in looks from the Ree village described yesterday, except in one particular, that is, the inhabitants are now engaged in surrounding it with pickets. The logs are well prepared and are all up except on the west side; a bastion with loop holes is placed in the middle of each side. This picket is of course to protect the inmates against enemies by whom they are frequently attacked." (Culbertson, (1), pp. 118-119.) This is a most interesting reference. Could this palisade have been the one to which Matthews alluded as having stood until 1865? The manner of constructing the palisade, with "a bastion ... inthe middle of each side," will tend to recall the similar arrangement as indicated on the drawing of the ancient Mahican village about two centuries before. (Bushnell, (1), p. 26.)
In the autumn of 1853, just 20 years after Maximilian was among the Hidatsa, an officer passed down the Missouri from Fort Benton to St. Louis, thence to continue to Washington, where he arrived November 21. In his journal are several brief references to the Hidatsa, or, as he designated the tribe, the Gros Ventres. To quote from the journal: "October 8 ... a fine region, full of game, and occasionally speaking a hunting party of Gros Ventres out after buffalo." The next day the small party arrived at Fort Berthold, late in the afternoon. Then, so the journal continues: "We received many visits from the Gros Ventres, and gave them a few presents. The Gros Ventres have a large village of mud houses—very unsightly outside, but within warm and comfortable." The following morning, October 10, 1853, "I visited some of the lodges of the Gros Ventres, and found them exceedingly comfortable and capable of accommodating comfortably a hundred persons. One part of the lodge is appropriated to the horses, dogs, cattle, and chickens, and another to their own sleeping apartments. They all seemed to live sociably and comfortable together during the long cold winters of this cold latitude.... We left Fort Berthold early; but, before we had advanced far, were driven ashore by a strong wind, which continued throughout the day. The smoke from the burning prairies is so dense as to almost hide the sun. The fires, burning in every direction, present at night a beautiful and magnificent, though terrible appearance." (Saxton, (1), pp. 264-265.) What a vivid, though brief, description of conditions in the Upper Missouri Valley when all was in a primitive state.
During the years following the visits of Catlin and Maximilian many changes took place in the native villages standing on the banks of the upper Missouri and its tributaries. Writing of a period about 40 years after Maximilian's stay among the Mandan and Hidatsa, the winter of 1833-34, Dr. Matthews said: "The Hidatsa, Minnetaree, or Grosventre Indians, are one of the three tribes which at present inhabit the permanent village at Fort Berthold, Dakota Territory, and hunt on the waters of the Upper Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers, in Northwestern Dakota and Eastern Montana." Describing the village, he continued: "The village consists of a number of houses built very closely together, without any attempt at regularity of position. The doors face in every possible direction; and there is great uniformity in the appearance of the lodges; so it is a very difficult matter to find one's way among them." In a footnote to this paragraph is given the number of structures standing therein the year 1872. The note reads: In the fall of 1872, Dr. C. E. McChesney, then physician at the Berthold agency, counted, with great care, the buildings in the village and, in a letter, gave me the following results: