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Mandan Indian Fact Sheet

Native American Facts For Kids was written for young people learning about the Mandan Indian tribe for school or home-schooling reports. We encourage students and teachers to visit our main Mandan site for more in-depth information about the tribe, but here are our answers to the questions we are most often asked by children, with Mandan pictures and links we believe are suitable for all ages.

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   Mandan Tribe

How do you pronounce the word "Mandan"? What does it mean?
Mandan is pronounced "man-dan." This came from the name of the tribe in the neighboring Sioux language.

Where do the Mandans live?
The Mandan Indians are original people of North Dakota. Most Mandan people are still living in North Dakota today.

How is the Mandan Indian nation organized?
The Mandans share a single nation with the Hidatsa and Arikara tribes. In the past, the Mandans, Hidatsas, and Arikaras lived in separate villages and each had their own government and leadership. But after many of their people died of smallpox in the 1800's, the three allies merged. Together, they are known as the Three Affiliated Tribes.

Today the Hidatsas, Mandans, and Arikaras live on a reservation, which is land that belongs to them and is under their control. The Three Affiliated Tribes have their own government, laws, police, and services, just like a small country. However, the Mandans are also US citizens and must obey American law.

What language do the Mandan Indians speak?
The Mandan people speak English today. Their native Mandan language is still spoken today by only one elder. Hidatsa, Mandan, and Arikara speakers cannot understand each other's languages, so the three languages have been declining since the tribes merged. However, some Mandan people are working to keep their language alive. If you'd like to know an easy Mandan word, "mihapmak" (pronounced mee-hop-mock) is a friendly greeting.

What was Mandan culture like in the past? What is it like now?
Here's a link to the homepage of the Mandan-Hidatsa-Arikara Nation. On their site you can find information about the Mandan people in the past and today.


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How do Mandan Indian children live, and what did they do in the past?
They do the same things all children do--play with each other, go to school and help around the house. Many Mandan children like to go hunting and fishing with their fathers. In the past, Indian kids had more chores and less time to play in their daily lives, just like colonial children. But they did have dolls, toys, and games to play. Here is a picture of a hoop game played by Plains Indian kids. A Mandan mother traditionally carried a young child in a cradleboard on her back. Here is a website of cradle board pictures.

What were men and women's roles in the Mandan tribe?
Mandan men were hunters and sometimes went to war to protect their families. Mandan women were farmers and also did most of the child care and cooking. Only men became Mandan chiefs, but both genders took part in storytelling, artwork and music, and traditional medicine.

What were Mandan homes like in the past?
The Mandan Indians lived in settled villages of round earthen lodges. A Mandan lodge was made from a wooden frame covered with packed earth. When Mandan men went on hunting trips, they often used small buffalo-hide tipis (or teepees) as temporary shelter, similar to camping tents. Unlike other Plains Indian tribes, though, the Mandans were not migratory people, and did not use tall teepees for their regular houses. Here are some pictures of teepees and lodges.

Today, Native Americans only put up a tepee for fun or to connect with their heritage, not for housing. Most Mandans live in modern houses and apartment buildings, just like you.

What was Mandan clothing like? Did the Mandans wear feather headdresses and face paint?
Mandan women wore long deerskin dresses. Mandan men wore leather leggings and buckskin shirts. In cold weather, they also wore long buffalo-hide robes. Like most Native Americans, the Mandans wore moccasins on their feet. Here is a website with pictures of traditional moccasins. A Mandan warrior's shirt was fringed and covered with beadwork, porcupine quills, and feathers; a lady's dress was often decorated with elk's teeth and cowrie shells. Here is a site about the symbolism of Plains Indian war shirts, and some photos and links about American Indian fashion in general.

Mandan Indian leaders sometimes wore the long war bonnet headdresses that Plains Indians are famous for, decorated with buffalo horns and ermine tails. Mandan men and women both wore their hair as long as possible, sometimes down to their knees. Traditionally, Mandan people only cut their hair when they were in mourning. Both men and women usually kept their hair in two long braids, but sometimes left it long and loose for special occasions. The Mandans painted their faces different patterns for war paint, religious ceremonies, and festive decoration. Mandan women wore face tattoos on their chins, and unlike most Plains Indian men, some Mandan men wore beards.

Today, some Mandan people still have moccasins or a buckskin dress, but they wear modern clothes like jeans instead of breechcloths... and they only wear traditional regalia on special occasions like a wedding or a dance.

What was Mandan transportation like in the days before cars? Did they paddle canoes?
No--the Mandan Indians weren't coastal people, and when they traveled by river, they usually built a bowl-shaped raft called a bull boat out of willow rods and buffalo hide. Over land, the Mandans used dogs pulling travois (a kind of drag sled) to help them carry their belongings. Here's a website with pictures of Indian dog travois. There were no horses in North America until colonists brought them over from Europe.

What was Mandan food like in the days before supermarkets?
The Mandans were farming people. Mandan women worked together to raise crops of corn, beans, squash, and sunflowers. Men hunted deer and small game and took part in seasonal buffalo hunts. The Mandans weren't migratory people, so they didn't hunt buffalo as often as other Plains Indian tribes, but buffalo meat was still an important part of their diet because they acquired it in trade from other tribes. Here is a website with more information about Native American farming.

What were Mandan weapons and tools like in the past?
Mandan hunters used bows and arrows. In war, Mandan men fired their bows or fought with war clubs and hide shields. Here is a website with pictures and information about the Native American club and other traditional weapons.

What other Native Americans did the Mandan tribe interact with?
The Mandans traded regularly with other tribes of the Great Plains and the Western Plateau. They particularly liked to trade corn and tobacco to tribes like the Kiowa and Assiniboine in exchange for buffalo hides and meat. These tribes usually communicated using the Native Sign Language.

The Mandans also fought wars with other tribes. Plains Indian tribes treated war differently than European countries did. They didn't fight over territory but instead to prove their courage, and so Plains Indian war parties rarely fought to the death or destroyed each other's villages. Instead, their war customs included counting coup (touching an opponent in the middle of battle without harming him), stealing an enemy's weapon or horse, or forcing the other tribe's warriors to retreat. Some tribes the Mandans frequently fought with included the Dakota Sioux and Shoshoni tribes.

What are Mandan arts and crafts like?
Mandan artists are famous for their native beadwork, pottery, and hide paintings. Here is a photograph of a Mandan buffalo hide painting, and a museum website showcasing Mandan beadwork.

What kinds of stories do the Mandans tell?
There are lots of traditional Mandan legends and fairy tales. Storytelling is very important to the Mandan Indian culture. Here is one story about why Mandan women carry baskets.

What about Mandan religion?
Spirituality and religion were important parts of Mandan life, and some people continue to practice traditional beliefs today. It is respectful to avoid imitating religious rituals for school projects since some Mandan people care about them deeply. You can read and learn about them, however. You can visit this site to learn more about Mandan religious beliefs or this site about Native American values and beliefs in general.

Can you recommend a good book for me to read?
You may enjoy An Indian Winter, which is a beautifully illustrated book about a 19th-century visit to a Mandan-Hidatsa village. If you want to know more about Mandan culture and history, two good books for kids are Mandan Lifeways and The Mandans. You can also browse through our recommendations of books by Native American authors. Disclaimer: we are an Amazon affiliate and our website earns a commission if you buy a book through one of these links. Most of them can also be found in a public library, though!

How do I cite your website in my bibliography?
You will need to ask your teacher for the format he or she wants you to use. The authors' names are Laura Redish and Orrin Lewis and the title of our site is Native Languages of the Americas. We are a nonprofit educational organization working to preserve and protect Native American languages and culture. You can learn more about our organization here. Our website was first created in 1998 and last updated in 2020.

Thanks for your interest in the Mandan Indian people and their language!

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