Mandan tribe...

Dear Journal,

We reached the Mandan villages in the fall of 1804 and stayed the winter in Fort Mandan, across the river from Matootonha. n Mandan culture, the village was the focus of political, economic and ceremonial activity. It represented a collective of households, all striving together to better each family, clan and the village itself. A sacred cedar post stood at the center of the Mandan village, symbolizing the tribe’s primary cultural hero. The post was surrounded by an open plaza, and at the north end of the plaza was the village’s primary medicine lodge. Forty or fifty additional lodges populated the plaza. The more powerful a family was, or the more significant that family’s ceremonial duties were, the closer its lodge would be to the center. On average, 10 people lived in each lodge. Throughout most of the year, the Mandans lived in these permanent lodges. But in the winter, to avoid brutal storms, they constructed temporary lodges in wooded, low-lying areas adjacent to the river.

The Mandans supplied us with food throughout the winter at our newly constructed home, Fort Mandan, in exchange for a steady stream of trade goods. When food became scarce, members of the crew accompanied the Mandans on a buffalo hunt. Sheheke and Black Cat, chiefs from Matootonha and Roohaptee, met often with us and participated in a host of Mandan ceremonial rituals. As other tribes unfamiliar with black people had been before, the Mandans were mesmerized by the color of York’s skin, and attributed great spiritual power to him because of it.

Mandan women wore long deerskin dresses. Mandan men wore breechcloths with leather leggings and buckskin shirts. The Mandans wore moccasins on their feet, and in cold weather, they wore long buffalo-hide robes. 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.