M andan T ribe by Vizsolyi Alexandra

G eneral f acts LIVING in North Dakota  the Upper Midwestern region of the United States the POPULATION of the tribe is fewer than 6,000 people  half of the Mandan still reside in the area of the reservation; the rest reside around the United States and in Canada they speak 3 LANGUAGES:  Mandan, Hidatsa, English hunting, farming and gathering wild plants,  corn, beans and squash

L anguages belongs to the Siouan language family  linguists classify Mandan most often as a separate branch of the Siouan family different grammatical forms that depend on gender of the addressee has elements of sound symbolism in their vocabulary Mandan has two main dialects  Nuptare  Nuetare - only the Nuptare variety survived into the 20th century

L odges & V illages circular with a dome-like roof and a square hole at the apex of the dome through which smoke could escape designed, built and owned by the women of the tribe, and ownership was passed through the female line several families, up to 30 or 40 people villages usually had around 120 lodges villages were usually oriented around a central plaza  in the center of the plaza was a tree surrounded by a wood enclosure. It represented the "Lone Man", one of the main figures in Mandan religion

F amily L ife 4 clans children were named ten days after their birth in a naming ceremony Boys  hunting and fishing & girls  domestic duties, farming, and how to keep a home Death  erect a scaffold near the village to contain the body  mourning for 4 days  body rottened  bones buried, skull kept in the village family members talking to the skull

D ress clothing made from the hides of buffalo, deer, sheep tunics, dresses, buffalo-fur robes, moccasins, gloves, loincloths and leggings Men clothes ornamented with quills and bird feathers men wore the scalps of enemies hair were long waist-length at the back and shoulder length at the front Various ornaments in hair, like bird feathers women wore ankle-length dresses made of deerskin or sheepskin ornamented with pieces of buffalo hoof hair was worn straight down in braids

R eligion myth : the world was created by the First Creator and the Lone Man each person possessed four different, immortal souls. Okipa ceremony.. The brutal tribal ceremony Opened with Bison dance then torturous ordeals young men not eating, drinking, or sleeping for four days they had to sit with smiling faces while the skin of their chest and shoulders was slit and wooden skewers were thrust behind the muscles suspended from the roof of the lodge to hang there until they fainted  awaken  proving the spirits' approval offer the left little finger to the Great  cut off Spirit,

Thank you for the attention!