Fort Abraham Lincoln outside of Bismark/Mandan is the location of the Slant tribe of the Mandan who lived here hundreds of years ago. Smallpox hit this village, and so many died that those left decided to go a little farther north to where we’ve been at Fort Mandan. Most of these pictures are from this location, but I’m also including some more information and pictures from an earth lodge at Lewis & Clark Missouri River Basin interpretation center that we visited around Omaha. The next post takes us inside the museum at Fort Abraham Lincoln where we’ll share with you what was new to us as we walked around.
The Slant Village that we’ll be seeing was occupied by the Mandan, an agricultural Indian tribe, and received its name because of the sloping ground upon which it was situated. The village embraced about 7 or 8 acres of ground, and the most recent survey of the site, made in 1937, revealed the ruins of 75 earth lodges. The readily visible circular depressions on this site mark the ruins of the lodges. A study of the tree rings from timbers found at this site indicates that Slant Village was occupied during 1650-1750. In the fall of 1804 when the Lewis and Clark expedition moved up the Missouri River, this village was in ruins. At that time the Mandan tribe was living in the vicinity of the Knife River, some 60 miles up the Missouri River, close to where the Corps of Discovery would be spending the winter.
If you don’t know about the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), here’s some information that was on the wall of the museum center. We found many places in Georgia (where we’re from) and in the National Parks where the CCC contributed to the beauty of our country. If you’d like to learn more about this Corps, you may want to check out our blog from one of the Georgia state parks we visited.
Only one of the earth lodges was available to walk inside. Let’s go.
I was curious about the height of the Mandan. Here’s what AI had to say, “The Mandan Indians, part of the equestrian tribes of the American Plains, were among the tallest people in the world during the 1800s, with average male heights of about 5 feet 8 inches. This height was attributed to their healthy lifestyle and varied diet.”
This 2nd lodge has this information in front of it about the villages.
The Otoe and Missouria people who lived in this area [south of Omaha] in the 1700s and 1800s built villages with small groupings of earth lodges. Like the Omahas, Poncas and Pawnees who lived in Nebraska and Kansas, and Mandans, Arikawas and Hidatas in the Dakotas, their earth lodges were permanent structures.
A framework of heavy timber posts supported the circular, dome-shaped structures, with a covering of poles, prairie grass, and sod providing strength and insulation from heat and cold.
Nearby were family garden plots, where women and children sowed and harvested corn, beans, watermelon, tobacco and pumpkins.
For brief trips in the spring and summer, and during buffalo hunts, they traveled with their “mobile homes” made of poles and animal skins known as tipis.
From a Nebraska study:
“Nebraska Indian tribes, such as the Pawnee, Oto, Ponca, and Omaha, also lived in earth lodges that were round in shape and made of the same raw materials as earlier earth lodges. As many as thirty people might live in one house. By the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, the Pawnee were living in circular earth lodges in large villages, which might include 1000 to 2000 people.”
“Native Americans in central and western Nebraska lived mainly in tipis. They required little wood and their hide coverings made them portable. Tribes in eastern Nebraska had more trees available and used them in earth lodges and wigwams.Nebraska Indian tribes, such as the Pawnee, Oto, Ponca, and Omaha, also lived in earth lodges that were round in shape and made of the same raw materials as earlier earth lodges. As many as thirty people might live in one house. By the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, the Pawnee were living in circular earth lodges in large villages, which might include 1000 to 2000 people.”
“Native Americans in central and western Nebraska lived mainly in tipis. They required little wood and their hide coverings made them portable. Tribes in eastern Nebraska had more trees available and used them in earth lodges and wigwams.”
“Tribes using tipis could move their houses wherever and whenever they wanted. Their ponies dragged the poles that served as the framework of the tepee. Bison skins which covered the poles could be folded up and hauled by horses, too. Even the tribes which usually lived in earth lodges took advantage of this great invention. They used tipis during long journeys.”
Beds made of these small timbers were placed around the outer walls. Buffalo robes were used on the beds.
Opposite the entrance, at the back of the lodge, was an altar on which a sacred bison skull was placed.
Per AI about the wildcat: “The wildcat plays a significant role in the mythology of some Native American tribes, including the Mandan, where it is associated with hunting and is considered a clan animal. Additionally, the Mandan utilized various animals, including wildcats, in their cultural narratives and practices, reflecting their connection to nature and the importance of wildlife in their traditions.”
Inside the earth lodge at the Slant village replica, some signs gave us more information about the history of the Mandan and how they lived in the area.
Corn production spread into the Mississippi River Valley around 1800 years ago. The Mandans are believed to have adapted corn to North Dakota around 800 years ago. Of the 13 varieties known to the Mandan, the most popular was flint corn. It could be served alone, or for a more substantial meal, boiled with squash in bison fat.
This vegetable combination is called a Three Sisters Garden. Its secret is the way the vegetables cooperate. The corn stalk serves as a pole for the beans; the beans add important nutrients to the soil for the corn; and the squash provides ground cover to keep the soil moist.
In addition to gardening, the Mandan harvested the natural bounty of the land. They gathered prairie turnips, chokeberries, buffalo berries, wild grapes, and wild onions. The Mandan even gathered alkalai salt for seasoning along the shores of prairie sloughs.
The cache pit acted as a refrigerator because of the cooler temperatures below ground. It had other uses as well: it could be used for burials; or it could store bones, tools, or broken pottery.
Cottonwood scaffolds, like the one in the previous picture, were drying platforms for vegetables. Dried foods are easier to store and last longer than fresh foods. The drying platforms could be covered to protect the food from rain.
Before the use of the horse in the Northern Plains, hunters stalked their prey on foot. Occasionally, one or two skilled bowmen would disguise themselves with animal fur and target an unsuspecting bison (example is in the bottom right of the previous picture). More often bison herds would be stampeded into ravines where hunters waited with bow and arrow; or herds were driven over a cliff at locations called buffalo jumps. We’ll see one of these buffalo jumps later on our journey.
- Bone or copper fishhooks tied to lines made of sinew were used to catch walleye, sauger [like a walleye], and goldeye [found in Canada and northern U.S., good for fly-fishing but small].
- Fish traps fashioned from willow were used to trap channel catfish.
- Spears and arrows were used to catch carp.
“They made use of earthen pots, which they used like many other nations for cooking their food. They are for the most part great eaters, are eager for feasts. They brought me every day more than twenty dishes of corn, beans and pumpkins, all cooked.”
Sure seems like the Mandan were a welcoming, civilized people who had learned so much about agriculture. Glad they were the tribe that Louis and Clark met.
Now let’s go inside the State Park Museum Center.
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