Monday, January 23, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
1958: The LUMBEE break up a KKK meeting and make national headlines.
Robeson County in the 1950s had a uniquely tri-racial population. There were about 40,000 whites, 30,000 Native Americans, and 25,000 African Americans, each group with its own separate school system. Although the Klan had typically targeted African Americans, in early 1958 a group led by James W. "Catfish" Cole of South Carolina began harassing the Lumbees. One of the crosses burned on the night of January 13 was on the lawn of a Lumbee family that had recently moved into a predominantly white neighborhood, while the other was intended to intimidate a Lumbee woman who was said to have been dating a white man. Not content to leave it at this, the Klan planned a rally in Robeson County to be held just a few days later.
The rally was scheduled for the night of January 18, 1958, in a field near Maxton, N.C. The stated purpose of the gathering was, in the words of Catfish Cole, "to put the Indians in their place, to end race mixing." The time and location of the rally was not kept secret, and word spread quickly among the local Lumbee population.
Reports vary about the number of people gathered on that cold night, but there were thought to have been around a hundred Klan members. They brought a large banner emblazoned with "KKK" and a portable generator, which powered a public address system and a single bare light bulb. When the meeting began, the arc of the dim light didn't spread far enough for the Klansmen to see that they were surrounded by as many as a thousand Lumbees. Several young tribe members, some of whom were armed, closed on the Klan meeting and tried to take down the light bulb. The groups fought, and a shotgun blast shattered the light. In the sudden darkness, the Lumbees descended upon the field, yelling and firing guns into the air, scattering the overmatched Klansmen. Some left under police protection while others, including Catfish Cole, simply took to the woods.
News photographers already on the scene captured the celebration. Images of triumphant Lumbees holding up the abandoned KKK banner were published in newspapers and magazines throughout the world. Simeon Oxendine, a popular World War II veteran, appeared in Life Magazine, smiling and wrapped in the banner. The rout of the Klan galvanized the Lumbee community. The Ku Klux Klan was active in North Carolina into the 1960s, but they never held another public meeting in Robeson County.
Nicholas Graham
http://www.lib.unc.edu/ncc/ref/nchistory/jan2005/jan05.html
http://www.robesonian.com/view/full_story/1654032/article-%E2%80%98It-is-time-for-us-to-tell-the-world%E2%80%99
January 1958 -- The Lumbees face the Klan
On the night of January 13, 1958, crosses were burned on the front lawns of two Lumbee Indian families in Robeson County, N.C. Nobody had to ask who was responsible. The Ku Klux Klan had risen again in North Carolina, its ranks swelling after the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education calling for the desegregation of public schools. While the Court instructed schools to proceed with "all deliberate speed," the Klan fought -- often in the form of anonymous nighttime attacks -- to slow the process of integration.
The rally was scheduled for the night of January 18, 1958, in a field near Maxton, N.C. The stated purpose of the gathering was, in the words of Catfish Cole, "to put the Indians in their place, to end race mixing." The time and location of the rally was not kept secret, and word spread quickly among the local Lumbee population.
Reports vary about the number of people gathered on that cold night, but there were thought to have been around a hundred Klan members. They brought a large banner emblazoned with "KKK" and a portable generator, which powered a public address system and a single bare light bulb. When the meeting began, the arc of the dim light didn't spread far enough for the Klansmen to see that they were surrounded by as many as a thousand Lumbees. Several young tribe members, some of whom were armed, closed on the Klan meeting and tried to take down the light bulb. The groups fought, and a shotgun blast shattered the light. In the sudden darkness, the Lumbees descended upon the field, yelling and firing guns into the air, scattering the overmatched Klansmen. Some left under police protection while others, including Catfish Cole, simply took to the woods.
News photographers already on the scene captured the celebration. Images of triumphant Lumbees holding up the abandoned KKK banner were published in newspapers and magazines throughout the world. Simeon Oxendine, a popular World War II veteran, appeared in Life Magazine, smiling and wrapped in the banner. The rout of the Klan galvanized the Lumbee community. The Ku Klux Klan was active in North Carolina into the 1960s, but they never held another public meeting in Robeson County.
Nicholas Graham
http://www.lib.unc.edu/ncc/ref/nchistory/jan2005/jan05.html
‘It is time for us to tell the world’
Mark Locklear
Staff writer
PEMBROKE — Nell Bullard scanned the crowd of more than 300 people who gathered Friday night to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the night the Lumbees ran the Ku Klux Klan out of Robeson County.
Bullard’s mouth curled and formed a wide smile.
“I am proud,” Bullard said. “I am proud to be a Lumbee Indian.”
Bullard wasn’t at the short-lived KKK rally at Hayes Pond on Jan. 18, 1958. She and other siblings stayed home as their father, Luther Oxendine, armed himself and drove to Maxton in his Model-T Ford.
“We were scared to death,” said Bullard, who lives near Maxton. “We didn’t know what was going on.”
On Friday night, Luther Oxendine was among more than 100 people — men and women, many of whom are dead — whose names pierced the cold night air during a roll call at the Indian Resource Center. Family members stood in their place as leaders of the Lumbee Tribe and the Indian Honor Association presented them medallions commemorating the Battle at Hayes Pond. The medallion included the tribe’s four-color logo, and the words “Lumbee Warrior” and “1958” engraved on the outer circle.
Garth Locklear, association chairman, said the occasion marked the first time many of the participants have spoken publicly about that night. Many feared going to jail, Locklear said.
“This has been the longest and best-kept secret in the history of Robeson County,” said Locklear, who also participated in the routing. “For 50 years we shut down and said nothing. Even your neighbors didn’t know you were there. It is time for us to tell the world.”
Dignitaries and elected officials who attended the event included: District Attorney Johnson Britt; Judge Gary Locklear; Malcolm McLeod Jr., son of Malcolm McLeod, who was the county sheriff in 1958; and Tribal Council members, city and county leaders. Fifty Lumbee children who are members of the tribe’s Boys and Girls Club sang “I’m Proud to be a Lumbee Indian” and the drum group, Southern Sun, performed honor songs.
The event posthumously honored non-Indians who stood with the Lumbees when it wasn’t popular to do so. They included: Sheriff Malcom McLeod; Charles McLean, assistant solicitor; Luther J. Britt, former private prosecutor; Pat Reese, a reporter with the Fayetteville Observer; Shaw, the photographer with the Fayetteville Observer; and Walter Gail, former president of Pembroke State College.
Frank Johnson, a former highway patrolman, was one of the few who is still living. Friday night, a video interview with 85-year-old Maurice Braswell, who was the district solicitor at the time, was shown. He was unable to attend the ceremony.
‘Bullets flying’
The KKK had been active in Robeson County when James “Catfish” Cole, the KKK grand dragon from South Carolina, after hearing about an Indian family who moved into a white neighborhood and an Indian woman who was dating a white man in Robeson County, planned a rally at Hayes Pond near Maxton.
Garth Locklear said the word of the rally spread fast.
“We were angry,” Locklear said. “The Klan is coming to Robeson County to insult Lumbee women ... . They’re coming to insult the most beautiful women in America.”
Lumbee leaders met in a local barbershop to plan a response.
On Jan, 18, only 50 of the 5,000 Klansman whom Cole predicted would show attended the rally. They used a generator to power a sound system and a single light bulb. Cole stood on the bed of a truck and began to speak. It wasn’t long before the Lumbees, many of them armed, swarmed in. Someone shot out the light bulb and the Klansman ducked and ran into the swamps, leaving their cars and belongings behind.
“There were bullets flying everywhere,” Garth Locklear said. “I can assure you I was doing a lot of dancing that night. But God seemed fit that nobody get killed. Nobody went to prison for murder that night.”
It was reported that a few people, including Bill Shaw, a photographer with the Fayetteville Observer, were injured. Shaw was hit in the face with buckshot.
Redell Collins, 17 years old at the time and a native of Rennert, was there with his brother Stedford Collins and the late Dennis Maynor.
“I just bought a double-barreled shotgun,” Collins said. “I didn’t use it, though.”
Collins said he stood and watched the event unfold.
“The fear was there ... fear of not knowing what was going to happen,” Collins said. “But it was over before you knew it. There was a lot of buildup and like a balloon it busted and within a few seconds it was over.”
On display
The sound system, including the microphone that was used that night, was on display Friday. A copy of the Jan. 27, 1958, Life magazine that featured several pictures and an article about the routing was also displayed.
Several people crowded the display and shared stories about where they were that night.
James “Moose” Jones, 69, was a singer in a band in 1958. He went to Hayes Pond with another band member, Willie Oxendine, and his uncle, Elliott Locklear.
“I had no business down there, but I went anyway,” Jones said.
Collins said it was time for the Lumbees to stand up to racism.
“We are talking about it at the barbershop that weekend before and someone said why don’t we just go there and listen to what they have to say,” Collins said.
Collins said he responded by saying: “We don’t want to hear nothing they got to say. We just want them out of the county.
“When you are home and someone comes burning crosses, you’ve got to stand up. The Indians had been pushed enough.”
Cole and one other Klansman, James Martin, were the only two people charged with a crime. Cole served time in prison and died a few years later in a car accident.
When R.D. Locklear heard about the ceremony on Friday, he rescheduled a trip out of town.
“This only happens once,” R.D. Locklear said.
Staff writer
PEMBROKE — Nell Bullard scanned the crowd of more than 300 people who gathered Friday night to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the night the Lumbees ran the Ku Klux Klan out of Robeson County.
Bullard’s mouth curled and formed a wide smile.
“I am proud,” Bullard said. “I am proud to be a Lumbee Indian.”
Bullard wasn’t at the short-lived KKK rally at Hayes Pond on Jan. 18, 1958. She and other siblings stayed home as their father, Luther Oxendine, armed himself and drove to Maxton in his Model-T Ford.
“We were scared to death,” said Bullard, who lives near Maxton. “We didn’t know what was going on.”
On Friday night, Luther Oxendine was among more than 100 people — men and women, many of whom are dead — whose names pierced the cold night air during a roll call at the Indian Resource Center. Family members stood in their place as leaders of the Lumbee Tribe and the Indian Honor Association presented them medallions commemorating the Battle at Hayes Pond. The medallion included the tribe’s four-color logo, and the words “Lumbee Warrior” and “1958” engraved on the outer circle.
Garth Locklear, association chairman, said the occasion marked the first time many of the participants have spoken publicly about that night. Many feared going to jail, Locklear said.
“This has been the longest and best-kept secret in the history of Robeson County,” said Locklear, who also participated in the routing. “For 50 years we shut down and said nothing. Even your neighbors didn’t know you were there. It is time for us to tell the world.”
Dignitaries and elected officials who attended the event included: District Attorney Johnson Britt; Judge Gary Locklear; Malcolm McLeod Jr., son of Malcolm McLeod, who was the county sheriff in 1958; and Tribal Council members, city and county leaders. Fifty Lumbee children who are members of the tribe’s Boys and Girls Club sang “I’m Proud to be a Lumbee Indian” and the drum group, Southern Sun, performed honor songs.
The event posthumously honored non-Indians who stood with the Lumbees when it wasn’t popular to do so. They included: Sheriff Malcom McLeod; Charles McLean, assistant solicitor; Luther J. Britt, former private prosecutor; Pat Reese, a reporter with the Fayetteville Observer; Shaw, the photographer with the Fayetteville Observer; and Walter Gail, former president of Pembroke State College.
Frank Johnson, a former highway patrolman, was one of the few who is still living. Friday night, a video interview with 85-year-old Maurice Braswell, who was the district solicitor at the time, was shown. He was unable to attend the ceremony.
‘Bullets flying’
The KKK had been active in Robeson County when James “Catfish” Cole, the KKK grand dragon from South Carolina, after hearing about an Indian family who moved into a white neighborhood and an Indian woman who was dating a white man in Robeson County, planned a rally at Hayes Pond near Maxton.
Garth Locklear said the word of the rally spread fast.
“We were angry,” Locklear said. “The Klan is coming to Robeson County to insult Lumbee women ... . They’re coming to insult the most beautiful women in America.”
Lumbee leaders met in a local barbershop to plan a response.
On Jan, 18, only 50 of the 5,000 Klansman whom Cole predicted would show attended the rally. They used a generator to power a sound system and a single light bulb. Cole stood on the bed of a truck and began to speak. It wasn’t long before the Lumbees, many of them armed, swarmed in. Someone shot out the light bulb and the Klansman ducked and ran into the swamps, leaving their cars and belongings behind.
“There were bullets flying everywhere,” Garth Locklear said. “I can assure you I was doing a lot of dancing that night. But God seemed fit that nobody get killed. Nobody went to prison for murder that night.”
It was reported that a few people, including Bill Shaw, a photographer with the Fayetteville Observer, were injured. Shaw was hit in the face with buckshot.
Redell Collins, 17 years old at the time and a native of Rennert, was there with his brother Stedford Collins and the late Dennis Maynor.
“I just bought a double-barreled shotgun,” Collins said. “I didn’t use it, though.”
Collins said he stood and watched the event unfold.
“The fear was there ... fear of not knowing what was going to happen,” Collins said. “But it was over before you knew it. There was a lot of buildup and like a balloon it busted and within a few seconds it was over.”
On display
The sound system, including the microphone that was used that night, was on display Friday. A copy of the Jan. 27, 1958, Life magazine that featured several pictures and an article about the routing was also displayed.
Several people crowded the display and shared stories about where they were that night.
James “Moose” Jones, 69, was a singer in a band in 1958. He went to Hayes Pond with another band member, Willie Oxendine, and his uncle, Elliott Locklear.
“I had no business down there, but I went anyway,” Jones said.
Collins said it was time for the Lumbees to stand up to racism.
“We are talking about it at the barbershop that weekend before and someone said why don’t we just go there and listen to what they have to say,” Collins said.
Collins said he responded by saying: “We don’t want to hear nothing they got to say. We just want them out of the county.
“When you are home and someone comes burning crosses, you’ve got to stand up. The Indians had been pushed enough.”
Cole and one other Klansman, James Martin, were the only two people charged with a crime. Cole served time in prison and died a few years later in a car accident.
When R.D. Locklear heard about the ceremony on Friday, he rescheduled a trip out of town.
“This only happens once,” R.D. Locklear said.
http://www.robesonian.com/view/full_story/1654032/article-%E2%80%98It-is-time-for-us-to-tell-the-world%E2%80%99
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Sunday, January 15, 2012
RESEARCH FACTS ON HOMESCHOOLING
RESEARCH FACTS ON HOMESCHOOLING
Brian D. Ray, Ph.D.
January 11, 2011
January 11, 2011
General Facts and Trends
· Homeschooling – that is, parent-led home-based education – is an age-old traditional educational practice that a decade ago appeared to be cutting-edge and “alternative” but is now bordering on “mainstream” in the United States. It may be the fastest-growing form of education in the United States. Home-based education has also growing around the world in many other nations (e.g., Australia, Canada, Hungary, Japan, Kenya, and the United Kingdom).
· There are about 2.04 million home-educated students in the United States. There were an estimated 1.73 to 2.35 million children (in grades K to 12) home educated during the spring of 2010 in the United States. It appears the homeschool population is continuing to grow (at an estimated 2% to 8% per annum over the past few years).
· Families engaged in home-based education are not dependent on public, tax-funded resources for their children’s education. The finances associated with their homeschooling likely represent over $16 billion that American taxpayers do not have to spend since these children are not in public schools
· Homeschooling is quickly growing in popularity among minorities. About 15% of homeschool families are non-white/nonHispanic (i.e., not white/Anglo).
· A demographically wide variety of people homeschool – these are atheists, Christians, and Mormons; conservatives, libertarians, and liberals; low-, middle-, and high-income families; black, Hispanic, and white; parents with Ph.D.s, GEDs, and no high-school diplomas.
Reasons for Home Educating
· Most parents and youth decide to homeschool for more than one reason.
· The most common reasons given for homeschooling are the following:
· customize or individualize the curriculum and learning environment for each child,
· accomplish more academically than in schools,
· use pedagogical approaches other than those typical in institutional schools,
· enhance family relationships between children and parents and among siblings,
· provide guided and reasoned social interactions with youthful peers and adults,
· provide a safer environment for children and youth, because of physical violence, drugs and alcohol, psychological abuse, and improper and unhealthy sexuality associated with institutional schools, and
· teach and impart a particular set of values, beliefs, and worldview to children and youth.
Academic Performance
· The home-educated typically score 15 to 30 percentile points above public-school students on standardized academic achievement tests. (The public school average is the 50th percentile; scores range from 1 to 99.)
· Homeschool students score above average on achievement tests regardless of their parents’ level of formal education or their family’s household income.
· Whether homeschool parents were ever certified teachers is not related to their children’s academic achievement.
· Degree of state control and regulation of homeschooling is not related to academic achievement.
· Home-educated students typically score above average on the SAT and ACT tests that colleges consider for admissions.
· Homeschool students are increasingly being actively recruited by colleges.
Social, Emotional, and Psychological Development
· The home-educated are doing well, typically above average, on measures of social, emotional, and psychological development. Research measures include peer interaction, self-concept, leadership skills, family cohesion, participation in community service, and self-esteem.
· Homeschool students are regularly engaged in social and educational activities outside their homes and with people other than their nuclear-family members. They are commonly involved in activities such as field trips, scouting, 4-H, political drives, church ministry, sports teams, and community volunteer work
Gender Differences in Children and Youth Respected?
· One researcher finds that homeschooling gives young people an unusual chance to ask questions such as, “Who am I?” and “What do I really want?,” and through the process of such asking and gradually answering the questions home-educated girls develop the strengths and the resistance abilities that give them an unusually strong sense of self.
· Some think that boys’ energetic natures and tendency to physical expression can more easily be accommodated in home-based education. Many are concerned that a highly disproportionate number of public school special-education students are boys and that boys are 2.5 times as likely as girls in public schools to be diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Success in the “Real World” of Adulthood
The research base on adults who were home educated is growing; thus far it indicates that they:
· participate in local community service more frequently than does the general population,
· vote and attend public meetings more frequently than the general population, and
· go to and succeed at college at an equal or higher rate than the general population.
· Internalize the values and beliefs of their parents at a very high rate.
General Interpretation of Research on Homeschool Success or Failure
It is possible that homeschooling causes the positive traits reported above. However, the research designs to date do not conclusively “prove” that homeschooling causes these things. At the same time, there is no empirical evidence that homeschooling causes negative things compared to institutional schooling. Future research may better answer the question of causation.
http://www.nheri.org/research/research-facts-on-homeschooling.html
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Today in History!!
1833: Reverend Samuel Worcester is a missionary to the CHEROKEE Nation in Georgia. The state of Georgia ordered all whites living with Indians to swear alliegence to the state of Georgia. Reverend Worcester refuses to do so. On September 16, 1831, Reverend Worcester was sentenced to 4 years at hard labor in a Georgia prison. Even though the Supreme Court rules that it is uncontitutional for Georgia to jail Reverend Worcester, he will not be released until today.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Literature Fact
Jack London (1876-1916) lived to be only 40 but wrote 50 novels, at the rate of 1,000 words a day. He gave this advice to writers: “Don’t loaf and invite inspiration; light out after it with a club, and if you don’t get it you will nonetheless get something that looks remarkably like it.”
He was born today - on January 12, 1876
He was born today - on January 12, 1876
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Did you know???
The national anthem of Greece has 158 verses.
(imagine how long that would take to sit through at ball games!)
(imagine how long that would take to sit through at ball games!)
Yes! Yes! Yes! Let's move forward - since we've already took way too many steps back
Should "Sesame Street" Teach Kids About Breastfeeding?
By Lylah M. Alphonse, Senior Editor, Yahoo! Shine | Parenting – Tue, Jan 10, 2012 1:58 PM EST
Should a show like No doubt about it: Breastfeeding still causes controversy. In 2011 alone, a judge ruled that a woman couldn't do it in "his court" and under "his law," and Facebook deleted thousands of photos of mothers with babies at their breasts. Stores have thrown women out for discreetly nursing their infants, angry moms protested at places like Target, and any magazine that shows a nursing mother on their cover still sparks outrage, even if the woman is showing less of her breast than a bikini-clad model on the front of a typical fitness magazine. Now, some parents are pushing to bring breastfeeding back to public television. Specifically, on "Sesame Street."
In the 1970s and 1980s, the landmark show routinely talked about nursing as a normal and natural part of childhood. In this clip from 1977, guest star Buffy St. Marie breastfeeds her baby while Big Bird watches. "See? He's drinking milk from my breast," she explains to the curious bird. "At first, when he was just born and very tiny, this was all that he wanted and all that he needed. But now that he's getting bigger, see, I mash up fruit and vegetables and sometimes a little meat, and as he gets older he'll need more and more different kinds of food to eat."
A decade or so later, Sonia Manzano, who played Maria, nursed her real-life daughter, Gabi -- so bundled up in a blanket that only her tiny hand was showing -- while an older child asked questions. "Is that the only way you can feed her?" the child asks. "Oh no, sometimes I feed her this way, and sometimes I feed her with a bottle," Maria replies. "But you know? I like this way best. It's natural, it's good for her, and I get to hug her more."
In both segments, the women are completely covered up. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that little Gabi was kicking and stretching, one might think Maria was pretending to nurse a doll. But by the 1990s, "Sesame Street" had stopped airing those clips, and had edited a breastfeeding shot out of the montage for their popular song, "You're My Baby."
Now, some parents are asking the show to promote breastfeeding again. As of January 10, more than 2,600 people had signed a petition asking the public television program to do so. But others are offended that the long-running children's show -- which routinely features story lines on potty training, younger siblings, and meal times -- would consider showing a baby being fed from a breast instead of a bottle.
"There are a LOT of things people might consider 'normal' and 'natural', but many of them do not belong on TV or in public, including this," "Steve68112" commented at The Huffington Post. "This does not belong on TV or in public, it is gross."
Over at Sheknows.com, other commenters felt that the public television icon was overstepping its bounds, even though it had touched on the topic in the past without a problem. "While I agree breastfeeding is important, I don't think Sesame Street is the place to have it," "Ula from Michigan" wrote. An anonymous poster added her two cents: "I wouldn't stand behind bringing it to 'Sesame Street'. I do not feel it is their place to educate a small child on nursing."
And yet… it wasn't that long ago that some of the toddlers watching "Sesame Street" were being breastfed themselves. And many of those young Elmo fans probably see their own moms nursing younger siblings at home, so the visual is more likely to be familiar to them than awkward.
http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/sesame-street-teach-kids-breastfeeding-185000424.html
Hanging out at mom's house...
She's upset that the flower is dead. Poor flower, she kept saying.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Today in History!!
1802: President Thomas Jefferson believes that the Indians have more land than they need. He feels that if they become indebted at the government trade houses, they will sell their lands to pay the debts. He has also voiced the opinion that if they become farmers, they will need less land. Today, he will address the WEA, POTAWATOMI, and MIAMI Indians on that latter issues. He extols the virtues of renewable food and clothing supplies. "We will with pleasure furnish you with implements for the most necessary arts, and with persons who may instruct you how to make and use them."
Friday, January 6, 2012
Today in History - The MANDANs and Mattie Grinnell
1975: The last full-blooded MANDAN dies today in Twin Buttes, North Dakota. She was Mattie Grinnell, and she lived to be 108 years old.
Friday, January 06, 2006
The Mandans
January 6, 1975: The last full-blooded Mandan dies today in Twin Buttes, North Dakota. She was Mattie Grinnell, and she lived to be 108 years old.
BACKGROUND:
From http://www.mhanation.com/history/Mandan.shtml
THE MANDAN
The first known account of the Mandan is that of the French trader, Sieur de la La Verendrye, in the fall of 1738. McKenzie visited the Mandan in 1772. Written accounts came from Lewis and Clark who arrived among the Mandan in the fall of 1804. They furnish only the location and early condition of the archaeological remains both of the Mandan and Arikara. Alexander Henry, a trader for the Northwest Company, came to trade fur with the Mandan in 1806. After Henry Brackenridge and Bradbury came to the area together in 1810. They wrote additional information about the Mandan, but mostly about the Arikara. The next visitor was the artist, George Catlin, who visited in the spring of 1833. Maximilian, Prince of Wied-Neuwied, spent the winter months of 1833-34 among the Mandan. Maximilian may be recognized as the best of the various authorities. (Will, Spinden, pp. 86-88).
According to McKenzie and Sieur de la La Verendrye, the nine villages they visited in 1738 and 1772, were the oldest villages. Verendrye described the Mandan as being in full power and prosperity. The Mandan had not yet suffered the losses by disease and war, which caused them to leave these villages.
Lewis and Clark wrote in their journals on March 10,1805, "The Mandan's formerly lived in six large villages at and above the mouth of the Heart River. " Maximilian says, "After the first alliance with the Hidatsa, the Mandan's lived in eight or nine villages at and above the Heart River." These villages were abandoned between 1772 and 1804. (Will, Spinden, p.90).
The Mandan had a origin narrative of coming out of the earth. In relating their story to Maximilian, they came from the east out of the earth and entered the Missouri at the White Earth River in South Dakota.
The eastern origin corresponds with that of the rest of the Siouxan stock to which the Mandan's, both linguistically, and to a considerable extent, culturally belong. The Ohio valley would seem to have served as a point of dispersal where the Plains members of the Siouxan stock are supposed to have moved in four successive migrations. The earliest group to leave consisted apparently of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Crow, and of these the Mandan were probably a number of years ahead of the other tribes. The Mandan's have vivid recollections of the coming of the Hidatsa many years later and established fixed villages on the Heart River. They describe the Hidatsa as a wild wandering people whom they taught to build stationary villages and to raise corn, pumpkins and other vegetables, and who soon moved up to the Knife River. (Will, Spinden, p. 97).
In the earliest historical accounts the Mandan were firmly established in stationary villages in the neighborhood of the Heart River. Verendrye says they were a large and powerful nation and feared none of their neighbors. Their manufactures were almost necessities among the other tribes, and in trade they were able to dictate their own terms. Their forts were well fortified. The smallest village he visited had one hundred and thirty houses. Verendrye's son visited one of the larger villages, declared that it was twice as large. There were at least one thousand houses in several villages. Lewis and Clark declared that in the two villages of one hundred huts there were three hundred and fifty warriors. At this rate there should have been at least fifteen thousand Mandan in 1738 dwelling prosperously in large and well-fortified towns. (Will, Spinden, p. 99).
The Mandan had created an focal point of trade on the Missouri River. All of the plains tribes came to barter for agricultural good and products. Called the "Marketplace of the Central Plains", the Mandan established what was to be the forerunner of trading posts that came later to the area.
There is little information for the next sixty-six years. The Mandan prospered and grew powerful up to 1772. Their remaining history is summed up in their own tradition as related to Lewis and Clark and Maximilian.
Formerly they lived happily and prosperously in nine large villages on the Missouri near the mouth of the Heart River. Six or seven of these villages were on the west side and two or three were on the east side of the river. For a great many years they lived there when one day the smallpox came to those on the east side of the river. The survivors then proceeded up the river some forty miles where they settled in one large village. After the smallpox reduced the villages on the west to five, the five went up to where the others were, in the neighborhood of some Arikara, and settle in two villages. A great many Mandan had died and they were no longer strong and fearless. They made an alliance with the Arikara against the Sioux.
All this happened before 1796 and is chronicled in Henry and Schoolcraft. Lewis and Clark found the two villages one on each side and about fifteen miles below the Knife River. Both villages consisted of forty to fifty lodges and united could raise about three hundred and fifty men. Lewis and Clark describe them as having united with the Hidatsa and engaging in continual warfare against the Arikara and the Sioux. The description given by Lewis and Clark agrees with the conditions two years later when Henry visited them.
In 1837, smallpox attacked them again, raged for many weeks and left only one hundred and twenty-five survivors. The Mandan's were taken in by the Arikara, with whom they intermarried. They separated, again forming a small village of their own at Fort Berthold. In 1850 there were three hundred and eighty- five Mandan, largely of mixed blood, living. There are only a few of the full-blooded Mandan left. The culture has changed, the language has changed, and as a nation the Mandan are practically extinct. (Will, Spinden, p. 101).
In 1700, the entire section of the Missouri from the Cannonball to the mouth of the Yellowstone was occupied by groups of Mandan, Hidatsa, and Crow. The largest villages were near the mouth of Heart River. The Nuptadi and Nuitadi bands were living on both banks of the Missouri. The Awigaxa band of Mandan and the Awaxawiband of Hidatsa lived further upstream at the Painted Woods. All these bands practiced agriculture and were less nomadic than the Awatixa band of Hidatsa and the Crow. These groups moved little until the close of the 18th century, when their populations were sharply reduced by smallpox and other epidemics.
Each village had an economic unit, hunting and protection for older remaining people, and each had a garden section. The Mandan were divided into bands while living at the Heart River. The bands were Is' tope, meaning "those who tattooed themselves"; Nup'tadi (does not translate), which was the largest linguistic group; Ma'nana'r "those who quarreled"; Nu' itadi "our people"; and Awi' ka-xa (does not translate). These groups combined as the tribe was decimated with each smallpox epidemic. (Bowers, 1950).
****************************************************
Excerpted from http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/6558/mandan1.html
The Mandan, according to their own accounts, originated somewhere near the Great Lakes. During the 17th century, as Amerindian groups were pushed further west by Euroamericans, the Mandan moved into what is now Ohio. From there they moved first to the mouth of the White River where it empties into the Missouri River in what is now South Dakota, then to the Moraue River. Eventually the Mandan built nine settlements along the Heart and Missouri Rivers where they were discovered by Varendrye in 1738. By 1776, the nine principle villages of the Mandan had merged into two and settled on the Missouri River at the mouth of the Knife River, approximately 1800 miles west of St. Louis, where Lewis and Clark found them in 1803 (Swanton 1952: 277; Catlin 1989: 73).
A smallpox epidemic reduced the Mandan from an estimated population of between 1600 and 2000 to a mere 31 in 1837. They joined with the Hidasta and moved to Fort Berthold in South Dakota where they continue to reside with the Hidasta at the present time (Swanton 1952: 277; Catlin 1989: 73). The Mandan are of the Siouan linguistic family but are more closely related to the Winnebago and Tutelo. They were known by many names. The Hidasta called them the Arachbocu; to the Crow they were the Asakashi. There are other names by which they were known to various American Indian groups and Swanton notes that most of these coincided with translated names of their villages. The Mandan called themselves the Numaka , meaning simply "people," until the smallpox epidemic of 1837 when they changed their name to match that of their single remaining village, Metutahanke (Swanton 1952: 276). However, George Catlin who lived with the Mandan for some time and is probably the most reliable Western source of information on this group, notes that the Mandan also called themselves "Seepohskahnumahkahkee" that literally translates to People of the Pheasant (Catlin 1989: 73)....
... Their clothing was considered to be the most beautiful of the plains peoples. The men wore long shirts made of buckskin or mountain goat hide in addition to a breechcloth, leggings and moccasins, all of which were profusely decorated with beads, quills, hair locks and paint. The women wore long dresses of the same material that were likewise decorated. Head coverings of the men, according to Catlin and Mails, were elaborate and varied. They incorporated feathers to build the familiar "War Bonnet," or might use other materials such as buffalo horn, mounted so that the horns protruded from the side of the hat. Their headwear, like other facets of their culture, was often an exception in the region (Catlin 1989: 89-91; Mails 1991: 356). The appearance of Mandan villages was likewise uncommon for the northern plains.
The houses of the Mandan were most often circular, set in the ground and of heavy timber construction. This frame was then covered with earth and the roof was often used as a place of relaxation. These dwellings ranged in size from single family structures of 20 feet in diameter to large extended family dwellings that reached 60 feet across. Catlin noted that although outwardly the houses appeared to be filthy, he was impressed with the openness and cleanliness of the interior. The floor was packed hard enough to be swept clean and, according to Catlin, held an almost polished appearance. In the center of the dwelling was the fire place, the smoke of which escaped through a 5 foot hole in the roof. Around the room was hung buffalo and elk hides that were decorated with pictographic accounts of the owners exploits. Against the wall were beds made of wood frames and mattressed with buffalo robes that were made private by arranging decorative curtains of the afore-mentioned painted buffalo skins. Nearer the center was an area carpeted with buffalo skins that was used as a communal place for the dwellings inhabitants. Here the children and adults alike gathered to talk and play (Catlin 1989: 74-77)
The houses that made up the village were surrounded by a palisade for protection. The logs used for this defensive work averaged 18 inches in diameter and were set well into the ground leaving about 20 feet of wall. The logs were spaced to allow weapons to be fired between them and the work was lined on the inside with a trench that afforded cover for the warriors in time of attack. Catlin also said that although the houses were spaced close together, there was little chance of fire being a threat due to the earthen covering and that the village in its entirety was built for comfort as well as defense (Catlin 1989: 74-81; Clark 1992: 174-181).
The Mandan, like most groups on the prairie, were buffalo hunters. However, they were horticulturists as well, growing maize and squash as their primary food crops. The maize that was grown was of a small variety, adapted to the climate of the area. In addition to these food crops the Mandan grew a quality tobacco. They produced enough to trade the surplus to surrounding groups that gave them a reputation and functionality as a well defended trade center. The Crow and Hidasta were common sites in Mandan villages and the tobacco for which Crow were famous was acquired from these villages. Although the primary source of sustenance was the buffalo, closely supported by crops, the Mandan also collected a kind of wild turnip that was reported by Catlin to be quite prolific and tasty (Catlin 1989: 124-125; Mails 1994: 4).
Catlin gives no definitive description of political organization. However, from his accounts together with those of the Lewis and Clark expedition it may be inferred that political organization in the village centered around a council of chiefs that were the headmen of family groups. Decisions involving the entire nation were decided by a council of chiefs who were lead by principle chiefs selected from the various towns, some of whom may serve as war-party chiefs in time of conflict. Next in rank were the medicine men. These were actually either religious leaders or medicinal healers who, although carried no actual authority, did possess the ability to affect or sway council decisions. As with many of the plains peoples, there was no absolute authority and a chief's position could be challenged, his real power lying in the amount of popular support from the people as a whole. Peacekeeping within the village was achieved and maintained through warrior societies whose tasks would range from observing fights between young boys to disputes over property. There is little mention of the need for such police in any of the primary sources (Clark 1992: 174-181; Catlin 1989: 103-104, 151-166; Mails 1991: 80-85).
The Mandan myth of origin is recorded by Catlin in detail. It relates how the Mandan were the first people created by the Great Spirit and lived inside the earth where they grew many vines. One of these vines grew up through a hole in the earth and a young man climbed it to see what was above. When he viewed the parry he was impressed with its beauty and climbed back down to tell the people what he had seen. When the people herd this some of them ascended the vine, including two virgin women who were favorites of the Chiefs, and verified what the young man had seen. At once a fat woman, against the will of the chiefs, began to climb the vine. The vine broke, sending the woman to an injurious fall. She was admonished, not for ignoring the chiefs, but for bringing calamity among her people as those who remained in the earth were now trapped there, separated from those above. The first Mandan village was built where this had occurred and those who remained behind were believed to still live in the earth (Catlin 1989: 178-179) It is doubtful that this is the true Mandan myth of origin since it directly counteracts the oral tradition of their travels from the land of great lakes. This tale appears to be more in line with teaching members of the society that their actions affect all the people. ...
... The Pipe was considered to be symbolic representation of the power of the Great Spirit. However, it was treated and used as though the Pipe itself contained that power. It was used as a focal point for the most grandiose of Mandan ceremonies as well as being simply smoked between two people casually talking in their private quarters. Wherever and however the Pipe was used, it reminded those around it that the Creator was continually in their midst (Catlin 1989: 160-163). The records that Catlin as a first-hand observer kept on Mandan ceremony are quite extensive and the confines of this paper preclude their inclusion. Marriage and family life together with the sacred ceremonies served as the "center" of Mandan life.
Women were chosen at 12 to 14 years of age as wives, their value as such being determined by their good virtues and beauty. A man could choose more than one wife with the understanding that he could provide sustenance for the entire household. The women's primary function in everyday living consisted of the usual domestic chores such as cooking, processing food, and processing materials used for clothing and other utilitarian needs. The man was usually responsible for peace-keeping chores within the village, defending the village against aggressors and providing meat, usually buffalo, which was no easy task given the size and tenacity of this creature. It should also be pointed out that the women, although performing the labor, owned and operated the maize and tobacco fields upon which the external economics of the village depended. It should in no way be construed that women were considered a lower class than men as they both provided essential components to the well-being of the community (Catlin 1989: 123-130 et al). There is no doubt, as their prosperity indicates, that the Mandan were a hard-working people, but this by no means prevented them from possessing extensive quantities of leisure time.
In examining the games of the Mandan, once again there rises a mark of uniqueness among the Plains people, that set the Mandan apart from their neighbors. Although they participated in the usual games of the plains, such as ball plays, horse racing and archery competitions, they also played a game recognized as being a hallmark of the Mississippian Period and later the Natchez known as Tchung-Kee. This game was played on a large area covered in clay that had been packed to the consistency of a hard pavement.
Two champions who were representative of a family or faction would collect bets and would hand their Tchung-Kee stakes to a chief or other social elite. The two men would then begin to trot abreast of each other and one of them would roll in advance of themselves a discoidal Tchung-Kee stone. As the discoidal rolled along, the player launches one of his Tchung-Kee sticks so that it slides along the ground attempting to time the throw to coincide with the Tchung-Kee stone falling over and landing on the stick. This game appears to have been a favorite among the Mandan and was the source of much gambling and factional-spiritedness (Catlin 1989: 134-135).
The Mandan were like any society or culture, a group of people with many varied and complex facets. The intimate information provided to the modern scholar mainly through George Catlin's letters and paintings, indicate that the Mandan were a highly-evolved in civilized society. Throughout the large quantity of material, provided by Catlin, the scholar observes time and again that the Mandan were an exception to the rule as a Plains people. There remains to be solved a certain enigma where the Mandan are contemplated by the contemporary anthropologist.
***************************************************
Sources Cited:
Catlin, George
1989. Peter Matthiessen editor. North American Indians. New York, NY: Penguin Books.
Clark, William and Meriwether Lewis.
1893, reprinted 1992. Elliot Coues editor. The History of the Lewis
and Clark Expedition, vol. I, II, & III, pp. 1299 vol. 3. Dover, NY.
Kennedy, Roger G.
1994. Hidden Cities: The Discovery and Loss of Ancient North
American Civilization. New York: The Free Press.
Mails, Thomas E.
1991. The Mystic Warriors of the Plains. New York, NY: Mallard
Press.
Swanton, John R.
1952 "The Indian Tribes of North America." Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 145. Washington D.C.: United States Government Printing Office.
hist0106
BACKGROUND:
From http://www.mhanation.com/history/Mandan.shtml
THE MANDAN
The first known account of the Mandan is that of the French trader, Sieur de la La Verendrye, in the fall of 1738. McKenzie visited the Mandan in 1772. Written accounts came from Lewis and Clark who arrived among the Mandan in the fall of 1804. They furnish only the location and early condition of the archaeological remains both of the Mandan and Arikara. Alexander Henry, a trader for the Northwest Company, came to trade fur with the Mandan in 1806. After Henry Brackenridge and Bradbury came to the area together in 1810. They wrote additional information about the Mandan, but mostly about the Arikara. The next visitor was the artist, George Catlin, who visited in the spring of 1833. Maximilian, Prince of Wied-Neuwied, spent the winter months of 1833-34 among the Mandan. Maximilian may be recognized as the best of the various authorities. (Will, Spinden, pp. 86-88).
According to McKenzie and Sieur de la La Verendrye, the nine villages they visited in 1738 and 1772, were the oldest villages. Verendrye described the Mandan as being in full power and prosperity. The Mandan had not yet suffered the losses by disease and war, which caused them to leave these villages.
Lewis and Clark wrote in their journals on March 10,1805, "The Mandan's formerly lived in six large villages at and above the mouth of the Heart River. " Maximilian says, "After the first alliance with the Hidatsa, the Mandan's lived in eight or nine villages at and above the Heart River." These villages were abandoned between 1772 and 1804. (Will, Spinden, p.90).
The Mandan had a origin narrative of coming out of the earth. In relating their story to Maximilian, they came from the east out of the earth and entered the Missouri at the White Earth River in South Dakota.
The eastern origin corresponds with that of the rest of the Siouxan stock to which the Mandan's, both linguistically, and to a considerable extent, culturally belong. The Ohio valley would seem to have served as a point of dispersal where the Plains members of the Siouxan stock are supposed to have moved in four successive migrations. The earliest group to leave consisted apparently of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Crow, and of these the Mandan were probably a number of years ahead of the other tribes. The Mandan's have vivid recollections of the coming of the Hidatsa many years later and established fixed villages on the Heart River. They describe the Hidatsa as a wild wandering people whom they taught to build stationary villages and to raise corn, pumpkins and other vegetables, and who soon moved up to the Knife River. (Will, Spinden, p. 97).
In the earliest historical accounts the Mandan were firmly established in stationary villages in the neighborhood of the Heart River. Verendrye says they were a large and powerful nation and feared none of their neighbors. Their manufactures were almost necessities among the other tribes, and in trade they were able to dictate their own terms. Their forts were well fortified. The smallest village he visited had one hundred and thirty houses. Verendrye's son visited one of the larger villages, declared that it was twice as large. There were at least one thousand houses in several villages. Lewis and Clark declared that in the two villages of one hundred huts there were three hundred and fifty warriors. At this rate there should have been at least fifteen thousand Mandan in 1738 dwelling prosperously in large and well-fortified towns. (Will, Spinden, p. 99).
The Mandan had created an focal point of trade on the Missouri River. All of the plains tribes came to barter for agricultural good and products. Called the "Marketplace of the Central Plains", the Mandan established what was to be the forerunner of trading posts that came later to the area.
There is little information for the next sixty-six years. The Mandan prospered and grew powerful up to 1772. Their remaining history is summed up in their own tradition as related to Lewis and Clark and Maximilian.
Formerly they lived happily and prosperously in nine large villages on the Missouri near the mouth of the Heart River. Six or seven of these villages were on the west side and two or three were on the east side of the river. For a great many years they lived there when one day the smallpox came to those on the east side of the river. The survivors then proceeded up the river some forty miles where they settled in one large village. After the smallpox reduced the villages on the west to five, the five went up to where the others were, in the neighborhood of some Arikara, and settle in two villages. A great many Mandan had died and they were no longer strong and fearless. They made an alliance with the Arikara against the Sioux.
All this happened before 1796 and is chronicled in Henry and Schoolcraft. Lewis and Clark found the two villages one on each side and about fifteen miles below the Knife River. Both villages consisted of forty to fifty lodges and united could raise about three hundred and fifty men. Lewis and Clark describe them as having united with the Hidatsa and engaging in continual warfare against the Arikara and the Sioux. The description given by Lewis and Clark agrees with the conditions two years later when Henry visited them.
In 1837, smallpox attacked them again, raged for many weeks and left only one hundred and twenty-five survivors. The Mandan's were taken in by the Arikara, with whom they intermarried. They separated, again forming a small village of their own at Fort Berthold. In 1850 there were three hundred and eighty- five Mandan, largely of mixed blood, living. There are only a few of the full-blooded Mandan left. The culture has changed, the language has changed, and as a nation the Mandan are practically extinct. (Will, Spinden, p. 101).
In 1700, the entire section of the Missouri from the Cannonball to the mouth of the Yellowstone was occupied by groups of Mandan, Hidatsa, and Crow. The largest villages were near the mouth of Heart River. The Nuptadi and Nuitadi bands were living on both banks of the Missouri. The Awigaxa band of Mandan and the Awaxawiband of Hidatsa lived further upstream at the Painted Woods. All these bands practiced agriculture and were less nomadic than the Awatixa band of Hidatsa and the Crow. These groups moved little until the close of the 18th century, when their populations were sharply reduced by smallpox and other epidemics.
Each village had an economic unit, hunting and protection for older remaining people, and each had a garden section. The Mandan were divided into bands while living at the Heart River. The bands were Is' tope, meaning "those who tattooed themselves"; Nup'tadi (does not translate), which was the largest linguistic group; Ma'nana'r "those who quarreled"; Nu' itadi "our people"; and Awi' ka-xa (does not translate). These groups combined as the tribe was decimated with each smallpox epidemic. (Bowers, 1950).
****************************************************
Excerpted from http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/6558/mandan1.html
The Mandan, according to their own accounts, originated somewhere near the Great Lakes. During the 17th century, as Amerindian groups were pushed further west by Euroamericans, the Mandan moved into what is now Ohio. From there they moved first to the mouth of the White River where it empties into the Missouri River in what is now South Dakota, then to the Moraue River. Eventually the Mandan built nine settlements along the Heart and Missouri Rivers where they were discovered by Varendrye in 1738. By 1776, the nine principle villages of the Mandan had merged into two and settled on the Missouri River at the mouth of the Knife River, approximately 1800 miles west of St. Louis, where Lewis and Clark found them in 1803 (Swanton 1952: 277; Catlin 1989: 73).
A smallpox epidemic reduced the Mandan from an estimated population of between 1600 and 2000 to a mere 31 in 1837. They joined with the Hidasta and moved to Fort Berthold in South Dakota where they continue to reside with the Hidasta at the present time (Swanton 1952: 277; Catlin 1989: 73). The Mandan are of the Siouan linguistic family but are more closely related to the Winnebago and Tutelo. They were known by many names. The Hidasta called them the Arachbocu; to the Crow they were the Asakashi. There are other names by which they were known to various American Indian groups and Swanton notes that most of these coincided with translated names of their villages. The Mandan called themselves the Numaka , meaning simply "people," until the smallpox epidemic of 1837 when they changed their name to match that of their single remaining village, Metutahanke (Swanton 1952: 276). However, George Catlin who lived with the Mandan for some time and is probably the most reliable Western source of information on this group, notes that the Mandan also called themselves "Seepohskahnumahkahkee" that literally translates to People of the Pheasant (Catlin 1989: 73)....
... Their clothing was considered to be the most beautiful of the plains peoples. The men wore long shirts made of buckskin or mountain goat hide in addition to a breechcloth, leggings and moccasins, all of which were profusely decorated with beads, quills, hair locks and paint. The women wore long dresses of the same material that were likewise decorated. Head coverings of the men, according to Catlin and Mails, were elaborate and varied. They incorporated feathers to build the familiar "War Bonnet," or might use other materials such as buffalo horn, mounted so that the horns protruded from the side of the hat. Their headwear, like other facets of their culture, was often an exception in the region (Catlin 1989: 89-91; Mails 1991: 356). The appearance of Mandan villages was likewise uncommon for the northern plains.
The houses of the Mandan were most often circular, set in the ground and of heavy timber construction. This frame was then covered with earth and the roof was often used as a place of relaxation. These dwellings ranged in size from single family structures of 20 feet in diameter to large extended family dwellings that reached 60 feet across. Catlin noted that although outwardly the houses appeared to be filthy, he was impressed with the openness and cleanliness of the interior. The floor was packed hard enough to be swept clean and, according to Catlin, held an almost polished appearance. In the center of the dwelling was the fire place, the smoke of which escaped through a 5 foot hole in the roof. Around the room was hung buffalo and elk hides that were decorated with pictographic accounts of the owners exploits. Against the wall were beds made of wood frames and mattressed with buffalo robes that were made private by arranging decorative curtains of the afore-mentioned painted buffalo skins. Nearer the center was an area carpeted with buffalo skins that was used as a communal place for the dwellings inhabitants. Here the children and adults alike gathered to talk and play (Catlin 1989: 74-77)
The houses that made up the village were surrounded by a palisade for protection. The logs used for this defensive work averaged 18 inches in diameter and were set well into the ground leaving about 20 feet of wall. The logs were spaced to allow weapons to be fired between them and the work was lined on the inside with a trench that afforded cover for the warriors in time of attack. Catlin also said that although the houses were spaced close together, there was little chance of fire being a threat due to the earthen covering and that the village in its entirety was built for comfort as well as defense (Catlin 1989: 74-81; Clark 1992: 174-181).
The Mandan, like most groups on the prairie, were buffalo hunters. However, they were horticulturists as well, growing maize and squash as their primary food crops. The maize that was grown was of a small variety, adapted to the climate of the area. In addition to these food crops the Mandan grew a quality tobacco. They produced enough to trade the surplus to surrounding groups that gave them a reputation and functionality as a well defended trade center. The Crow and Hidasta were common sites in Mandan villages and the tobacco for which Crow were famous was acquired from these villages. Although the primary source of sustenance was the buffalo, closely supported by crops, the Mandan also collected a kind of wild turnip that was reported by Catlin to be quite prolific and tasty (Catlin 1989: 124-125; Mails 1994: 4).
Catlin gives no definitive description of political organization. However, from his accounts together with those of the Lewis and Clark expedition it may be inferred that political organization in the village centered around a council of chiefs that were the headmen of family groups. Decisions involving the entire nation were decided by a council of chiefs who were lead by principle chiefs selected from the various towns, some of whom may serve as war-party chiefs in time of conflict. Next in rank were the medicine men. These were actually either religious leaders or medicinal healers who, although carried no actual authority, did possess the ability to affect or sway council decisions. As with many of the plains peoples, there was no absolute authority and a chief's position could be challenged, his real power lying in the amount of popular support from the people as a whole. Peacekeeping within the village was achieved and maintained through warrior societies whose tasks would range from observing fights between young boys to disputes over property. There is little mention of the need for such police in any of the primary sources (Clark 1992: 174-181; Catlin 1989: 103-104, 151-166; Mails 1991: 80-85).
The Mandan myth of origin is recorded by Catlin in detail. It relates how the Mandan were the first people created by the Great Spirit and lived inside the earth where they grew many vines. One of these vines grew up through a hole in the earth and a young man climbed it to see what was above. When he viewed the parry he was impressed with its beauty and climbed back down to tell the people what he had seen. When the people herd this some of them ascended the vine, including two virgin women who were favorites of the Chiefs, and verified what the young man had seen. At once a fat woman, against the will of the chiefs, began to climb the vine. The vine broke, sending the woman to an injurious fall. She was admonished, not for ignoring the chiefs, but for bringing calamity among her people as those who remained in the earth were now trapped there, separated from those above. The first Mandan village was built where this had occurred and those who remained behind were believed to still live in the earth (Catlin 1989: 178-179) It is doubtful that this is the true Mandan myth of origin since it directly counteracts the oral tradition of their travels from the land of great lakes. This tale appears to be more in line with teaching members of the society that their actions affect all the people. ...
... The Pipe was considered to be symbolic representation of the power of the Great Spirit. However, it was treated and used as though the Pipe itself contained that power. It was used as a focal point for the most grandiose of Mandan ceremonies as well as being simply smoked between two people casually talking in their private quarters. Wherever and however the Pipe was used, it reminded those around it that the Creator was continually in their midst (Catlin 1989: 160-163). The records that Catlin as a first-hand observer kept on Mandan ceremony are quite extensive and the confines of this paper preclude their inclusion. Marriage and family life together with the sacred ceremonies served as the "center" of Mandan life.
Women were chosen at 12 to 14 years of age as wives, their value as such being determined by their good virtues and beauty. A man could choose more than one wife with the understanding that he could provide sustenance for the entire household. The women's primary function in everyday living consisted of the usual domestic chores such as cooking, processing food, and processing materials used for clothing and other utilitarian needs. The man was usually responsible for peace-keeping chores within the village, defending the village against aggressors and providing meat, usually buffalo, which was no easy task given the size and tenacity of this creature. It should also be pointed out that the women, although performing the labor, owned and operated the maize and tobacco fields upon which the external economics of the village depended. It should in no way be construed that women were considered a lower class than men as they both provided essential components to the well-being of the community (Catlin 1989: 123-130 et al). There is no doubt, as their prosperity indicates, that the Mandan were a hard-working people, but this by no means prevented them from possessing extensive quantities of leisure time.
In examining the games of the Mandan, once again there rises a mark of uniqueness among the Plains people, that set the Mandan apart from their neighbors. Although they participated in the usual games of the plains, such as ball plays, horse racing and archery competitions, they also played a game recognized as being a hallmark of the Mississippian Period and later the Natchez known as Tchung-Kee. This game was played on a large area covered in clay that had been packed to the consistency of a hard pavement.
Two champions who were representative of a family or faction would collect bets and would hand their Tchung-Kee stakes to a chief or other social elite. The two men would then begin to trot abreast of each other and one of them would roll in advance of themselves a discoidal Tchung-Kee stone. As the discoidal rolled along, the player launches one of his Tchung-Kee sticks so that it slides along the ground attempting to time the throw to coincide with the Tchung-Kee stone falling over and landing on the stick. This game appears to have been a favorite among the Mandan and was the source of much gambling and factional-spiritedness (Catlin 1989: 134-135).
The Mandan were like any society or culture, a group of people with many varied and complex facets. The intimate information provided to the modern scholar mainly through George Catlin's letters and paintings, indicate that the Mandan were a highly-evolved in civilized society. Throughout the large quantity of material, provided by Catlin, the scholar observes time and again that the Mandan were an exception to the rule as a Plains people. There remains to be solved a certain enigma where the Mandan are contemplated by the contemporary anthropologist.
***************************************************
Sources Cited:
Catlin, George
1989. Peter Matthiessen editor. North American Indians. New York, NY: Penguin Books.
Clark, William and Meriwether Lewis.
1893, reprinted 1992. Elliot Coues editor. The History of the Lewis
and Clark Expedition, vol. I, II, & III, pp. 1299 vol. 3. Dover, NY.
Kennedy, Roger G.
1994. Hidden Cities: The Discovery and Loss of Ancient North
American Civilization. New York: The Free Press.
Mails, Thomas E.
1991. The Mystic Warriors of the Plains. New York, NY: Mallard
Press.
Swanton, John R.
1952 "The Indian Tribes of North America." Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 145. Washington D.C.: United States Government Printing Office.
hist0106
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Today in History!!
1806: Sacajawea tells Lewis and Clark she wants to see a dead whale washed up on the beach in Oregon.
Sacagawea; was a Lemhi Shoshone woman, who accompanied the Lewis and Clark Expedition, acting as an interpreter and guide, in their exploration of the Western United States.
Sacagawea; was a Lemhi Shoshone woman, who accompanied the Lewis and Clark Expedition, acting as an interpreter and guide, in their exploration of the Western United States.
Culture + History
Happy Feast of Old Roman Goddess Befana, the old woman who flies on a broom, bringing gifts to all good children.
In the Italian folklore, Befana is an old woman who delivers gifts to children throughout Italy on Epiphany Eve (the night of January 5) in a similar way to Saint Nicholas or Santa Claus.[1]
The character may have originated in central Italy, then spread as a tradition to the rest of Italy.[citation needed]
A popular belief is that her name derives from the Feast of Epiphany or in Italian, "La Festa dell'Epifania". Epifania (Epiphany in English) is a Latin word with Greek origins. Epiphany means either the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6) or “manifestation (of the divinity)."[2][3]
There is evidence to suggest that Befana is descended from the Sabine/Roman goddess named Strina. In the book Vestiges of Ancient Manners and Customs, Discoverable in Modern Italy and Sicily by Rev. John J. Blunt (John Murray, 1823), the author says:
"This Befana appears to be heir at law of a certain heathen goddess called Strenia, who presided over the new-year's gifts, 'Strenae,' from which, indeed, she derived her name.[4] Her presents were of the same description as those of the Befana—figs, dates, and honey.[5] Moreover her solemnities were vigorously opposed by the early Christians on account of their noisy, riotous, and licentious character".[6]
In popular folklore Befana visits all the children of Italy on the eve of the Feast of the Epiphany to fill their socks with candy and presents if they are good or a lump of coal or dark candy if they are bad. Being a good housekeeper, many say she will sweep the floor before she leaves. The child's family typically leaves a small glass of wine and a plate with a few morsels of food, often regional or local, for the Befana.[3]
She is usually portrayed as an old lady riding a broomstick through the air wearing a black shawl and is covered in soot because she enters the children's houses through the chimney. She is often smiling and carries a bag or hamper filled with candy, gifts, or both.
Wikipedia
In the Italian folklore, Befana is an old woman who delivers gifts to children throughout Italy on Epiphany Eve (the night of January 5) in a similar way to Saint Nicholas or Santa Claus.[1]
The character may have originated in central Italy, then spread as a tradition to the rest of Italy.[citation needed]
A popular belief is that her name derives from the Feast of Epiphany or in Italian, "La Festa dell'Epifania". Epifania (Epiphany in English) is a Latin word with Greek origins. Epiphany means either the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6) or “manifestation (of the divinity)."[2][3]
There is evidence to suggest that Befana is descended from the Sabine/Roman goddess named Strina. In the book Vestiges of Ancient Manners and Customs, Discoverable in Modern Italy and Sicily by Rev. John J. Blunt (John Murray, 1823), the author says:
"This Befana appears to be heir at law of a certain heathen goddess called Strenia, who presided over the new-year's gifts, 'Strenae,' from which, indeed, she derived her name.[4] Her presents were of the same description as those of the Befana—figs, dates, and honey.[5] Moreover her solemnities were vigorously opposed by the early Christians on account of their noisy, riotous, and licentious character".[6]
In popular folklore Befana visits all the children of Italy on the eve of the Feast of the Epiphany to fill their socks with candy and presents if they are good or a lump of coal or dark candy if they are bad. Being a good housekeeper, many say she will sweep the floor before she leaves. The child's family typically leaves a small glass of wine and a plate with a few morsels of food, often regional or local, for the Befana.[3]
She is usually portrayed as an old lady riding a broomstick through the air wearing a black shawl and is covered in soot because she enters the children's houses through the chimney. She is often smiling and carries a bag or hamper filled with candy, gifts, or both.
Wikipedia
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
This day in history
Today, in 1969, ethnic discrimination was outlawed world-wide. It became a day to mourn all manifestations of racism
[Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination: signed/adopted 3/7/1966; entered into force 1/4/1969.] [Text of Convention] [For more information, see Anti Racism Information Service website; Human Rights Watch website.] [Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Text of Declaration) and Article 2 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Text of Covenant) also prohibit discrimination on account of race.] [The U.N. has designated 3/21 to 3/27Week of Solidarity with the Peoples Struggling against Racism and Racial Discrimination.]
[Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination: signed/adopted 3/7/1966; entered into force 1/4/1969.] [Text of Convention] [For more information, see Anti Racism Information Service website; Human Rights Watch website.] [Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Text of Declaration) and Article 2 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Text of Covenant) also prohibit discrimination on account of race.] [The U.N. has designated 3/21 to 3/27Week of Solidarity with the Peoples Struggling against Racism and Racial Discrimination.]
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Question: What holiday falls on January 4th?
Give up.... it's TRIVIA DAY!!!
Happy Trivia Day everyone!!
Give up.... it's TRIVIA DAY!!!
Happy Trivia Day everyone!!
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