Mandan
Eight hundred years ago the Mandan Indians migrated westward to an area along the Missouri River. There they practiced agriculture and, like all Plains Indians, hunted the buffalo. This was a good life they lived and they were able to develop a unique way of life and a rich cultural heritage. As years progressed they gave names to various locations within their lands in reference to actual historic events as well as mythical stories of their People.
Like all Native American tribes they attack their enemies, taking scalps and other riches, and in turn were attack. It was their way of life, and a tradition that they understood. Then a new enemy came, bringing strange and fearful weapons that caused horrible deaths for not only warriors but also for the People's women and children, young and old.
But before that time of death the Mandan people could tell of some of their earliest home sites along the Missouri River, dating back to around 1250. From their earth lodges the Mandan went out to hunt the buffalo on foot. To assure of successful hunting they performed the required rituals. The Okeepa, their major annual ceremony, helped to focus the Mandans on their traditions and spiritual relationships that would ensure their survival and give them both good crops and successful hunts.
The Okeepa ceremony began with "Lone Man," the Mandans' mythic maker of the earth, opening the ceremonial lodge for the Okeepa. It was now that the elders ritually retold the greatest stories of the Mandans and repeated their history from the very beginning of their world through to the present time. In this telling it was explained that "in his work as creator Lone Man made four turtles, but one got away and slipped back into the water. This turtle now supports the dry land and prevents it from sinking."
A part of their Okeepa ceremony revealed the Mandans' relationship with the buffalo by performing the buffalo dance. In this dance men dressed in buffalo skins and mimicked the actions of the buffalo. And like all other people of the plains nearly every part of the buffalo was put to some use.
Long before their new and deadly enemy arrived the Mandans contended with the gradually westward migrating Sioux and other Plains Indians. In time, the Mandans were forced to move further up the Missouri River and to gather into larger fortified villages.
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