Introduction In the flickering firelight of a Mandan earth lodge, a chief stood in his finest regalia recounting the story of his life and accomplishments. Mato-Tope (Four Bears) was the second chief of Hin-Tutta-Hang-Kush, the largest Mandan village along the Missouri River in present day North Dakota, and his gracious actions couple with his valor earned the respect and admiration of the European explores and fur traders who visited the Mandan. The portraits painted by Karl Bodmer and George Catlin, contemporary journals of F.A. Chardon, Prince Maximilian of Wied, and George Catlin, and Mato-Tope’s surviving …show more content…
Scholars estimate they built their first villages along the Missouri River between 1100 and 1400 AD. At its largest, the Mandan inhabited between ten and thirteen villages; however, by the time of Mato-Tope’s birth, epidemic and warfare reduced the time to roughly two thousand members who inhabited two villages two miles apart. (Figures 1 and 2) These villages were built on the high banks of the river and were surrounded by wooden palisades for defense against attack. Vast gardens surrounded the villages where women grew corn, beans, squash and other crops that supplied not only food for their lodges but also “cash crops” for trade. Because of their settled lifestyle and farming practices, the Mandan villages became trade hubs in the northern …show more content…
The society was matriarchal; women owned the earth lodges, fields, and determined the clans of their children. They farmed, cared for children, and honored the male warriors when they returned from war. Men joined their mother’s clans and were warriors who protected their village, hunted buffalo, trapped eagles, and avenged offences against the tribe. However, masculinity and success in battle were not the only virtues prized among the Mandan; if a man wanted to advance in society, he must also demonstrate religious devotion and respect for cultural traditions. Only when all these elements were present could a man advance through the social ranks of the village to become a chief. Through successful warfare and devotion to his clan and tribe, Mato-Tope distinguished himself as an “extraordinary man” who was “the first and most popular man in the nation” and became the second chief or War Chief of