Maximilian, Prince of Wied's, Travels in the Interior of North America, 1832-1834, part 2

In the prairies on the Missouri, near Fort Clarke, the same species of cactus are found as near Fort Union; the grasses are not of so many species as might be supposed; Chondrosium oligostachyum (Nees), which grows to the height of ten or twelve feet, and Bryzophyrum spicatum, are, however, found there. As I had no opportunity of botanizing here in the summer time, my list of plants of this part of the country is very incomplete; but Bradbury and Nuttall were more fortunate. Many officinal plants grow here, but there are no physicians to direct the use of them.

In the forests about Fort Clarke, only a very small quantity of useful timber is found. The poplar burns quickly, and emits much heat, and the bark serves for the winter food of the horses. The animal kingdom has many interesting species, for those of the extensive western prairies are united with those of the cold regions of North America. The best accounts of the former are given by Say, whose early death is deeply to be deplored:[205] and for those of the more northern regions, Richardson's admirable Fauna Boreali-Americana is replete with interest and information. The buffalo herds do not appear in the immediate vicinity of Fort Clarke, except when the winter is very severe, because they are too much disturbed by the numerous Indians in the neighbourhood. The hunters of the fort are often obliged to ride twenty miles before they find them. In the cold snow-storms, so prevalent during the winter, these animals take refuge in the forests on the banks, when great numbers of them are killed, and it is often almost impossible to drive them out of the wood. Their bones and skulls, scattered all over the prairie, prove the immense destruction which is made of these harmless animals. The elk may be shot at about eighteen miles from Fort Clarke; but it does not approach nearer, because of the Indians, to whom the skins of the elk are of great value in the manufacture of their shoes. The white-tailed {331} deer (Cervus Virginianus), called by the French, le chevreuil, is found in the nearest woods, not a mile from the fort. The black-tailed or mule deer is not to be seen within twenty or thirty miles. The cabri, or antelope (Antilocapra Ord.), lives the whole year in the immediate vicinity, and in the summer, great numbers congregate together; but in the winter they go towards the mountains, where they find protection against the snow, and return in April, when large herds of them are seen to pass the Missouri. The annexed woodcut, designed by Mr. Bodmer from the life, gives a perfect and correct idea of this animal.[206]

The bighorn (Ovis montana), the grosse-corne of the French, is not found nearer than fifty miles from this part of the country. The Manitaries, who go to the Black Hills and other mountainous tracts to hunt, kill a hundred or more of these animals in a season. The grizzly bear approaches to within four miles of the fort, because the Indians, who do not like to hunt them, leave them undisturbed. They are, however, very fond of the flesh of the young bear; and the claws are much valued by them, for the manufacture of their necklaces. Of the genus canis, I met with five wild species in western North America. The changeable wolf (Canis variabilis), undoubtedly a distinct species, as Lewis and Clarke likewise affirm, is very common on the whole of the Upper Missouri. It is found to vary in colour from wolf grey to pure white. In winter these animals are nearly famished, and extremely lean. They closely follow the herds of buffaloes, and many sick, young, or weak animals become their easy prey; and when the hunters are abroad there is a rich harvest for the wolves. They even bite and devour each other, yet they did not meddle with the dead wolves which we left in the prairie; possibly they might not have been so {332} ravenously hungry just then. They distinguish the report of a gun so well, that they hasten to the spot almost immediately after the shot has been fired. The same is the case with the ravens; and the Indian hunters affirm that the wolves watch these birds, in order to ascertain the direction in which the prey is to be found: if a poor animal has only been wounded, they are on the alert, and instantly pursue it, and it inevitably becomes their prey. In cold winters they are often so bold that they come into the villages, and approach the people's dwellings.

The red fox (Canis fulvus) is very handsome, and at the same time common, though by no means so numerous as the wolves. The grey fox (Canis cinereo-argenteus), and the cross fox (Canis decussatus), are likewise found here. The black or silver fox (Canis argentatus), is met with sixty or seventy miles further north, but it is occasionally seen here, and the skin is highly prized, being sold for sixty dollars.

The prairie fox is frequently seen, but the panther and the wild cat are not often found. Beavers become more numerous on the Missouri and its tributaries the higher they are ascended, and the Indians catch them in considerable numbers; their skins are much valued by the Whites. I saw one beautifully spotted with white; yellowish-white and pure white beavers are not unfrequently caught on the Yellow Stone.

There are, likewise, many interesting species of birds, among which are the turkey-buzzard, the stone falcon, the owl (a very hardy bird, which remains here throughout the whole of the rigorous winter), the Carolina parrot, the humming-bird (Trochilus colubris), wild pigeon, woodpecker, magpie, and many others. There are many interesting species of reptiles in this part of the country, and I much regretted that I was not here in the summer time, when, of course, they are more abundant and various. Several kinds of turtles frequent the Missouri and the prairies. {333} I was told that many species of lizard abound in summer, especially phrynosoma, of which there are many on the Yellow Stone, at Fort Union, and in the Valley of the Stone Walls. I was much surprised at not seeing a single animal of the lizard kind on my voyage on the Missouri. Of snakes there are many species; the black snake is not found here, but the Coluber proximus (Say) is abundant, as well as the Coluber eximus. There is only one kind of rattlesnake, which is very common, and of a considerable size. Of frogs there are several kinds, of which the Rana pipiens (Schreb.), is the most beautiful; small tree frogs likewise abound, and after a shower of rain, the ground is frequently quite covered with young frogs. Even many of the Whites believe that these little animals fall from the sky; they imagine that the rainbow draws the frogs up into the air at one end, and that they fall in a mass to the ground with the rain.

But few species of fish frequent this part of the Missouri; among them are two kinds of cat-fish, the pike, sturgeon, gold-eye, and occasionally the buffalo (catastomus). Doubtless there are many more species, but they have not been noticed by the inhabitants, and it is very difficult to procure them. Numerous insects of various species abound here, to the great annoyance of the inhabitants, such as mosquitoes, and innumerable grasshoppers, which quickly devour the plants in the prairie, and are themselves the food of many kinds of animals during the summer.

To give a complete picture of the country about Fort Clarke, we must subjoin an account of the numerous Indians who inhabit this territory; namely, the three tribes of the Mandans, the Manitaries or Gros Ventres, and the Arikkaras, the latter of whom were absent during our sojourn here. In order to make the narrative of our long residence at this spot (which will be given in the sequel) more intelligible, I shall annex, in the three following chapters, the information I collected respecting those three Indian nations.

CHAPTER XXV
ACCOUNT OF THE MANDAN INDIANS

In communicating the information contained in the following chapters, in which I mean to treat especially of some tribes of the aborigines of North America, I shall take it for granted that the reader is acquainted with the interesting and important particulars which have been given us by Messrs. Edwin James, T. Say, and Schoolcraft. Dr. E. James speaks especially of the origin of the North American Indians, of their near affinity to each other; of the recently broached hypothesis of their descent from the Israelites, which he proves to be groundless, and which is contradicted by the bodily conformation of the Indians, and also of the injudicious and unjust treatment which they suffer from the Anglo-Americans. According to him many of the Indian nations would long since have been converted to the Christian religion, and have settled in fixed abodes, like the Cherokees, &c., if the earlier missionaries had better understood the work on which they were sent. It is notorious that this subject was treated, in early times, with the most unwarrantable want of discretion, and positive ignorance; that the greatest injustice was exercised towards the Indian population, and that, even now, wrongs untold are heaped on this much to be pitied and oppressed race. A large portion of those nations has entirely disappeared, and the accounts which have been preserved of them are extremely imperfect; others are expelled from their native seats, mixed together in small fragments of various tribes, half degenerated, and consequently now affording but little that can interest the inquirer. Such were the Indians whom Volney saw: only to the west and north-west of the Mississippi may the Indians be yet found in their original state. Before, however, I speak of them in general, I will describe more in detail a small tribe which has hitherto been very imperfectly known.

The Mandans (called by the Canadians, les Mandals),[207] by which name these Indians are generally known, though it was originally given them by the Sioux, were formerly a numerous people, who, according to the narrative of an aged man, lately deceased, inhabited thirteen, and {335} perhaps more villages.[208] They call themselves Numangkake (i. e., men), and if they wish to particularize their descent, they add the name of the village whence they came originally.[209] Some, for instance, call themselves Sipuske-Numangkake, the men of the pheasant or prairie hens, from the village Sipuska-Mihte, pheasant village; others, Mato-Numangkake, the men of the bear, from the village Mato-Mihte, bear village, &c. &c. Another general name of this people is Mahna-Narra, the sulky, because they separated from the rest of their nation, and went higher up the Missouri.

The early history of the Mandans is involved in obscurity; their own traditions and legends will be discussed in the sequel, when treating on their religious ideas. They affirm that they descend originally from the more eastern nations, near the sea-coast.[210] Though the above-named villages do not all exist at this time, these Indians still call themselves by their several names. They formerly dwelt near the Heart River:[211] when Charbonneau arrived here at the end of the last century, the two Mandan villages, which are still standing, were about six or eight miles further down the Missouri. The smallpox and the assaults of their enemies have so reduced this people, that the whole number now reside in two villages, in the vicinity of Fort Clarke. These two villages are Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush (the southern village), about 300 paces above Fort Clarke, and on the same side of the river, and Ruhptare,[212] about three miles higher up, likewise on the same bank. The first had, at the time of our visit, sixty-five huts, and contained about 150 warriors; the other, thirty-eight huts and eighty-three warriors. According to this, the tribe had not more than 230 or 240 warriors; and, on the whole, scarcely 900 or 1000 souls; Dr. {336} Morse,[213] therefore, estimates the number of these people rather too high, when he states it at 1250 souls.

The Mandans are a vigorous, well-made race of people, rather above the middling stature, and very few of the men could be called short. The tallest man now living was Mahchsi-Karehde (the flying war eagle), who was five feet ten inches two lines, Paris measure (above six feet English). In general, however, they are not so tall as the Manitaries. Many of them are robust, broad-shouldered, and muscular, while others are slender and small limbed. Their physiognomy is, in general, the same as that of most of the Missouri Indians, but their noses are not so long and arched as those of the Sioux, nor have they such high cheek bones. The nose of the Mandans and Manitaries is not broad—sometimes aquiline, or slightly curved, and often quite straight. Their eyes are, in general, long and narrow, of a dark brown colour; the inner angle is often rather lower in childhood, but it is rarely so in maturer age. The mouth is broad, large, rather prominent, and the lower jaw broad and angular. No great difference occurs in the form of the skull: in general I did not find the facial angle smaller than in Europeans, yet there are some exceptions.[214] Their hair is long, thick, lank, and black, but seldom as jet and glossy as that of the Brazilians: that of children is often only dark brown, especially at the tips; and Bradbury speaks of brown hair among the Mandans. There are whole families among them, as well as among the Blackfeet, whose hair is grey, or black mixed with white, so that the whole head appears grey.[215] The families of Sih-Chida and Mato-Chiha are instances of this peculiarity. The latter chief was particularly remarkable in this respect: his hair grew in distinct locks of brown, black, silver grey, but mostly white, and his eyebrows perfectly white, which had a strange effect in a tall otherwise handsome man, between twenty and thirty years of age. They encourage the growth of their hair, and often lengthen it by artificial means. Their teeth, like those of all the Missouri Indians, are particularly fine, strong, firm, even, and as white as ivory. It is very seldom that you see a defect or a tooth {337} wanting even in old people, though, in the latter, they are often worn very short, which is chiefly to be attributed to their chewing hard, dry meat. The women are pretty robust and sometimes tall, but, for the most part, they are short and broad shouldered. They are but few who can be called handsome as Indians, but there are many tolerable and some pretty faces among them. It is usually said of the Mandan women that they, in some respects, have a natural conformation, such as Le Vaillant and Péron[216] ascribe to the Hottentot women; but it seems to be owing, in the Mandan women, less to nature than to artificial means.[217] The children have frequently slender limbs, and very prominent bellies. Deformed persons are very rare among the Mandans. I, however, saw a very little dwarf with a long, narrow face, and one man who squinted. Persons who had lost the sight of one eye, or with a cataract, are by no means uncommon. There were several deaf and dumb, among whom two brothers and a sister were all born with this defect. Some goîtres, or, rather, thick necks among the women, are, doubtless, caused by too great exertions in carrying burdens on their backs. Instances where joints of the fingers are wanting are frequent, but these come under the head of voluntary mutilations.

The colour of these Indians is a fine brown, sometimes reddish, more or less dark, which might, sometimes, come under the denomination of copper colour. In some it is more of a greyish-brown, in others yellowish; after a thorough ablution the skin of some of them appears almost white, and even some colour in their cheeks.[218] They do not disfigure their bodies, only they make some apertures in the outer rim of the ear, in which they hang strings of beads, brass or iron rings of different sizes, or shells, the last of which they obtain from other Indian tribes. If they are questioned respecting these shells, they answer that they were brought from the sea. These Indians are vain, and in this respect childish, like all savage nations. They are very fond of ornament, and the young men have always a little looking-glass suspended from their wrists. The traders sell these looking-glasses in a pasteboard case, which, however, is immediately changed for a solid wooden frame, and attached to the wrist by a red ribbon or a leather strap. The looking-glasses are framed in various ways; the rude frame is often painted red, or with stripes of different colours, with footsteps of bears or buffaloes carved on it. Nay, sometimes these {338} frames are of a considerable size, divided at one end like a boot-jack, and ornamented with brass nails, ribbons, pieces of skin and feathers.[219] Some had very ingeniously fastened this important appendage to their fan made of an eagle's wing. The Indian dandy is constantly consulting his mirror, and, if he has been travelling, especially in the high winds so prevalent here, he immediately has recourse to his looking-glass, and his disordered dress is most carefully arranged.

It is remarkable that the men are far more vain than the women, and the latter are obliged to be greatly inferior to the lords of the creation in their attire and adornments. The costume of the Mandans is rather simple: by far the greatest attention is paid to the head-dress. Their hair is parted transversely across the middle of the head, the front hair combed smoothly down, and generally divided into three flat bands, two of which hang down on the temples, and are generally plaited. To these plaits they attach the ornament already mentioned, which consists of two strips of leather or cloth closely embroidered with white or azure glass beads, and intertwined with brass wire, as represented in the portrait of Pehriska-Ruhpa.[220] If the ground of this ornament is red or blue, it is studded with white beads, and if the ground is white the beads are blue. They put this ornament in their hair and pull it over the temples; a long string is fastened to the underpart, which reaches to the waist, and is adorned with alternate rows of blue beads and white dentalium shells. Between these two singularly decorated plaits there is, in the centre of the forehead, a smooth flat lock reaching to the nose, which is not ornamented, but only tied with a red ribbon. The back hair falls smoothly from the crown of the head to the waist, and is divided into many tails, an inch and a half or two inches broad, which are smeared with brownish or red clay. When the hair is not naturally long enough it is frequently lengthened with other human hair, often that of enemies whom they have killed, which is fastened on with rosin. At the back of the head they sometimes wear a long stiff ornament in the shape of a ruler, three or four fingers broad, made of small sticks entwined with wire, which is fastened to the hair, and reaches down to the shoulders. It is covered with porcupine quills, dyed of various colours, in very neat patterns. At the upper end of this ornament an eagle's feather is affixed horizontally, the quill end of which is covered with red cloth, and the tip is ornamented with a bunch of horse-hair dyed yellow. The lower white half of the feather is frequently dyed red with vermilion, and the quill covered with dyed porcupine quills.[221] When the Indians are not in their best dress, when they are travelling, or going to the chase, they fasten their long hair in a thick bunch. {339} When, however, they are full dressed, they put a variety of feathers in their hair, frequently a semicircle of feathers of birds of prey, like radii, or sunbeams, or a bunch of tail feathers of the raven placed in a similar manner. Sometimes they have a thick tuft of owl's feathers, or small rosettes made of broad raven's feathers, cut short, in the centre of which is the tail of a bird of prey spread out like a fan. These feather ornaments are frequently determined according to the several bands or unions, of which I shall speak in the sequel. They likewise wear the large horned feather cap; this is a cap consisting of strips of white ermine, with pieces of red cloth hanging down behind as far as the calves of the legs, to which is attached an upright row of black and white eagle's feathers, beginning at the head and reaching to the whole length. Only distinguished warriors, who have performed many exploits, may wear this head-dress.[222]

If they give away one or more of these head-dresses, which they estimate very highly, they are immediately considered men of great importance; the regular price of such a cap is a good horse; for a single eagle's feather is always valued at one or two dollars. On their buffalo robes they often represent this feather cap, under the image of a sun. Very celebrated and eminent warriors, when most highly decorated, wear in their hair various pieces of wood, as signals of their wounds and heroic deeds. Thus Mato-Topé[223] had fastened transversely in his hair a wooden knife, painted red, and about the length of a hand, because he had killed a Chayenne chief with his knife; then six wooden sticks, painted red, blue, and yellow, with a brass nail at one end, indicating so many musket wounds which he had received. For an arrow wound he fastened in his hair the wing feather of a wild turkey; at the back of his head he wore a large bunch of owl's feathers, dyed yellow, with red tips, as the badge of the Meniss-Ochata (the dog band). The half of his face was painted red, and the other yellow; his body was painted reddish-brown, with narrow stripes, which were produced by taking off the colour with the tip of the finger wetted. On his arms, from the shoulder downwards, he had seventeen yellow stripes, which indicated his warlike deeds, and on his breast the figure of a hand, of a yellow colour, as a sign that he had captured some prisoners. A warrior so adorned takes more time for his toilette than the most elegant Parisian belle. The colour with which they paint their bodies is mixed with grease. When in mourning they colour the face and hands white. The women and children paint only their faces red, leaving the hair its natural colour. The Mandans and Manitaries, and all the Indians of the Upper Missouri, often wear the handsome necklace made of the claws of the grizzly bear. These claws are very large in the spring, frequently three inches long, and the points are tinged of a white colour, which is much esteemed; only the claws of the fore feet are used for necklaces, which are fastened to a strip of otter skin, lined with red cloth, and embroidered with glass beads, which hangs down the back like a long tail. Such a {340} necklace is seldom to be had for less than twelve dollars; and very often the owners of them will not part with them on any terms. The Mandans adorn themselves with many other kinds of necklaces, such as strings of glass beads, scented roots, or fungi, elks' teeth, for 100 or 150 of which they will, in exchange, give a horse, or something equivalent. These Indians generally wear no covering on the upper part of the body; the leather shirt of the Assiniboins, Sioux, Crows, Blackfeet, and other nations that live more to the north and north-west, are seldom used among them; yet a few individuals have obtained them from those Indians, either as presents, or by barter. Even in the midst of winter, the Mandans wear nothing on the upper part of the body, under their buffalo robe.[224] They paint their bodies of a reddish-brown colour, on some occasions with white clay; and frequently draw red or black figures on their arms. The face is, for the most part, painted all over with vermilion, or yellow, in which latter case the circumference of the eyes and the chin are red. There are, however, no set rules for painting, and it depends on the taste of the Indian dandy; yet, still, a general similarity is observed. The bands, in their dances, and also after battles, and when they have performed some exploit, follow the established rule. In ordinary festivals, and dances, and whenever they wish to look particularly fine, the young men paint themselves in every variety of way, and each endeavours to find out some new mode. Should he find another dandy painted just like himself, he immediately retires and makes a change in the pattern, which may happen three or four times during the festival. If they have performed an exploit, the entire face is painted jet black. Sometimes, though seldom, the Mandans adorn the wrist and upper arm with polished steel bracelets, which they obtain from the merchants; often they wear many brass rings on their fingers, and are, on the whole, excessively fond of ornaments and finery. The chief article of their dress is the ample buffalo robe, called mahita, or mih-sha, which is often very elaborate and valuable. In dry weather these buffalo robes are worn with the hair inwards, and in rainy weather with the hairy side outwards. They are tanned on the fleshy side, and painted either white or reddish-brown, and ornamented with a transverse band of blue or white glass beads, and three large rosettes of the same beads, often of very tasteful patterns, at regular intervals. The centre is frequently red, surrounded with sky blue, embroidered with white figures, or sometimes the reverse. The transverse band is worked with variously dyed porcupine quills, and is then narrower. This, however, is now old-fashioned, and was worn before the coloured glass beads were obtained in such numbers from the Whites. Other robes are painted with a reddish-brown ground, and black figures, especially of animals; others have a white ground, with representations of their heroic deeds in black, or in gay colours, with the wounds they received, the loss of blood, the killed, the prisoners, the arms they have taken, the horses stolen (the number of which is indicated by the number of horseshoes), in black, red, green, or yellow figures, executed in their yet rude style of painting. The {341} nations on the Missouri are all in the habit of painting such robes; but the Pawnees, Mandans, Manitaries, and Crows, are the most skilful in this art.[225] Another mode of painting their robes is, to represent the number of valuable presents they have made. By these presents, which are often of great value, they acquire reputation and respect among their countrymen. On such robes we observed long red figures, with a black circle at the termination, placed close to each other in transverse rows; they represent whips, indicating the number of horses given, because the whip belonging to the horse is always bestowed with the animal. Red or dark blue transverse figures indicate cloth or blankets given; parallel transverse stripes represent fire-arms, the outlines of which are pretty correctly drawn. The robe is frequently cut, at the bottom, into narrow strips, like fringe, and ornamented on the sides with tufts of human hair, and horse-hair dyed yellow and green, and with glass beads. Formerly the Indians painted these robes more carefully than they now do, and it was possible to obtain one for five musket balls and some powder; now they are far inferior, and eight or ten dollars is not unfrequently paid for them. A robe handsomely painted is equal in value to two not painted.

Their leggins are fastened with straps to their leathern girdles, and are embroidered at the outer seam with stripes, one or two inches in breadth, of porcupine quills, of beautiful various colours, and often with blue and white beads, and long leathern fringes, which form at the ankle a thick bunch, which trails upon the ground. The leather of which their leggins are made is, for the most part, stained of a reddish-brown, or pale red, usually with clay, sometimes white, and often marked below the knee with black transverse stripes. They, as well as all the tribes of North America, use what the English call a breechcloth (Nokka), which is a narrow strip of woollen cloth, striped black and white, which passes between the thighs under the girdle, before and behind, where it hangs down. Their shoes, which are made of buck skin, or buffalo leather, are generally plain, or very slightly ornamented; but, in full dress, they are embroidered with coloured rosettes, or strips of dyed porcupine quills or beads. Those men who have performed exploits wear, round the ankles, wolf's tail, or pieces of otter skin, which are lined with red cloth, and trail on the ground. In the summer, when the men are at home, and go about in state, they carry the fan of eagle's feathers in their hands, which we have before described. What the Anglo-Americans call "the crow," which is worn by the warriors of the nations of the Mississippi, and the Lower Missouri, is wholly unknown among the tribes of the Upper Missouri, the Sioux, Assiniboins, Crows, Mandans, Arikkaras, Manitaries, and Blackfeet.[226]

The boys are generally naked, and in winter merely have a robe thrown over them; the girls are dressed in leather in summer as well as winter. The women wear a long leather {342} garment, with open sleeves, and a girdle round the waist; the hem of this dress is often scolloped and fringed; they ornament the wrists with iron rings, and tie strings of glass beads round their necks, and sometimes in their ears. Their leggins, called, by the Canadians, mitasse, are short, reaching only from the ankle to the knee. Their shoes are simple, and without any ornament.

Tattooing is in use among these people, but by no means general. Most commonly only the left half of the breast and the corresponding arm are marked with black parallel stripes, and a few other figures. The lower arm and some of the fingers are occasionally marked; the men do not tattoo their faces, and they are far inferior in this art to the New Zealanders and other nations of the South Seas. Among the women such designs are sometimes seen, but not frequently, and they are chiefly among the women's band of the white buffalo cow. The point of the needle is dyed a dark blue with the bark of the willow soaked in water.

In Major Long's Travels to the Rocky Mountains it is stated that the Crows rub their bodies with castoreum, on account of its pleasant scent.[227] I must observe, however, that the custom is not confined to one nation, but is practised by the Mandans, Manitaries, Crows, and Blackfeet, and most of the other tribes of the Upper Missouri. They mix the castoreum with a red colour, and with it rub their face and frequently their hair.

Having obtained a clear idea of the outward appearance of these Indians, we will next consider their habitations, villages, and domestic life. Their villages are assemblages of clay huts, of greater or less extent, placed close to each other, without regard to order. Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush, the largest of the Mandan villages, was about 150 or 200 paces in diameter, the second was much smaller. The circumference forms an irregular circle, and was anciently surrounded with strong posts, or palisades, which have, however, gradually disappeared as the natives used them for fuel in the cold winters. At four places, at nearly equal distances from each other, is a bastion built of clay, furnished with loop-holes, and lined both within and without with basket-work of willow branches. They form an angle, and are open towards the village; the earth is filled in between the basket-work; and it is said that these bulwarks, which are now in a {343} state of decay, were erected for the Indians by the Whites.[228] There is nothing of the kind at Ruhptare. The huts, as I have before remarked, stand close to each other, leaving, in the centre, an open circular space, about sixty paces in diameter, in the centre of which (among the Mandans) the ark of the first man is set up, of which we shall speak in the sequel. It is a small cylinder, open above, made of planks, about four or five feet high, fixed in the ground, and bound with climbing plants, or pliable boughs, to hold them together.[229]