![]() ![]() That’s why “Encounters in the Heart of the World” (the Mandans referred to the land as the heart of the world) is such a welcome book. Other than that ceremony, not much is known about the tribe, especially in its earlier days. Especially striking were Catlin’s paintings of a Sun Dance-like ritual called Opika, complete with self-torture and sexual exploits. Most of us know the Mandans through the sketches and paintings of 19th-century artist George Catlin that were made just before the smallpox epidemic hit. The Mandans still exist but only as one of three tribes that make up the Fort Berthold reservation in North Dakota. Some 90 percent of the Mandans were wiped out by measles, whooping cough and smallpox in the 1830s. Worst of all, they fell victim to the white man’s diseases. They were attacked by warrior tribes and beset by Norway rats transported to America on European ships, which decimated their grain stores. If the designs spoke true, the Mandans must have been horrified at what they saw, because their future was the worst of any tribe along the Missouri River. Each spring, they spent days washing the stone, smoking, singing and fasting, as they waited for designs to appear in the lichen that would predict the future. ![]() In long-ago times, the Mandan Indians had an oracle stone, a rock outcropping about 20 feet across, that was covered with lichen. Digital Replica Edition Home Page Close Menu ![]()
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