Mandan Indian Tribe (2-10-07)
by Gordon Bean (St. Charles, Michigan)
Gordon Bean writes:
I am just finishing up the
book
“ISRAEL'S TRIBES TODAY” by Steven Collins and find it perhaps one of the most brilliant researched texts I have read. He has
put together in a very easy to understand format the migration of the ancient LOST tribes of Israel and places them quite correctly
where they are today.
Within
the text of the book I am currently reading he has referenced the MANDAN Indian tribe of your near locale.
Do you know what I
am referencing here?
My daughter lives at Fargo ND and I am familiar with the location of Mandan but not of the current Indian
nation or their history. Sincerely yours, Gordon
Steve Collins writes:
Dear Gordon Bean,
Thank you for your very positive comments
about my
book. It is gratifying to know that readers enjoy reading the book as much as I enjoyed writing it.
The tribe of Mandan
Indians which interacted with the Lewis and Clark expedition and other early explorers of the American West no longer exists. In 1837,
white traders infected the Mandan villages with a smallpox epidemic which wiped out almost all the tribe's members. I'll offer this
quote from
Brave His Soul by Ellen Pugh (p. 99) concerning what happened to the Mandan tribe after the smallpox plague:
"Only
about 125 survived...these were taken captive by the neighboring Ricarees, who then moved into the empty Mandan villages. Many of
the captive Mandans--made slaves--committed suicide. Thirteen years later, the census of 1850 recorded 350 Mandans living, but nearly
all were of mixed blood."
For the above reason, it is impossible to locate the remarkable Mandan tribe which was known to early
American explorers. There may be some people today bearing the tribal name, but they are not the same people as the original Mandan
tribe. Steve Collins
