MANDAN AND HIDATSA MUSIC 
By Frances Densmore 
CHARACTERIZATION OF SINGERS 
MANDAN 
The group of Mandan singers and informants comprised prac- 
tically all the full-blood Mandauns living on the reservation when the 
material was collected. They were persons of strong individuality 
and upright character. None were less than 50 years of age and 
a majority were probably more than 65 years old at the time. Little 
Crow and Water Chief died before the field work was completed. 
The only one of the number who spoke enough English to carry 
on a meager conversation was Ben Benson, and he required an inter- 
preter when giving his information concerning tribal customs. 
What may be regarded as the oldest and most valuable material 
was given by Scattered Corn (pl. 2, 6), daughter of Moves Slowly, 
the last corn priest of the Mandan, who died in 1904. He is said 
to have been “the last of a line of 34 priests whose names are kept 
in a pictographic record, with their ages, which average between 
60 and 70 years.”? This gave authority to her statements con- 
nected with the corn customs. 
Little Crow, who recorded songs in 1912 and died the follow- 
ing year, was an aged and highly honored member of the tribe. 
Wounded Face is a fine type of the old Indian in his character 
and bearing. He appears to have acted as an informant to all 
who have studied the customs of his tribe. Ben Benson is a much 
younger man who has filled with credit the office of Indian police- 
man and taken other responsibilities in connection with his people. 
Crow’s Heart is prominent in the life of the reservation and repre- 
sents an entirely different type from the other singers. That he 
might be termed “a man of affairs” is shown by the following 
incidents. The Mandan and Hidatsa village at Fort Berthold was 
abandoned in 1887 and the Indians subsequently were given allot- 
ments, the Mandans being located on the western side of the Mis- 
1 Will and Hyde, Corn among the Indians of the Upper Missouri, p. 268. 
al 
