6 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL, 80 
Bourrau Customs 
Manpan.—In his account of the Mandan village Catlin states that 
“the dead are on scaffolds just back of the village, on the level 
prairie, some hundreds of bodies being there. . . . When the scaf- 
folds fall the skulls are placed in circles on the prairie, each skull 
on a bunch of wild sage, renewed from time to time.”"? The people 
of the village were said to betake themselves often to these 
circles of skulls, sitting for hours at a time and talking to or caress- 
ing the skull of a deceased relative. Scaffolds for the dead were used 
on the Fort Berthold Reservation until comparatively recent time, 
the accompanying illustration being a scene well remembered by Dr. 
C. L. Hall, who supplied the photograph. (PI. 8, 0.) 
Hiatsa.—Lowie states that “two modes of burial were in vogue, 
and the one preferred by the dying man was followed. One method 
was that of actual interment, the director digging a pit into which 
the body was lowered. . . . The second way was scaffold burial.’* 
yee LANGUAGE 
Manpan.—This is unquestionably of Siouan stock. There are only 
two small publications in the Mandan language. One is the Ten 
Commandments, translated by Dr. C. L. Hall, missionary of the Con- 
gregational Church on the Fort Berthold Reservation, and the other 
is a hymn book and translation of the Lord’s Prayer prepared by his 
son, Mr. R. D. Hall. A vocabulary of the Mandan was compiled 
by Maximilian,’ and a comparative table of the Mandan and other 
languages was prepared by Catlin.1® The only modern study of the 
language and grammar is that by Will and Spinden, which contains 
an English-Mandan vocabulary." 
Hiparsa.—Like the Mandan, this is of Siouan stock. Atthe present 
time it is much more widely spoken than the Mandan, which is fast 
dying out. A vocabulary of the Hidatsa was compiled by Maxi- 
milian,'® but a comprehensive consideration is given the subject by 
Matthews, including a grammar and Hidatsa-English and English- 
Hidatsa vocabularies.’ 
My THOLOGY 
The Mandan relate a story concerning the origin of the first man, 
and also a story concerning the appearance of the tribe on the earth. 
18 Catlin, op. cit., vol. 1, pp. 89-90. 
14 Lowie, Notes on the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Crow Indians, pp. 51-52. 
% Maximilian, Travels, pt. III, pp. 234-261. 
16 Catlin, op. cit., vol. 2, Appendix B. 
47 Will and Spinden, The Mandans, Papers Peabody Mus. Amer. Archaeol. and Ethn., 
vol. III, no.. 4. 
38 Maximilian, op. cit., pp. 261-276. 
1” Matthews, Ethnography of the Hidatsa, pp. 89-259, 
