236 MANDAN TRADITION. 
; “the Mandans which has been preserved to us 
by Lewis and Clark, and is thus related : 
“ The whole nation resided in one large 
village under ground near a subterraneous 
lake: a grape vine extended its roots down 
to their habitation and gave them a view of 
the light: some of the most adventurous 
climbed up the vine, and were delighted with 
the sight of the earth, which they found covy- 
ered with buffalo, and rich with every kind of 
fruits: returning with the grapes they had 
gathered, their countrymen were so pleased 
with the taste of them that their whole nation 
resolved to leave their dull residence for the 
charms of the upper regions; men, women 
and children ascended by means of the vine; 
but when about half the nation had reached 
the surface of the earth, a corpulent woman 
who was clambering up the vine broke it with 
her weight, and closed upon herself and the 
rest of the nation, the light of the sun.” 
- Besides the Mandans it seems that other 
-neighboring tribes had somewhat analogous 
notions of their origin. An early explorer re- 
lates that the Osages believed that their fore- 
fathers grew from a snail, which, having be- 
come a man, married the daughter of a 
beaver, whence sprang the present race. 
The resemblance of the American Indians 
to each other, however, is not more conspicu- 
ous in anything than in their religious opi- 
nions. They seem to have no well-defined 
: yet there are very few but profess a 
faith in some sort of First Cause—a Great 
