84 THE GEORGE CATLIN INDIAN GALLERY. 



can walk into any lodge and every one will share with him as long as there is any- 

 thing to eat. He, however, who thus begs when he is able to hunt, pays dear for his 

 meat, for he is stigmatized with the disgraceful epithet of a poltroon and a beggar. 



The Mandans, like all other tribes, sit at their meals cross-legged, or rather with 

 their ankles crossed in front of them, and both feet drawn close under their bodies ; 

 or, which is very often the case also, take their meals in a reclining posture, with 

 the legs thrown out, and the body resting on one elbow and forearm, which are 

 under them. The dishes from which they eat are invariably on the ground or floor 

 of the lodge, and the group resting on buffalo robes or mats of various structure and 

 manufacture. 



The position in which the women sit at their meals and on other occasions is differ- 

 ent from that of the men, and one which they take and rise from again with great 

 ease and much grace; by merely bending the knees both together, inclining the body 

 back and the head and shoulders quite forward, they squat entirely down to the 

 ground, inclining both feet either to the right or to the left. In this position they 

 always rest while eating, and it is both modest and graceful, for they seem, with ap- 

 parent ease, to assume the position and rise out of it without using their hands in 

 any way to assist them. 



These women, however, although graceful and civil, and ever so beautiful or ever so 

 hungry are not allowed to sit in the same group with the men while at their meals. So 

 far as I have yet traveled in the Indian country, I never have seen an Indian woman 

 eating with her husband. Men form the first group at the banquet, and women and 

 children and dogs all come together at the next, and these gormandize and glut 

 themselves to an enormous extent, though the men very seldom do. 



The Mandans are certainly a very interesting and pleasing people in their personal 

 appearance and manners ; differing in many respects, both in looks and customs, from 

 all other tribes which I have seen. They are not a warlike people, for they seldom, 

 if ever, carry war into their enemies' country; but when invaded show their valor 

 and courage to be equal to that of any people on earth. Being a small tribe and un- 

 able to contend on the wide prairies with the Sioux and other roaming tribes, who 

 are ten times more numerous, they have very judiciously located themselves in a per- 

 manent village, which is strongly fortified, and insures their preservation. By this 

 means they have advanced further in the arts of manufacture; have supplied their 

 lodges more abundantly with the comforts and even luxuries of life than any Indian 

 nation I know of. The consequence of this is, that this tribe have taken many steps 

 ahead of other tribes in manners and refinements, if I may be allowed to apply the 

 word refinement to Indian life ; and are, therefore, familiarly and correctly denomi- 

 nated by the traders and others who have been amongst them, " the polite and friendly 

 Mandans." 



There i3 certainly great justice in the remark, and so forcibly have I been struck 

 with the peculiar ease and elegance of these people, together with the diversity of 

 complexions, the various colors of their hair and. eyes, the singularity of their lan- 

 guage, and their peculiar and unaccountable customs, that I am fully convinced that 

 they have sprung from some other origin than that of the North American tribes, or 

 that they are an amalgam of natives with some civilized race. 



Here arises a question of very great interest and importance for discussion, and, 

 after further familiarity with their character, customs, and traditions, if I forget it 

 not, I will eventually give it further consideration. Suffice it, then, for the present, 

 that their personal appearance alone, independent of their modes and customs, pro- 

 nounces them at once as more or less savage. 



A stranger in the Mandan village is first struck with the different shades of com- 

 plexion and various colors of hair which he sees in a crowd about him, and is at 

 once almost disposed to exclaim that "these are not Indians." 



There are a great many of these people whose complexions appear as light as half- 

 breeds; and amongst the women particularly there are many whose skins are almost 



