Program Five: Mandan / Hidatsa

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The Interior of the Hut of a Mandan Chief. Karl Bodmer, Kenyon College.

 

Historical Introduction

Program Host Arlie Neskahi discusses the Mandan and Hidatsa who shared their villages with the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804-5.

 
The Interior of the Hut of a Mandan Chief
from Travels in the Interior of North America, 1839-1843
Aquatint engraving
Ackermann & Co., London
Greenslade Special Collections and Archives
Olin and Chalmers Libraries
Kenyon College 		 

Edwin Benson

Elder Wisdom Feature:
Edwin Benson

Brian Bull features Edwin Benson, Mandan linguist and storyteller, regarded as one of the last tribal members fluent in his Mandan language, who is helping teach the language in the tribe's schools.


Sacred Landscape

Judy Bluehorse Skelton explores the woman's role in Hidatsta and Mandan gardening, and the damage brought about because of the Dawes Act and other government programs.

Tribal Rhythms

Nico Wind visits with Hidatsa songkeeper, Alexander Gwin, who speaks about society songs and how they help his people celebrate who they are and what they can achieve.


Contemporary Rhythms

Milt Lee talks with Keith Bear, an award-winning Mandan-Hidatsa flute player, and how the pain of personal and historical loss was overcome with the development of his relationship with his flute.


Turtle Island Storytellers

Hidatsa storyteller and musician, Victor Mandan, tells the story of his ancestor, Cherry Necklace, who vision quested in a pit with snakes, and offers his philosophy on why snakes are so feared.



  
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