Are there famous native Americans in the mandans tribe?

Answer 1

The Mandan tribe is probably one of the least well-known of all North American groups, despite being "famous" for a false claim made about them in the 19th century. They were badly reduced in numbers by smallpox and other diseases, as well inter-tribal warfare; they only survived by combining with two other neighbouring tribes (the Hidatsa and Arikara).

Among notable leaders of the Mandan were chiefs Posecopsahe (Black Cat), Cargarnomokshe (Raven Man), Shehekshote (White Coyote), Kagohame (Little Raven), Tatuckcopinreha (White Buffalo Robe), Crow Chief, Mahto Tope (Four Bears), Miniakihamato (Bear On the Water), Sheohmantho (Red Buffalo Cow), Charging Eagle, Peditska Amakish (Sitting Crow).

Of these, Four Bears was painted by the artists George Catlin and Karl Bodmer - making him perhaps the most widely known of all Mandan chiefs.

The false claim about the Mandan tribe is that they were "Welsh" and descended from a mythical Welsh prince named Madoc, who supposedly discovered the Americas by accident in the 12th century and returned to Wales to collect a large number of followers. These then set out for the area that later became Mobile Bay and gradually moved northwards, finally establishing a colony that became the Mandan tribe. This is all nonsense, taking no account of the absence of any ocean-going ships in Wales at the time - and there is no trace of any Welsh language among the Mandans (despite many claims made by unqualified people in the 1800s).

As a tribe, the Mandan people are perhaps most famous for not being Welsh . . .