549 - Huff Indian Village 2

While the Mandan Indians basically only appear on the broad swath of history after the arrival of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and the winter they spent with them in 1804 and 1805, it’s important to recognize the major holes in history that offer an alternative perspective of the American story both before and after the arrival of Europeans. To better understand those holes in history is to better understand a culture that had learned to navigate sparse rainfall, drastic climate change, and competition amongst neighboring tribes for limited resources.

The point at which you’re standing now offers a glimpse of that culture for the Mandan people, and a bustling and peaceful way of life that took place right here. Those of us from North Dakota are familiar with the challenges the climate offers, and are well aware of the long, bitterly cold winters, fickle rainfall and a temperature that fluctuates drastically, but while climate was a formidable challenge for the Mandan people—their real challenge came with the arrival of Europeans and Africans “from the so-called Old World.” Of course many of the most deadly threats were too small to be seen, as Elizabeth Fenn points out in her book, Encounters at the Heart of the World. Fenn goes on to say that “while the pathogens were invisible, their effects were not.” Indeed, you can see the tragic effects of those pathogens here at the Huff Village, where the outlines of ancient Mandan settlements etch the terrain still today. These once vibrant social and commercial hubs were likely abandoned after epidemics had struck.