The evening times., 1913-12-30

DIR. o. G. Libby has returned from
Devils Lake. where he spent day in
teresting number of people in the
to preserve the sites Of his
toric Indian villages, recently locat-
cd. The Devils Lake Journal says of
his visit:
IN discussion Of much interest to
all dcsirious Of learning the early his
tory Of North Dakota was given in
the commercial club rooms by Prof.
q. G. Libby, head Of the historical de-
partment of the state university and
secretary OF the State Historical, as-
sociation. Indian. villages in which
Professor Libby has done personal re-
search work. was the subject OF his
lecture. His purpose was twofold:
firstly. he wished to create local In
terest in these villages. and secondly
he wished to collect and preserve the
early history of the state. Especially
anxious is Professor libby to arouse
interest in this section in that very
ed on Grahams island, and he feels
that it would be an injustice to future
generations to allow this village to be
forgotten and destroyed.
There are three types of Indian
villages in the state: the Mandan. Ari-
kara and Hidatsa. The tepees of the
first were cone shaped. built in cir
Gle, with the door opening inward.
The holy tepee or church stood in the
circumference Of the circle. The Ari-
kara village was likewise built in Il
circle. but the holy tepee was near
the center. The Hidatsa, of which the
Grahams island village is a type,
seemed to have no particular system
and no church. Their services were
held In huts made of boughs outside
the village. Also there was about the
villages of the first two an absence of
refuse piles and an air Of cleanliness.
while in the Hidatsa village the spaces
between the tepee circles were heaped
up ino ridges and various sorts Of de-
bris showed everywhere on the out
side and in the excavations made tor
them. Also It is worthy to note in this
connection that the travellers report
swarms Of dogs in the Hidatsa villag-
es and scarcity Of dogs in the vii
lagos Of the other tribes. All this goes
to prove that the Hidatsa were a
northern people migrating south, and
the Mandans were from the south
where the disposal Of garbage was an
important matter.
"The knowledge Of these indian viii
lagos was acquired through labcrious
personal research, from the tales Of
old Indiana and from the histories of
Clarke and Lewis. who. in their expe-
dition in 1904. passed through a Man
dan village situated on the Knife riv-
er in the vicinity Of old Fort Clarke.
Drawings Of Catlin and Macmillan
have also thrown much light on the
subject.
TN the year 1898 30, Laverendrye
made trip into the Missouri valley
and visited what was erroneously be-
lieved to have been Mandan village.
but which according to his description
Of the village and according to the
geographical description Of his route,
really was Hidatsa village in the
long loop Of the Mouse river. west and
southwest Of the Turtle mountains.
What has lead to the confusion Is no
doubt his name for the tribe visited.
He called them the 'Mantanne.' An
Indian who has given SOME valuable
Information concerning the Fort
Clarke village was Bad Gun, Rushing
War Eagle. son Of Ma-ta-to.pe or
Four Bears, whose portrait Catlin
painted and which is preserved at
Washington with the other works of
this famous painter. From him the
names of the occupants Of the tepees
were learned.
Various facts about the typical Ar
ikara village on Fort Berthold were
learned from Bull Neck, an Arikara,
who talked through an interpreter.
professor Libby first. learned about
the Hidatsa village on Graham island
from conversation which he overheard
between Indians in the Turtle noun
tain REGION"