n.
North American Plains Indian people living mostly in North Dakota, U.S. Their name is probably of French derivation.
The Mandan language, which is Siouan , is nearly extinct. The Mandan, who lived in dome-shaped, earth-covered lodges clustered in stockaded villages, planted corn, beans, pumpkins, and sunflowers, hunted buffalo, and made pottery and baskets. They held elaborate ceremonies, including the sun dance and the bear ceremony, a healing and war-preparation rite. They had age-graded warrior societies as well as shamanistic and women's societies. Artists depicted heroic deeds on buffalo robes. George Catlin portrayed Mandan life and people in a series of paintings. According to him, they called themselves Seepohskahnumahkahkee, meaning "People of the Pheasant." By the mid-19th century the Mandan, reduced by smallpox, were removed to North Dakota's Fort Berthold Reservation, where they live with the Hidatsa and the Arikara as the Three Affiliated Tribes. Some 350 people claimed sole Mandan descent in the 2000 U.S. census.