The Wonderful Air Conditioned Earth Lodge

Whenever I hear people say something to the effect of "how could people live without air conditioning," I have to laugh, because many people seem to believe that there is only one way to keep your house cool. My house does not have air conditioning and we manage by opening the windows at night and closing them during the day, the Mandan had another solution to this problem, a solution that probably preceded the problem, they built lodges that maintain a fairly constant temperature throughout the year. This is because the earthlodge is made up of three layers the outermost layer of river clay keeps out both the summer heat and the winter freeze. The middle layer of willow reed branches keep the river clay from collapsing in and the inner layer of cottonwood logs provide the support. No air conditioning no problem, one can survive without air conditioning. One can even be comfortable without the modern amenity. The next time someone asks "How could people live without air conditioning," the answer is probably Earthlodges, or perhaps they open their windows at night.

Checking In

Interesting to read your remarks about the German visitors, Brock. I've met people at Fort Berthold who were invited over to visit Prince Maximilian's descendants a few years ago.

Got any photos from the fest this past weekend?

Fest at the Fort

Today is the first of two days of the Fest at the Fort a yearly draw that includes: Soldier for a day, pony rides, free tours of Custer House and the On-A-Slant Village, melodrama, cowboy action shooters, watermelon splitting, mail call, gunfights and live music. This is one of the busiest days at the fort and one that has lots of Historical reenactors playing: officers, enlisted men, officer's wives, scouts, laundresses, doctors, infantry solders, artillery soldiers, and the General Custer. It promises to be a festive and busy couple of days.

The effect of Prince Maximilian on the Mandan.

Today at the On-A-Slant Village, I gave a tour to two German gentlemen who were interested in the Mandan people. The older gentleman had read many books on Mandan culture and he asked very good questions about how they lived, he asked questions about the Mandan: diet, cultural practices, hunting practices, and the building of Earthlodges. Every other year they come to the United States and learn about the Mandan and other Native American peoples. He said that Fort Lincoln State Park was one of their favorite places to visit in the United States. After the tour was finished he said he enjoyed it, and learned a lot about the Mandan, then he gave me a postcard from his home city of Dresden. Many Germans seem to be similarly enthralled with the Mandan, as we have quite a few Germans come visit the park every year. This may have something to do with the fact that Prince Maximilian of Wied, traveled and studied the Mandan and Hidatsa peoples. Upon his return to Wied, the Prince published his findings on the Mandan and Hidatsas. These findings created an ideal of the "noble savage" and created a spark of interest that can be seen to this day. The findings of Maximilian and the Swiss artist who accompanied him, Karl Bodmer have helped to extend our understanding of the Mandan, while connecting an unlikely group of people, the Germans, to them. Maximilian has inspired the imagination of his people and caused them to place great significance on the history of the Mandan people.

Pictured above is a photograph of the Frauenkirche, similar to the postcard given to me.

Summer?

Here's hoping, Brock, that the "summer" part of your summer job finally kicks in! Looks like some sunny weather finally coming this weekend.

Keep posting - I've enjoyed reading thus far what you're up to. I'm going to link this weblog into my home page today.

Also, remember you can upload photos to the blog.

Melodrama and Working On-A-Slant

During the past week or so I have been busy rehearsing for the Melodramatic production of Box And Cox. The first showing of this melodrama was done by the Royal Lyceum Theatre on November First 1847. The melodramatic productions were done at the Fort as a source of entertainment, the original actors and actresses were the solders and laundresses.

Preparation for my role as Mr. Cox in the melodrama has included learning to speak with an English accent, and memorizing numerous lines. The dress rehearsal for the production will be taking place tonight with the first performance taking place tomorrow night.

According to the Mandan (and many other tribes of the northern plains) a person is Mandan if that person's mother is Mandan. This makes sense as well as the Mandan are a matrilinear people, that is they trace their descent through their mother's line If the father is Mandan, but the mother is not the child is not Mandan (certain circumstances can allow a child with a Mandan father to be welcomed as a member of the tribe). As I was giving a tour of the On-A-Slant Mandan village, it came to my attention that a mother and her three children where Mandan. The mother told me that she did not realize why her Mandan mother's heritage was while her father's Sioux heritage was largely ignored, when I told her that both the Mandan and the Sioux are matrilinear peoples she said that I had taught her something. It was very gratifying to teach her and her three children something about their heritage.