Mandan Language: Documentation, Description and Training (mhq)

The intellectual merit of this project rests in the documentation of Mandan, which represents a separate branch of the Siouan language family and which, to date, has received little careful analysis. The researchers will work with the last fluent speaker of Mandan. This project, submitted by the Fort Berthold Community College, a tribal college of the Three Affiliated Tribes, will provide linguistic training to tribal members in technologically advanced methods of linguistic data collection and analysis aimed at preventing the loss of the highly endangered Mandan language. It will allow the Mandan Language Project to continue documenting conversational Mandan, and to produce a Mandan Dictionary. Data collected through the project will be used to construct a web-based Mandan Language database, which can be used for language acquisition by members of the Three Affiliated Tribes and other interested individuals. All data will be archived via the Fort Berthold Community College website.

This project will contribute to the Mandan language's continuation as a historically significant spoken language. The Mandan Indians, communicating in their language, represented one of the most important merchant tribes of the plains and contributed greatly to the success of Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery by providing them with foodstuff and vital information during the winter of 1804. Additionally, of critical importance is the project creation of the web database, which will be accessible to all tribal entities, including the schools for instructional purposes, and to the linguistic community in general. This project's educational benefits to tribal members in linguistic fieldwork and language analysis are far-reaching in terms of their being able to share their acquired expertise with the community at-large. Finally, the project will provide a model for other tribal colleges in developing their language programs.