Máhchsi-Níhka, Mandan Man

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Artist

Karl Bodmer

Birth and death dates

1809 - 1893

Artist Nationality

Swiss

Title

Máhchsi-Níhka, Mandan Man

Date

February 9, 1834

Dimensions

12 9/16 × 10 1/16 in. (31.9 × 25.6 cm)

Medium

Watercolor and graphite on paper

Institution

Joslyn Art Museum

Credit Line

Gift of the Enron Art Foundation

Accession Number

1986.49.262

Rights (i.e. copyright information)

Joslyn Art Museum

Photographer credit

Photograph © Bruce M. White, 2019

Commentary

There were several deaf-mute Mandans, among them two brothers named Máhchsi-Níhka ("Young War Eagle") and Mahnu-Ningka ("Turkey Cock's Egg"). The brothers were strong, good-natured men who conversed readily in sign language. Industrious hunters, they were one of Maximilian's few sources of meat during the cold, hungry winter at Fort Clark. In early February a group of Assiniboins stole some Hidatsa horses, and there was an immediate retaliatory raid in which Máhchsi-Níhka participated. Afterward he posed proudly for Bodmer, his face blackened to commemorate the fight, his hair ornamented with a cock feather and wooden sticks representing the number of times he had been struck or grazed by weapons. He is clad in a robe, dressed plainly as a warrior for battle. When someone snidely remarked that all the other Indians were pictured in their best clothes, Máhchsi-Níhka became very upset. To pacify him, Bodmer tore up the drawing and threw it in the fire-but not before secretly making a quick copy. His image was later incorporated in the crowd of figures in Tableau 27, a view of a Hidatsa scalp dance.

References in Journal

February 9, 1834

Labels:

genre, portrait

Approximate Depicted Location:

Fort Clark, North Dakota