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WoLakota Project & Teachings of Our Elders

Corn, Beans & Mounds with Charles Moran

Explore Corn, Beans & Mounds with Charles Moran with available transcripts, learning questions and source alignments in the South Dakota and North Dakota Elder archive.

Interview · North Dakota · Charles Moran · NDNAEU 1 · NDNAEU 6

Themes: Storytelling & oral tradition, Culture & continuity, Arts & expression, Community & responsibility

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Learn About questions

What is the origin of the corn grown in North Dakota? What indigenous tribes developed, grew, traded and/or used corn? What are the particular types of corn developed or used by the Hidatsa, Mandan and Arikara people? When did the Hidatsa people migrate to the ocean? Where are the “mounds” Mr. Moran is talking about?

Learn From questions

Have I visited any ancient mounds, dwellings or “ruins” left by indigenous people in North or South America? Where? What was the experience like? What, if anything, do I know about the agriculture of my region? What is grown commercially where I live? Do I know those seeds come from? Is this an important thing to know? Why or why not?

Transcripts

05 Charles Moran Sr Corn, Beans and Mounds

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I think that North Dakota somebody from the University of North Dakota or the North Dakota State University came this way or an elevator I think the corn that’s still grown in North Dakota came from these people guess where else’s corn come from North Dakota is still the biggest coin propers in the United States well where did this one come from if it didn’t come from the outside world where they come from came from here and that’s what I understand the university is out east of us have a Todd’s a corn the different colors of corn two different colors of beans you know so when we need a bean or a different color or a different color or corn we can get it at the state of North Dakota in Fargo I mean you can order them online I think there was 13 colors our corn including sweet and non sweet corn which all of them so all three tribes did all three did different types of corn yes because you have the rickrack corn yeah man dang corn yeah if he dies the corn okay but my understanding was that he died just had 13 different kinds of corn you know and we this is a story long time ago saying that we came from out east like drama saying and we came to the Mandan people in the Mandan people gave us corn and this was way way back this is like centuries ago I mean the Haddad says just didn’t get here 500 years ago they’ve been here for thousands of years DeLong with the band and I heard him story about the man dance and the hit odds as being one tribe at one time and that the man hit odds is left and went down to the sea the ocean and followed the river to the ocean and if there’s you know there’s still mountains all along that Missouri River all the way to the ocean even into the Carolinas I believe they called mountains people so that you know these mountains have been tracked all up the Missouri River to here you know mouths like blades the things I caved in like if you ever seen a mound of Earth lodge village if you go to an earth Lodge village along the Missouri today like between here in Bismarck it’s like rolling a little like little pockets like where the dirt fell down on the sides of it and then collapsed and you’ll find wood underneath her but yeah they’re like little mounds and earth lodges we’re right next to each other so when a foul you know the dirts found top of each other and then would fall you know would rot or whatever but yeah if you ever go like to double ditch right in Bismarck called Wade’s Wade’s village it’s where Texas Roadhouse is you guys been Texas Roadhouse thank you the McDonald’s there right off the interstate you go right behind her you go over after that four-way stop and you go west then you go west a little bit before you go down the hill to the river there’s a street that kind of goes back so there’s like a wood fence here it says something about Wade’s village or some village I think it’s Wade’s and you go back then you’ll see mountains right there or if you go to manda South Amanda and Huff there’s Amanda and religion look like houses there are the real the original earth Lodge to the man dance and he dodges look like houses they were rectangle the round earth lodges are Rick aura there’s a city just over the border in South Dakota called Nome city lock I said they all lived along the river you know if you live long forever you’re gonna find mountains the rick ross had the round mounds like I said in the man dance if you go right across the road from Huff North Dakota right down south abandoned before you get the Cannonball is called a little community called up hu ffs never ski place there but yeah right there and then the Grand River at one time in South Dakota was known as the Ric rot River yeah

Source materials

Supplied transcript documents. Text and transcription uncertainties are preserved as supplied.