THE INDIAN TRADER August 2019
Mandan Indians using two dogs to drag a toboggan on the frozen Missouri River. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.
There was one circumstance in which dogs were eaten, Langenwalter said; to offer visitors food during ceremonies. When visitors arrived, he said, the host tribe’s pet or working dogs would be tied up in a hut or other shelter, and a second group of dogs would be let out into the village. Visitors would be allowed to kill and eat these dogs, and the dogs’ owners would be compensated. He speculates this was done so visitors would not use up the host tribe’s food supply. Grimes agreed that this occurred but said it was for different reasons. Dogs were offered primarily to women as a special “power” food, such as during marriage or birth ceremonies, she said. “We don’t have to use the canines like we did before,” she said. “We’re very thankful we can have them just as our pets and family now, and not have to utilize them as working dogs and not sacrifice them in a spiritual way.”
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