Garden and Drying Stage

Watchers' stage

Jeggery R. Hanson

Quick Facts

Location:

Stanton ND

Significance:

agriculture

 Like most farms today, the gardens were a very important part of the village community’s economy. Not only did the village have plenty to eat and plenty to store for the winter, they also had plenty to trade for whatever they needed or wanted. The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara led sedentary (living in one place) lives enabling them to plant crops and tend the gardens. They grew corn, squash, beans (Three Sisters) also sunflowers and tobacco. 

 Watcher stages would have dotted the fields and were usually built near a tree for shade. Young girls would sit on the stages and scare away animals that might eat the crops.

 The watcher stages were similar in construction to drying stages, but the drying stages were built within the village inbetween the lodges. They were used to dry meat, vegetables, and tobacco. Some stages were two stories high. These items were stored in caches for future use, given away to needy families or traded for goods to other tribes.