etymology of MANDAN

[Alan H. Hartley]

Can the name be analyzed in a Siouan language? The Mandans were
contacted by Europeans first from Hudson Bay through Assiniboine
territory, and later through Sioux and Arikara lands, so there are
several geographically possible sources for the French and English
names. (The Eng. name Mai-tain-ai-thi-nish occurs in the York Factory
journal for 1721, and its form suggests Cree influence, probably on an
Assiniboine form.) Ethnonyms were often transmitted into Eng. through
more than one language during the early contact period, so MANDAN may
have several native etyma. The search for a single etymon in these cases
is often misguided and misleading.

Almost all Eng. variants have -n- closing the first syllable,
representing, I assume, nazalization of the preceding -a-. The Dakota
(Mawa'tadaN/Mawa'taNna) & Lakota (Miwa'taNni) names (Riggs 1890) have
-w- after the initial vowel, with no nasalization indicated: are the -n-
and -w- etymologically equivalent, analogously to the alternation
Amahami/Awahawi?

I've found 3 instances in Eng. texts (1795-1805) of forms in final -l
(Mandal, Mandel): what is the relationship of the -l with the usual
final -n? (I note that the Dakota & Lakota names both end in -nV.)

Thanks for any help,
Alan