MANDAN

[Koontz John E]

On Thu, 9 Sep 1999, Alan H. Hartley wrote:
> A letter dated 6 Oct. 1739 from Beauharnois to Maurepas (L. Burpee ed.
> 1927 _Jrnls. & Letters of de la Vérendrye_ 364) says
>
> "vous verrez..par l'extrait du journal de cet officier [de la Vérendrye]
> qui est cy joint, qu'il a pénétré chez une nation, que les Assiniboels
> nomment Mantannes"
>
> I haven't found a place where de la V. states explicitly that "Mantanne"
> is an Assiniboin name, but it's pretty clear from the context that
> that's the case.

I wonder if it's a French rendition of maNwa'taNnaN as maNtan'<schwa>.  If
the form passes through French the first n is just nasalization, not an
r/n.