What was the Mandan and Welsh language connection theorized by George Catlin?

George Catlin was a painter of Native American tribes who lived with, observed and painted the Mandan tribe during the 19th century. He is quoted as saying, "A stranger in the Mandan village is first struck with the different shades of complexion, and various colors of hair which he sees in a crowd about him, and is almost disposed to exclaim that these are not Indians ... They have a most pleasing symmetry and proportion of features, with hazel, gray and blue eyes. " James G.

Perry writes, "The Welsh Prince Madoc ... sailed to America 300 years before Columbus in 1170 ... and landed at Mobile Bay, Alabama. Early explorers and pioneers have found evidences of the Welsh influence along the Tennessee and Missouri Rivers, among certain tribes of Indians. There is no record that the Prince ever returned to the land of his birth.

Peculiar things have been found in America. It is there are Welsh speaking Indians up the Missouri River called the White Indians. Also, they fish with coracles, and pull the little skin covered boats with one oar, like a spade. These boats are used in Wales today."

However, one source refutes the suggestion that blue-eyed Mandans automatically means Welsh influence, stating, "Blue eyes, like blond hair, is genetically recessive, so if a full-blood Indian and a blue-eyed Caucasian person had a baby, it would be genetically impossible for that baby to have blue eyes. Blue eyes only occur in people who have blue-eyed Caucasian relatives on both sides of their family tree, and even then only some of the time. There are tribes who have had plenty of blue-eyed individuals after colonization, such as the Lumbees and the Cherokees, because those tribes lived in close contact with a Caucasian community as large as their own and intermarried with them frequently.

Before colonization, not a chance. A few ... explorers couldn't have left behind blue-eyed Indian babies any more than a few Caucasians exploring Africa could have left behind a race of blond-haired black people. " As mentioned, there was a Welsh explorer by the name of Prince Madog/Madoc ab Owain Gwynedd, who claimed to have explored the "New World" near Mobile, Alabama in the 12th century, but it's uncertain whether he did.

There are some stories passed down in the Mi'kmaq tribe (a First Nation tribe of the Newfoundland area) that seem to suggest a historical figure like the Welsh prince may have been in their area, but this is the only evidence of his explorations. A majority of Mandan speakers live in the North and South Dakota area of the United States - nowhere near the Mi'kmaq tribe. There seem to be statements in various websites saying that early explorers could Mandans could easily understand Welsh, as Mandan was theoretically derived from Welsh itself.

However, I have not found any sources for this statement. The best article I could find on this subject is the last link in my sources, which undeniably shows there is no relation between the two languages, and any similiarities that crop up are merely coincidental. For example: Welsh: Aeth y dyn tu ôl y tŷ Mandan: Rųwąʔk ti irąšita re:hoʔš English: The man went behind the house Welsh: Maen nhw’n gallu ei fwyta e’n gyflym Mandan: Orutrį:te ahkakreoʔš English: They can eat it quickly If presented with these sentences - even if Welsh and Mandan were in a slightly older form at the time - it is highly doubtful that a Mandan speaker would be able to comprehend the Welsh being spoken.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.