text: Mandan economy Mandan food came from farming, hunting, gathering wild plants, and trade. Corn was the primary crop, and part of the surplus was traded with nomadic tribes for bison meat. Mandan gardens were often located near river banks, where annual flooding would leave the most fertile soil, sometimes in locations miles from villages. Women owned and tended the gardens, where they planted several varieties of corn, beans and squash. Sunflowers were planted first in early April. As early as the fifteenth century, the Mandan town Huff had enough storage pits to store seventy thousand bushels of corn.
  Hunting the buffalo was a critical part of Mandan survival and rituals. They called the buffalo to "come to the village" in the Buffalo Dance ceremony at the beginning of each summer. In addition to eating the meat, the Mandan used all parts of the buffalo, so nothing went to waste. 'Float bison', which accidentally fell or were driven into the river, were considered a Mandan delicacy and the meat was eaten when half-rotten. The hides were used for buffalo-fur robes or were tanned, and the leather used for clothing, bags, shelter and other uses. The Mandan were known for their painted buffalo hides that often recorded historic events. The bones would be carved into items such as needles and fish hooks. Bones were also used in farming: for instance, the scapula was used as a hoe-like device for breaking the soil. The Mandan also trapped small mammals for food and hunted deer. Deer antlers were used to create rake-like implements used in farming. Birds were hunted for meat and feathers, the latter used for adornment. Archaeological evidence shows that the Mandan also ate fish.