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Mato-tope
Sign in to saveAlso known as Four Bears, Mato Tope, Mah To Toh Pa
thumb|right|Mato-tope holding a lance and wearing painted and quilled shirt: aquatint by Karl Bodmer from the book "Maximilian, Prince of Wied’s Travels in the Interior of North America, during the years 1832–1834". The shirt is made of "[[bighorn leather".]] thumb|left|Mato-Tope, Adorned with the insignia of his warlike deeds.: aquatint by Karl Bodmer from the book "Maximilian, Prince of Wied’s Travels in the Interior of North America, during the years 1832–1834". The six sticks in his hair represent killing six men with a gun and the wooden knife represents he killed a Cheyenne chief with a
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- Missouri River
- Place of death
- Missouri River
- Occupation
- warrior
- Image
- Catlin Chief Four Bears.jpg
Show 4 more facts
- date of death
- 1837-07-30
- Commons category
- Mato-tope
- ethnic group
- Mandan
- date of birth
- 1795-01-01
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
~7 min read
Encyclopedic overview
9 sectionsContents
- Early years
- The warrior
- The public figure
- Family
- Visiting the guests from Europe
- The death of Four Bears
- Honoring Four Bears
- References
- External links
thumb|right|Mato-tope holding a lance and wearing painted and quilled shirt: aquatint by Karl Bodmer from the book "Maximilian, Prince of Wied’s Travels in the Interior of North America, during the years 1832–1834". The shirt is made of "[[bighorn leather".]] thumb|left|Mato-Tope, Adorned with the insignia of his warlike deeds.: aquatint by Karl Bodmer from the book "Maximilian, Prince of Wied’s Travels in the Interior of North America, during the years 1832–1834". The six sticks in his hair represent killing six men with a gun and the wooden knife represents he killed a Cheyenne chief with a knife. The split turkey feather is said to stand for an arrow wound. The hand on Four Bears' torso may indicate that he once seized an enemy for his comrades to kill. thumb|left|Facsimile of the Robe of Mah-to-toh-pa - Mandan by George Catlin showing Mato-Tope victories thumb|right|Karl Bodmer facsimile of ledger art showing Four Bears (at left) in a duel with a Cheyenne chief. The hand wound of the knife entitled him to pose with a wooden knife, as seen on the pictures of Catlin and Bodmer. The realistic work of both artists inspired Four Bears to make this true-to-life drawing of his feat.
Mato-tope (also known as Ma-to-toh-pe, Máh-to-tóh-pa, or Four Bears, from 'bear' and 'four'; – July 30, 1837) was the second chief of the Mandan tribe to be known as "Four Bears," a name he earned after charging the Assiniboine tribe during battle with the strength of four bears. Four Bears lived in the first half of the 19th century on the upper Missouri River in what is now North Dakota. Four Bears was a favorite subject of artists, painted by George Catlin and Karl Bodmer.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Mato-tope” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.