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Internet Book of Shadows, (Various Authors), [1999], at sacred-texts.com
Origins of The Mandan
By: Madoc
As a direct lineal descendantof Madoc ab Gwynedd, Princeof Wales
and alleged founder of the Mandan tribe, I'd like to shove my two
cent's worth in...
Madoc (or Madog) was born about 1150, one of four sons of the King of
Wales. He and his brothers did not get along at all, and after the
King died, Wales was divided 4 ways among his children. Madoc chose
not to rule his domain directly, having developed the wanderlust that
consumes so many Celts. He was a well-regarded sailor, such that his
sea-faring exploits were recorded less than 100 years later by a
French historian, and again by Dr. John Dee in the 1500's.
Madoc is said to have left Wales with 5 ships, and to have arrived in
the New World about 1172 or '73. He landed twice, once in Central
America, where he is alleged to have been the "God" that the locals
later mistook Cortez for. He then backtracked through the Gulf of
Mexico and landed around New Orleans. He packed his men and equipment
up the Mississippi, finally stopping due to sickness in his men. He
and his able-bodied crew floated back downriver and returned to Wales.
Madoc left Wales again around 1176, and returned to the Mississippi
river. He supposedly found that his surviving original crew had
intermarried with the local Native American populations, and most
chose not to return to Wales. Madoc himself may have stayed, as there
is no record of his returning to Wales again.
Years later, Lewis and Clark heard fantastic tales of "white Indians"
who supposedly built forts, spoke Welsh, and fished from "coracles,"
which are leather boats totally unlike canoes. They were unable to
substantiate those claims, although they found many "light-skinned"
Native Americans, some of whom had blue eyes and blond or blondish
hair and spoke a mish-mash of Souix and something that resembled Welsh
in some aspects. These people claimed, unlike their compatriots, that
they were descended of a "race of giants" who built their tipis of
logs and came from "across the sea" (a sea which they had never seen,
by the way) and whose leader (Madoc?) had promised to return for them
one day. The local Native Americans whom they lived with supported
their claims.
The Mandan as a tribe still exist. They speak Souix and live mostly on
reservation land in Wisconsin and up into Canada. They traditionally
build log cabins and fish from leather coracles.
The Mandan claim that they were seperated as an independant tribe
because of disease and wars with settlers. They have largely become
Souix, and the US government lists the Mandan as Souix.
My family traces its roots directly to Madoc through Ireland, where
his offspring settled after being evicted from Wales by the British.
As the King of England said at the time, "They can go to Hell or go to
Connaught." My father is the direct lineal descendant of the Crown,
and I am his first-born (and only) son. My father is the legitimate
Prince of Wales, and Charles is a Pretender.
950
Documentation:
AUTHOR(s): Deacon, Richard, 1911-
TITLE(s): Madoc and the discovery of America; some new light
on an old controversy [by] Richard Deacon.
[1st American ed.]
New York, G. Braziller, 1967 [1966]
AUTHOR(s): Armstrong, Zella.
TITLE(s): Who discovered America? The amazing story of Madoc.
Chattanooga, Lookout Pub. Co., 1950.
AUTHOR(s): Burder, George, 1752-1832.
TITLE(s): The Welch Indians; or, A collection of papers
respecting
a
peoplewhose
ancestorsemigrated
from
WalestoAmerica
inthe
year1170,with
PrinceMadoc,
(threehundredyearsbeforethefirstvoyageof
Columbus),and whoaresaid nowtoinhabit a
beautifulcountry onthe westsideof the
Mississipi[!]DedicatetotheMissionarysocietyby
GeorgeBurder. London, PrintedforT. Chapman
[1797] 35 p. 21 cm.
Consists
chiefly
ofextrats
fromthe
Gentleman's
magazine,
1789-1792,
the
Monthly
magazine,
December,
1796, and letters from missionaries and traders.
AUTHOR(s): Pugh, Ellen, 1920-
TITLE(s): Brave his soul; the story of Prince Madog of Wales
and
hisdiscoveryof
Americain
1170,
byEllen
Pugh,
with the assistance of David B. Pugh.
New York, Dodd, Mead [1970]
Summary: Discusses the validity of the claims that an obscure
Welsh prince landed in Mobile Bay in 1170 and
established a settlement that resulted in a tribe of
Welsh-speaking Indians.
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951