Suicide was rare among the Mandan. The only instances remembered by Mandan informants were immediately following the last smallpox epidemic. When a household had been nearly exterminated, the remaining females frequently took their lives. Crow Heart thought that suicides were buried and that their spirits did not reach the spirit world.
[#17] Mandan: “Smallpox and the End of a Household,” from Alfred W. Bowers, Mandan Social and Ceremonial Organization. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago, 1950, p. 100.