Skip to main content

American Anthropologist 1892

Bandelier, Adolf F. The “Montezuma” of the Pueblo Indians. American Anthropologist October, 1892 Vol.5:319-326.

Adolf F. Bandelier addresses the problem of an embellished historical legacy of the Chief Montezuma. Bandelier confronts the confusions and misreckoning that have constructed the historical mythical like conception of Montezuma. Bandelier accuses Bernal Diez del Castillo, of originating the dishonest and bias interpretation of the legacy of Montezuma in his witness interpretation of the Conquest by Montezuma titled, Atrue History.

Bandelier accounts evidence of the miraculous constructs through out history that Montezuma has alleged accomplished. The conquest of Mexico by Montezuma according to the Cozcatlan transpired from a completely different direction than that accounted by the present century New Mexico. Bandelier presents evidence of varied discrepancies of Montezuma folklore, that has created a mystical embellishment of Montezuma, and questions if the mystical Montezuma has traditionally become of more significance than the actual AChief of Men@- Tlaca- tecuhtli, called Motecuhzoma by his people, meaning Aour Wrathy Chieftain.@ Bandelier notes that Montezuma lore has appeared through out history when advantageous for those mentioning the chief.

Bandelier notes that the mention of Montezuma is not always in the favor of the chief himself. As in the year 1846 war between Mexico and the United States. Documents suggests that the daughter of Montezuma was married to Cortes, making New Mexico part of her heir supported the entitlement of Mexico for Mexico not the United States. Bandelier continues that because of these embellished creations of Montezuma, Bandelier considers Montezuma to be a modern creation of a factitious oral tradition as well as theatrical performances of dance of the AMatachines.@ Danced among the Indians of central Mexico of two primary dancers, the AMonarch@- El Monaraca and the Malinche-alleged daughter of Montezuma.

Bandelier gives credible evidence concerning the embellished legacy of the great chief Montezuma; and illustrates the ease in which these embellishments are noted as historical documentation. Bandelier emphasizes the importance of accuracy within historical authentication.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
COURTENY MOORE-GUMORA California State University Hayward (Dr. Peter Claus)

Bandelier, Adolf F. The “Montezuma” of the Pueblo Indians. American Anthropologist October, 1892 Vol.5:319-326.

Bandelier examines whether or not the chieftain, Montezuma, ever lived north of Mexico in the New Mexico region based on historical records and local legends and stories. Bandelier assumes Montezuma died in 1520 because of eyewitness account of the event by Bernal Diez del Castillo.

Based on Bandelier’s review of local legends and stories he concludes, it was not until 1846 that Montezuma plays a prominent role in New Mexico history. This occurs after the writing of a document, which claimed to be the “History of Montezuma,” during the war between the United States and Mexico. This document places Montezuma within the area of New Mexico showing that New Mexico should be part of Mexico and not the United States.

He concludes with the idea that, “The Montezuma of New Mexico is, therefore, in its present form a modern creation,” (p.324). He argues that high standing members of these New Mexican tribes use the legend for their own gain by repeating the story to outsiders who want to hear something interesting. This deception protects the tribes’ sacred traditions.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
SUZANNE PLETSCHETT University of Minnesota Duluth (Jennifer Jones)

Boas, Franz. Notes on the Chemakum Language. American Anthropologist January, 1892. Vol. 5: 37-44

In 1890, Franz Boas visits a disappearing Northwestern Native American group, the Chemakum, in order to collect information on their language. The Chemakum lived near Puget Sound in western Washington. When George Gibbs studied the Chemakum, they had a population into the 90’s. When Franz Boas arrived, he could only find 3 individuals who spoke the language: two women and one man.

After a long search he located Louise, the sole subject of his study. She rarely spoke Chemakum at the time of the interview, saving the dying language for her brother, the last man who spoke Chemakum. According to Boas, she was “somewhat addicted to liquor, and as she herself and the white man with whom she lived indulged alternately in their libations, the conditions for the collections of good linguistic material were not very favorable” (37). Despite this adversity, Boas collected about 1,250 words, grammatical forms, and sentences, which were all corroborated by repeated questioning.

Boas separated his linguistic information into phonetics, articles, nouns, numerals, personal pronouns, possessive pronouns, intransitive verbs, verb tenses, transitive verbs, and the formation of words. There are 16 phonetic consonants and 7 phonetic verbs. The nouns have two genders, masculine and feminine for both the singular and the plural. Nouns are found in two forms, independent and dependent, the latter being used for the formation of compounds (42). Numerals are compounded. The number nine is derived from one, meaning ten minus one. Tenses are formed by a series of affixes, which are placed following the stem of a verb and preceeding a pronominal suffix (41).

Boas’ interview may be somewhat suspect due to Louise’s limited use of the language and possibly her lifestyle. Boas’ attempts to compensate by asking redundant questions may have been effective. His article is clear and easy to read. His notes on the language are insightful and provide information on a dying language.

CLARITY RANKING: 5
R. Scott Hussey University of Florida (John Moore)

Brinton, Daniel G. The Nomenclature and Teaching of Anthropology. American Anthropologist. July 1892. Vol. 5: 263-271

In this paper, Daniel Brinton lays out a framework for establishing uniform anthropological terminology across disciplines and nationalities. This framework is designed to facilitate the teaching of anthropology by establishing an adaptable standardization by all anthropologists. The nomenclature structure Brinton proposes is loose and flexible but is designed to eliminate redundant terms, promote simplicity, efficiency and accuracy of usage, and be internationally adopted.

In establishing the foundation of a universal nomenclature, Brinton sets fourth rules he views as “so obviously proper that they will be accepted without hesitation as regulative.” These rules limit terms if they already exist somewhere else in the literature, should only be employed scientifically, should be internationally interchangeable, and single terms for single ideas should be used over terms that are more complicated. His general scheme contains four headings: Somatology (physical and experimental Archaeology), ethnology (historic and analytic anthropology), ethnography (geographic and descriptive anthropology) and archaeology (Prehistoric and reconstructive anthropology).

The paper is then separated at page 266 with a dash generally used in other American Anthropologist articles to signify the end of that paper. The final 5 pages were written by Major J. W. Powell as remarks on Brinton’s article. Powell praises the principle Brinton sets fourth of clearing the confusion in anthropological nomenclature. However, Powell does not agree with Brinton’s framework for establishing uniform anthropological terminology. Exacerbating the problem Brinton illustrates in his paper of an over inflated and redundant anthropological terminology leading to confusion, Powell presents his own unique nomenclature structure. Powell separates his nomenclature structure in seven departments: Technology or arts, sociology, philology, literature, esthetology (esthetics), natural religion and sophiology (or the science of opinions).

CLARITY RANKING: 4
R. Scott Hussey University of Florida (John Moore)

Brinton, Daniel G. The Nomenclature and Teaching of Anthropology. American Anthropologist July, 1892 Vol.5(3):263-271.

This article is an abstract of an address delivered by Daniel Brinton to the Anthropological Society of Washington on April 5, 1892. The article also includes some commentary and remarks given by J.W. Powell in response to Brinton’s presentation. While Brinton proposes that a well-defined system of nomenclature should be formulated and adopted to avoid confusion in the relatively new field of anthropology, Powell believes that meanings of words cannot be legislated because they change and grow. Nevertheless, Powell argues that confusion can be avoided by providing a system of rules to establish nomenclature.

Brinton begins by laying down basic rules to be observed when establishing nomenclature. He emphasizes the need for these rules by giving examples of words, like “anthropology,” that have been defined in several ways by different people in different countries. Brinton discusses in length the widely varying meanings of “ethnology” and “ethnography” that different scholars have used. Chavannes, in 1787, defined ethnology as “the history of the progress of peoples toward civilization.” Later, in 1839, the French Société d’Ethnologie defined it vaguely as “the study of human races.” Ratzel of Germany and Gerland of Strasburg had still different definitions for the term. Brinton uses examples like these to clearly demonstrate the need for legislation in anthropological nomenclature.

Brinton then outlines a scheme for the nomenclature and classification of the different fields of anthropology, including Somatology (physical anthropology), ethnology, ethnography, and archaeology. This scheme, he writes, is arranged so students can easily learn the different departments of anthropology. After several years of teaching this classification scheme, Brinton believes that it is the most appropriate way to expose students to anthropology.

In J.W. Powell’s response to Brinton’s address, he acknowledges the need for generally-accepted nomenclature and classification, but argues that this cannot be legislated by a committee because words and their meanings are not fixed over time, they can change and grow. Powell admits, however, that a system of rules might possibly avoid great confusion in nomenclature, the most important rule being the “rule of priority,” which he borrowed from biology. Like Darwin’s theory of “survival of the fittest,” this rule states that a word is defined by the generally-accepted definition at that time.

Powell proposes his scheme of classification and nomenclature, acknowledging that it could change, and no doubt would change, as the science progressed. Paralleling Brinton’s earlier remarks on the same issue, Powell describes the history of the term “anthropology” and its various definitions, finally settling on a definition that was generally agreed-upon at the time of his writing. “Anthropology,” according to Powell, not only includes the science of man as an animal, as a thinking being, or as an actor in his surroundings; Anthropology includes all these things, it is the science of man. Thus Powell effectively demonstrates the rule of priority on which his scheme is based.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
Josie Boyle Lawrence University (Oren Kosansky)

Burnett, Swan M. The Modern Apotheosis of Nature. American Anthropologist July,1892. 5(3):247-262.

Burnett’s article focuses on nature and how it affects and elevates the individual. She begins her discussion by stating that nature merely acts independently of the people inhabiting the land. Because nature acts separately from man, there is a constant tug-of-war occurring between the two. In this case, nature can be compared to a God because it encompasses power and force, which are godly characteristics. Nature can also set guidelines for humanity and their ways of life based on natural human tendencies.

Burnett claims that nature governs societies because man follows natural laws, which are found in the innate tendencies and desires of man. In other words, natural laws explain man’s inherent tendencies. Even though societies tend to act in the way nature perscribed, the individual is not ignored. It is the development of the individual and how he thinks and perceives his world that is important in societies. When the individual develops, men are able to interpret nature and put it into various forms of art. However, it is incorrect to say that nature can inspire the artist, because nature itself cannot cause a painting to be beautiful. The person capturing a scene puts his soul as well as paint on canvas, resulting in a beautiful work of art; it is the application of emotion that creates the painting’s aura of elegance and splendor.

Even though man’s soul is part of nature, the two remain separate and at odds. Burnett states that there can never be peace until man is able to control nature. This is because nature is fluid, allowing man the opportunity to mold it to his liking once he allows his individuality to grow to its fullest potential.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
Caitlin Monnens Lawrence University (Oren Kosansky)

Burnett, Swan M. The Modern Apotheosis of Nature. American Anthropologist July, 1892 Vol.5(3):247-262.

Burnett traces a process of human intellectual progress in artistic terms, particularly by the individual’s control of nature through innovation, and by the individual’s view of nature herself. Humans capture nature in artistic form, but the degree of abstraction in art is key to Burnett’s description of intellectual development. While Burnett suggests that humanity has developed from “ancestral savage” to his present-day “modern” form, he does not outline specific stages of human evolution.

Art is a reflection of the artist, and not a reflection of nature seen with the literal eye. Moreover, high art is thought to greatly express feeling, imagination, and abstraction in an idealistic sense. In other words, Burnett is suggesting that art cannot be beautiful and noble unless its depiction is in accordance with our most positive feeling. Art that explicitly represents nature requires little abstract thought and is at best a simple truth.

Our enjoyment of nature is based on the pleasantness of her state, a mentality that suggests the necessity of a human element in nature if she is to be truly enjoyed. Burnett asserts that to deny the personification of nature severs our attraction to nature, and sends humanity back to a state of savagery. Humans are attracted to nature because of her human characteristics and this exemplifies our modern intellect.

Burnett also discusses the ongoing conflict between humans and nature, particularly the attempt to control natural forces. The desire for control appears to evolve as humans’ view of religion changes. The savage person uses nature to communicate with God, whereas the intellectual modern person views nature as a scientific machine to be developed and employed. The conflict between humans and nature can be resolved only by the force of the human mind, which to Burnett is the greatest force on earth, and by the human desire to move past the state of savagery.

CLARITY RANKING: 2
ABBEY PAULSON University of Minnesota Duluth (Jennifer Jones)

Coville, Frederick, Vernon. The Panamint Indians of California. American Anthropologist. Oct. 1892. Vol.5: 351- 361

The Panamint Native Americans live in Inyo county California, on the west side of Death Valley. During the time Vernon studied the near extinct Panamint Native Americans as a botanist in 1891, there were about 25 Panamints remaining. Vernon’s study explores the types of plants the Pananmints eat and use.

The Panamint Native Americans studied by Vernon lived on the Death Valley slope of the Panamint Mountains, irrigated their crops and commonly planted corn, potatoes, squashes, and watermelons. These crops made up a significant portion of their diet, however, they also used local plants for food as well as for other uses. Some of the names of the plants Vernon discusses used as food by the Panamint Native Americans are as follows: Pinus monophylla (Nevada pine nut), Oryzopsis membranacea (common desert grass), Echinocactus polycephalus (devil’s pin-cusion cactus), Lycium andersonii (fruit bearing shrub), Opuntia basilaris (prickly pear), Stanleya elata (desert crucifer), Prospis juliflora (mesquite bean), Phragmites vulgaris (reed) and Yucca brevifolia (tree yucca).

Vernon also wrote about the types of plants the Panamints used for baskets, pot-baskets, water-baskets, pack-baskets, needles, bows, arrows and glue. The various types of baskets are all constructed by closely woven wickerwork. According to Vernon, plant varieties to make baskets were the year old shoots of some species of tough willow. These species were Salix lasiandra (aromatic sumac), Rhus trilobata (unicorn plant) and Martynia proboscidea (devil horns). Needles were made from Echinocactus polycephalus or the stout horny cactus spine of the devil’s pin-cushion. The bows were made from the desert juniper, Juniperus californica utahensis. Arrows were made from willow shoots and the stems of the reed, Phragmites vulgaris. The arrow head was constructed from what Vernon believes is some species of Atriplex or greasewood. Adhesives were made from boiling the horns of mountain sheep and pitch gathered from the Nevada nut pine, Pinus monophylla, and from a gum found on the creosote bush, Larrea mexicana.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
R. Scott Hussey University of Florida (John Moore)

Coville, Fredrick Vernon. The Panamint Indians Of California. American Anthropologists October, 1892 Vol. V:351-362

Frederick Coville establishes that the inflexible natural conditions of the arid California desert seemingly reject signs of sustenance enough to maintain the desert Indians who abide there. Unlike the natural accommodations of familiar habitats, the desert seemingly offer little to none of the essentials to sustain life. Coville meticulously makes evident the not so obvious means of extraordinary existence made possible by the desert for the Panamint Indians of Inyo California, the Indians of the Mohave Desert.

The majority of the Panamint Indians vegetation consists of starchy plants as seeds, such as sand grass -oryzopsis membranacea, there are few berries and fruit bearing plants as well, such as the prickly pear opuntia basilaris. Phragmites vulgaris is a common reed used as sugar. Coville acknowledges that there are degrees of the Panamint Mountain Indians persistence upon sustenance is dependent upon white innovations as well as their own. For example bacon is purchased from whites, as well as clothing items, and utensils. Coville confirms that the basket weaving culture is functional and maintained. Wicker pots are used for a variety of functions from water baskets to cooking pots to pack baskets; as is the general measure of life for the Panamint Mountain Indians in this arid heart of the desert, despite the seemingly harsh realities. Coville details evidence of the Panamint Indians ability to sustain their lifestyle adapted to the challenging conditions of the desert. Coville explains the provisions of successful precision with the natural elements for the Mohave Desert Indians.

CLARITY RANKING: 5
COURTENY MOORE-GUMORA University of California Hayward (Dr. Peter Claus)

Cushing, Frank Hamilton. The Villard-Bandelier South American Expedition. American Anthropologist. July, 1892 Vol 5: 273-276

In this article, Cushing is describing the coming research of two of his colleagues, Prof. Adolf Bandelier ad Mr. Henry Villard. Their goal was to study archaeology as a resurrection of the past, and not as a “collection of fossil remains” by looking at ethnological observations, historical studies, geography, zoology, and geology. Villard and Bandelier’s study would focus on Bolivia, Ecuador, parts of Peru, the upper Amazon, and possibly down the coast towards Antarctica. In Bolivia they will work on ‘documentaries’. In Peru, they will examine Inca and Aymaran remains of lake Titicaca, Cuzco, and Paramos. Cushing and Bandelier would move down the coast, weather permitting, towards Antarctica to Chincha.

Their study would focus on a unilineal evolutionary model that would place all American “aborigines” on one similar culture that varied in degrees and not type. Cushing cites Bandelier as saying “The Culture of the American Indian has varied locally only in degree, not in kind; that the religious principles were fundamentally the same among the Sioux and the Brazilians, have lain at the bottom of local differences in culture” (274). For the most part, Villard and Bandelier would examine mainly archaeological and ethnological collections to place various cultures along a line of unilineal evolution. Bandelier already acknowledges that the Inca civilization represents the pinnacle of this large culture of the Americas. Their interest is to determine where various other cultures mentioned in the article fit inside this culture according to their evolutionary model.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
R. Scott Hussey University of Florida (John Moore)

Cushing, Frank Hamilton. The Villard-Bandelier South American Expedition. American Anthropologist July, 1892 Vol.5(3):273-276.

Cushing’s article announces Professor Adolf F. Bandelier’s appointment and endowment by Henry Villard for anthropological research in Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador. The article explains Bandelier’s plans for his 3-year expedition, and presents evidence as to why Bandelier is such a good candidate for this research.

First, Cushing shows how Bandelier is prepared for the work, citing Bandelier’s many years of research in Spanish-American history and his experience in the field of archaeology and ethnography. In Cushing’s article there is a definite evolutionist flavor which is shown most clearly when he cites Bandelier’s writing. Bandelier believed that all American cultures were essentially the same; they only differed because they were at different stages of advancement toward civilization: “The culture of the American Indian has varied locally only in degree, not in kind.” Bandelier’s research, Cushing explains, is especially necessary for exploring Incan society, which had been the most civilized of the native American societies.

Second, Cushing explains that although others had explored the area before Bandelier, his plan includes “new features” which would be applied to his research, including the close connection between archeology, ethnological observation, and historical study, and distinguishing between “what is primitive and what may have resulted from European impingement.” Bandelier also expects that the physical world has an influence on societies, making him somewhat of a forerunner to the later cultural ecologists of the twentieth century: “the influence of nature upon man must be taken carefully into account…Physical causes, more than anything else, have lain at the bottom of local differences in culture.”

Finally, Cushing describes the artifacts Bandelier expects to find in his archaeological research, including pottery, textiles, weapons, metallic items, and stone sculptures.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
Josie Boyle Lawrence University (Oren Kosansky)

Cushing, Frank Hamilton. Manual Concepts: A Study of the Influence of Hand-Usage on Culture Growth. The American Anthropologist October, 1892 Vol.5 (4): 289-317.

Cushing studies the history of hand usage on culture growth. He claims there have been three steps in the intellectual growth of man. The first, or biotic phase, was when man grew hands. The second, or manual phase, was when man began to use his hands as tools. The third, or mental phase, was when man began to use his hands as an aid in mental processes.

To support his case, Cushing makes various assertions. He claims that man adopted the decimal system because man has ten fingers. He also claims that primitive life resulted in man having a tendency to be right-handed. This was because primitive man held his shield in his left hand so as to protect his heart during combat. Since the hand carrying the club or sword had to be mobile, man was forced to be right-handed

He also describes in great detail how the culture of the Zuni Indians of New Mexico was influenced by the use of their hands. Counting was done by use of the hands, or by cutting notches in a tally stick, or by making knots in a strand. Hands were also an integral part of the religious ceremonies and had an indirect influence on the layout and placement of the temples.

Cushing then concludes by suggesting that the hands of man are so intimately linked with the mind of man that the hands have imprinted intangible thoughts on the mind. This linkage is so close, particularly during the very early period of man=s mental growth that it may be considered as a hereditary trait and may still exist in a dormant state in our hands. He considers that, because of these remnant traits, the hands have almost a sixth sense and are infallible guides towards the reconstruction of any activity that occurred over long periods during the development of our race.

CLARITY RANKING: 2
GEORGE GRANT CHERRINGTON California State University at Hayward (Peter Claus).

Cushing, Frank Hamilton. Manual Concepts: A Study of the Influence of Hand-Usage On Culture-Growth. American Anthropologist October, 1892 Vol.5(4):289-318.

Cushing seeks to explain the use of the decimal system as occurring due to humans having pentadactylic hands. It is proposed that due to universal right-handedness the left hand has always been the counted and the right hand the counter. The article illustrates manual counting has impacted numerals in written and spoken form as well as ceremonial successions.

Universal right-handedness occurred from holding a shield in the left hand to protect the heart; the right hand then became adept at holding and using weapons. A result of right-handedness is that the left hand is the object that is counted by the right hand. In the Zuni culture the right hand is known as the “taker” whereas the left hand is the “holder.”

Zuni culture is used as an example of right and left handedness having had influenced the development of spoken numerals. In the Zuni culture spoken numerals reflect manual counting. The spoken numerals refer to the finger that represents the number. The number three is referred to as “parter-equally-itself-which-does” representing the middle finger of the hand.

Right and left-handedness has also affected recorded numerals. In the Scandinavian Anglo Saxon threshing score the horizontal hash marks represent the four fingers of the hand while the vertical hash mark is the thumb crossing over the hand for the number five. The left hand is used for the numbers one through five. In this way a vertical hash mark starting in the lower left going up right corner represents the thumb crossing over the palm and fingers. In the same manner the numbers six through ten are counted on the right hand. The four hash marks correspond to the fingers while the vertical hash mark from the upper left to lower right corner signify the thumb crossing over the palm and fingers making the number ten. Roman numerals are also used as an example of manual counting influencing written numerals.

Ceremonial successions have also been impacted by hand usage for counting. This is illustrated in the example of the cardinal directions. In the Zuni culture when pointing at a series of items which finger is used to point is representative of which number of items is being pointed to. The finger which represents the number three would point at the third item. In this way the directions have been named based on the fingers which point in relation to the sun counting from the left from the east as the sun rises. In this way north becomes the “first finger point” which later is referred to as the “first cardinal point.”

CLARITY:2
LILA E. KAHMANN University of Minnesota Duluth (Jennifer Jones)

Dorsey, James . Siouan Onomatopes. American Anthropologist 1892 Vol.5 (1):1-8.

This article represents an attempt to collect and catalog a list of onomatopes from the Siouan language family. The author defines an onomatope as a word formed to resemble the sound made by the object which is signified. For example, the sound Hu, to bark as a dog or wolf, is explained as a description of the barking sound. Dorsey argues that the languages of the Old World are not the only ones that deserve the attention of scholars. It is the point of this paper to prove that onomatopes exist not only in the languages of the Aryan family, but “even in the tongues of the peoples belonging to a lower stage of society,” to quote Dorsey (p. 1). This statement is obviously reflective of the unilineal evolutionary stance of the author, which was common during this period. The research that is reported in this article is the result of original investigation among Siouan groups between 1871 and 1873, and from 1878 to 1892. This article is characteristic of the focus of early American anthropologists on the languages and kinship of Native American groups, and is an example of relatively early ethnographic work. The theory that the origins of language were to be found in onomatopes was popular during this time period, and this article should be viewed in that context.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
JONNA HAUSSER University of Florida (John Moore)

Eells, Myron. Aboriginal Geographic Names in the State of Washington. American Anthropologist January, 1892 Vol.5:27-35.

Myron Eells’ article is an alphabetical index of native place names and their definitions that represent different landmark sites throughout the state of Washington. Aboriginal tribes represented in the chosen geographic terms include the Nez Perce, the Cathlamet, the Chimakum, the Clallam, the Twana, the Duwamish, the Snohomish, and the Makah tribes. Many of the terms are still used today, into the early twenty-first century, indicating specific creeks, rivers, mountains, animals, or simply, place names of areas to which a native tribe once (Eells refers to these tribes as extinct) or still live. The article does not give an account of how Eells came to understand or learn the meanings of the native words and it assumes a fairly high degree of knowledge from the reader in regards to knowing where the different tribes are located, where specific counties in Washington are, and what certain terms mean. For example, Eells consistently uses the word ‘Chinook’ without ever giving its meaning, assuming that the reader knows this before reading the article. Despite the assumption of prior knowledge, there are certain terms with very accurate and clear information. This article therefore, could potentially be useful in any landmark or Native studies done on the state of Washington.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
CREE HOLTZ University of Minnesota-Duluth (Jennifer Jones)

Fewkes, J. Walter. A Few Tusayan Pictographs. American Anthropologist April, 1892: Vol 5: 9-26.

Fewkes’ examination of Tusayan pictographs attempts to observe the culture of the artists through their work. Fewkes connects the clothing, food, and other observable cultural items to the present, and is sensitive to the cultural differences from past to present. His study attempts to make connections between the modern Tusayan and the pictographers. Despite the connections Fewkes sees in the modern Tusayan to the pictographs, he acknowledges that a few old men are some of the best links to a culture that cannot be fully understood. Furthermore, Fewkes is making an effort to salvage ethnography before these old men die. Fewkes is also concerned with the erosion of the pictographs. His article is also an effort to preserve their information by recording them down as drawings.

Fewkes examined a number of pictographs and either guessed at their meaning or attempted to make analogous connections from the present to the past. He examined various symbols such as, rain, clouds, lightning snakes, phalluses, corn, squash, etc. Fewkes also examined the cultural phenomena, such as warfare, through various pictographs and their meanings described by the elders. The combined appearance of Ma-cau-a, a god of metamorphosis, the surface, death, and the devil, Ko-kyan-wuch-ti, a character that appears in pictographs when hostilities appear, and a third unspeakable pictograph that is associated with warfare, give stronger analogical connections to explain warfare in pictographs than one connection. Fewkes examined double entendres with pictographs, such as the squash and the phallus. The symbols for the phallus and the squash are interchangeable. Fewkes, in his rush to salvage ethnography, cannot help but to interject with speculations and assumptions he has about the art and its meaning. In his defense, Fewkes makes his conjecture obvious and appears to be throwing out possibilities rather than making concrete statements.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
R. Scott Hussey University of Florida (John Moore)

Fewkes, Walter J. A Few Tusayan Pictographs. The American Anthropologist January, 1892 Vol.5:9-26.

Fewkes main goal in this article is to combine his ideas along with those of Hopi people to determine what the pictographs represented. His aim is to encourage more research into the area of pictograph forms. This research attempts to study, understand, and interpret ancient and modern Hopi Indian pictographs or “rock markings” and “rock cuttings.” Fewkes’s research focuses on the Tusayan pictographs and their supposed meanings. The Tusayan Indians, or “Mokis,” are the ethnographically known Hopi Indians.

Fewkes is attempting to gain information from elders in the Hopi Indian community in order to “save” the ancient knowledge and symbolism depicted in the pictographs. Much of the history has already been forgotten or lost and his goal is to encourage other anthropologists to conduct further research. The Tusayan pictographs are very numerous and most are easily accessed. He stresses that as long as there are anthropologists who are willing to live among the Indians and learn their culture there is wealth of information just waiting to be revealed.

Fewkes argues that the religious meanings of the older pictographs are already lost since the priests (elders), who have now long since died, have taken their significance with them. The exception being, some symbols which have continued to be used throughout Hopi tradition such as the Katcina dance.

Many pictographs described by Fewkes are representations of animal deities, masks, phallic symbols, corn, shields, and dances. Other pictographs remain unknown and unidentifiable, either because of erosion of the rock surface, or due to the complexity of the drawing.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
JEANNE PETERSON University of Minnesota-Duluth (Jennifer Jones)

Fewkes, Walter and Owen, J. C. The La’-la-kon-ta: A Tusayan Dance. American Anthropologists April, 1892 Vol V: Pp 105-129.

J. Walter Fewkes and J.C. Owen=s, A Tusayan Dance offers a detailed description of the ceremonial rites of the La=-la-con-ta dance of the Tusayan Indians. This is a woman’s dance and the particular occurrence described occurred in September of 1891. The authors note many similarities between this dance and those of the Zuni.

This is a nine day dance, including an all night ceremony. In addition, many activities occur on each of the days of the dance. A few important points the authors take notice of, include the fact that all participants seem to be relatives and that priestesses inherit their positions through descent.

Fewkes and Owens give a descriptive account of each of the days. Bundles used as offerings are called Ba-hos, and play an important role. These bundles must be made at specific times and carried to specific alters. Much singing is involved over the course of the ceremony as well as dancing. Sand pictures are made and destroyed according to specific regulations. Races also occur on several of the ceremonial days. Corn and corn husks also play an important role. Idols are incorporated into this dance, as well. This ceremony is also used to invite some girls into the society which performs this rite.

Some ceremonies taking place during the dance are highly secretive and performed in the privacy of a kibva. The kibva is a large structure made of stones and sitting in a specific position within the village. It has one small window which allows sun in at certain angles, providing a time keeping aspect to ceremonial rites. Refuse from some of the ceremonies are carefully disposed of to prevent sickness according to the Tusayan.

The dance portion of this ceremony is performed in a circle by the women. Various ceremonial articles are carried during the dance. The clothing varies according to one’s status in the society and one’s role in the ceremony itself. Some men may be involved in the dance, but not many. Body paint also indicates one’s role in the dance.

Fewkes’ and Owens= information came from ethnographies and by observation of this ceremony. They give a detailed account of nearly every activity performed during these nine days including the names of some of the participants. This is necessary for proper understanding of the ceremony itself.

CLARITY RANKING: 5
AMY BYRD University of Florida (John Moore)

Fewkes, J. Walter and A.M. Stephen. The Mam-Zrau’-Ti: A Tusayan Ceremony. American Anthropologist July 1892 Vol.5(3):217-242.

This article only deals with the Mam-zrau’-ti, which is a Tusayan Indian women’s dance, and describes the rituals and customs of this celebration in great detail. The article is written as an observation of the activities occurring throughout the nine days of the ceremony. Although one can read in the beginning of the article that this festival is similar to another festival, this point does not appear to be addressed in the duration of the paper.

The Mam-zra’-ti is a nine day ceremony beginning on September 23. The first day’s activities include: 1, starting a sand altar in the kib-va, (otherwise known as the place where the secret parts of the ceremony are performed); 2, the preparation of a prayer-meal trail; and 3, two girls jumping within the circle created by the meal. The second day includes; 1, the production of a charm altar; 2, the chant to the six cardinal directions; 3, the painting of the ke’-le (novice girl or girls) cheeks; and 3, the making of pa’-ho. The third day sees the body of the ke’-le painted. One of the major activities on the fourth day is the midnight ceremony in which many women take part. This is followed by the ke-le’-ac-na, or the washing of the heads of the novices.

The fifth day is spent mainly singing songs. The sixth day has a dance around peaches in the kib-va and the women frolicking in the Antelope court. On the seventh day, the women disguise themselves as men and dance the Mu-cai’-zru, which is followed by singing in the kib-va that night. On the eighth day, the women circle the village imitating Ta-tau’-kyu-muh, or the men’s society. The women are then drenched with water and made dirty. Also, objects standing upright in the altar are cut down and the same ceremony performed on the fourth day is performed again. On the morning of the last day of the celebration, there is a morning ceremony of throwing corn. There are also public dances with ta-pu’-I slabs, the altar is demolished, and rival choruses in the Tcub’-mo give thanks for the Mam’zrau.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
Caitlin Monnens Lawrence University (Oren Kosansky)

Fewkes, Walter j. and Stephen, A.M. The Mam-zrau-ti: A Tusayan Ceremony. American Anthropologist July, 1892 Vol. 5(3):217-241

Fewkes and Stephen observe and document successfully the similarities between the Tusayan religious ceremonial dances. The village chiefs of the Tusayan Indian people prudently allow the ethnologists to edify the academic society with the detailed description of the events of their secret religious ceremonies.

The similarities of the Tusayan dances La-la-kon-ti and Mam-zrau-ti are chronologically noted in the number of nine days, which is the duration of time observed for both ceremonies. Both of these dances, as do all secret religious rituals, take place in the Al-kib-va. There are specific events that occur in exact chronological sequence that take place during both religious formalities. These events include the sand alter and prayer-meal trail on the floor of the kiv-va; markings made on the walls of the kib-va, and markings made on the faces, limbs, head and bodies of the women. In both customs the women made sand mosaics of clouds and lightning snakes. Both dances include dance and song at the same specific chronological sequences; as well as the men pouring water on the women and dirtying the women in filth. These are few of the points of simultaneous events that occur during both of the rituals, there are several in addition that are carefully noted by Fewkes and Stephen. Fewkes and Stephen establish the common details of the two dance rituals, then continue to extensively record the precise events that transpire during the Mam-zrau-ti women=s dance specifically in a brilliant chronological journal. The attention to the individual and distinct points of the ceremony present carefully distinguished evidence of the profound significance of both ceremonies for the Tusayan Indians. The meticulous details appreciated by the ethnologists suggest evidence of the rich symbolic culture and deep religious devotion of the Tusayan Indian community.

CLARITY RANKING: 5
COURTENY MOORE-GUMORA California State University Hayward (Dr. Peter Claus)

Fowke, Gerard. Some Interesting Mounds. American Anthropologist January, 1892 Vol.5: 73-82

Gerard Fowke’s article focuses on the dimensions and contents of mounds in Pennsylvania, Mississippi, and Ohio. Fowke examines the contents of the mounds by observing the burials, copper artifacts, lithics, charcoal, clay and loam layers, and gravel. Fowke describes the outward dimensions of the mounds with great detail.

The construction of the mounds, according to Fowke, was completed in a much shorter time span that what archaeologists today would agree with. Fowke assumes that certain charcoal layers inside of the mound represent when work had paused for a couple of years, vines and shrubs covered the surface, and they were burned off to resume mound construction (73). Fowke also examines what he sees as evidence for changes in the amount of labor to explain a two-year lapse of mound construction (76). A feature containing postholes, charcoal, lithics and burials with charred bones was described as one very large execution (79).

The mounds examined by Fowke were seen as fast projects. This bias may point towards the “moundbuilder myth” that assumes native Americans were incapable of building the mounds. Many theories explored the various possibilities of who these other moundbuilders were.

It is important to note that Fowke avoids making claims about the origins of the mound builders. He does assume that the mounds were built quickly and states on page 73 that the skeletons on the surface of the Monongahela mounds were “no doubt, the remains of modern Indians” to differentiate them with the other skeletons found deeper in the mound with copper grave goods. Fowke’s article was published two years before the release of Cyrus Thomas’ monumental 1894 report in the 12th Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology that destroyed the moundbuilder myth and connected the mounds to the native Americans.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
R. Scott Hussey University of Florida (John Moore)

Fowke, Gerard. Some Interesting Mounds. American Anthropologist January, 1892 Vol.5: 73-82.

Fowke describes several earthen mounds he observed in Pennsylvania, Mississippi, and Ohio. The location, dimensions, and contents of each mound are detailed with special attention paid to human burials and the artifacts included in the burials. Fowke attempts to explain when and by whom each mound was created, but comes to no strong conclusions.

Fowke states that Native Americans are the probable creators of the mounds and specifically cites the local Mingo and Shawnee tribes as possible builders. He attempts to date the mounds and judge how long each took to build by observing the level of decay of the organic material within the mounds. Based on shrubs, vines, and sod, he estimates the mounds took much less time to build than most modern experts would calculate.

In addition to notes on the contents of the mounds, Fowke also describes the composition of the earth that was used in the construction of the mounds. He lists the color and the texture of the soil in the mounds, and makes note of any peculiarities such as ashes, charcoal, or bark mixtures found in the ground.

The article documents human skeletal remains within the mounds, the positions in which the skeletons were found, the general age and likely sex of each skeleton, and describes the materials and objects found in the graves including copper, flint, glass, pots, knives, pipes, and artwork. No maps or drawings are included in the article.

Fowke makes no definite claims regarding who built the mounds or why. This may be due to the “mound builder myth” of the era that attributed the mounds to a “vanished race” or a “lost civilization”. It would be a number of years after the initial publication of this article that mounds would be categorically linked to Native Americans.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
AMANDA LYNN JOHNSON University of Minnesota Duluth (Jennifer Jones)

Grinnell, George Bird. Early Blackfoot History. American Anthropologist. April, 1892 Vol. V: Pp. 153-164.

Grinnel’s Early Blackfoot History is mostly concerned with the three tribes that comprise the Blackfoot confederacy and the migrations of these tribes. He notes that the Blackfoot are presently (1892) found on the land between the Saskatchewan and Yellowstone rivers to the north and south and the Rocky Mountains and the beginning of the Missouri river to the west and east. He notes that the Blackfeet have made this land entirely theirs, expelling all intruders.

The three tribes of the Blackeet are the Blackfeet, the Blood, and the Piegan. He offers various explanations for the connectivity of these tribes but the best explanation in his opinion is that the Blood and the Piegan are off-shoots of the Blackfeet, thus all three tribes are known by that name.

Grinnell identifies an origin myth that states the development of each of these tribes. The myth claims that an old man and his three sons, as well as their wives and children, lived in the south, on the western side of the Rocky Mountains. There was little food in that place and when the old man was told to travel in a dream, he and his sons chose to do so. Once arriving, each son was given a new name, the oldest son earning the name Blackfeet from the type of medicine his father gave him. The other two were named Blood and Piegan respectively. They were the founders of the three tribes.

Grinnell indicates evidence for Blackfeet migration from the North and East to the South and West by use of linguistics. He finds many place names among the Blackfoot language which would indicate the North Eastern region of the plains and the woodlands as the original location of the Blackfeet. He also finds that direction names indicate migration from that region. Some traditions and stories also reflect movement of the Blackfeet.

Grinnell briefly describes stories from the Cree, the Blackfeet, and the Cheyenne dealing with frozen buffalo in a river and the breaking of ice which separates portions of tribes. Though these referrences are given little attention.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
AMY BYRD University of Florida (Dr. John Moore)

Grinnell, George Bird. Early Blackfoot History. American Anthropologist April, 1892 Vol. V:153-165

George Grinnell traces the origins of the Blackfoot tribe, unconvinced that the oral histories told at present day reflect the actual history of the tribe. Grinnell accounts for the varied stories told among the tribe as the origin of the people are discontinuous to the oral recollections of his studies. Grinnell suggests that the encountering of the whites and the intervention within the Blackfoot culture and traditions may have caused this displacement of knowledge of actual origin.

Grinnell considers the stories of origin being told presently among the Blackfeet, specifically by an old man named Crazy Dog. Crazy Dog concurs with Grinnell that the stories being told among the Blackfeet are frequently altered and embellished to more convincingly suggest that the Blackfoot tribe originated at their present place of habitation; the parry lands between the Saskatchewan, Yellowstone, and Rocky Mountains. Grinnell concludes that this is not the place of origin for the Blackfoot; that instead they are more likely to have migrated to that region from the wooded region near the Slave lakes.

Grinnell offers evidence that through oral traditions he has encountered several recollections of Blackfoot tribes’ persons having experiences consistent with the theory of the Blackfoot tribes migration. Evidence that Blackfeet men are called Aslaves,@ and Blackfoot women Alittle slaves,@ among other credible evidence presented support Grilles theory of the Blackfoot migration as its origin. Grinnell presents credible oral heritage as contradictions to the belief that Blackfoot were always mountain people, stating that they were traditionally timber people as far as the evidence supports two hundred years ago. Grinnell offers several oral heritages to explain the purpose of the Blackfoot migration, and the conditions under which it took place. Grinnell further explains that the Blackfoot sense of longitudinal and latitudinal direction suggests their migration from an alternative location, since their present place of habitation is not the median of perception. The evidence Grinnell proposes is difficult to dispute; especially by the continuously transposed narratives connoted by the present history.

CLARITY RANKING: 5
COURTENY MOORE-GUMORA University of California Hayward (Dr. Peter Claus)

Hewitt, J. N. B. Legend of the Founding of the Iroquois League. American Anthropologist April, 1892 Vol 5: 131-148.

In 1888, Hewitt transcribes an oral legend of the founding of the Iroquois. His informant is his friend, Ska-na-wa’-ti, chief and fire-keeper John Buck, of the reserve of the Six Nations, Ontario, Canada. Hewitt translated the language two to five words at a time, creating an environment where the informant often repeated himself and paused to wait for Hewitt’s transcription. Hewitt had the added difficulty of transcribing a story with no written language. He worked around this obstacle by spelling out phonetically many names and some words. Hewitt acknowledges the problems inherent in such a literal translation by viewing the process as “too concise and sentential than diffuse, and its periods are not so rounded and full as they would be were this legend spoken or related connectedly and without interruption” (131). Hewitt is after a substantial and word-for-word translation, and in 1888 without the aid of sound recording devices, this is the only method he has to transcribe such a literal translation. While this version of the founding of the Iroquois has many details, the disjointed and interrupted approach to this translation reflects in the poor clarity of the article

Hewitt’s translation of the already familiar story concerning the founding of the Iroquois contains much of the same well-known material and characters. However, according to Hewitt, this version differs from other legends dealing with the founding of the Iroquois. This version was transcribed slow and literally from oral tradition, and contains many details. Hiawatha does not have supreme preeminence, he is placed on an equal level with the leading spirits who took part I the formation of the confederacy. Mythical and miraculous events such as the “story of the white canoe” and the clearing of the rivers from obstructions and monsters are not applied directly to Hiawatha, but rather to the sky god, Tha-ro-hya-wa’’-ko.

CLARITY RANKING: 1
R. Scott Hussey University of Florida (John Moore)

Hewitt, J.N.B. Legend Of The Founding Of The Iroquois League. American Anthropologist April, 1892 Vol. V:131-148

J.N.B. Hewitt narrates the mythical foundations of the League of the Iroquois Nation. Hewitt literally translates dictation taken in original Onondaga- Iroquoian tongue by Sha-na-wa-ti, chief and fire keeper of the Reserve of the Six Nations, Ontario, Canada. Hewitt addresses the events leading to the development of the ethics manifested in the confederation of the Iroquois Nation. Hewitt suggests the democratic and republic impelling forces of these ethics, have inspired the Constitution of the United States.

Hewitt narrates the mythical legend as traditional oral evidence of the foundation and purpose of the League of Iroquois Nation. The events of the legend illustrate the direction and focus of the Iroquois Nation Confederation. The legend tells the story of the wizard Tha-do-da-ho. Tha-do-da-ho was a mischievous wizard that continuously tormented the chief counsel with supernatural disasters, including death. Tha-do-da-ho murdered by supernatural intervention the three children of the great chief Hai-yo-hwat-ha. In his grief Hai-yo-hwat-ha wandered, and caused concern among the Iroquois chiefs. Collectively the chiefs were determined to resume Tha-do-da-ho to his natural human form, ridding him of his demonic aberration, agreeing that his flagitious conduct and suffering he caused and endured must seize. Once Tha-do-da-ho was relieved of his physical and supernatural aberrations, the Iroquois chiefs constructed a commonwealth in the Acause of right and equity,@ among the chiefs and war chiefs.

In the legend, Hewitt narrates that the chiefs buried this baneful behavior in a deep hole and planted an enormous pine tree representing the pulchritude and preservation of the Iroquois Nation upon it; with roots in all directions east, west, north and south, representing the roots of the laws of natural man. Ska-ji-e-na, an eagle with the keenest eyesight of all birds is perched high upon the tree; vigilant and defensive.

Hewitt illustrates through oral tradition the notable objectives of the Iroquois Nation confederation. The League of the Iroquois obligated their allegiance to the Law of Natural Men, and has doctrinated their fellowship for peace and prosperity among the people.

CLARITY RANKING: 5
COURTENY MOORE-GUMORA California State University Hayward (Dr. Peter Claus)

Holmes, W. H. Notes Upon Some Geometric Earthworks, With Contour Maps. American Anthropologist. October, 1892. Vol. V: Pp. 363-373.

Holmes’s article begins with a letter written by Dr. Cyrus Thomas in regards to his research on three of the geometrical earthworks in Ohio. Dr. Thomas questions what amount of symmetry and accuracy could be expected today versus when the earthworks were created. Holmes argues that the earthworks themselves are extremely difficult to measure because of human interference and obscurity. Thus, Holmes set out with several other researchers including a geologist, to map three Ohio earthworks.

Holmes chose to map the circles in the fall of the year, when crops had already been harvested and the foliage from the trees was mostly on the ground. He used a plane-table, and hand level to measure the earthworks. He concludes much of his work accurate by comparison with Squires and Davis’s survey years before.

The first circle measured was the Observatory Circle. Holmes found only slight discrepancies in Squires’s and Davis’s report, however, he heavily critiques Thomas’s report for ignoring some features which Holmes felt should be considered. Some depressions were discovered on the mound, though whether these are artificial or natural could not be determined.

The Fair Ground circle, the next surveyed mound, has very little human disruption, according to Holmes. He credits this to the mound’s largeness and forbidding appearance. Holmes admits that much of Thomas’s report is accurate, however, he feels that small discrepancies have crept in.

The final circle investigated is the High Bank circle. This mound has been heavily disturbed by plowing and therefore, the original dimensions could not be obtained.

Holmes also mentions the use of Gunter’s chain. This method of circle making was apparently not used until 1600, and therefore would not have reached Ohio until much later. Holmes believes this method was not used by the Indians making these mounds.

Clarity RANKING: 4
AMY BYRD University of Florida (John Moore)

Holmes, W. H. Notes Upon Some Geometric Earthworks, With Contour Maps. American Anthropologist October, 1892 Vol.5:363-374.

In October 1891, a team topographically surveyed three circular mounds in Ohio: the Observatory Circle at Newark, the Fair Ground Circle at Newark, and a similar circle at Chillicothe. This study was in response to a letter Dr. Cyrus Thomas wrote to the Director of the Bureau of Ethnology. In this letter, which is included in the article, Dr. Thomas expressed that he wanted to put down any suspicions that the earthworks he recently studied were constructed with European assistance. He wished to determine what degree of symmetry could be attained with the tools and units of measure that were used by the natives prior to 1760.

Included are the topographic maps of these sites as well as a detailed description of the team’s methodology. These three mounds were severely damaged by farming, erosion, and other human activities. Because of this damage, it was impossible to determine the original dimensions of these structures, but Holmes asserts that the natives of this region possessed the technology to build perfectly circular mounds without European assistance.

CLARITY RANKING: 5
LACI HOBBS University of Minnesota-Duluth (Jennifer Jones)

Holmes, W. H. Studies in Aboriginal Decorative Art I. American Anthropologist January, 1892 Vol.5: 67-73.

In this article Holmes looks at what he calls South Appalachian group ware. This is a group of pottery with similar design that is found in Georgia, North and South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee and somewhat in Florida. The finest specimens come from the Savannah River valley along the gulf and Atlantic coasts; they were intermingled with other forms of pottery, which were of “inferior quality”. This group of pottery shares several common characteristics. First, its decoration, which consisted of stamped designs of what Holmes calls “little artistic interest”(67). Second, its tempering was silicious. Third, its shape consisted of a deep cauldron with a flaring rim and conical base. In other features however, it has regional variability. This pottery style is found in mounds, from graves of several classes, from village sites, and from shell middens. Holmes states that it would be useless to attempt seriously to connect the manufacture of even the more typical forms of this ware with any single tribe or group of tribes. It is distributed over areas occupied by many indigenous groups, including Algonquian, Iroquoian, Siouan, Muskhogean, and Timuquanan. Holmes states that the modern Catawbas and Cherokees make vessels somewhat similar in some of their characteristics. Holmes spends the majority of the article discussing the decoration patterns of this pottery. He pays special attention to the tools, such as pottery stamps, which were used to manufacture these designs.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
JONNA HAUSSER University of Florida (John Moore)

Holmes, W.H. Studies In Aboriginal Decorative Art. American Anthropologist, January, 1892 Vol. V:67-73.

W.H. Holmes defends the aesthetic as well as the technical significance of American aborigine highly decorative art. Holmes suggests that aborigine art articulates the foundation of an aesthetic movement. Holmes states that the aborigine have not expounded upon highly evolved aesthetic art, however the American aborigine art did embark upon and develop a highly decorative art form.

Holmes notes that the distinguishing characteristics of the aborigine art are identifiable, although it is not determinable if these characteristics were developed by an isolated people, or developed through localized groups. The distinguishing characteristics include quartz in the clay, large shape specific forms, and extremely and unusually decorative markings made by paddle stamps. The elaborate designs made by the stamps often overlay creating extremely intricate and complex patterns. Holmes explains that the use for paddle stamps originated in vessel construction. Using fingers for the smoothing of the clay upon the vessel walls was replaced by shells and smooth stones to even the surfaces. Also tools resembling paddles were used to strike the walls to even the clay, creating an imprint that captured an aesthetic appeal. The figure paddle stamp performed functional as well as aesthetic purpose. Holmes marks that this transformation of the functional into the aesthetic illustrates an example of the functional and aesthetic significance of American aborigine artistic development.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
COURTENY MOORE-GUMORA California State University Hayward (Dr. Peter Claus)

Holmes, W. H. Studies in Aboriginal Decorative Art. American Anthropologist April, 1892 Vol.5(2):149-152.

W. H. Holmes addresses the use of the roulette tool or rocking stamp in the decoration of pottery in the upper Mississippi River area. Using pottery sherds as evidence he infers that the use of flat stamps eventually progressed to the use of the roulette because of its relative ease in covering the rounded surface of pots.

Holmes first shows the reader illustrations of the flat, wooden, notched stamps which were created from impressions on sherds found in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. This decoration has also been found on Appalachian pottery. Holmes then provides pottery samples from Baraboo and Vernon County, Wisconsin, presenting a variety of decorative treatments including roulette, stamp, and cord marking.

Because they were probably made of wood, no roulette tool has ever been found and its exact form is not known. Holmes provides a model made out of cardboard and wood to show how the roulette tool may have appeared. In doing so, he provides an early example of ethnoarchaeology. It is similar to the flat stamp except it is ovoid and had a handle to allow the user to easily rock the tool forward, thus covering the entire surface of a rounded vessel with a zigzag design without lifting the tool. This was relatively easier than the flat stamp which had to be pressed back and forth on one area of a pot and then lifted to achieve a good result. Holmes sees this as the reason why the stamps eventually became rounded.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
HEATHER KENNELLY University of Minnesota Duluth (Jennifer Jones)

Matthews, Washington. A Study in Butts and Tips. American Anthropologist October, 1892 Vol.5:345-350.

Matthews uses the ceremonial rituals of Native Americans to explain the important symbolic role of the top and bottom of objects. He describes how the position the object lies in relation to the body and/or the environment is taken into careful consideration when shamans perform a ritual. He explains that relationships of objects are numerous and so minute that most people would easily overlook many of the associations.

Matthews uses the Navajo Indians as an example and how shamans make a great distinction of the butts and tips in many ritual observances. Here it is often seen in sacrifices offered to the gods where tobacco (cigarettes) is placed in reeds. The placement of the cigarettes into the reed is done in a very symbolic way. Some of the placements of cigarettes are; tips must always face east, they are painted from butt to tip, the butt is notched so as to show the order in which they were cut, and they are placed in the reed in order of the notches. This ritual is often applied to a person who may be ill and the application is also done from the feet (butt) up the body to the crown of the head (tip).

Another sacrifice ritual with a connection to butts and tips is kethawns or messages to the gods. Here vegetable substances are offered in a variety of shapes and colors. This is a very intricate ritual with a lot of preparation going in to the offerings. Here Matthews explains the pattern of creating a kethawn, with the material used and order of application. Through out this sacrifice offered there is a number of distinctions made from the butts and tips of the objects.

CLARITY RANKNG: 4
AMANDA LAMBERT University of Minnesota-Duluth (Jennifer Jones)

McGee, W. J, Wilson, Thomas, and William Holmes. Reports of the Delegates to the Congress Geologique International. American Anthropologist January 1892 Vol. 5(1):45-51.

This article is comprised of three reports by the delegates of the Anthropological Society sent to the Congress Géologique International meeting in Washington D.C. The meeting took place from August 27 to September 1, 1891. The congress had among its attendees many geologists of world-wide reputation, many of whom were students of anthropology and archaeology. The meeting was held to discuss three primary issues: 1) A system for classification of Quaternary deposits; 2) the correlation of geological formations, and; 3) a system of colors of geological maps. Of the meeting’s participants, 173 members represented the United States, with ten of these women, and 75 from foreign countries, of which six were women. The delegates state that the influence of anthropology, specifically archaeology was more manifest in the informal discussions among the groups of scholars than in the formal discussion of the congress. However, a few points of interest to anthropologists were mentioned: 1) the evidence of the antiquity of humans in the Pacific realm, and: 2) that the lines of classification of “primitive” man into paleolithic, neolithic, etc., were weakening. In his report, Wilson states that the geologists were especially interested in evidence of humanity’s existence in the Quaternary geologic period, and in his museum collections. One important point that arises from these reports is that these early anthropologists saw themselves as scientists of prehistoric anthropology, and that they saw that they must lean largely for support upon the geologist.

CLARITY RANKING:5
JONNA HAUSSER University of Florida (John Moore)

McGee, W.J. Comparative Chronology. American Anthropologist October 1892 Volume V: 327-344.

In this article, McGee combines the chronologies from five separate timelines: the Natural Time Units; Artificial Time Units; the Biotic Ages; the Geologic Periods; and the Age of Man. The article shows how different time periods overlap with each other. McGee includes a detailed graph that illustrates the chronology of civilizations, geologic periods, and solar and lunar times.

He begins his article by examining at great length the different natural time units such as the earth’s rotation in 364 ¼ days, and the Chinese Great Year, which is 4,617 years. He starts from the shortest of the times, the lunar period, which is 29 ½ days long, then moves to discuss a series of cycles of increasing lengths, until he reaches the Siderosolar period, which is 25,694.8 years long.

The second timeline that he constructs is the artificial units and eras created by humans. One example is Time, which he states is best measured by using rotary or cyclical motion. He places some well-known events in a time chart including the date of American Independence, and the lengths of the Christian and the Jewish era. The longest in this section is the Era of Constantinople, which was then 7,400 years in length.

The Biotic ages are based on evolution although McGee notes that the Biotic Ages are not interchangeable with the other chronologies. The key points are the move of plants to the land and the age of the dinosaurs. The amount of time it took for the plant with the first flower to be the dominant type of procreation on the planet is immense, and is well illustrated on his graph of chronologies.

The Geologic periods are the longest units of time, particularly the glacial deposits in North America. The periods are mostly in hundreds of thousands of years, and McGee even dates the age of the Earth as 15 billion years old.

McGee emphasizes the Age of Man and divides it into historical and cultural stages. He speculates that humans originated anywhere from 10,000 years ago to 30,000 years ago, although he states that the exact time that human consciousness began is not known.

CLARITY RANKNG: 4
JAKE ANDERS University of Minnesota Duluth (Jennifer Jones)

McGee, W. J. Comparative Chronology. American Anthropologist. October, 1892 Vol 5: 327-344.

McGee’s article focuses on the problem of determining the earliest dates of Homo sapiens and the age of the earth. His article illustrates the tools many anthropologists in 1892 would use to solve this problem. He presents and compares a number of various chronologies, artificial and natural, to each other and then to dates other disciplines had reached. His comparisons of time are separated into five parts: natural time units, artificial time units, biotic ages, geologic periods and the time measures of anthropology.

McGee presents his comparative chronology in the all too familiar unilineal evolutionary tradition. His observations of “savages” as ardent observers of natural time through celestial observations leads to one of his methods of dating humanity at around 20,000 years. The longest expanse of time McGee mentions is the Platonic year of the sidersolar period. This cycle, measured in part by ancient Egyptians, completes itself every 25,694.8 years. Artificial time units are presented as a cultural extension of natural time units. The biotic ages illustrate great lengths in time and ever increasing rapidity in evolution. For instance, McGee mentions that the “modern rate (of the evolution of organisms) would give too low a measure for past time.” Geologic time gives the article an instance of a great time expanse of a 15,000,000,000 year mean estimate for the age of the earth and a 7,100 year mean estimate for the beginning of the “post-glacial period.” The last section, time measures of anthropology, explores the theories dating the development of humanity. McGee concludes on page 343 by saying it is safe to say that Homo sapiens could date as far back as 20,000 years ago, it is “inherently improbable that real man existed beyond the middle of the Pleistocene, and inherently incredible that he was born before the Pleistocene began.”

CLARITY RANKING: 4
R. Scott Hussey University of Florida (John Moore)

M’Guire, Joseph D. Materials, Apparatus, and Processes of the Aboriginal Lapidary. American Anthropologist. April 1892. Vol. 5: 165-176

Joseph M’Guire’s article is an early exploration into the manufacture of lithics by experimental and ethnoarchaeological studies. M’Guire is clearly an evolutionist and lumps together many different prehistoric peoples in the groups of savagery or barbarism. He believes that one can determine many things from a forgotten “race” in the stages of “savagery or barbarism” by an examination into their lithics. M’Guire also believes that the reproduction of aboriginal methods of work can add much information into their daily life and their degree of intelligence. M’Guire’s study is basic. He only tests the difficulty and speed of replicating various parts or entire stone tools found in museum collections. M’Guire’s conclusions are similarly simple. For example if a tool was made fast, then he would deduce that a skilled “savage” could process the tool faster, or that one stone could be used as a drill to bore into another stone.

The few ethnoarchaeological studies M’Guire used were from Professor Mason’s studies conducted at the United States Museum that constructed tools similar to those used by Native American Groups. M’Guire gathered lithic specimens from a large area of the world spanning New Zealand, the Yucatan, Babylon, Egypt, Europe, and New Jersey. He used the techniques of the Native Americans and some of his own to conduct experimental studies from the diverse and diffuse collection of lithics. M’Guire would examine the effects of various drills or hammerstones in reproducing the stone tools. He would then count the amount of time, and provide a very brief description of the process in which the successful replica was created. The descriptions provided could show whether M’Guire constructed the stone tool with difficulty or ease and in what amount of time, but would be useless to anyone attempting to replicate Mr. M’Guire’s experiment.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
R. Scott Hussey University of Florida (John Moore)

M’Guire, Joseph D. Materials, Apparatus, and Processes of The Aboriginal Lapidary. American Anthropologist April, 1892 Vol.5:165-176.

Joseph D. M’Guire’s overall concern in Materials, Apparatus, and Processes of the Aboriginal Lapidary is an archeological approach in regards to the experimentation of tools. M’ Guire states that it is of great interest to discover “evidence of progress in the manufacture of tools” (166). If we understand where tool manufacturing began than we will discover the process where it has led. M’Guire argues the way to understanding how tool making is through studying aboriginal tools and methods.

M’Guire’s aim in this paper is to prove that the time required for the manufacture of stone tools and other objects by primitive man was very short. He attempts this through experimentation that was conducted by the United States National Museum and himself. He states the tools used in the experiments were similar to American Indians and made out of raw materials. The focus was on the methods of pecking, carving, polishing, rubbing, and boring of stone. McGuire’s evidence is presented by stating the materials in question, then moves on to the process of making tools, and ends with the time of completion. He organized the experiment from the easiest to the more difficult to manufacture tools and stone types.

The larger intellectual background that frames M’Guire’s argument is that of mixed emotions on the workmanship of the aboriginals. His own bias led him to view the items made by people of “savagery or barbarism” as rude tools of a lesser culture. But on the other hand, he is amazed by the beauty and workmanship of the items, especially with the stones that are harder to work with.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
RIVER URKE University of Minnesota-Duluth (Jennifer Jones)

Mooney, James. Improved Cherokee Alphabets. American Anthropologist January, 1892 Vol. 5:63-64.

In this article, Mooney discusses the ways in the Cherokee alphabet could be improved. He points out the Cherokee alphabet has elevated the Cherokees to a higher level than many other tribes. He also points out, however, that the written language has several problems. For example, there are no characters that delineate between related sounds such as tsa, tse, and tsi and writing the language can be a slow and cumbersome task. He then describes some of the methods that were developed by two men, Father Morice and William Eubanks to remedy these problems.

Father Morice was a missionary who had improved upon methods to transcribe the Cree and Déné languages. With his system all related sounds are represented by a character that are put in different positions or with the addition of a dot or a stroke. For example arrows pointing different directions may represent similar sounds. As Mooney points out, however, this system helps to distinguish between different sounds but it does not necessarily make learning the written language much easier.

William Eubanks, who was a Cherokee “mixed-blood,” developed a system of short hand that would correctly represent every sound in the language and make writing a much easier task (63). Mooney states that some combination of both of these systems would greatly improve the old one, however he states that it is unlikely that any change will be adopted by the tribe.

Perhaps the most interesting part of this article is the reasons that he states for why these improvements to the written Cherokee language will, from his vantage point in the 1890’s, probably never be accepted. The main reason is that by this time there were nearly two thousand white citizens in the Cherokee nation. Mooney also states that those with one half or more “white blood” compose the majority of the tribe, and that the legal system as well national records and education were all in English. Perhaps Mooney states it best when he states,

The Cherokees are rapidly becoming white men, and when the last full-bloods discard their old alphabet-which they love because it is Indian-they will adopt that of the ruling majority (64).

CLARITY RANKING: 4
JONNA HAUSSER University of Florida (John Moore)

Mooney, James. A Kiowa Mescal Rattle. American Anthropologist January, 1892 Vol.5:64-65.

While making ethnological investigations among the Kiowa on the Upper Red River, James Mooney obtained a rattle used in the Mescal-eating ceremony. At nine inches in length and made of beads, feathers and buckskin fringes, Mooney attributes numerous symbolic meanings in connection with the mescal rite. He describes the rattle in detail with each description representing some aspect of the mescal ceremony. For example, there are a number of painted green lines radiating downward from the top of the rattle, and, according to Mooney, this represents the falling rain since green is the symbolic color of water. Mooney does not, however, mention how he learned the numerous symbolic representations. He goes on to briefly describe the interior of the sacred mescal lodge and the mound of earth in the center of the lodge on which the rattle is placed.

CLARITY RANKING:3
KARI HIETANEN University of Minnesota – Duluth (Jennifer Jones)

Mooney, James. A Kiowa Mescal Rattle. American Anthropologist. 1892-93 vol. 5: 64-66.

Mooney describes in detail the ornamented rattle the Kiowa Indians use for mescal-eating ceremonies. The Kiowa reside on the upper Red River in Indian Territory. Little information is given on the Kiowa people in this article; its main focus is the ceremonial rattle. Evidence collected through ethnologic investigations among the Kiowa is conferred to the reader through detailed descriptions.

The ornamentations of the nine-inch rattle are highly symbolic to the Kiowa. It is fringed with buckskin and bluebird feathers. The egg-sized gourd is covered with symbolic carvings relating to the powers of nature. Falling rain is represented along the top of the rattle by green and blue lines. Etched on the gourd are mescal songs represented by red zigzag lines. A yellow painted bird in a section between two of these lines is pictured feeding from the mescal flower. Another section pictures a yellow rounded figure from which radiates six curved lines representing the mescal itself. Next to the mescal figure is a haloed female, AThe Mescal Woman@, the presiding goddess of the ceremony.

The Mescal Woman caries a double meaning; that of merely a woman and also as a symbolic representation of the interior of the sacred mescal lodge. Her head represents the large mound of mescal placed in the very center of the lodge. In the center of Mescal Woman=s body is a red circle symbolizing the ceremonial fires in the lodge. Her lower body is green, representing the ocean that she resides beyond and under her feet is a star, signaling her approach. She carries an eagle feather fan in her left hand to shield the glare of the fire during the ceremonies.

Considered sacred emblems, crucifixes are worn by many mescal eaters. Consecrated mescal lies upon crosses constructed of scented leaves during the ceremony. Christ is considered the mescal goddess.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
TESSA BRONNER California State University Hayward (Dr. Peter Claus)

Owens, J.G. The La-La-Kon-Ta: A Tusayan Dance. American Anthropologist April, 1892 Vol. V:105-129

J.G. Owens fastidiously recounts the intricate details of the ceremonial rites and religious practices of the Tusayan Indian people during the La-la-kon-ta woman=s dance. The detailed chronological summary of the ceremonial events during the nine days with principal religious purpose prior to the last day of the ceremony, when the dance takes place, illustrates the meticulous, methodical, and symbolic measures taken by the Tusayan people in their expression of religious devotion. Owens constructs that the similarities between religious ceremonial practices are evident and bestowed through these detailed ritualistic expressions. Owens makes no account for the defined purpose of the ceremonial woman=s dance, he suggests this ritual to be an agrarian homage to the AGerm God@ considering the presence of corn, squash and melon seeds.

Beginning September second and continuing through September tenth, The Tusayan people offer nine days of eminently ritualized behavior. The practices include the delicate placement of bundles of twigs and sticks, ears of corn, breath feathers and meal sprinkled in geometric rectangle shapes within rectangle shape, upon the floor of the kib-va (a large underground room where secret ceremonies take place). The deliberate placement of these specific items represent symbolic meaning. In the ceremony, the women took turns smoking native tobacco from one pipe, while conferring the dynamics of relationship; the pipe was passed in the order of rank, beginning at head priestess. Each priestess would summon from the village certain women or girls to join the society. Each day of the ceremony concluded sequences of events, such as all night customs, alters with figurine deities, songs eight to twenty-seven minutes long, races along trails. Owens offers abundant and credible data as evidence of the how the complicated religious systems of the Tusayan Indians maintain consistency within the details of ceremonial structure and symbolism.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
COURTENY MOORE-GUMORA California State University Hayward (Dr. Peter Claus)

Ward, Lester F. The Utilitarian Character of Dynamic Sociology. American Anthropologist April, 1892 Vol. 5: 97-103

In this paper, Lester F. Ward attempts to broaden the application of Dynamic Sociology from ‘speculative philosophy,’ to a utilitarian application of its analysis of social institutions. Ward intends to incorporate the ivory tower development of Dynamic Sociology into real world applications. He is unhappy with what he sees as the divorce of science from reform, and of the academic from the victims of social injustices.

Dynamic Sociology is the ‘scientific’ examination of society, incorporating statistical sociology, biology, and the less complex sciences. It describes social institutions as products of a slow evolution and progression. Ward views Dynamic Sociology as an effective tool in which to guide societies into a more effective, peaceful, and efficient change as an alternative to social evolution or revolution. Ward dislikes the indifference he sees in academics that understand societies and their problems and watch unsympathetically.

Ward uses the Russian Government to exemplify the connection of Dynamic Sociology and its effect on what was a contemporary society. The Russian government had “condemned to the flames” its copies of the 2nd volume of Dynamic Sociology, which provided arguments for universal education. There was nothing in that volume that directly reflected upon Russia or its rulers. However, the government had condemned it due to the liberalized doctrines taught within it, the most prominent being universal education. Ward sees the suppression of this work ironic because although it might contradict Russian policy, it could serve as a greater emancipation to the Russian people than the freeing of the serfs. He surmises that an application of universal education could alleviate much of Russia’s internal problems and serve to better the society.

CLARITY RANKING: 2
R. Scott Hussey University of Florida (John Moore)

Ward, Lester F. The Utilitarian Character of Dynamic Sociology. American Anthropologist April, 1892 Vol.5:97-103.

Before 1892, many educated people thought that philosophy was used to characterize the objectiveness of the world, and for nothing else. It was thought that in those days that the use of science and philosophy were merely for intellectual pleasure. Now, philosophy is seen as a subject of high moral purpose, according to Ward. To some, there is no higher enjoyment as the search for knowledge and in that search the optimal goal was to attain truth, much of which was found in nature. Natural evolution was a sublime fact, and was so marvelous to ponder that it made social evolution petty and dull. This is the explanation for why many cultures refuse to technologically advance (it is trivial and meaningless in the face of biological and natural evolution).

It is with the detachment of science and social progress that causes a revolution to be waiting around the corner. Dynamic sociology, issued in 1883, was intended to be a cure for the divorce of science and reform. Dynamic sociology, as opposed to speculative philosophy, points out the necessity of action—in order for social change to take place, humans must participate instead of letting nature steer the direction of society. To progress, intelligence of a whole group is needed, for “the collective mind is greater than the individual mind.” Science is what teaches individuals in a society, hence, making them more intelligent and making social progress possible.

Out of the moral purposes of dynamic sociology and philosophy came utilitarian philosophy, which in turn gave rise to meliorism (the belief that the world naturally tends to get better and that this bettering process of nature can be improved by humans). If these philosophies and sciences disband from the social progress for which they are needed (to be the teachers of knowledge), revolution is inevitable. But if there is a compromise between the sciences and the reforms, the likelihood of a revolution is lessened.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
ANNIE DRESSEN University of Minnesota-Duluth (Jennifer Jones)

Welling, James. The Law of Torture: A Study in the Evolution of Law. American Anthropologist. July, 1892 Vol.5(3):193-216

The evolution of law is one of the many aspects of criminal anthropology. The criminal jurisprudence is based on extracting the truth by proving a person’s innocence or guilt. James Welling identifies two distinct types of trials in the evolution of law: Trial by Ordeal and Trial by Torture.

Roman law marked the beginning of civil jurisprudence. At the end of the Roman Empire, “barbarian” societies and their form of trials predominate. The “barbarian”, Trial by Ordeal, sought to find negative proof on the basis of religious ordeals such as touching fire without being burned. Welling describes this type of law as the lowest form of law and the lowest stage of intellectual development.

Roman law reappeared around the time of the revival of learning at the beginning of the Renaissance period when Trial by Ordeal was replaced with Trial by Torture. Torture was a means to extract the truth or positive proof from unwilling subjects. At its beginning, torture was considered a more rational approach than ordeals. Welling includes extracts from Sebastian Guazzini’s book on torture codes, which clarifies the torturer’s power over those being tortured and who can be tortured. These specifications are due in part to the advancing of mental capabilities and people’s willingness to limit the power of those implementing the torture.

As the codes used for finding legal proof of guilt and innocence become more specific, society begins to question these codes. This questioning, according to Welling, is a sign of the advancement of mental and intelligence capabilities. Without this certain degree of capability the legal system would not be where it is today.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
KATHERINE ARNDT University of Minnesota Duluth (Jennifer Jones)

Woodruff, Charles. Dances of the Hupa Indians. American Anthropologist . January 1892. Vol V: Pp 53-62.

Dr. Charles E Woodruff’s Dances of the Hupa Indians is centered around the ceremonial dances of the Hupa Indians in California. He begins with a description of the woodpecker dance, Hi-jit-delia. He describes the clothing of men as being of deer skin and the headdress as being buckskin with red woodpecker feathers. The women wear civet skin dresses and carry long baskets in their right hands. This dance is performed in a line, as are many Hupa Indian dances. This dance occurs in October, but only once every two to five years and is designed to prevent sickness.

He then describes the white-deer skin dance, When-sil-jit-delia. This dance appears to Woodruff to be a type of Thanksgiving. It occurs about as often as the woodpecker dance in August. This dance is expensive, moving from place to place over many days, the inhabitants of each place required to feed all the visitors. It is not held in lean years. The main objects of interest in this dance are the white deer skins and long flat pieces of obsidian, both of which are passed from father to son due to their rarity. The clothing for this dance, much simpler than the woodpecker dance, is also described.

The fire dance, Hon-noch-where, is a ceremony to cure the a sick individual. This dance has more positions for women than others. Though the best clothing is worn, it is undecorated. This dance may be performed anytime a child is sick, usually once or twice a year.

The flower dance, Kin-noch-tun, celebrates the first menstruation of a female. The headdress involves sea-lion tusks. It is performed to ensure the health, happiness, and truthfulness of the young woman. This particular dance involves fasting on the part of the guest of honor for a prolonged period of time.

Woodruff also briefly mentions another local dance to change the weather, then shifts suddenly to what he feels is the superstitious nature of the elderly and even a few of the young men. He discusses the use of poison among the Hupa to kill one=s enemies. Finally he gives a lengthy account of the Sun Myth and the Tree of Language which explains seasonality, the travel of the sun across the sky, and the origins of language.

Throughout the article Woodruff makes the point that dances appear to him to be less ceremonial and more social. They often involve much gambling. He also notes that the woodpecker dance presents an occasion for a sermon by one of the elderly dancers.

His information came from observation and the use of a young Hupa who had attended Indian school for several years and who Woodruff felt was very intelligent.

CLARITY RANKING: 5
AMY BYRD University of Florida (John Moore)

Woodruff, Dr. Charles E. Dances of the Hupa Indians. American Anthropologist. 1892-93 vol. 5: 53-62.

Dr. Woodruff examines the dance ceremonies of the Hupa Indians of California. Woodruff collected data on the dances through observation of the ceremonies and speaking with tribal members. Woodruff describes the woodpecker dance, the white-skin deer dance, the fire dance, and the flower dance. Described in each dance ceremony are the dancer=s manner of dress, ornamentation, gender, age, and status, as well as their movements, chants or songs, mannerisms, and locations. Each dance is a highly ritualized appeal to the supernatural as well as special events facilitating tribal and community socialization. Gambling is a common sight at these events even though they are highly religious.

The woodpecker dance is held in October, once every two years. Its purpose is to stop sickness, and to give moral instruction to the young. Squads of dancers from each part of the valley take turns doing their dance, repeating this same process the very next day. On the final day of ceremonies each squad joins together for one last group woodpecker dance. While the ceremonies are in progress, one of the headmen of the valley tribe=s lecture to the onlookers about the virtues of morality.

The white-skin deer dance is a ceremonial thanksgiving, which takes place in August every other year, and never held in disastrous years. Its purpose is to thank the Great Spirit for the tribe=s abundance of food and to ask for a continuance of their well-being. It is an expensive ceremony held in a different part of the valley over several days. The people living in the host part of the valley take turns feeding the entire tribe.

The purpose of the fire dance is to cure a sick child. It is performed in the hut of a sick child while a medicine woman watches over. The roof and the sides of the hut are removed to provide a view for all of the eager spectators. Unmarried girls and boys usually carry out this ceremony. The dance begins at 9pm and ends at sunrise.

The flower dance ceremony is held upon a girl=s first menstruation to assure her health, happiness, and truthfulness. This dance resembles the others in terms of style, ornamentation, and songs. The flower dance is also a great excuse for socialization, as are the others. This dance is special, however in that no dancer may perform who has been tainted by death. If a dancer had previously touched a corpse, he must anoint himself with a salve given to him by the medicine woman and perform a ritual dance at a sacred rock. There is possibly some parallel here between death and the promise of future births.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
TESSA BRONNER California State University Hayward (Dr. Peter Claus)