American Anthropologist 1932

Amsden, Charles. The Loom and its Prototypes. American Anthropologist April-June, 1932 Vol.34(2):216-235.

This article traces the technological evolution of the loom in America. Amsden begins by discussing the origin of weaving. The technique of weaving is dependent upon one main factor, the flexibility or fineness of the material being used. If the material is flexible a support system is needed in order to accomplish weaving. Materials such as willow splints are rigid enough to stay in place without support and can easily be woven.

The beginning of loom development lies with the supporting stake and the supporting frame used by groups on the Northwest Coast. The supporting stake method uses a single-point suspension to support weaving. A mat or blanket could not be woven with this type of limited support, and therefore needed the supporting frame. The supporting frame or weaving frame uses two poles placed vertically at a distance from each other with a pole lying horizontally across the top. The strands of the warp are tied to the horizontal pole and weft strands can be woven through the dangling warp.

Another prototype includes the fixed-warp frame. This frame consists of two horizontal poles bisected by two vertical poles spaced about 3 feet apart. The warp is fixed to both vertical poles in a continuous strand. The weft is woven by hand into the warp one strand at a time. This type of weaving was done from the top down, unlike the loom where the weaving starts closest to the weaver and works upward.

The next developments that affect the evolution of the loom are the use of wool and the tapestry weave. Amsden than discusses the needle loom, the waist loom, and the vertical loom. These were the immediate predecessors of the true loom.

Amsden concludes that the loom was an independent invention. He says that “everywhere experiments and developments were in process that were tending inevitably toward the loom” (235). In most cases these experiments were quite independent of one another.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
KELLY EILEEN JONES Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Amsden, Charles. The Loom and its Prototypes. American Anthropologist 34: 216-35.

Amsden attempts to outline the evolution of weaving in America acknowledging that archaeological evidence is of little use. He assumes that weaving was an evolutionary process since the use of the loom could not have been invented spontaneously. He thinks weaving began with basketry when the materials used where too fine or not flexible enough to manipulate without some sort of device. The distinction he makes between basketry and weaving is that weaving requires some sort of support.

Amsden introduces different basketry techniques that may have gradually led to the use of a true loom. The techniques he lists include a supporting stake, a supporting frame, a tapestry weave, and a needle loom. He describes why the different techniques are used and in some cases the people who use them. However, he is forced to make assumptions as to the most logical progression from basketry to the use of a true loom.

He concludes by saying that the loom was likely developed among different groups independently of each other. Not until the use of cotton moved northward is there definite evidence of a true loom.

CLARITY RATE: 4
KRISTEN BURSEY California State University, Hayward (Peter Claus)

Bartlett, Katharine. A Unique Pueblo II Bird Fetish. American Anthropologist April-June, 1932 Vol.34(2):315-319.

This report was a comparison of an artifact found at an excavation to the known similar kinds of artifacts available. It was a charred wooden representation of an eagle, most likely used as an important, meaningful piece of jewelry in its time. It was found in a site north of the San Francisco peaks in 1930. Bartlett went on to describe the specific features of the bird fetish, including the shapes and positions of the head, eyes, and wings. She also took detailed measurements of every dimension of the fetish, and even researched the type of gems it probably once held.

The only fetishes found of this type were one found in a site in New Mexico and the sort that present-day Zuni tribes use. Bartlett used the New Mexico specimen’s description from the words of its own finder, George H. Pepper for a comparative model. His description of his own find almost completely paralleled the results Bartlett attained with her finding. Pepper’s fetish was found in Chaco canyon, New Mexico in 1920.

The other similar type of fetish is found in present-day usage amongst the Zuni Indians, also found in the southwestern U.S. In Zuni culture, the eagle symbol is representative of a powerful god and/or his brothers. The materials used in the modern fetishes have changed, but the shape and details have remained quite noticeable. Bartlett compared the three specimens in size, form, and function and found little variance throughout. Ornamentation and parent materials, according to Bartlett, are the most significant nuances in these possibly related artifacts.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
BRYAN TIPPY Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Barlett, Katherine. A Unique Pueblo II Bird Fetish. American Anthropologist 34:(21) 315-319.

The article deals with the comparison of three wooden bird carvings found on the Pueblo II site, the Peublo III site (that dates from around 910-1130 AD and was found in New Mexico), and a bird fetish used by contemporary Zuni. The fetish found on the Pueblo III site and the one used by the Zuni had been the only two known bird fetishes carved out of wood since the discovery of the bird fetish which sparked this comparison. It was found in the summer of 1930 during a field expedition of the Museum of Northern Arizona, and was detected charred on the floor of a masonry granary that was destroyed by a fire which was being excavated. Bartlett offers a clear physical description of the three carvings in the effort to describe the similarities and the differences. All three carvings have heads, necks, wings and tails done in the same manner and are indicated by grooves. Among the visible differences are the presumed purposes of the earlier fetishes which are theorized to have been more for decoration as opposed for religious purposes like in the Zuni group. There are noticeable resemblance between the fetishes as well as minor differences, however the author indicates that the birds are of the same type which “has evidently persisted for over a thousand years of Pueblo history.”

CLARITY RATE: 5
CARLA ESTRADA California State University, Hayward (Peter Claus)

Beals, Ralph L. Aboriginal Survivals in Mayo Culture. American Anthropologist January-March, 1932 34(1):28-39.

In this article, Ralph Beals gives a detailed description on the Mayo culture of southern Sonora, Mexico. He focuses on the differences between these indigenous Indians and their Mexican neighbors. Beals spent five months with the Mayo, from 1930 -1931 and was fascinated by the many cultural traits that they have kept to this day, and the possible reasons this could have happened.

The 300 to 400 years of the interchange between the Mayo and the Mexicans has led to a convergence of these two cultures, and it is the differences that still exist that become the focus of the article. Many of the obvious differences have been wiped out over such a long period of time, and it seems many of the ones that do still exist have primarily to do with material things. Beals examines why particular traits have survived and others have not. He offers a comprehensive list of surviving aboriginal traits and admits that it is “tentative and incomplete”, and also “the mere fact that an element differentiates Indian from Mexican is not inherent proof of its aboriginal character”. With this in mind, Beals comes up with a list including various objects, food, and techniques used by both people.

After this list, Beals provides a short summary of the history of the Mayo. They have been in touch with whites for four centuries and one of the most significant factors in their history was the establishment of the missions in 1613. Until 1767, the Mayo was under mission control, and after this they became virtually independent. This independence ended in the latter part of the 19th century with the Diaz regime. This period of cultural change is still happening for the Mayo.

The question still remains as to why certain traits have survived this acculturation and others have not. Beals thinks that the missionary movements hindered political thought by limiting the power of the chiefs. They also got rid of polygamy and the sororate. Religion does not seem to be affected as much as many other things. The Mayo are Catholics, with their only non-essential belief being the idea of reincarnation. It seems the only things that the Mayo kept true to their culture were the things that the missionaries and Mexicans did not feel were worth changing.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
ALAN THIES Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Beales, Ralph L. Aboriginal Survivals in Mayo Culture. American Anthropologist. 34: 28-39.

Ralph L. Beales article, Aboriginal Survivals in Mayo Culture, is a brief overview of the Mayo’s assimilation and rejecting of Spanish-Mexican cultural practices and beliefs. While this article is very brief and does not go into detail, it asks questions and seeks to understand why Mayo traits have survived and the reasons why some have changed. He diagrams a list of mostly material items that are survivals, those items that are shared by the two groups, and those items that are almost exclusively used by the Spanish-Mexicans. He stated that the differences need to be proved by both archaeological and historical analysis. He only slightly mentions psychology but gives more credit to historical chance. He did make the claim, however that the Mayo were easily changed but he wonders why their social structure changed to a great degree while their religious views were only slightly changed. He answered this by stating that the Mayo adopted the outside practices when they found it beneficial. While Beals makes a few suggestions as to the reasons for Mayo culture change he stated that a more complex analysis is needed.

CLARITY: 3
MARGARET BAYLON California state University, Hayward (Peter Craus)

Beals, Ralph L. Unilateral Organizations in Mexico. American Anthropologist July-September, 1932 Vol.34(3):467-475.

In his article, Unilateral Organizations in Mexico, Beals starts with one general hypothesis. It is his assertion that, while no definite conclusions can be made, his data shows highly suggestive evidence that unilateral organizations did exist in the background of Mexican culture history.

Beals’ data is taken largely from the western and southern parts of Mexico. He starts by observing that the Opata people are divided into different pueblos. It shows in a game of ball in which different sections of the town are grouped into teams. While most people assume this to be indicative of former dialectic and regional differences, it is suggestive of the type of unilateral organizations found in the Southeast.

While conducting fieldwork with the Cahita, Beals found that the Cahita people in days past lived in rancherias. There were sometimes two, sometimes four, but usually three surnames per rancheria. Each of these rancherias was organized into localized patrilineal sibs or lineages, and some of the larger Cahita towns even had barrios with different languages.

Beals continues to show evidence supporting his hypothesis in different areas of Mexico and Southern California. In Acaxee, the people lived in rancherias. In West Central Mexico he shows evidence that a different leader represented each barrio. In Michoacan the inner workings of marriage between people of different barrios would suggest that, as with the aforesaid villages, the Michoacan people viewed each barrio as a different community. These similarities continue with the Colima people, the Lacandone people, and the people of Southeastern Mexico.

Beals concludes his article by stating that, although he admits that the evidence he has is meager, he feels that it offers enough raw data to form a working hypothesis. It is the author’s hope that the data presented will be picked up by persons more knowledgeable on the subject than himself.

CLARITY RANK: 3
BRANDON A. HALE Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill )

Benedict, Ruth Configurations of Culture in North America. American Anthropologist January-March, 1932 Vol.34(1):1-27.

In her article, Configurations of Culture in North America, Benedict asserts that over the past twenty-five, the most prominent step forward has been the accumulation of a handful of full length accounts of primitive peoples. She goes on to say that these accounts were not the fruits of any academic study on the part of serious researchers, but rather the chance encounters between astute observers and striking cultures. Furthermore, a vast amount of the anthropological material available at the time was as anecdotal as travelers’ tales. She asserts that in these times there were two theories or methods of research. The first was a comparative method, which is anecdotal and schematic, the second was the school of strict diffusionism. The growing dissatisfaction with these two main theories prompted Boas to be insistent upon the exhaustive study of individual cultures. Benedict states that this is most clearly seen in her own time with Malinowski. Malinowski, who most vehemently opposed the diffusionists, insisted that anthropologists view cultures as organic and functioning wholes. Dilthey and Spengler, the author explains, continued with this train of thought by proposing that all cultures, including our own, must be studied from this point of view.

Benedict then comes to the configuration of cultures, which she explains as selecting certain human traits and building on them, while at the same time rejecting other unwanted traits. The author gives examples of these differences, and how different cultures configure themselves, in an account of the customs of separate Plains Indian groups.

Benedict says that we as westerners have configured ourselves in the same way many other cultures do. We, she states, try to give importance to the personal status of individuals and give credence to those who strive to increase their own status by humiliating their fellows. She goes on to describe many instances of this individualistic configuration in North America, most of which center around a person’s pride and the building, or losing, of one’s reputation.

Benedict concludes her article by stating that she feels that the reality of such configurations is the real question. She does not see how configurations in different cultures are any more mystical than the ones right here in America. These just show the dominant drives in individual cultures. Descriptions of cultures in this context need to include many things that earlier fieldworkers ignored. To make claims on culture without adequate and relevant fieldwork is pure romancing.

CLARITY: 3
BRANDON A. HALE Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Benedict, Ruth. Configurations of Culture in North America. American Anthropologist. 34: 1-27.

Ruth Benedict, in Configurations of Culture in North America, stresses the integration of behavior and custom within a group that defines them by their own patterns which make up their constructs. She echews the Tylorian comparative method that reduced a culture to materials taken out of context. She credits Boas for his demand for an exhaustive study of cultures, and Malinowski for having done just that, although she felt the functional school falls short of reading the deeper meaning of why a particular culture has the interrelated structure it does. Benedict asserts that it is the desires and needs of a particular group that determines how they will adopt and adapt a trait. It is from this point of view, a point of view that is employed by Wilhelm Dilthy and Oswald Spengler in attributing personality types to a sort of culture mentality, that Benedict takes off on. While she sees this method not fitting for as complex a society as western European civilization, she sees it fit to apply it for the purposes of understanding simpler, or primitive, societies. Benedict uses this group psychology model to look at North American tribal customs and beliefs surrounding bereavement, murder, and personal aggrandizement. It is through understanding cultural configurations that a group can be understood. She treats the individual towards the end and compares the group’s mentality, Apollonian or Dionysian as she has labeled them, to the individual and the range of variation a particular individual possesses. This will determine the degree to which the individual will be accepted by the group. While she does state that if the materials could be found, a few individuals are key in shaping society but also that a society collectively shapes itself over the generations. Her main point is that cultures must be thoroughly studied to make accurate comparisons to find the essence of a culture.

CLARITY: 3
MARGERET BAYLON California State University, Hayward (Peter Claus)

Clews Parsons, Elsie. The Kinship Nomenclature of the Pueblo Indians. American Anthropologist July-September, 1932 Vol.34(3):377-389

In this article, Elsie Clews Parsons attempts to further study the relationship and influences of sociological factors on linguistic kinship nomenclature. To accomplish this, she uses the research that Dr. Robert H. Lowie has done on the Hopi Indians as a basis. However, Clews Parsons is not content to deal with just the Hopi, and includes many other Pueblo Indians in her research. These are the Nuni, Keres, Tewa, Isleta, Jemez, and Laguna.

Issues that Clews Parsons takes into account include the fact that these societies are on the whole matrilineal, but the father’s clan has much importance. She goes on to explain distinctions between gender in the clans as well as describing how the marriage system works. In order to acclimate the reader to the Pueblo kinship system and the linguistics involved, a short summary of their social organization is given, with the main point being that it is fairly homogeneous. Small differences do arise between the East and West Pueblo Indians, although it has to do only with the practice of householding and attitudes about the clan’s organization.

In the next section, forking and merging are discussed. This is where direct and collateral kin are classified together and paternal and maternal lines become somewhat foggier. Here we have certain distinct terms for mother’s sister and father’s brother. Other examples include a Hano man calling his wife’s mother’s sister, mother.

Different terms for sex also are apparent. The Isleta and Taos use the term “child”, instead of “daughter” or “son”. Among the Hopi and at Zuni, the same term is used for both junior sister and junior brother.

As for the issue of seniority, at Zuni the descendants of a sister are senior to that of the brother. Clews Parsons believes that clanship is more the point of matter in issues of seniority or age.

Clews Parsons goes on to conclude that the “…tie between organization and nomenclature is elastic”. Also, certain classifications preclude others, so it is very hard to weigh each from one clan to the next, with each clan placing emphasis on different things. Furthermore, Clews Parsons believes that much of the differentiation within the Pueblo nomenclature is based on borrowed terms and linguistic arbitrariness.

CLARITY RANKING: 5
ALAN THIES Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Densmore, Frances. An Explanation of a Trick Performed by Indian Jugglers. American Anthropologist April-June, 1932 Vol.34(2):310-314.

In this article by Frances Densmore, she attempts to explain a way in which Algonquian Indian healers, known as jugglers, manifest the presence of spirits in a special tipi constructed solely for this purpose. The ceremony begins with the jugglers being placed in the tipi bound by a cord from which he must escape. He then sings and plays a drum to summon the spirits. Often it is the spirit of the Great Turtle that is summoned. Densmore states that the ceremony is very expensive and with the progress of enlightenment, the Indians have, “ceased to desire it.”

Densmore was able to see the “trick” performed at Grand Portage, Minnesota, at a Chippewa village on the north shore of Lake Superior. Afterward, she was allowed to inspect the place where the tipi had been set up. Here she found the eight poles of the tipi laid on the ground next to the folded cover made of cloth or canvas (she is not sure which). Near the circle of holes where the tipi poles were planted were various hoops that had cords tied to them. It is Densmore’s explanation that the hoops go around the poles and the juggler pulls on the cords to make the tipi move from side to side. However, a demonstration of the performance was once given by a juggler in the attack of a house where the poles could not be planted in the ground. She therefore suspects that one of the hoops goes around the bottom of the poles similar to a barrel hoop, which keeps the tipi together. Another case might be that it is the hoops alone that are moved and the rest to the tipi stands stationary. Regardless of her explanation, Densmore concludes that the most fascinating thing about the ceremony is the influence it exerts on the minds of the Indians who take part in the ceremony.

CLARITY: 4
T.M. KEY Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Densmore, Frances. An Explanation of a Trick Performed by Indian Jugglers. American Anthropologist 34: 310-14.

Densmore describes the treatment of sick among the Algonquian tribe. The are two types of men who treat the sick; doctors who give herbs and men called jugglers who use magic to treat the sick. She looks specifically at the jugglers and how they perform their magic.

During part of the treatment ritual, a juggler is tied into a small tipi smaller than those that are lived in. The juggler frees himself, and summons the spirits by singing and drum pounding. The family of the sick are seated outside the tipi and observe the violently shaking tipi.

Densmore saw this from a distance for herself in a Chippewa village in Minnesota. She says the tipi swayed like a pendulum, swaying exactly the same distance each time. After the consistent swaying it was violently shaken as if the tipi would come apart. The next day she had to opportunity to inspect the area where the shaking tipi had been. She found the ground undisturbed. She was also allowed to look at the disassembled tipi. The holes where the poles connected were unharmed as well. Densmore believes there is a mechanical explanation. One possible explanation is that the lower hoops keep the poles in place, while the upper hoops are larger than the poles. These upper hoops could by manipulated by the juggler through cords attached to his body.

CLARITY RATE 3
KRISTEN BURSEY California State University, Hayward (Peter Claus)

Densmore, Frances. The Native Music of American Samoa. American Anthropologist July-September, 1932 Vol.34(3):415-417.

The focus of this brief article is the documentation of the native music of American Samoa. To this end, Densmore recounts the process by which the presented information was obtained (through a relative in the navy stationed at Pago Pago). These interviews revealed that two types of songs were utilized in American Samoa. One was used primarily as a war song involving a melody repeated without change, which had been passed down the generations; the other involved a lengthy speech or narrative sung to a melody that was improvised and used to accompany activities such as working in the fields, rowing, or fishing, or by children playing.

Densmore recognizes that there are similarities between this body of Samoan songs and the songs of three other groups that she had previously witnessed and / or recorded and transcribed: the songs presented by a group of Filipinos at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri; those obtained from a group of Panamanian Tule Indians during their visit to Washington; and the possibility of similarity to songs of the Ute Indians as mentioned by other tribes but not confirmed by the author. No speculation was made in the article as to a causative agent for these similarities. Densmore closes this work with a note of regret, as she acknowledges that many of the improvised songs had not been recorded, and that (p. 417) “…the last person possessing the ability to sing them will soon have entered into the silence of the past.”

CLARITY RANKING: 3
LINDA SMITH Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Densmore, Frances. The Native Music of American Samoa. 34:(27) 415-417.

According to the article there has only been one song that has been published at Pago Pago, American Samoa. It is said that this song was first sang at the departure of a popular American Admiral proceeding the naval tragedy of 1889. Since then, many different songs are sung using the same tune. In corroboration with Samoans an inquiry was set forth to better understand native music of American Samoa. What was discovered was that there is are striking similarities “between the Samoan and other primitive music.”

There are two kinds of songs that are used in American Samoa: 1.) melodies that are repeated without change and are used after many generations, and 2.) long narratives. The Samoan songs are always sung by a chorus and are never sung by solos.

The article also mentions how these features were found among the Filipino music in an exposition in Missouri in 1904, and the latter was found among the Tule Indians of Panama whose nine songs have been recorded and transcribed in Washington. Densmore discloses the unfortunate circumstances that many of these songs face of not being recorded, and therefore being lost forever.

CLARITY RATE: 5
CARLA ESTRADA California State University, Hayward (Peter Claus)

Densmore, Frances. A Resemblance Between Yuman and Pueblo Songs. American Anthropologist October-December, 1932 Vol.34(4):694-700.

This article begins with the supposition that in order to compare the elements in a set of materials under investigation, the “norm” of the elements must be identified and subsequently grouped. Ultimately, this comparison may also lead to the recognition of differences, as well as an eventual explanation for them. To this end, Densmore analyzed approximately 2,000 Indian songs and sought to find the normative elements among them. The elements considered included both the rhythmic and melodic patterns found in the songs of a variety of Native American groups, with the main focus being on the San Blas, Yuman, Pueblo, Papago, and Yaqui. She posits that the norm of these Indian songs lies not within the melodic progression but within the rhythmic unit, and chronicles various rhythmic periods in great detail by utilizing the lyrics of the songs to exemplify these patterns. Occasionally, Densmore also noted when a given pattern is associated with a given entity or activity (e.g., spirits [p. 696] or digging medicinal herbs [p. 699], respectively.) In a brief conclusion, it is posited that these rhythmic similarities may be evidence of prior culture contact between tribes that are now widely separated.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
LINDA SMITH Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Dixon, Roland B. The Problem of the Sweet Potato in Polynesia. American Anthropologist January-March, 1932 Vol.34(1):40-59.

It has been concluded by Botanists that the origin of the sweet potato is undoubtedly Central or South America. However, it was reported by great explorers in the eighteenth century to be a very widespread food source in Polynesia. This can only be explained in three ways; introduction by the Spanish, the Polynesians, or by the Peruvian or American Indians when exploring the to the west. Throughout this article, Dixon deals with the theory of Spanish origin.

Dixon begins by trying to prove the absence of the sweet potato the Pacific area at the time of the first Spanish contacts. From notes of Mendana in 1595 or by Quiros, no mention of the sweet potato or yam is given in the description of the foods in the area. Yet, by the eighteenth century, both the sweet potato and the yam can be found. In eastern Melanesia, it can be said that, what is thought to be the sweet potato could be found here as early as 1595. Through other accounts and dialects of the name, it can be assumed that the sweet potato was in fact in Melanesia at the time the first Spanish contact.

This mere assumption can bring along many more questions. If this direct contemporary evidence is not conclusive, then the indirect evidence that the sweet potato was already present in Polynesia can be very strong. From this point on, Dixon reviews the presence of the sweet potato, not only in Polynesia, but in other areas as well. In Hawaii, Easter Island and New Zealand, the sweet potato was a popular food item by 1778. Within this region lie many islands, the reference to sweet potatoes is not common in these areas due to the unfavorable environment for cultivation.

So it seems that the evidence shows that the sweet potato was certainly in use in some areas as early as the twelfth century (in Tahiti) and thus, probably introduced into New Zealand also about that time. Through the profound change in the early mediaeval times, what was once an ignored plant became a vastly important food item in Polynesia before the time of the Spaniards.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
CARRIE CROZIER Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Dixon, Roland B. The Problem Of The Sweet Potato In Polynesia. American Anthropologist. 34: 40-66.

Roland B. Dixon deals with the problem of the sweet potato occurring in Polynesia by first assuming that it is indigenous to central and south America. He states that if this is the case then its appearance in Polynesia was introduced by either the Spanish, the central or South American Indians, or brought back from the Americas via Polynesians. In this article Dixon examines the widely adhered to theory of Spanish introduction. He states that the Spanish theory is based on inconclusive and illogical evidence. The theory is taken as valid due to Mendana and Quiros, Spanish explorers who discovered small groups of islands in Polynesia and eastern Melanesia whos inhabitants made no mention of the existence of the sweet potato. This theory is also supported because the Spanish explorers made the trip from Peru where the sweet potato is abundant and that the Spanish were known for planting familiar foods in the areas they explored.

Dixon argued this assumption as the basis of his article due to direct and indirect evidence. While the Spanish proponents use only certain accounts, Dixon gives a more circumspect analysis by providing numerous accounts by explorers, missionaries, and aboriginal inhabitants. He analyzes aboriginal myths and chants surrounding cultivation and looks at oral tradition surrounding diffusion. He applies this to Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia. He also crosschecks data also with the native words for sweet potato. He also points out illogical conclusions that were based on partial information sources. He came to the conclusion that the sweet potato’s introduction and diffusion had to have been from Polynesian and Indian contact due to the careful accounts of it existing in New Zealand in the 12th and 13th century, well before Spanish contact.

CLARITY: 3
MARGARET BAYLON California State University, Hayward (Peter Claus)

Driberg, J.H. Lotuko Dialects. American Anthropology October-December, 1932 Vol.34(4):601-609.

Driberg seems to have rushed to publish this article. In this short essay he works data to show connections amongst the tribes conquered by the Lotuko via “linguistic clues” (601). Much of Driberg’s methodology is suspect due to poor sampling techniques and personal bias.

Driberg compiled a list of about 120 English words and then had them translated by several different groups. Vocabularies I (Lotuko) and II (Turkana) of the eight are for “comparison purposes and are provided by “Lord Raglan’s paper ‘The Lotuko Language’. Vocabularies III (Lopit), IV (Lerya), V (Owe) and VI (Dongotono) were interpreted by a Lotuko speaking interpreter employed by Driberg. Driberg attests to the interpreters abilities based on a cross-reference “check by [the] slight knowledge of Lotuko and particularly of the Lango dialect of Lotuko” he possessed. “Vocabularies VII (Nyangiya) and VIII (Lokadhan) were obtained directly through the medium of Didiga [?]”. (601)

Driberg “knew from cultural evidence that the Dongotono and Lokadhan were the same people”. Driberg also summarized that the Lopit were descendents of the Dongotono and that all three groups were “non-Lotuko”. The Lerya and Owe are grouped as the Lokoya by Driberg who states “[they] are generally accepted as different from the Lotuko: I knew nothing about them, but wished, if possible, to find some clue to their identity. [Driberg] had no views concerning the Nyangiya” (603).

Driberg comes to the conclusion that “the vocabularies suggest the faint possibility all these tribes were related and spoke a common language”. Through isolation by Lotuko-speaking immigrants their neighbors have linguistically influenced these tribes. Driberg comes to these conclusions based on observations, which he divides into categories based on the language groupings (i.e. I, II, III,…,VIII). Driberg’s observations include similarities in words, similarities in gender affixes and historical background (603).

CLARITY RANKING: 2
JEFFERY BROWN: Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

DuBois, Cora A. Tolowa Notes. American Anthropologist April, 1932 Vol.34(2):236-247.

Tolowa notes is a compilation of descriptions of ceremonies performed by the Tolowa of California. The article focuses on ceremonies for women, which is in part due to the fact that DuBois’ main informant was a full-blooded Tolowan woman. Tolowan Notes begins with a description of the Girls’ Puberty Ceremony. This ceremony was held for all young women in the village and would last for ten days. It took place over three successive menstrual periods. Boys did not undergo initiation but were taken deer hunting and fishing around the age of eleven or twelve.

In Tolowan society, marriages were arranged. There was a bride price paid by the grom’s family, and the bride price would be greater if the girl’s puberty ceremony had been highly elaborate. The bride would also present her mother-in-law with a gift of ornaments and accessories. Households were often either patrilocal or matrilocal but included only the nuclear family. Females who were considered industrious also encountered a higher bride price, because women’s work was valued, although the informant gave the impression that males were considered superior to females.

Most women were shamans. In fact, female shamanesses were regarded as more prestigious and powerful than male shamans. There are myths to explain how the first woman became a shaman. There are initiation ceremonies for becoming a shaman. DuBois describes different healing techniques used by shamans. Opposed to shamans were individuals who possessed the ability to poison others.

DuBois also describes a first salmon ceremony, which is held in order to acknowledge the first fish of the season as well as to voice hope that fish will always be plentiful. In the Feather dance, young people danced as others bestowed wishes of good fortune upon them. DuBois also shares myths about the first people, who were animal characters; about a repopulating of the earth; and explaining why pigeons cry.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
TERA CREMEENS: Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Dubois, Cora. Tolowa Notes. American Anthropologist 34: 248-61.

In 1929 Cora Dubois gathered information from Agnes Mattz, a Tolowa woman of 45, about different aspects of Tolowa life. Mattz came from an area north of Requa in California. At the time the information was collected she was living in Oakland, CA.

The article contains information on many different topics about Tolowa life. The length of girls’ puberty ceremonies is compared to ceremonies for boys. The ceremony for girls lasted ten days, four of which the girl fasted. If the girl came from a prominent family, then singing and dancing were included towards the end of the ceremony. No similar rites were held for boys, although Mattz noted that boys were held with higher regard.

Information on marriage, death and social rank is included. A man’s parents typically decided who he would marry. Although there was a bride price, the bride’s family was expected to give the groom’s family gifts.

When someone died all their belongings were destroyed so that the survivors wouldn’t be reminded of their death. However, the Tolowa valued wealth, so in many cases valuables such as boats and paddles were purified and used by the relatives. The Tolowa were also able to own property. Wealthy men owned areas of the river bank where only they had the right to fish. They were also able to own deer hunting ground. The beach however was owned by everybody. What was found on the beach was considered common property.

CLARITY RATE: 5
KRISTEN BURSEY California State University, Hayward (Peter Claus)

Field, Henry. Ancient Wheat and Barley from Kish, Mesopotamia. American Anthropologist April-June, 1932 Vol.34(2):303-309.

Henry Field was present at two archaeological digs in Mesopotamia in 1925-26 and 1927-28, and came across a handful of ancient grain samples. These samples were wheat grains, barley seeds, and an unidentified spice found at the three research sites. Field discussed his findings on each of the types of grains and shared research reports from various colleagues.The wheat was found in a painted jar at the site of Jemdet Nasr during the first expedition. The contents were burned by fire, but still deemed identifiable. After sending specimens to various botanists throughout the world, the results came back in conflict. Of three researchers, they each came to differing conclusions as to the particular species of the grains. All of the conclusions pointed to types of wheat grain used to make bread. Field included some of the correspondence notes that cited the detailed scrutiny the researchers used and the arguments they posed. The barley samples were found during the 1927-28 expedition at the sites of Kish and Jemdet Nasr. Two samples were from Kish and one was from the Jemdet site. The specimens were examined by at least three persons specializing in either ancient agriculture or plant identification. The results all determined that the barley found was an ancient variety, some of the first kind routinely cultivated. The third type of sample found was an unpainted jar found at the Jemdet site in the 1928-29 expedition. It contained an unknown type of seed. Of the two most educated guesses on the contents of the jar, one came to the conclusion that it was probably a form of mixed spice used to season food, and the other purported that it was a mixture of some type of barley and another unidentifiable type of seed.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
BRYAN TIPPY Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Field, Henry. Ancient Wheat and Barely from Kish, Mesopotamia. American Anthropologist 34: 303-9.

Between 1925 and 1928, wheat, barley and spice samples were collected during excavations in Kish. At that time, these were the oldest samples of cultivated cereals in Mesopotamia. Field provides extensive quotes from botanical experts to document their opinions on these samples. The samples were given to the Field Museum Department of Botany and the Assistant Curator of Economic Botany. These experts in turn allowed other experts to look at them. Field uses their quotes as proof of the early domestication of wheat and barley in the area.

The wheat seeds were found in 1926 at Jemdet Nasr in a painted jar. The jar they were found in was black from a fire that destroyed the city. It was believed that the seeds were circa 3500 B.C. The barley seeds were found during a 1927-1928 excavation. The barley seeds were blackened by time which made identification difficult. Because of the shape of the seeds it was determined that they were a type of barley. It was not determined what the third sample of seeds were, although it was thought that they were used as seasoning.

CLARITY: 4
KRISTEN BURSEY California State University, Hayward (Peter Claus)

Gilmore, Melvin R. Importance of Ethnobotanical Investigation. American Anthropologist April-June, 1932 Vol.34(2):320-327.

In this article Gilmore makes a strong case for the necessity of making ethnobotanical investigations a crucial part of any ethnographic study. He discusses the reasons why such information is beneficial to ethnographic study. His reasons include the ability to gauge the culture of a people by their use of plant materials; how plants influence important areas within a culture including, symbolism, ceremony, philosophy, linguistics and history; that plants may serve as indicators of the level of scientific advancement; and how this knowledge helps to enhance other areas of anthropological inquiry.

Gilmore does not just talk about the importance of this type of investigation. He gives a presentation of methods that can be utilized by field workers to collect and preserve data. These instructions include collecting a representative sample of the plant material, and preparing a herbarium specimen containing all parts of the plant in question. Additionally, he stresses the importance of documenting what types of items the plant is used to produce. Examples of these products should be secured if they are available. Finally, a detailed description should be created at the time of collection to ensure accuracy of information and should then be confirmed by a local informant. A note of caution is added at the end that all field workers should be careful in identifying materials, and to be certain that what they are presenting as native is indeed that, and not a specimen introduced from another area and incorporated into the society in question.

CLARITY RANKING: 5
TINA HASTINGS Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Gilmore, Melvin R. Importance of Ethnobotanical Investigation. American Anthropologist. vol. 34: 320-7.

This author laments the neglect of ethnobotanical investigation within ethnological research. The important relationship between primitive people to their floral environment he feels to be “fundamental to all their culture”(320) insofar as their economy and material culture is concerned. Primitive people depend on plants for their own food and for the food for their hunted animal food source. Plants are very important also for their utilization as material for making implements, tools, and containers. Plants are also used for ornamentation, as well as for making homes, musical instruments, and transportation devices.

Ethnobotanical investigation can provide clues to “ancient commerce and commercial routes”(322), linguistic studies, folklore, “dating of seasonal industrial activities, and of festive and religious occasions”(322). Also, botanists should be consulted in case they might further shed light on ethnobotanical considerations. Specimens of plants should be collected. “Such data are of permanent and inestimable value in many and often unexpected ways”(325). Specific collecting techniques are here elaborated on. The distinction must always be drawn between indigenous and introduced plants.

CLARITY RATE: 5
MATTHEW CARNEY California State University, Hayward (Peter Claus)

Greenman, E. F. Origin and Development of the Burial Mound. American Anthropologist April-June, 1932 Vol.34(2):286-295.

This article discusses several possible reasons for the development of the custom of burying the dead in mounds. The reasons considered are the combination of four circumstances: high regard for the sanctity of the grave; its protection from vandalism, animal or human; the conscious conception or accidental suggestion of mounds in one or more of a number of ways; and their acceptance as a solution to avoid the difficulty of digging into the hardpan.

The author believes that based on comparisons of the Hopewell and Adena of the Mississippi Valley, who were mound builders, against the Iroquois, who were not, can provide some conclusions about the burial mound. The Hopewell had a cult of the dead that took great time and energy to care for their dead and prepare large burial mounds and they also offered abundant mortuary tributes. The Iroquois buried their dead in shallow graves and had little mortuary tributes. This shows that the Hopewell people had a higher regard for the remains of their dead and for their welfare in the afterlife than the Iroquois. Another reason for the mounds in Hopewell and Adena culture was the fact that with the burial of expensive tributes and the Hopewell’s high regard for the dead, they built enormous mounds to protect the grave goods as well as the dead from vandalism by animals and humans. The richest finds of grave goods appear in large mounds rather than in unguarded, shallow graves. Another possibility that resulted in the formation of burial mounds may be the force of the environment. The hardpan is firm, well-packed earth, often containing mass quantities of clay which lies one to three feet below the ground surface. The type of ground available for burying the dead will dictate what type of burial is found. If a gravel bank or sandy region by a river is available then the burial would most likely be underground, but if the region contains clay, rock, or is in an area like Alaska or Siberia, where the earth is often frozen, burials are most often above ground on in some instances cremation or burial at sea is practiced. Another difference between the beliefs of the Hopewell and Iroquois can also explain their use or lack of use of burial mounds. The Hopewell may have believed in protecting the dead from returning and that it was therefore necessary to leave a marker of their presence. The Iroquois, however, have ritual dances in which they believe that the dead come and join in, so shallow graves allow the spirit of the dead to get out.

To conclude, the burial mound seems to have developed for a number of reasons including ease of interment, a desire to protect the dead and their grave goods, to leave a marker of the dead behind, and to coincide with ritual beliefs. It may have arisen accidentally or by suggestion, but it seems to have started with the Adena who practiced both ground grave and mound burials, and for whatever reason or reasons, mound burial continued to flourish.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
NIKKI JOHNSON Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Greenman, E.F. Origin and Development of the Burial Mound. American Anthropologist 34: 286-95.

Greenman questions the factors that brought about the practice of burying the dead in burial mounds rather than in graves. He deduces what he believes was the most probable explanation from a wide selection of possible origins.

Greenman thinks the reason mounds were favored was to avoid digging into the “hardpan”, which he describes as hard packed earth. This would especially apply to groups who had a high regard for the sanctity of the grave and wanted to protect it from animals and vandalism. An example of this is found among burials in Ohio. Most of the burials in the area were shallow and contained no burial goods upon their discovery. However, a burial mound fourteen feet high was found in the area which contained many artifacts.

Two more examples are given to demonstrate the contrast between groups with a high regard for keeping the grave undisturbed and those did not put as much effort into the burial process. Archaeological records show that the Hopewell not only had large burial mounds, but put a lot of expense and effort into the burials. In contrast, the Iroquois had shallow graves and did not invest as much effort in the burial preparations.

Greenman acknowledges the practice of burial mounds could have begun either consciously or by accident. Regardless of how it began, it offered a solution from digging into the hard earth that still protected the grave and grave goods.

CLARITY: 3
KRISTEN BURSEY California State University, Hayward (Peter Claus)

Hallowell, A. Irving. Kinship Terms of the Montagnis-Naskap and the Cree. American Anthropologist April, 1932 Vol.34(2):171-199.

Hallowell wrote this article as an expansion of an earlier article that he had written. In it he revisits some of his earlier postulations regarding the use of linguistics to prove that the Cree and the Montagnais-Napaski practiced cross-cousin marriage. In this study, Hallowell is studying how familial relationships and in-law terms are often cross-applicable, indicating that cross-cousin marriages are frequent and normative at least at one time in these societies. Among the Montagnais, he worked mainly among the Barren Ground group. As for the Cree, he discusses the Prairie, Woods, Lowlands, and Lacombe.

Among groups found in the Barren Ground region all of the terms Hallowell studied had some overlapping usage. For the Cree he found that the Prairie, Woods, and Lowlands all had correlations with a woman’s sister-in-law and a woman’s female cross-cousin.

Hallowell thoroughly prepares the reader for any problems that have or may come up in his research. This includes materials he has not been able to find but that he believes would be pertinent to his study as well as assumptions that he has made.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
TERA CREMEENS: Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Hallowell, Irving A. Kinship Terms and Cross-Cousin Marriage of the Montagnais-Naskapi and the Cree. American Anthropologist. 34: 171-199.

From previous ethnographic and historical data Hallowell thought that cross-cousin marriages once practiced, as exhibited by collected vocabularies from the 16th and 17th centuries, fell out of existence. In 1928 Dr. W. D. Strong discovered cross-cousin marriage in the Barren Ground band of Naskapi. He notes that this paper is a sequel to the one he presented at the Proceedings of the 23rd International Congress of Americanists. In the beginning of the paper Hallowell goes over the linguistical data that was collected by Jesuit Missionaries. He makes a complete analysis of evidence from linguistic data on the Montagnais-Naskapi and Cree. Kinship terms are analyzed chronologically for more accurate interpretation due to the complex social changes that took place with the introduction of Europeans. Terms are found and compared to the variation and usages in other bands for accuracy. Terms are analyzed from the Women’s Sister-In-Law=Woman’s Female Cross-Cousin, Man’s Brother-In-Law=Man’s Male Cross-Cousin=Sweetheart, Son-In-Law=Cross-Nephew, and Daughter-In-Law=Cross Niece categories. By cross-comparative lexical analysis Hollowell hypothesized when cross-cousin marriage practices fell out of existence and also which groups borrowed terms.

CLARITY RATE: 3
MARGARET BAYLON California State University, Hayward (Peter Claus)

Haury, Emil W. The Age of Lead Glaze Decorated Pottery in the Southwest. American Anthropologist July-September, 1932 Vol.34(3):418-425.

Haury’s article focuses on lead glaze decorated pottery of Showlow and Pinedale, Arizona, excavated in the summer of 1929. Both of these sites have been dated by dendrochronology, the newest technique for dating ruins in the early 1930s, and can both be determined as being abandoned before Spanish conquest. The origin of the pottery of this region can be dated by stratigraphy to be pre-Spanish, thus by both dating techniques can be labeled as an indigenous art form. The dates for Showlow sites are A.D. 1204, known as the first horizon, and A.D. 1375, the third horizon; and these are marked by distinct levels of inhabitancy. The Pinedale site is in intermediate relation to the Showlow sites with a date of A.D. 1290, thus the second horizon. In the earliest dated site, or first horizon, the lead glaze technique is not represented. The Pinedale horizon pottery constitutes lead glaze of black color that appears on red ware and black-on-white pottery bearing glaze decoration that is not of lead composition. In the third horizon, late Showlow, black-on-white ware is still present but without affiliated glaze, and lead glaze, black only in color, continues to appear on red ware. The red ware in Pinedale strata do not all have glaze decoration, but all vessels from this time are technologically identical and certainly made by local manufacture. It is purposed that the black glaze of the Pinedale region was just developing and was continued through to the late Showlow period. The compositions of the glazes from Pinedale and late Showlow sites both contain lead and copper as the main ingredients and the lead to copper ratio is nearly the same. This shows that the compounding method for the pigments remained roughly the same for a period of over 100 years.

To conclude, lead glaze pottery is pre-Hispanic in origin and its use can be dated to roughly A.D. 1250. It is an example of invention, development, and degeneration, since lead glaze pottery disappears soon after Spanish arrival, and marks a definite period in Pueblo pottery development.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
NIKKI JOHNSON Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Haury, Emil W. The Age of Lead Glaze Decorated Pottery in the Southwest. 34:(28) 418-425.

This article focuses on Pueblo ceramics or pottery that has been found in the upper Little Colorado drainage and the Santa Fe region that includes the Rio Grande valley. One of the two items it addresses is the claim of the development of glaze painting before the arrival of the Spaniards. Stratigraphic evidence as well as dendro-chronology methods have determined dates for debris of glazed decorated pottery layers in the earth. This means that between the years of 1204 AD and 1375 AD these artifacts were made.

The second item the article addresses refers to Southwestern ceramic evolution. Based on dated artifacts and their uniqueness, three different culture strata has been determined, the First (+/-1204 AD), Second (+/- 1290 AD) and Third Horizon (+/-1375 AD). Each period has its particular glaze techniques which exemplifies the invention and evolution of such techniques and helps to keep in mind that they are to be placed in the indigenous development category as opposed to accultural traits acquired from the Spaniards.

CLARITY RATE: 4
CARLA ESTRADA California State University, Hayward (Peter Claus)

Hogbin, H. Ian Sorcery At Ongtong Java. American Anthropologist July-September, 1932 Vol.34(3):441-448.

Hogbin’s article is a good example of functionalist theory. In looking at sorcery among the Polynesian people of Ongtong Java, Hogbin claims that sorcery was a means of executing justice and maintaining social cohesion. According to Hogbin, there are no longer any persons practicing sorcery at Ongtong Java, but Hogbin did talk to elders of the community who were able to describe sorcery and its use in the villages of Ongtong. Hogbin even admits that his account is not “first hand” but rather taken from what others have told him (p.441).

The systems of sorcery, or “pa’ava”, are each founded or introduced into the community by either foreigners, foreign places, or natives who have traveled abroad and have acquired a system of sorcery or “black magic” as Hogbin also calls it. A sorcerer could place a spell on a man that might result in his death, but more often a sorcerer or “kama e loa pa’ava” would be called upon to heal. Generally, illness was thought to be an evil presence that had been placed inside a man or woman by spirits. The sorcerer, in order to cure the patient, had to remove the evil thing or presence and then purify the patient.

Sorcerers healed, but they also enacted revenge. For instance, Hogbin recorded an instance in which a woman had stolen taro from the garden of a sorcerer’s wife. The sorcerer, ‘Ohou, did not know who the thief was but made a general spell for the person who had stolen the taro. Two days later, a woman became ill and died. Apparently this woman admitted to stealing the taro on her deathbed (p.445). Hogbin collected several stories of sorcerers administering justice in the form of pa’ava. In each case, Hogbin felt that the sorcerer had a reason to be mad with the man or woman for whom pa’ava was directed.

Hogbin concludes that pa’ava, or sorcery, was the primary way in which the people of Ongtong Java could administer justice in a community where there was “no legal mechanism for the punishment of…offender[s]” (p.445). Pa’ava was both a healing practice as well as a means of punishment for those who committed “anti-social” acts.

CLARITY RANKING: 5
LISA PORTER Southern IllinoisUniversity Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Hogbin, Ian. Sorcery at Ongtong Java. American Anthropologist 34:(30) 441-448.

Hogbin has previously given descriptions of Ongtong Java located northeast of Solomon islands on various smaller islands. The dwellers of these islands are Polynesian people. Like many other cultures, Ongtong Java had its share of sorcerers who performed black magic to put spells on people. The sorcerers were primarily the headman of a group of many families. The sorcerer knew many different kinds of spells to fulfill distinct tasks, and recognized diversified methods to accomplish the same spell.

Hogbin acknowledges three ways a headmen may kill a man which always began with the targeted person becoming ill. He also offers alternatives to getting rid of the hex by the ailing individual to have his life spared. There are different reasons why sorcerers performed such spells on people. Primarily it was to express anger that surfaced because of adultery or theft. It was usually done to punish those that had done wrong and in way reinforced rules that needed to be obeyed and “helped to maintain social stability.” However, there were cases where people were killed by spells for no apparent reasons. According to family members they were mysteriously killed for unknown motivations by those few who had the advantage of having the knowledge of black magic.

CLARITY RATE: 5
CARLA ESTRADA California State University, Hayward (Peter Claus)

Jacobs, Melville. Northern Sahaptin Kinship Terms. American Anthropologist October-December, 1932 Vol.34(4):688-693.

This article by Melville Jacobs is a very straightforward list of Sahaptin kinship terms. It was gathered from the upper Cowlitz River Sahaptin of western Washington in 1927. The most notable thing about this list to a non linguist or someone not familiar with the Sahaptin people is a focus on informal and formal forms, forms that are for age ranges, as well as forms that stay the same whether for a sibling or a cousin. This article may be of good use for comparative research, or as a preliminary list for someone interested in these people or their language.

CLARITY: 4
T.M. KEY Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Jenks, Albert Ernest. The Problem of the Culture from the Arvilla Gravel Pit. American Anthropologist June, 1932 Vol.34(3):455-466.

Albert Jenks’ article examines artifacts found from burials in North Dakota. Jenks uses these artifacts to determine when and who produced the culture of the Arvilla gravel pit. Mr. E. K. Kennedy had carefully dug out the site, located in the Red River valley, in 1908. Twenty-three years later, the information and artifacts were passed to the author for further analysis. Stretching over 1,500 feet, the graves were filled with black earth and were eight feet by eight feet in diameter. Each of the graves contained four to eight human skeletons sitting in an upright, sitting position. Jenks believed that the graves had all been made at the same time and had no signs of previous intrusions. There is evidence to suggest that the multiple burials were the result of massive loss of life, either from war, epidemic, or following a social custom to bury members of the tribe in the chief’s grave. The author believes that the burials were due to an epidemic.

The artifacts examined in the article were two harpoons, a tooth-edged knife, a skin-dresser, three beads, and a sandstone or “whetstone.” Jenks describes the artifacts’ structures and uses, and provides excellent photographs of each artifact. By examining the artifacts, Jenks suggested that the Arvilla gravel pit culture was a migrating, hunting tribe influenced by the northern Eskimo culture. He also says that it is possible that the tribe was wiped out in a strange environment or by an epidemic that they were unable to influence nearby tribes.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
AMY CREASY Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Liang, S. Yung. Some Problems of Far Eastern Archaeology. American Anthropologist July-September, 1932 Vol.34(3):365-376.

Liang begins this article by giving a brief overview of particular Palaeolithic finds and the geographical distribution of these finds in the Far East. The three major areas include: the south Siberian region, the northern Chinese region and the Indian group. The Indian groups include sites in both south Siberia and the northern Chinese; however, these finds are used only for comparison. The findings show that the two groups, Siberian and Chinese, are very familiar. Although this may sound great, Liang sees many holes arising from these results.

The problem of stratigraphy is first brought to discussion. The question asked here is due to the variations between the two groups. Are they due to latitudinal and environmental differences or are they the result of a time difference? Paleontology becomes an issue bearing upon this question. There are similar animal species involved in both Siberia and China; however, the climatic and geographic characteristics do not prove fit for some in either site. Again, the question of chronological differences or latitudinal differences is being evaluated.

Another question asked by Liang, is about the origin of the cultural evidence found in these sites. The cultural finds do not seem to belong where they were found, or in the same time frame as one another. These findings question the sequence of the Mousterian, Capsian and Tardenoisian cultures. Liang tries to link all the findings of one area together and try to paint a clearer picture of the connections and time frames that these findings originated. Throughout the rest of this article, Liang investigates the possible connections that can be made with this cultural evidence and how the system of Far Eastern Archaeology may be problematic.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
CARRIE CROZIER Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Liang, Yung. Some Problems of Far Eastern Archaeology. American Anthropologist 34:(23) 365-376.

The article states that some of the earliest human relics are from the Palaeolithic group in the far east. Within this larger group there are three sub-groups where there have been a distribution of the remains found: 1.) the South Siberian group, 2.) the North Chinese group, 3.) the Indian group.

The article lists different regions, their faunal contents, their corresponding stratified layers of earth as well as some cultural contents found among the groups. Some faunal contents include horse, rhinoceros, gazelle and wild cattle. The cultural contents include hammers, blade-like-flakes and bones instruments.

Even though the objects found are similar among the three groups, there are minor differences that arise questions concerning the strtigraphy, and the latitudinal or chronological differences. Possible theories can be offered, but further discoveries are needed to determine the chronology of each group. For example, one that has been developed for the Western Gobi Desert region that begins with the Pure Mongol, and ends with the Palaeolithic. Liang states that there is a great need for a more systematic study of these prehistoric cultures in order to better make comparisons and establish relations among the groups.

CLARITY RATE: 3
CARLA ESTRADA California State University, Hayward (Peter Claus)

Mekeel, Scudder. A Discussion of Culture Change as Illustrated by Material from a Teton-Dakota Community. American Anthropologist June, 1932 Vol.34(2):274-285.

This article highlights the changes in the functions of the traditional political offices of the Ogala people. As the times have changed the political structure has changed also, and the responsibilities of the traditional posts have altered as well.

The author begins with a brief discussion of the nature of diffusion between cultures and how an item or idea may not be implemented in the same manner in all cultures. He notes how this process of transference takes numerous years and as such that any study of a culture must be done over a period of time. With this historic view in mind, Mekeel renders to the reader a brief account of the history of the Ogala people from their days on the plain to their current (1930’s) inhabitation of the Pine Ridge reservation. A detailed description of the former organizational system is provided.

The day to day operations of the government were handled by the wakic’unsa and the akicita. The wakic’unsa were the main center of power and made most of the policy decisions. Their primary decision was when to split up and rejoin the camps during the seasonal migrations. The akicita served as peacekeepers, organizing the hunt for buffalo, keeping everyone safe, and punishing those who were responsible for another’s death.

As time went by and the Ogala were placed on the reservations, Buffalo hunts and the summer migration became less and less common, and the old offices were no longer needed to serve their original purposes. Still, local towns would hold rodeos, and in order to bring in as many tourists as possible, the local mayor would invite the Ogala to camp near to their respective towns. This movement of people and need for organization gave the old political offices an avenue of expression. The wakicunsa form a committee to handle the logistics of the movement of people, where water can be gained, how much and what provisions the city provides and other logistical matters provide. The Akicita are no longer a peacekeeping force within the camps themselves.

Mekeel finishes by contemplating the factors that have affected these developments within the Ogala political structure. Overall, it’s a well thought out article, with keen observation and fair evaluation.

CLARITY RATING: 4
GLENN MYERS Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Mekeel, Scudder. A Discussion of Culture Change as Illustrated by Material from a Teton-Dakota Community. American Anthropologist 34: 274-85

Mekeel argues that in order to examine the process of cultural change, a culture’s different aspects need to be studied in full. Then, the culture should be watched over several years and studied again by looking at the cultural influences that shaped it.

He gives an example of how this type of study would work and the problems one would face. Mekeel observed the nomadic camps of the Oglala Teton-Dakota group in the summer of 1930. Prior to their life on reservations the group’s summer hunting lent itself to a nomadic lifestyle. When they were no longer allowed to go on the summer hunts they began to attend fairs and rodeos as attractions for the visitors. Due to reservation controls and their attendance at the fairs and rodeos their political organization changed.

Mekeel poses the question as to whether their nomadic tendency was a cultural trait which would be passed on to future generations. The next step would be to ask what “forces” are working either for or against their nomadic summer lifestyle. In this case the forces would include government restrictions, missionaries, educators and the towns that want them present for rodeos. He says the ultimate purpose in this kind of study is to be able to determine laws of cultural processes. He calls the Oglala Teton-Dakota group a “primitive “culture” which is an ideal lab to study these processes.

CLARITY RATE: 4
KRISTEN BURSEY California State University, Hayward (Peter Claus)

Morgan, William. Navaho Dreams. American Anthropologist July-September, 1932 34(3):390-405.

The author of this article goes on a quest to see how similar Navaho dreams are to the causalities of children. He goes into detailed discussions of certain dreams experienced be certain Navaho members and the ways in which they try to remedy them. Morgan approaches these dreams by comparing them to the thought processes of white children, which seem to have many parallels to the Navaho dreams. Morgan uses M. Jean Piaget’s research that has differentiated seventeen types of causality. The first six causalities are not used by the time the child reaches the age of eight. It is these first six causalities that Morgan compares to the Navaho dreams.

Certain types of these causalities can be labeled as “magic”, “moral”, or “motivation”, and all also explain the way that small children believe certain things come to happen. In the case of the “motivation” causality, the Navaho believe that they will be punished by the gods if they fail to do something that they are supposed to do. In this same way, white children have this feeling that they will get in trouble for not doing something right, or doing something wrong.

Some dreams are represented in all cultures, such as the dream that one is falling. It has been pointed out in Navaho dreams that there are very important factors of symbolism and the influence that myth has on their dreams. Most Navaho believe that spirits of dead men, animals, and evil witches cause dreams. This article does well in its attempt to demonstrate the causality in the thought processes of the Navaho and small white children. It also brings to light how much differently other peoples weight their lives on what is happening in their dreams. Dreams are very important to the Navaho and it influences their everyday life in many ways. However, it does seem to be quite ethnocentric to equate our methods of studying child development to a different culture’s interpretation of adult dreams.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
ALAN THIES Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Morgan, William. Navaho Dreams. American Anthropologist 34:(25) 390-405.

Morgan begins with the declaration that the Navaho Indians use nine-night ceremonies or the Night Chant to cure sickness as well as to prevent future illnesses. Morgan focuses on a shaman who wishes to hold such a ceremony for himself as a result of a reoccurring “bad” dream about many Gods chasing him and trying to drag him away. Depending on the dream, the dreamer may seek a diagnostician to determine what is causing the dream and what can be done to protect the dreamer from any negative events. The Navaho people take their “bad” dreams seriously and believe that they are warnings about future incidents.

In the article there are comparisons made between six thought-processes, that have been determined among French children by M. Jean Piaget, with Navaho dream interpretations. They are defined as: 1.) participation casualty, 2.) magical casualty, 3.) moral casualty, 4.) phenomenistic casualty, 5.) finalism casualty, and 6.) motivation casualty. These interpretations of Navajo dreams exemplify certain thought processes that may occur in a variety of dreams. However, it is ultimately determined by the dreamer as to the severity of their dreams, and therefore they mainly decide when to seek spiritual help.

CLARITY RATE: 4
CARLA ESTRADA California State University, Hayward (Peter Claus)

Murdock, George Peter. The Science of Culture. American Anthropologist April-June, 1932 Vol.34(2):200-215.

Murdock, in an attempt “to demonstrate that an adequate conception of the nature and basis of culture already exist and needs only to be recognized” (214), summarizes quite well the evolution of our culture’s concept of ‘culture’. Murdock cites Willey, Kroeber, Briffault, Tozzer, Thomas, Williams, Woodworth, Sumner, Poreto, Wissler, Allport, Chapin, Lowie, and Stern and by doing so adds great depth to his discussion.

Murdock demonstrates in this article the course (evolution if you will) of understanding of “culture” from “customs” to “cultural traits” to “folkways”. Murdock is a strong adherent to the “superorganic” as delineated by Kroeber. With determination Murdock advocates the view of culture as a strictly human phenomena and through a series of analogies and examples attempts to make clear the distinction between animal and man. This distinction seems to be reached at language – both its longevity (presumably) and its ability to convey the past as well as its ability to convey thoughts to others. Murdock also discusses the role of heredity and psychology in the study of culture.

Heredity he sees as basic and what remains after culture has been stripped away. Murdock sees individuals as initially organisms “with a vast number of unorganized responses”, which become habits based on experience. Murdock does not advocate an abandonment of heredity or the understanding of heredity, but asserts, “The laws of heredity can not contribute to the understanding of cultural phenomena” (202).

Murdock sees psychology as the study of individual culture. He argues that culture is “superindividual” thus lifting the concept “beyond the sphere of psychology” (207). Murdock notes, “It is a matter of indifference to psychology that two persons, instead of one, possess a given habit…” (207) and that “…it is precisely this fact that becomes the starting point of the science of culture” (207).

CLARITY RANKING: 4
JEFFERY BROWN: Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Murdock, George Peter. The Science of Culture. American Anthropologist 34: 200- 15.

Murdock argues that social anthropology and sociology form a single discipline, although they are treated as two different sciences. The divisions come in the process of defining culture, which is the subject of social sciences. Murdock says that a good definition of culture is needed. That there are many different interpretations of culture. He says that the differences in the explanations are due to different emphases, rather than contradictory approaches. Instead of throwing out incomplete definitions, one can get a good picture of culture from compiling the different conclusions. Culture is complex and there will be many different ideas about it. He goes on to quote different opinions and shows how they are in agreement.

One area that Murdock believes there is universal agreement, except for the extremists, is the understanding that cultural behavior is learned in a social setting rather than determined by biology. He also says that humans are different from other forms of life in that only humans possess culture. Animals may have different aspect of culture, but in its entirety culture is the ability to form habits, the presence of a social life, intelligence and language. Murdock sees the absence of language among animals as what determines their lack of culture.

CLARITY RATE: 4
KRISTEN BURSEY California State University, Hayward (Peter Claus)

Pearce, J.E. The Archaeology of East Texas. American Anthropologist October-December, 1932 Vol.34:670-687.

J.E. Pearce writes this article following up two and a half years of archaeological investigation in East Texas. He defines East Texas as that part of Texas east of ninety-six degrees longitude. This area is divided from the rest of Texas by a difference in soil and the presence of heavy timber which is mostly pines. He then divides this area into Upper East Texas and Lower East Texas. Through the archaeological remains, Pearce describes cultural attributes associated with natives of East Texas prior to white contact.

Pearce focuses on four main archaeological sites in this article. They include the Russel brother’s farm, the J.M. Riley farm, the H.R. Taylor farm, and the T.M. Sander’s farm, all south of the Red River. Starting at the Russel brother’s farm, which the author describes as “one of the richest sites encountered in all of Texas”, Pearce examines numerous burials. Of these burials, only three still contained traces of human remains, but other material such as arrowpoints in the graves proved very important. Points were found that would slip from the shaft, leaving the point imbedded in the flesh. The author believes this to point toward a war-like culture in that these arrowpoints promote blood poisoning which is more effective in war than in hunting. Furthermore, these points are characteristic of all the thirty-two sites excavated in the region, indicating a cultural element uniform of East Texas. Other artifacts of interest fom the Russel site include pipes showing a primitive precursor to the lathe. In addition, copper ear spools were found that indicate influence from the north, as there is no copper pure enough to be workable in that region.

Relating to the Russel site is the J.M. Riley farm. Here, feather-weight pottery is of abundance, including a bird-effigy bowl which has similar components found throughout East Texas, supporting Pearce’s conclusions of a homogeneous archaeological record throughout the region. Another site, the H.R Taylor farm, contained rich burials. With human remains still in place, the similarities in burial material among the sites became more evident. The T.M. Sander’s farm was considered by Pearce to be the most important site he explored in Texas. Here, he found that a large population inhabited the site for many centuries. With different burial practices, including group burials, Pearce found this site to be quite different than other sites of the region, but it is noted that after further studies, the materials are found to be more similar than at first believed.

Pearce believes that with more evidence of white contact and with the help of old Spanish documents, relations of these sites will be linked to the historical tribes of the region. He ends his paper with a plea to the reader to understand how important money is to the archaeological program of the University of Texas in order to work faster than the destruction of archaeological material in East Texas.

CLARITY 3
CHAD KALBFLEISCH Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Parsons, Elsie C. The Kinship Nomenclature of the Pueblo Indians. 34:(24) 377-389.

The article begins with the findings of Dr. Robert H. Lowie in regards to his study of the Hopi, who are a Shashonian-speaking people of the North America, and how their system of clanship reflects their nomenclature. Parsons demonstrates that in the Pueblo language such influences occur as well.

She begins with the description of the social organization of the Pueblo that relate to “kinship nomenclature, organization according to clan, to moiety, to sex, to marriage, and to seniority.” She describes how some groups use, what Lowie refers to as, “forked merging” classification of clanship. This occurs when there are words that differentiate paternal and maternal lines, and where kin are classed together.

Throughout the reading one must remember that when there is a reference to the Pueblo, there are a variety of tribes in its domain. In the article there are references made to the Hopi, the Zuni, the Keres, the Isleta, the Tewa, the Jemez and the Taos people. All these groups are compared and contrasted in terms of how their social structure has developed. The large chart as well as the numerous tables that are provided within the article aid in keeping track of the distinctions and similarities among them, and exemplify the contents of the article with more clarity.

CLARITY RATE: 4
CARLA ESTRADA California State University, Hayward (Peter Claus)

Pope, Quentin. Eldson Best. American Anthropologist January-March, 1932 Vol.34(1):134.

Pope concisely notes Eldson Best in observance of his passing as the “most famous New Zealand anthropologist; 75”. Pope also extols Best’s living with the Maori for 15 years in virtual isolation. Best is said to have come to a superb understanding of both Maori language and cognitive processes. Best has also been credited with the writing of several books, founding the Polynesian Society in 1892, and winning the Hector Medal for Research in 1914.

CLARITY RATING: 5
JEFFERY BROWN: Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Pope, Quentin. Elsdon Best. American Anthropologist. 34: 134.

Quentin Pope did a write up on Elsdon Best to commemorate his death. Elsdon Best was a famous anthropologist from New Zealand and died at 75. He was an accomplished person having a vast array of careers in New Zealand, Hawaii, and the United States. In New Zealand he lived very primitively among the Maori. He learned their native tongue and published many books on the Maori. He received the Hector Medal from the New Zealand Institute in 1914. He founded the Polynesian Society in 1892. By the time of his death, Elsdon Best had an incredibly extensive career.

CLARITY RANK: 3
MARGARET BAYLON California State University, Hayward (Peter Claus)

Powdermaker, Hortense. Feasts In New Ireland; The Social Function Of Eating. American Anthropologist April-June, 1932 Vol.34(2):236-247.

This article explains the different social functions of eating for the people of New Ireland. Hortense Powdermaker explains how feasts for these Melanesian people not only provide physical nourishment but are also a sort of internal structure holding this society together. The author wrote this article based on the “structural-functionalism” model that A. Radcliffe-Brown had developed. With this model in mind, he describes how many feasts act as an event for trading operations, gift exchanges, many other social occasions. Furthermore, the magnitude or success of these feasts determines a man’s prestige, both by how well the feast is operated as well as the comments made by others. These feasts also provide these agricultural people a means of coming together, which is crucial since the several different hamlets are separated on a few different islands.

After describing the different reasons and functions of these feasts, the author gives a description of the different roles and responsibilities carried out by both men and women of the given hamlet. While the women start preparing the taro for the meal, they work relentlessly stopping to gossip only after the necessary preparation work has been completed. During this time, the men are also busy preparing the fire pit or liga as the locals call it. This daylong event is taken very seriously since the hamlet providing the feast relies on such an event to establish them and retain any prestige. The feast itself is held in the cemetery, which is always located directly beside the sea. Young men evenly distribute the food and everybody then commences eating, guests before hosts. A toast is made by the host to honor whatever event is being celebrated, whether it be a death, marriage, or a simple payment for some agricultural good. However, all meals are not feasts like the one described in this article. On other days families will congregate on a smaller scale and enjoy a meal together outside their houses. The main point the author is trying to make is that these meals are a necessary staple for this agricultural community. They conduct business, celebrate events, and even determine a sort of ranking based on these meals. Different hamlets repay one another with these feasts showing the factors of reciprocity these feasts entail.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
KEVIN CONNORS Southern Illinois University (Jonathan Hill)

Powdermaker, Hortense. Feasts in New Ireland; The Social Function of Eating. American Anthropologist 34: 236-47.

Powdermaker observes the importance of feasts in “the primitive society” of New Ireland. She states that feasts have two important functions. First, to “maintain the cohesion” of the group, and secondly “to determine, in part, the relation of the individual to the society and to the smaller groups within it”.

She gives a brief overview of the social organization of New Ireland and stresses the communal aspect of a feast preparation. A long list of the numerous occasions for feasts along with their specific names is given. These include important life events such as a pregnancy, marriage and death. They may also be given to end fights and to repay certain kinds of work. At some feasts only the men are allowed to eat. At others the women are given the opportunity to make speeches as to whether their husbands are good or bad food providers. Gift exchanges may also take place at the feasts. Powdermaker describes these types of feasts which she was given the opportunity to attend along with typical types of conversation she witnessed. Business transactions may take place at the feast for the men. Joking, gossiping, and speeches about current issues are also common.

CLARITY RATE: 5
KRISTEN BURSEY California State University, Hayward (Peter Claus)

Ray, F. Verne. Pottery on the Middle Columbia. American Anthropologist January-March, 1932 Vol.34 (1):127-133.

During December 1929, a crude type of pottery was found in a region several hundred miles away from the closest “pottery area”. The use and manufacture of this region’s pottery came into light while fieldwork with the Sanpoil American Indians was being conducted under the supervision of the University of Washington’s Department of Anthropology.

The Sanpoil people now live on the Colville reservation in northeast Washington. However this was not always the case. This small tribe of Salish speaking people once occupied the area on each side of the Columbia river, 40 miles above and below the mouth of the river. Most of the information we have about the use of pottery among the Sanpoil Native Americans came from John Tom, a Sanpoil shaman. He was the oldest member of his tribe and lived within the old tribal territory.

According to John Tom, before iron was available firm white clay was used instead. This clay was easily accessible along the banks of the Columbia river. Other clays were available but turned out to be second-rate when compared to the white firm clay of the Columbia river. Clay was used for making pots and the heads of children’s dolls. John Tom goes into depth and explains the process of making such a clay pot. He relates details taught from his mother who made and used clay pots when he was a boy. Clay pots were commonly used for carrying water until John Tom was in his teen years, when the Hudson Bay Company’s introduction of metal buckets replaced clay pots.

It’s still unclear how and why pottery came to be found in an isolated region several hundred miles from the closest “pottery area”. Ray, the author is unable to link the Sanpoil pottery to the pottery of the Shoshoni, the Blackfoot, and the Sarsi. This will remain a mystery until further work is carried out to the north. Only then may we find an answer.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
REBECCA KULAGA Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Ray, Verne F. Pottery On The Middle Columbia. American Anthropologist. 34: 127-133.

Verne F. Ray introduces a new crude pottery among the Sanpoil Indians. Ethnographic accounts of the use of pottery among the Sanpoil came from an informant taking the English name John Tom. The knowledge of the use of clay came by way of information about a game which utilized a ring of clay. Information of other uses of pottery followed.

Tom stated that one type of pot was used for carrying water. It was made by digging a pit into the banks of the Columbia River. This provided the shape for the pot and when it hardened it was covered with salmon skin stitched on with deer sinew. Sometimes a cooking basket was used to form the pot. Children’s doll heads were also made out of clay.

Ray attempts to link the Sanpoil clay use to another groups use due to the fact that they existed in the center of an area where clay was not used. He notes the use of clay among the Yokuts-Mono in California and among the Klamath and Northern Paiute in Oregon. He also notes the use of clay among the Northern Shoshone of central Idaho, although he discredits their influence due to cultural and language barriers and to the fact that the pottery is of vastly different forms.

He does credit a possible influence from the Sarsi Indians of Saskatchewan because they both had clay pots of the irregular type and used clay for children’s toys. Also the Salish language which the Sanpoil spoke and the Columbia trade route went up into Sarsi territory.

He concludes that more research is needed due to the fact that the Sanpoil were in an isolated region and the form and uses of pottery were extremely unique.

CLARITY: 3
MARGARET BAYLON California State University, Hayward (Peter Claus)

Ritchie, William A. The Algonkin Sequence in New York. American Anthropologist July-September, 1932 Vol.34 (3):406-415.

In this article, William A. Ritchie examines the Algonkin (American Indian) succession in New York. The Algonquian family lineage once occupied a vast territory “stretching from an apex on the lower western boundary of Alberta, through upper Montana, northeastward nearly to the sixtieth parallel, over all of Quebec, lower Canada, New England, the Great Lakes region, and southward through the Mississippi valley to northern Tennessee, embracing most of the district eastward through Kentucky and West Virginia to the Atlantic.” The largest of the Iroquoian provinces resembled an island in the northeast, with New York at its center. The Central Algonkin, the Siouan Winnebago, and the eastern Algonkin tribes occupied the Eastern Woodland area, the territory from Lake Winnipeg eastward.

There has been a greater group migration in the Eastern Woodland areas than anywhere else, both in the past and recent times, whereas the Iroquoian tribes represent a late invasion. Shell-heaps and village sites found in the eastern Woodland areas not only proved a lengthy occupation in this area but also verified that until historic times, the eastern Woodland area was a shelter for various Algonkin tribes.

A much older occupation of the Algonkin tribes was located between the Iroquoian and North Atlantic areas. Human skeletons and artifacts found at the village site at Lamoka Lake show traces of three periods of Algonkin occupation. Through careful examination of these artifacts and skeletons one can see the differences between the three periods of the Algonkin people.

Ritchie achieves his objectives in this article that needs to be read very cautiously and slowly in order to have a better understanding of the Algonkin sequence.

CLARITY RANKING: 2
REBECCA KULAGA Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Ritchie, William A. The Algonkin Sequence in New York. American Anthropologist 34(26) 406-407.

Ritchie provides a definite sense of the immense nature of the what is referred to as the “Algonkin stock.” During this first period these people covered a lot of land extending from Canada and a large part of Eastern United States. Recently there have been discoveries of “shell heaps, series of bones, stone and pottery artifacts” which are said to have been from the Algonkin group.

There have been three different Algonkin periods which are distinguished by certain tools that were made and used, and are identified in this article. An exploration at a site on Lamoka Lake discovered a great deal of bone and antler material along with stone objects that are similar to those found scattered in most of New York belonging to the Archaic Algonkin.

Within the article there are several pages filled with photographs of the implements found that are related to this group and the Second Algonkin Period. In the second epoch there are new elements that were used and were found. They include clay and pottery along with pope, polished slates and grooved ax. In the third Algonkin era there was a great influence by the Iroquois and in turn there were cultural alterations made which can be seen in the artifacts of that time such as triangular projectile points typical of this period. Contact between the two yielded the acculturation of the Algonkin group and their migration north and east.

CLARITY RATE: 3
CARLA ESTRADA California State University, Hayward (Peter Claus)

Roberts, Helen H. The First Salmon Ceremony of the Karuk Indians. American Anthropologist July-September, 1932 Vol.34(3):426-440.

Roberts’s goal with this article was to have a record of the Karuk’s annual first salmon ceremony. Since this was a disappearing tradition, as have been many such traditions among Native Americans, it was necessary to record in detail all information that could be salvaged before it was lost forever. At the time of the article, the original ceremonial practices were already largely forgotten among the Karuk themselves, so Roberts had to rely upon the testimonies of two elderly wives of former medicine men. The article describes in detail every aspect of the rituals, as reported by the two informants. Though the accounts were for the most part very similar, Roberts indicated variation between the two. Both accounts of the first salmon ceremony discussed the roles of a medicine man, his male assistant, and a female who each dwell for a certain period of time apart from the tribe in separate sweat houses along the river. Ritual paraphernalia and the process of separation from the tribe are described. The climax of the ceremony occurs at Ike, or the sacred ceremonial place on the river where the two men perform prescribed duties, though the informants each describe these duties differently. Of great significance in both accounts are the reverence paid to a sacred fish and the smoke that ascends from burning it. After this, the two participants go through additional rituals and are reincorporated into society. The goal of the ceremony described was mainly to ensure an abundance of fish. The point of describing the ritual was to preserve the memory of a rapidly disappearing aspect of the Karuk culture.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
RACHAEL WILLIS Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Roberts, Helen H. The First Salmon Ceremony of the Karuk Indians. 34:(29) 426-440.

The article was developed not by experiencing the ceremony or parts of it. Rather, it was written as a result of obtaining information by two elder female informants who were wives of medicine men. According to Roberts, the two accounts of the ceremony by these women agree with each other a great deal. The salmon ceremony’s main purpose is to help to provide with an ample supply of salmon. Three individuals who volunteer and are selected to take part in the initial and most important part of the ceremony takes place in the month of March. It takes several days and retains many physical obstacles, such as fasting and isolation from others by staying in sweat-houses. Each year different individuals are chosen to partake in this important ceremony. Two of the individuals were men, one of which the helper of the other, and the other a woman. Each has special duties that need to be performed in order for the ceremony to obtain its purpose. There were many restrictions imposed upon, not only on the three principal participants, but also on the entire village. The sense of fear that surrounded the ceremony until its finality was one of the reasons why the constraints endured.

CLARITY RATE: 5
CARLA ESTRADA California State University, Hayward (Peter Claus)

Roberts, Helen H. Melodic Composition and Scale Foundations in Primitive Music. American Anthropologist January-March, 1932 Volume 34(1):79-107.

In this article, Roberts employs a comparative method to address the elements of songs found in the cultures of so-called “primitive” societies. Utilizing European classical music as the basis for the comparison, “primitive” or “exotic” instrumental and vocal music of the Chinese, Russians, Scotch, Japanese, North American Indians, Eskimos, and Hawaiians is examined in terms of its respective intervals, scales, modes, melodic and harmonic construction, relative absence of modulation, rhythms, presence or absence of instruments with fixed pitches, and solo and choral vocal techniques. To this end, Roberts employs a great deal of terminology and examples that would be of use mostly to those well-versed in music theory.

However, there is more insight to be gained by reading this article than that strictly dealing with its musically-oriented content. Anthropologically speaking, this article seems to be somewhat at odds with itself in terms of the theoretical orientation it wishes to take. Roberts frequently tacks back and forth between the viewpoints held by earlier theorists that humans are culturally advancing on a trajectory from “primitive” to “civilized” and a viewpoint that is more relativistic in its outlook. For example, she compares the “…highly sophisticated…finished art” of the West to the music of “primitive folk” by categorizing the latter with terms such as “accidental”, “inadvertent”, “crude”, “chaotic” (p. 81), and “…groping toward the [scale] of historical European use” (p. 94). Simultaneously, she recognizes that this music, like European classical music, should not be viewed as “…abortive or defective growths, but as also living, budding endpoints of lines of development probably as long as our own” (p. 79), and should be studied with an equal attention to detail so as not to overlook its intricacies. Conflicting observations such as these, as well as a classification scheme that largely assigns particular styles of music to specific nationalities, situates this article in its era, and exemplifies the changing perspective of anthropological theory of the period.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
LINDA SMITH Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Roys, Ralph L. Antonio De Ciudad Real, Ethnographer. American Anthropologist January-March, 1932 Vol.34(1):118-126.

This article by Roys deals with Real’s travels through Central America, the towns he traveled through and the languages he encountered. Roys seems to be recounting Real’s actual travels, but it is sometimes difficult to tell where he is getting his information.

Antonio de Ciudad Real was a “Franciscan friar associated with Diego de Landa” and an accomplished Maya linguist (118). His travels during “the conversion of the Indians of Yucatan” (118) resulted in “the work known to us today as the Diccionario del convento Motul” (118). There appears to be some skepticism as to whether he really did produce this work. If he indeed did Roys credits him as “one of the most accomplished lexicographers of his time” (died 1617). Roys mentions the importance of Real’s work and his own difficulty in accounting for the “scant attention paid to the ethnographic notes of Real” (118). Roys also notes “a linguistic map based upon his notes would differ materially in some respects from any that has been published” (118).

Roys follows Real during his travels throughout Mexico, Guatemala and Nicaragua, noting the many languages Real is said to have encountered and the cities where he was at the time. Roys also includes a map (may be by Real) of the areas and the languages encountered by Real. Languages which Roys cites Real as having noted include Chontal (Yuman stock), Soconuscan, Achi – Quiche-Cakchikel (‘a general term comprising four languages – Guatemalteca, Tzutuhil, Kakchikel and Utlateca.’), Cakchikel, Pipil, Poton (later known as Lenca), Ulua, Naval (‘a corrupt Mexican language’), Marivio (“Maribi and Subtiaban to modern ethnographers”), Tacacho, Mangue, Mame, Coxoh, Maya, Chol, Cendal, Zoque and Mexican (119-125).

CLARITY RANKING: 4
JEFFERY BROWN: Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Roys, Ralph L. Antonio De Cuidad Real, Ethnographer. American Anthropologist. 34: 118-126.

Ralph L. Roys notes that with the increasing interest of Maya archaeology of Central America it is important to draw on the ethnography from the area. The languages that were spoken are also important for the study of ancient Maya culture. Roys stated in the beginning that the current linguistic maps is owed to Spanish explorers and missionary accounts, with little taken from Antonio De Ciudad Real, an ethnographer that traveled extensively in the area. Real is believed to be the author of the Motul Dictionary, making him an accomplished lexicographer. De Ciudad Real joined Fr. Alonzo Ponce, Commissary General of the Provinces of New Spain, on a tour to inspect the Franciscan Monasteries in Mexico, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. As they traveled south Real noted every language that was spoken in each town and how they were related to the languages spoken by the main culture groups. The author provides Real’s linguistic map that the author says is very different from any current map. As he traveled he noted the languages spoken by each group. The author makes comparisons of the modern languages against Real’s accounts. Roys stated that Real’s observations are different from modern ethnographer’s data and questions his credibility but notes that he almost always only noted the language that he directly observed.

CLARITY RANK: 3
MARGARET BAYLON California State University, Hayward (Peter Claus)

Sears, Paul Bigelow. The Archaeology of Environment in Eastern North America. American Anthropologist October, 1932 Vol.34(4):610-622.

Paul Sears’ article discusses the problem of eastern North America’s climatic changes as a possible background to prehistoric human activity. The western coast has every sign of continuous culture, without any serious disruption until the presence of the whites. The aged coastal trees verify that this region of North America has not been affected by any violent climatic shift for at least 3,000 years. Eastern North America has had various environmental conditions and is full of stratified cultures with no relation to each other. Sears discusses the cultures throughout eastern North America and describes their differences. The Ohio valley had simultaneous floristic and faunistic ranges, while the cultures overlapped and were successive. This suggests that there was a constant struggle for the most desirable location with one culture successful at a time. It also suggests that the shifting conditions favor one type of culture and then another. Sears said that primitive man was less dependent on the environment and that cultures would follow the conditions that best favor them. When the conditions change, it is suggested that the cultures left, not because they couldn’t adapt, but due to the cultures that were competing for the next environment.

Sears points out the importance of pollen analysis with regard to the determination of prehistoric environments. He compiles data from six different locations and examines the different conditions that each culture faced and what they preferred. Cultures favoring optimum maize growth moved eastward into a region that was more primitive, while the previous occupants moved elsewhere.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
AMY CREASY Southern Illinois University-Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Stallings Jr., W.S. Notes on the Pueblo Culture in South-Central New Mexico and in the Vicinity of El Paso, Texas. American Anthropologist January-March, 1932 Vol.34(1):67-78.

Stallings’ article deals with archaeological findings throughout several sites in south-central New Mexico. Though mostly descriptive throughout, this reading illuminates the way in which archaeology began in the American southwest. Stallings did not discuss any of the methodologies used to uncover the material, however he made it clear that amateurs did much of the excavations and were, in fact, largely responsible for initiating the interest of anthropologists in the area.

The article’s focus was to describe Puebloan artifacts from several sites in New Mexico. Stallings discussed the region’s geography and later categorized site-types by their association with certain physiological features. The remainder of the article consists of a discussion of pottery, most of all what the author terms “a native black-on-white” and a “peculiar native-decorated brown ware.” Features such as the design, materials used, and firing methods were discussed. The author’s attempt was to categorize the sherds by phase, culture, and region. From this he drew conclusions about earlier settlements in the New Mexico region and those who lived there. By acknowledging that there were possibly settlements in certain areas that today are labeled as distinct cultures, this article helps illustrate the relatively recent beginnings of archaeology as a discipline.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
RACHAEL WILLIS Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Stallings, W. S. Notes On The Pueblo Culture In South-Central New Mexico And In The Vicinity Of El Paso, Texas. American Anthropologist. 34: 67-78

This very brief article by W. S. Stallings, Jr. provides a general overview of the pottery types in the New Mexico and El Paso, Texas area. He begins with a description of the geography, or physiography, of forms in relation to one another. He then describes the four basic sites as they relate to the general environmental condition in which they occur: Basin sites, Tank sites, Highland sites, and Rio Grande valley sites. The two most represented pottery types that are found in theses sites are what are called native black-on-white and native-decorated brown ware. In this article he lists the different characteristics of the different types such as technique and decoration. The different pottery types are named after the area in which they are found. He categorizes the wares under discussion as a Pueblo Ceramic District, which he refers to more exclusively as “El Paso District.” By noting all the different types of pottery wares Stallings notes its contact with different groups and marks its decline by its absence and the abundance of pottery types from other areas.

CLARITY RANK: 3
MARGARET BAYLON California State University, Hayward (Peter Claus)

Steward, H. Julian. A Uintah Ute Bear Dance. American Anthropologist March, 1931 Vol.34(2):263-273.

The author here examines the traditional Bear Dance of the Uintah Ute Native Americans as performed today in certain areas of Utah. The two dances the Ute still do today are called the Sun Dance, which came from the Plains area, and the Bear Dance of the Great Basin held during the springtime. The Bear Dance, the main focus of the article, has lost many of its natural features due to the Indian Administration, and Caucasian influence. The loss of those elements was a result of lack of participation and seriousness during the ceremony among the peoples. The two most common places for the Ute Bear Dance are Whiterocks Utah and Ouray. The author examines the dance from the location at Whiterocks.

The true purpose of the dance is rooted in religious beliefs in the need to form a great bond between the peoples and the bear. This bond is a friendship in which both respect one another. The dance is performed to bring the bear spirit to the Ute where they can make this friendship known. The elders of the group, one male and one female, express this relationship through dancing in a forward, backward motion called mama’ qündküp. This is believed to imitate the motion in which the bears dance to one another at the beginning of the springtime.

The ceremony consists of a gathering of Utes from the surrounding areas with child prohibition enforced. This is one of the natural features from the dance that has been abandoned. The men line one wall of the circular corral with the women sitting opposite them. The men play the traditional music to bring the bear and the women sing along. The ceremony is intended to last up to seven days, from Sunday to Sunday, but because of weather conditions sometimes it goes for eight. Caucasians are allowed to come to the dance but they must pay a fee to enter. In the traditional dance white people were unable to attend because they were said to scare the spirit. The first day is the most leisurely with the last being the most important. On the last day of the ceremony a huge feast is presented in honor of the bear and his presence.

The author notes the differences between the present day ritual and the traditional one because the present dance lacks hundreds of year’s tradition. Explanations of laziness and disorganization in the forming of the dance are the problem.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
MEGAN WILSON Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Steward, Julian. A Uintah Ute Bear Dance. American Anthropologist 34: 263-73.

In the Spring of 1931 Julian Steward attended the week long Bear Dance by the Uintah Ute at Whiterocks, Utah. Steward also gathered descriptions of how the dance had changed and the way it used to be performed before Caucasian influences. He says that the dance itself had changed as well as the purpose for holding it.

Previously the dance was a festival of spring before the winter camps broke up to begin game hunting. Different villages decided for themselves when to hold the dance but visitors were allowed to attend and participate. When Steward attended the dance there were only three locations that held the dance, all of them on reservations. A small fee was charged for any Caucasians who wanted to attend.

Originally the dance was meant to gain friendship and kindness from the bear for hunters and anyone entering the bear’s territory. It also had some religious elements. The dance in 1931 was mainly a social affair. Also, traditionally children had not been allowed to participate. At the dance in Utah Steward noticed an abundance of children participating.

Steward recorded the dance festivities day by day. He noted that the dances earlier in the week seemed to be in preparation for the final days. People continued to arrive all week. During the last two days attendants dressed up for the dance and more people were present to participate. The dance used to go all night into the morning of the final day. However, the government was unable to control liquor use after dark and restricted the dance to day light hours.

CLARITY RATE: 5
KRISTEN BURSEY California State University, Hayward (Peter Claus)

Stokes, John F. G. Spaniards and the Sweet Potato in Hawaii and Hawaiian-American Contacts. American Anthropologist 1932 Vol.34(4):594-600.

Stokes begins by attempting to disprove early Spanish contact in Hawaii, which he claims to be easy because any theory crediting Spain for the discovery of Hawaii is always disproved after examination. His evidence includes Spanish accounts in 1790 inquiring about possible settlements in the islands discovered by Captain Cook in 1778. Stokes doubts that such an inquiry would be made 12 years after Cook found the islands rather than in the two previous centuries if Spain had indeed found Hawaii at such an early date. Questionable evidence for earlier contact with the islands are some linguistic similarities with some Spanish words and a farfetched hypothesis that sweet potatoes were introduced by the Spanish after the Spaniards first collected the plant from Central or South America. Another line of evidence involves castaways that possibly could be traced to Spain. This, however, is also discounted by Stokes, who traces the sunken ships to Japan or North America. He also discusses the true origins of several purported Spanish artifacts.

Stokes clearly does not believe in any Spanish contact with Hawaii prior to the 18th century, and finds contact with the Americas much more plausible. The sweet potato, due to its importance in Hawaiian diet and mythology, could have been introduced as early as 1300AD, and Stokes finds no evidence linking its introduction with the Spanish. While conclusively stating this, Stokes admits that the route of the crop to Hawaii is still unknown. Though botanists have placed Central and South America as the birthplace of sweet potatoes, and similarities in preparation can be found between these areas and Hawaii, Stokes is hesitant to draw conclusions from this alone. Stokes discusses the possibility that the sweet potato was introduced from North America, using as evidence a mythological account that seems to allude to the northwest coast. He mentions one that describes the coastal region of North America with detail he believes cannot be ignored. Stokes finds that more studies need to be done, and that existing evidence is insufficient for drawing any conclusions about the introduction of the sweet potato into Hawaii.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
RACHAEL WILLIS Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Swanton, John R. Ethnological Value of the De Soto Narratives. American Anthropologist October-December, 1932 Vol.34(4):570-590.

Swanton dissects several narratives of De Soto’s travels so as to show each narrative’s intrinsic value. Swanton provides a lengthy description of the Talomec temple by Garcilaso (1723) as well as other shorter accounts of expedition discoveries.

Swanton weighs the narratives and concludes Ranjel’s to be the most reliable of those looked at and sees those of Elves and Biedma trustworthy while Garcilaso’s narratives are credited as being “compiled with honest historical intent and provides a knowledge of certain cultural features of the region not recorded elsewhere and of … value to the ethnologist and the archaeologist” (582,590). Discussed are basically the things De Soto’s men and/or associated parties could recall years later. Garcilaso’s work, which is looked at the most, shows signs of exaggeration by the then old men, “but they were not the results of deliberate attempts to deceive” (571). In addition to these exaggerations Swanton notes some “easily explained” inversions, misplacements and misapplications in the writings (Garcilaso’s particularly) as well as minor mistakes.

For quick reference Swanton lists sites of reported squares, mounds, temples and houses of chiefs (588). The value of this article lies in not only Swanton’s check of the resource’s concerning De Soto and the establishment of their validity, but also in voicing the importance of early narratives such as these to the study of early indigenous cultures.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
JEFFERY BROWN: Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Thompson, J. Eric. A Maya Calendar from the Alta Vera Paz, Guatemala. American Anthropologist October-December, 1932 Vol.34(4):449-454.

Various Maya peoples have calendars consisting of eighteen months of twenty days each and five odd days at the end of the year. In this article Thompson focuses his research on the calendar of the Kekchi. The Kekchi occupy land in Guatemala, the Alta Vera Paz department, parts of the Baja Vera Paz and southeast section of the Peten departments, and British Honduras. The multi-racial group consists of about 85,000 people.

The calendar examined by the author was obtained from the Department of Middle American Research at Tulane University. The copy of the calendar showed an almanac of a Christian year with the feast days of the Catholic Church marked on the days that they were held. Several days are also marked good or bad. There is also writing in Kekchi with poor handwriting and spelling. The calendar has no distinguishable date.

The Kekchi calendar corresponds to both the Yucatecan and the Pokomchi of Narcisso calendars. One of the differences between the Yucatecan and Kekchi calendars is the movement of the five nameless days forward one months in the Kekchi calendar. Another difference is the name difference for the first month of the year, Mahi in Kekchi and Pop in Yucatecan. The difference in the Pokomchi calendar concern different names for months. Thompson goes on to discuss that if the nameless days are shifted so that O Mahi falls on July 14 and if O Mahi conicided with the Yucatecan O Pop, that the calendar could be attributed to between 1552 and 1556, or the four previous years if the Yucatecan calendar began on 1 Pop.

Thompson continues the discussion on these three calendars and the linguistic elements of the names of the months. The calendars of the Pokomchi and Kekchi are shown to be of outside origin. The Kekchi calendar possibly originates from the neighboring Chol. The Chol may have been the people of the Old Empire. If this is the case, their calendar may have been the common archaic calendar of all three groups discussed above.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
KELLY EILEEN JONES Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Thurnwald, Richard. The Psychology of Acculturation. American Anthropologist December, 1932 34(4):557-569.

Thurnwald’s article concerns itself with the process of acculturation. Acculturation is the process of Adopting aspects or items from another culture.

Thurnwald is primarily concerned with the acculturation of material items in the beginning. The items transferred into other cultures need not change appearance or use noticeably, though in many cases they do. For example knives will not change in form, but coins imported into another culture may be used to make necklaces or for some other use. The use of the transferred objects changes more often than their appearance. Thurnwald cites the example of big kitchen knives being used in New Guinea. The knives are not used in the kitchen, but to chop wood and to lop branches off of trees.

Thurnwald goes on to analyze the factors affecting how and the rate at which a foreign object is adopted into a culture. Items of luxury or of great utility seem to be readily accepted by most cultures. Glass beads, guns, tobacco and other narcotic substances seem to spread particularly well.

Thurnwald then expands his observations to include the spread of social institutions. He notes that these institutions tend to spread much more slowly than material goods.

According to Thurnwald, there are three factors affecting the transmission of foreign goods or institutions. First, the relationship between the exchanging parties affects the way the item or institution being acculturated is viewed and received. Second, the culture of the receiving people’s culture further determines how the new import will be integrated into their society. Lastly the circumstances surrounding the transfer affect how the institution or item is regarded. In essence any item transferred to another culture is accepted or rejected based upon the receiving group’s opinion of the giving people, the acceptability of the new import within the receiving group’s culture and on the receiving group’s feelings toward how they were introduced to the import. This theory is based in Boas’ concept that a culture will “reinterpret” an item to fit with in their already existing social pattern.

Thurnwald has done an excellent job with this article. He is writing this at the very beginning of acculturation studies without a large body of previous work to reference.

CLARITY RATING: 4
GLENN MYERS Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Weltfish, Gene. Problems in the Study of Ancient and Modern Basket-Makers. American Anthropologist January, 1932 Vol.34(1):108-117.

Gene Weltfish describes basketry as one of the oldest products of the American Indian manual skills and one of the better ways to determine cultural relations of groups in the past and present. His article examines the technical process and basic mechanical factors of basket making and discusses exact allocation and distribution of the baskets.

Prehistoric basketry is divided into five types: Southwestern, Ozark Bluff Dweller, Lovelock, Snake River, and California Cave. The categories are determined by technical traits of the coiled and twined basketry. Weltfish discusses the direction which the worker made the basket and differences in the foundation the basket was made upon. The author also compares the prehistoric baskets to more modern basketry, and concludes that all modern North American basketry techniques existed prehistorically. The parallels for the prehistoric technical type in all five categories are found to be in modern areas that are in close proximity to the ancient sites.

Weltfish’s article was full of descriptions of the technical aspects of basket making in prehistoric times. These representations of ancient baskets allow a definite historic connection to that of modern basketry. Regardless of the origins or roots of the art of basketry, the divergent techniques and forms were already present in our earlier remains.

CLARITY RANKING: 2
AMY CREASY Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Jonathan Hill)

Weltfish, Gene. Problems In The Study Of Ancient And Modern Basket-Makers. American Anthropologist. 34: 108-117.

In Problems In The Study Of Ancient And Modern Basket-Makers Gene Weltfish notes that baskets make for great comparative study due to the fact that baskets retain the mechanical aspects of how they were made. However, the art of basketry present such problems as detecting chronology, allocation, and technical criteria. This article deals with prehistoric examples form north America (excluding Mexico) that fall into five categories based on characteristics and the regions in which they occur which are: South-western, Ozark Bluff Dweller, Lovelock, Snake River, and California Cave. Weltfish goes into a description of the characteristics of each type and subtype and the locations where they occur. He also describes the characteristics of the materials that were used for each basket type. He examines modern basket types and concludes that the entire basket making forms of the modern variety is found in the prehistoric forms, but they do not appear amongst the same group, they occur with a different group in the same general area.

CLARITY RANK: 3
MARGARET BABYLON California State University, Hayward (Peter Claus)

Whorf, B. L. A Central Mexican Inscription combining Mexican and Maya Day Signs. American Anthropologist 34: 296-309.

Wharf is looking at inscriptions on a temple in Mexico in the village of Tepoztlan. There is evidence that the temple dates from the reign of the Aztec king Ahuitzotl. Ahuitzotl died in 1502 but the figures are from more than a thousand years earlier. Whorf believes that either the figures were copied from older inscriptions or that the artistic tradition continued.

He says that stylistically the figures look like a band of the day signs of the tonalamatl. However, not all the figures have the Mexican form. One sign in particular is similar to a Mayan hieroglyph. The sign is a hand with a prominent thumb and a circle around the wrist. The temple is not in Mayan territory and the signs are recorded backwards. In Mayan inscriptions numbers are recorded backwards when “counting back into the past.” Whorf wonders whether the inscription is intended to “show the tonalamatl receding into the past”. Whorf is unable to answer all of his questions but says that he will look at them more extensively at another time.

CLARITY RATE: 1
KRISTEN BURSEY California State University, Hayward (Peter Claus)