Contributions To Osage And Lakota Ethnobotany

Abstract

The paper is a systematic listing and discussion of those plants for which a use is given in La Flesche's Osage dictionary, Buechel's Lakota (Teton Dakota) dictionary, and Densmore's Teton Sioux Music. This constitutes the only systematic treatment of Osage ethnobotany and a supplement to Gilmore's ethnobotanical study of the Lakota and other groups of the eastern Plains.     

George W. Hill’S Account Of The Sioux Sun Dance of 1866

Abstract

There are several published accounts of the Sioux Sun Dance. Most are those of the Oglala division of the Teton Sioux and most occurred rather late in Sioux history. In 1866, Captain George William Hill witnessed and recorded a Sioux Sun Dance published here for the first time. It is an earlier account that most others and is of interest because most of the participants were not from the Oglala division.     

A Yuwipi Ceremony at Pine Ridge

Abstract

The final phase of the Dakota Yuwipi cult, a rite for curing the sick and foretelling the future, is described. It was held at Pine Ridge, South Dakota for the purpose of forecasting the chances of a candidate’s being elected chairman of the tribal council.

The candidate prepared for the ceremony by fasting, sweat baths, and prayer. The rite found 13 Indians and 3 non-Indian guests seated on 3 sides of a cleared room which had all openings blanketed. After preliminary ritual in which the medicine man was tied in a blanket, lights were put out and singing commenced. Lights came on twice as the candidate was escorted to and from the medicine man. During a last song series, sparks flew around the room, rattles shook, wind blew, beds tilted, etc. The medicine man then answered questions of the guests. He finally foretold the success of the candidate in the coming election. When the light came on the medicine man was found untied with the rope neatly balled beside him.

The reaction of the Indian guests was one of belief and fright. I:espi te candidate’s loss of the election the writer believes it was a wise political maneuver on the part of the mixedblood candidate to identify with the large faction of full-blood voters.     

A Ceremony For The Preparation Of The Offering Cloths For Presentation To The Sacred Calf Pipe Of The Teton Sioux*

Abstract

The following ceremony, according to my informants, must be performed each and every time an offering is made to the Sacred Calf Pipe of the Teton Dakota. When it is completed the Sacred Pipe Bundle can then be opened and prayed over.     

A Plains Woodland Burial from the Badlands of Western Nebraska

Abstract

Late Plains Woodland burial from a badlands region of western Sioux County, Nebraska produced the nearly complete skeleton of a robust adult male. Burial practices and associated grave goods are typical for the Woodland culture. However, osteological analysis has revealed a pattern of physical characteristics for the human skeleton which shows no real affinity to known Woodland populations to the south and east. Rather, the traits resemble very closely those of the nearly contemporaneous Late Middle Period people of Wyoming, to the immediate west. This lends evidence in support of recent hypotheses regarding the spread of Woodland culture across the central and western Plains.     

Lakota Sioux Terms for White and Negro

Abstract

The primary concern herein is to expose the suggested etymologies and meanings of the terms the Sioux employ to discuss members of the white and black races. This paper deals with the Oglala Sioux Indians of South Dakota, primarily current Lakota speakers of Pine Ridge and their ancestors over the past three hundred years.     

Directions for Miss Deloria: Boas on the Plains

Abstract

A summary of the collaboration between Ella Deloria and Franz Boas and the work produced from this collaboration is presented. A rare example of a Boasian “research design” for ethnographic studies among the Sioux of South Dakota is also reprinted and discussed.     

Western Dakota Winter Counts:

Abstract

The late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries witnessed the movement of the Western Dakota across the Missouri River and onto the High Plains. Concomitant with this movement were increasing White trade, contact with Whites and other Indian groups, and the impact of disease. The existence of several Western Dakota winter counts provides unique documentation of these groups’ own records of this critical period of change. This paper examines the form and content of Western Dakota winter counts. References to environmental phenomena, locations, inter-group contact, ceremony, disease, and death are examined for changes through the primary migration and early contact period.     

The Seven Pipes of the Dakota Sioux*

Abstract

Ceremonial uses of the seven major pipes of the Dakota Sioux are described.     

The Northern Cheyenne Sun Dance and the Opening of the Sacred Medicine Hat 1959

Abstract

In 1959, after several years of teaching the Northern Cheyenne on the Tongue River Reservation in Montana, the writer was able to observe the annual Sun Dance in some detail, to photograph it, and to be present at the rare opening of the Sacred Medicine Hat Bundle which followed. This account reports the main events which took place, and establishes that the Northern Cheyenne Sun Dance has not only survived but has undergone relatively little change since it was reported by Grinnell in 1910. Marked similarity is also seen with the older Southern Cheyenne ceremony recorded by Dorsey in Oklahoma in 1903.

The Medicine Hat, still an object of much veneration, was inspected after a series of misadventures to determine whether its contents were safe, and thus was provided an opportunity to view for the first time in more than 25 years an old and famous object of significance in Plains religion.     

A Reexamination of Roper’S Trend-Surface Analysis of Central Plains Radiocarbon Dates

Abstract

A reexamination of Roper’s (1976) trend-surface analysis of Central Plains radiocarbon dates indicates that 1) a nonlinear trend in the data was not recognized, and 2) the dates of the trend-surface contours given in her map of the Central Plains are in error. A revised trend-surface model is presented which better describes the site data and more closely agrees with the Central Plains cultural sequence.     

Wakunza: Uses of Yuwipi Medicine Power in Contemporary Teton Dakota Culture1

Abstract

The Dakota belief in wakuⁿza or “supernatural retribution” is examined as an aspect of contemporary Sioux religion. Belief in this power is reported to be a significant mechanism in the maintenance of social control within Sioux communities on and off the reservation by insuring the chastisement of social deviants. Animistic spirits rather than individuals are attributed with possessing the power to administer justice and reprimand those committing transgressions of the Dakota moral order. Two alternative hypotheses regarding the uses of wakuⁿza are proposed.     

The Sacred Calf Pipe Bundle: It’s Effect on the Present Teton Dakota*

Abstract

In the legends of the Teton Dakota the White Buffalo Calf Maiden, as a messenger from Wakan Tanka, gave the people the Sacred Calf Pipe Bundle. This bundle became the center of the Teton’s religious beliefs, for with the bundle the Calf Maiden also gave the people certain religious ceremonies. Chief among these were the Sun Dance, the Hunkalowanpi and the Spirit-keeping ritual. From the old days to the present this bundle has been held in great reverence. To date there have been 11 keepers of the bundle, the present keeper being a 15 year old boy. To some extent the attitudes and views toward the old religion have been modified by the present generation. However, through the efforts of certain individuals a reawakening of the people towards things “Indian” is taking place. One example is a new course of studies in some Indian schools on “How to be a Modern Indian.” A second is the proposed building of a new Catholic church at Pine Ridge, South Dakota, in the image of a tipi decorated with the symbols and meanings of the old Teton religion, and a third is the use of the “peace pipe” in Catholic services.     

THE ENUMERATION OF AQUATIC BACTERIA USING DAPI

SUMMARY

A comparison was made between acridine orange (AO) and 4'6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI), a highly sensitive DNA fluorescing stain, for enumerating aquatic bacteria. When water samples were processed in a darkened room and a final DAPI concentration of 0,05 μg ml ^?1 was used, there was no significant difference between the population estimates obtained with AO and DAPI. With DAPI, bacteria are more easily distinguished from other particulate matter than when stained with AO. The cyanobacterium, Microcystis aeruginosa, normally fluoresced the blue colour characteristic of the DNA-DAPI complex. Frequently colonies fluoresced pink and were heavily populated by bacteria. DAPI may offer a rapid method to assess the proportion of senescing colonies in a population.     

Avonlea Point Occurrence in Northern Montana and Canada

Abstract

This report is a follow up of the 1961 Kehoe-McCorquodale presentation in the Plains Anthrdpqlogist of the Avonlea point as a horizon marker for the Late Prehistoric Periood in the Northwestern Plains, Montana Avonlea data are discussed, compared and combined with Canadian data to develop an expanded picture of regional Avonlea “culture”. A critique of the kehoe-McCorquodale generalizations reinforces essential hypothesis and further clarifies Avonlea spatial and temporal parameters.     

Hell Gap: Paleo-Indian Occupation on the High Plains

Abstract

A resume of archaeological investigations in the Hell Gap Valley of southeastern Wyoming is presented. This research produced a detailed sequence of Plains PaleoIndian occupation of this section of the High Plains. from about 9000 to 5500 B.C. Identifiable complexes recognized include Goshen, Midland, Folsom, Agate Basin, Hell Gap, Alberta, Cody, and Frederick. Materials recovered represent camping activities rather than the better known game kills, and add dimension to our knowledge of Plains Paleo-Indian cultures.     

Introduction

Abstract

In the space of 20 years the Plains region has progressed from one of the least known to one of the better known regions as far as skeletal studies are concerned. This paper reviews the development of skeletal biology and the accumulation of the large, well documented samples. It provides up-to-date bibliographic citations of the recent literature relating to the United States Plains, including M.A. theses and Ph.D. dissertations which deal with or utilize Plains skeletal material.     

A Local Sequence For Mill Creek Sites In The Little Sioux River Valley

Abstract

Mill Creek ceramics from northwest Iowa are used to derive a sequence of occupations for sites along the Little Sioux River and its tributaries. Previous typologies and attempts at seriation of sites are examined and tested. The methods employed in this study are evaluated, and the resulting seriation is cross-checked with stratigraphic evidence and a series of radiocarbon dates.