The AvonLea Point

Abstract

The authors define a readily distinguished type of small, triangular, side-rotched projectile point previously assigned to the Late Prehistoric Period of the northwestern Plains but which was thought too generalized to be used in studies of cultural and ethnic affiliation.

Type sites are described, geographical distributions made, and factors considered which may have influenced the development of this point type in southwestern Saskatchewan.

It is concluded that the Avonlea point is sufficiently unique and temporally delimited to serve as a useful marker for the early Late Prehistoric Period in the northwestern Plains.     

Some Wooden Scraper Handles From the Great Plains and The Southwest

Abstract

Adze-shaped scraper handles of antler are well known from the Plains area. Tools of the same pattern, of wood, are less well known and are virtually unmentioned in the literature and the tool in both antler and wood is unmentioned from the Pueblo area. Data on size and distribution of a large group of these objects in wood, from both the Plains and the Pueblo area are presented here, with some discussion of their possible origin.     

Temporal And Geographic Patterning of Relative Head Height in The Central Plains And Middle Missouri Areas

Abstract

Temporal and geographic patterning of vault height evaluated as the Auricular Mean Height Index is examined in samples of crania from the Central and Northern Plains. Crania are placed into two large categories: one consisting of historic Caddoan speakers and their ancestors, the other of Mandan speakers and their ancestors. Woodland crania from the Central Plains and Middle Missouri areas are added to their respective groups for part of the analysis. Time consistently shows a strong relationship to Auricular Mean Height Index; geographical latitude is equivocal but does exhibit a relationship to the vault height index in Central Plains-Caddoan without Woodland. Auricular height decreases with the passage of time and increases as one proceeds northward. The analysis further shows that Central Plains Caddoan groups have higher vaults than Middle Missouri-Mandan crania at a given point in time and space. That cranial morphology is different in the groups supports the notion that gene pool differences are responsible. The causes of decreasing head height through time are unknown.     

Was There a Northwestern Plains Sub-Culture? An Ethnographical Appraisal*

Abstract

On the basis of an examination of economy, political organization, intertribal warfare, religious life, and other factors, there is no justification for regarding the Northwestern Plains as a distinct division of the Plains Indian Culture Area.     

The Scoggin Site: a Study in Mckean Typology

Abstract

The Scoggin Site, an Early Middle Period Bison kill in south-central Wyoming, yielded two distinct stylized projectile point varieties from the one bone layer present. This single component affords optimum opportunity to study the two varieties of points in one context. The technology for the projectile point assemblage is described, and literature concerning the deep side-notched Early Middle Period or Archaic age points from the Northwestern Plains and the northern Great Basin is discussed.

In order to discover if the deep side-notched projectile points from Scoggin (reminiscent of much later projectile point types) were indeed part of the McKean classification, their dimensions were compared to those of the indented base McKean lanceolate projectile points from the same site. The measurements overlap or can be otherwise explained for both lanceolate and side-notched forms. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to demonstrate that the two types of points are quite homogeneous.

The question as to why the points differ stylistically has several possible answers. For example, the two types may represent interacting but identifiable ethnic groups, or the numerical superiority of the side-notched point may reflect hafting superiority. At any rate, the deep side-notched point is an integral part of the Early Middle Period and can be classified as McKean.     

Ethnicity,extraterritoriality, and international conflict

ABSTRACT

The world has more ethnic groups than states and many ethnic groups are split across two or more states. One implication is that many ethnic conflicts are international phenomena in which transborder ethnic kin are involved. States concerned with co-ethnics or co-religionists in neighbouring countries are pursuing interests not included in our standard models of international politics. States that pursue such extraterritorial interests define national security and national survival in terms broader than merely maintaining the physical and territorial integrity of the state. Threats to their ethnic and religious brethren are seen as threats to them. And because such threats are seen as particularistic they also affect foreign policy alignments and the functioning of the balance of power.     

The Giveaway Ceremony Of Blackfoot And Plains Cree

Abstract

The modern giveaway of the Blackfoot and Plains Cree is described and analyzed. It is a twentieth century development of formal ritual from a more diffuse. nineteenth-century social bonding practice. Today It serves to announce Indian ethnic affiliation social networks, and status ranking     

A Shoshonean Origin for the Plains Shield Bearing Warrior Motif

Abstract

The shield bearing warrior is a distinctive motif characteristic of the rock art of the Northwestern Plains. It also occurs commonly in the eastern Great Basin as an element of Fremont rock art. Detailed similarities between Plains and Great Basin shield figures suggest cultural relationships between the two areas. This has led some authors to propose that the motif originated in the Northwestern Plains and diffused to the Great Basin. Others argue that the motif spread from the Great Basin to the Plains. Relative dates recently obtained for shield figures at Northwestern Plains sites support the latter hypothesis. A Shoshonean origin for the Northwestern Plains shield figures is suggested by the dates, and the coincidence between the distribution of the motif, the distribution of diagnostic Shoshonean artifacts. and the ethnohistorically known range of the Plains Shoshone. It is suggested that the Shoshone borrowed the motif from the Fremont Culture during a period of interaction between the two groups.

The shield bearing warrior, a distinctive motif that depicts a pedestrian warrior whose body is represented by a large circular shield (Fig. 1), is frequently encountered in the rock art of the western United States. It is especially common at sites on the Northwestern Plains and in the eastern Great Basin (Fig. 2).     

A Mathematical Theory of Horse Adoption on The North American Plains

Abstract

The horse complex and its subsequent influence on Plains culture is a major topic of Plains anthropology. Treatment of the topic has involved three trains of thoughts: 1) the process (form and rate) of horse adoption, 2) the spatial diffusion of the horse northward, and 3) the influence of the horse on Plains culture. This paper contributes to the study of the horse complex by focusing primarily on the adoption aspect of the problem and, secondarily, on the social implications for the plains area of the temporal regularity evident. The paper outlines a new theoretical explanation of the actual process of horse adoption-an S-curve hypothesis suggesting that adoption initially accelerated rapidly and then declined more slowly as all Plains tribes ultimately adopted the horse. We verify this hypothesis with documented empirical evidence on the adoption process derived from Ewers (1955). The empirical evidence and S-curve interpretation suggest: 1) two distinct groups of Plains tribes existed on the Plains, a southern and northern, separated by two webs of communication, 2) that this communication was frequent, and 3) that the two systems were well developed before the arrival of the horse.     

The Henry Davis Drum Rite: An Unusual Drum Religion Variant of the Minnesota Ojibwa

Abstract

The Drum religion or Dream dance is basically a variant of the ceremonial Grass dance which has been modified into a religion. Though definitely a revitalization movement, it has no connection with the Ghost dance or “Messiah cult”. The religion is instead accommodative in nature, stressing brotherhood and good will between Indians and Whites. Though presently obsolescent the religion was once practiced by a large number of Midwestern tribes. The Henry Davis drum rite, witnessed in 1963, is a variant of the seasonal drum ceremonies practiced by the Ojibwa at Mille Lacs, Minnesota. It is somewhat unusual, even in terms of the Drum religion, in the large number of Christian elements incorporated into the rite.     

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.     

From Band To Tribe On The Plains11

Abstract

Cultural ecologists, such as Steward and Shirnkin, hold that the core features of a culture, namely socio-political systems, are closely related to subsistence activities and economic arrangements which, in turn, are influenced but not ecessarily determined by the natural habitat of the group. A study of the Plains adaptations of the Piegan, Kiowa, Comanche, Plains Cree, and Plains Shoshone throw some doubt on this the sis. The Piegan (and other Blackfoot tribes), Plains Shoshone, and Kiowa share common forms of political organization with other Plains tribes but the Comanche and Plains Cree represent atypical cases in. this regard. The first three tribes developed pan-tribal sodalities while the latter two did not do so. The presence or absence of these pan-tribal sodalities conditioned the extent to which tribal integration occurred in these groups. The subsistence activities of these tribes alone do not account for the weak or strong development of pan-tribal structures. Factors in the total environment of each tribe, or niche, account for these differences. These differences in political organization cannot be attributed solely to differences in subsistence activities nor economic arrangements as they are influenced by the specific natural habitat of each tribe.     

The Great Bend Aspect: A Multivariate Investigation Of Its Origins And Southern Plains Relationships

Abstract

The origins of the Great Bend aspect as well as its relations with a series of southern Plains sites are analyzed using ceramic attributes and multivariate statistics. Although the data is inadequate in certain areas the results suggest that in-situ development from earlier cultural groups is a more likely explanation than is a migration of peoples from the southern Plains.     

Intra‐ethnic and inter‐ethnic marriage and divorce in Hawaii

Abstract

A comparison of intra‐ and inter‐ethnic divorce rates in Hawaii showed that inter‐ethnic marriages resulted in a higher proportion of divorces than did intra‐ethnic marriages when the marriage data used had to do with all marriages occurring in Hawaii. However, a sizeable portion of marriages in Hawaii are of nonresidents who, if they divorce, probably divorce elsewhere. Nonresident marriages are chiefly intra‐ethnic marriages of Caucasians. When examining the proportions of divorces to resident marriages, within‐group marriages are more at risk than inter‐ethnic marriages. As in prior research, persons who marry members of other racial/ethnic groups tend to marry persons from groups with income levels similar to their own. As in previous reports, some cross‐ethnic combinations appeared more at risk for divorce than did others. Group income appeared to be a predictor of risk. When considering only resident marriages as related to divorces, those marriages in which the bride was from a higher income group than the groom were at a significantly greater risk for divorce than marriage in which the bride came from an income group lower than that of the groom.     

Man and Bison on the Plains in the Protohistoric Period

Abstract

The presence of great herds of buffalo on the Central and Southern High Plains in early historic times may have been a recent phenomenon that discouraged reoccupation of the area by horticultural groups and encouraged proto-Apacheans who were already hunters of large herd animals to move southward. Such a possibility is supported by both archaeological and historical evidence.     

The High River Microblade Industry,Alberta

Abstract

A small collection of obsidian and chalcedony microblades, from a site near Calgary, Alberta, is described and compared with other microblades from the Plains and from the Plateau. Although the age and cultural affiliations of the micro blades are not certain, there is some evidence to suggest that they are early in the Plains sequence. The microblades have some distinctive attributes including ridge flakes, for which a typology is suggested. A comparison of the High River microblades with a large sample from the Interior Plateau of British Columbia suggests that the stimulus for the Alberta micro blades did not derive from the Plateau.     

A critical race theory approach to black American entrepreneurship

ABSTRACT

In recent years, a growing literature has suggested that self-employment is a viable means of solving economic problems for a wide range of groups who are subject to poverty, discrimination and other disadvantages. Yet African Americans have not developed an ethnic economy large enough to solve many of their economic problems. To explore the question, this paper reviews three of the most common explanations for black Americans’ low rates of entrepreneurship: the cultural/psychological perspective, the ethnic enterprise perspective and the critical race approach. While the first two are widely accepted, neither approach identifies black Americans as a racial group, instead defining them as a cultural or ethnic group. Accordingly, neither apprehends the full impact of racial inequality in limiting black Americans’ entrepreneurial opportunities. Following a discussion of race-based obstacles to entrepreneurship, the paper concludes that the critical race view provides the most convincing explanation for black Americans’ limited entrepreneurial achievements.     

The Devils Lake — Sourisford Burial Complex on the Northeastern Plains

Abstract

Isolated, exotic mortuary items have been reported on the Northeastern Plains for a number of decades. The necessity of analyzing an unusual miniature vessel with incised Thunderbirds and broken arrows and lizard or salamander effigies resulted in re-definition of the whole complex plus the development of a temporal-ecological model to derive a dynamic framework for postulating a series of inferences.

The exotic items such as incised miniature vessels, whelk shell gorgets, tubular pipes, columella shell beads, and incised stone tablets found in Canada and the U.S. are defined as part of the Devils Lake-Sourisford Burial Complex. This complex was left by nomadic Siouan peoples who settled on the Northeastern Plains during the Neo-Atlantic Climatic Period when Mississippian populations were undergoing maximum expansion and influence. These nomads were involved in a seasonal cycle following the bison herds bet Ween the Plains and the Aspen Parkland. They buried their dead primarily during the spring when they were leaving the Aspen Parkland and sheltered valleys. Only one village site, possibly related to this complex, has been anaylized to date but a series of anticipated results are presented.     

Within‐ and across‐group dating in Hawaii

Abstract

224 subjects from 5 different racial/ethnic groups responded to a dating questionnaire. There are both sex and racial/ethnic differences in frequency of cross‐ethnic dating in Hawaii and in attitudes (as reported by Ss) of parents and close friends toward within‐and across‐ethnic dating. Females date within their own groups more frequently than males and also report stronger support of within‐ and lesser support of across‐group dating by significant others. Racial/ethnic differences are substantial, with groups higher in mean income being more supportive of within‐group dating, being more accepted by other groups, and being less accepting of dating other groups. Amount of actual intergroup dating was related, in part, to group differences in income, with the two groups lowest in income (Filipinos and Hawaiians/Part Hawaiians) showing the highest amount of cross‐ethnic dating, but with the association breaking down in the upper income groups, possibly because of group differences in group size and in length of residence. The results are remarkably similar to those reported earlier on within‐ and across‐group marriage in Hawaii.     

Arrests,Alcohol, and Alcohol Legalization Among an American Indian Tribe

Abstract

In the entire history of the contact between American Indians and Western culture, alcohol has been a source of friction and controversy. This paper attempts to define the contemporary and historical relationship between alcohol, arrests and the Indians of a large tribe on the Great Plains. The situation on and off the Reservation is explored during periods of prohibition and also during one short legalization period. Some questions are raised regarding the relationships between Native American drinking patterns and the unique legal status which alcohol has had in relation to most tribal groups.