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.     

Giving Away: the Ceremonial Distribution of Goods Among the Northern Cheyenne of Southeastern Montana

Abstract

The Northern Cheyenne, like most Plains reservation tribes, frequently hold public distributions of goods called give-aways. Give-aways occur throughout the year in order to honor individual Cheyennes and, through the obligation of reciprocity, intra-tribal and inter-tribal ties are established and maintained. The give-away exchanges and their functions are analyzed utilizing Marshall Sahlins’ typology of primitive exchange.     

On Hayden's List of Cheyenne Military Societies

Hayden's list provides a cross-reference on diffusion of societies, cults, and dances between portions of the Northern Cheyenne and Dakota tribes that had intermarried. It is the earliest list known of the five well known military societies of the Cheyennes and one society that early became extinct. Only one, the Elks, may be seriously questioned.     

Culture in Mind: Cognition, Culture, and the Problem of Meaning

Culture in Mind: Cognition, Culture, and the Problem of Meaning. Bradd Shore. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. 428 pp.     

The Meaning of Time

Abstract

Jeremy Rifkin. Time Wars. New York: Touchstone Books, Simon & Schuster, 1989. 302 pp. $9.95 paperback.     

Cheyenne Dog Soldiers: A Ledgerbook History of Coups and Combat

Cheyenne Dog Soldiers:. Ledgerbook History of Coups and Combat. Jean Afton. David Fridtjof Halaas. and Andrew E. Masich. with Richard N. Ellis. Niwot, CO: University Press of Colorado, 1997.400 pp.     

The TRAIL of Death

The TNF ligand family member termed TRAIL has been shown to induce apoptosis in a wide variety of transformed cell lines. The normal functions of this cytokine in vivo remain, however, relatively unknown. The complexity of this biological system has now increased unexpectedly with the identification of four distinct receptors for TRAIL, two of which have cytoplasmic death domains. This review will describe the known biological effects of TRAIL, as well as the structure and possible functions of its recently identified receptors.