The Function of Ceremonial Sexual Intercourse Among the Northern Plains Indians

Abstract

Sexual intimacy as a means of transferring spiritual power appears to have been a Mandan-Hidatsa ceremonial trait borrowed by three Algonkian Plains tribes as part of the graded men’s societies complex. The Algonkian tribes modified the rite, which in the village tribes emphasized the role of father’s clan. The Arapaho emphasized the cosmic symbolism of the rite, the Atsina made it a test of self-discipline, and the Blackfoot stressed the dangerous power commanded by those who performed it. These modifications parallel the differences in kinship structure between village and nomadic Plains tribes discussed by Eggan.     

The Boundary Mound Group (32SI-1): An Eastern Woodland Complex in North Dakota

Abstract

This site represents the first systematic investigation of a mound on the Missouri River in North Dakota. The mound group consists of 3 mounds on the North Dakota - South Dakota state line several miles southeast of Ft. Yates, South Dakota. The mounds are from 1-3 feet high and about 80’ in diameter. The reports covers the investigation of one of the mounds which had been partially removed by a railroad cut. Three excavations were carried out (1) along the edge of the railroad cut, (2) thru the center of the mound, and (3) an exploratory test pit east of the north end of center cut.

In the center of the mound was found the remains of a log covered tomb 10 x 12 feet containing 5 burials and a number of artifacts.

The Boundary Mound group suggests the presence of a Woodland group extending from eastern North Dakota to the Missouri River. This complex tenatively cross-dated at about 1000 A.D. is present but rare along the Missouri in South Dakota.     

Boulder Outlines in Southwestern Minnesota

Abstract

The Plateau du Coteau des Prairies, extending from Iowa through the southwest corner of Minnesota to South Dakota, is a 300 mile long series of intermittent hills, knolls and ridges. Outlines of figures and forms were made on Buffalo Ridge, the highest point on the Coteau, by setting stones in the prairie sod. Testimony to these kinds of antiquities is rare. This paper reports boulder outlines on Buffalo Ridge, including the “stone man” effigy mentioned by Nicollet in 1842.     

Blue Blanket Island (39WW9) an Historic Contact Site in the Oahe Reservoir Near Mobridge,South Dakota

Abstract

The Blue Blanket Island site (39WW9), a small, fortified, proto-historic Indian village on an island in the Missouri River, in Walworth County, South Dakota, was partially excavated by a River Basin Surveys crew in August 1961. One centrally located earthlodge, sections of the fortification, storage pits, and middens were excavated. Artifacts were scanty but architectural details were informative. The lodge was 18 sided with a short entry wayto the south (river side) and leaner posts of split cedar. The palisade was of split posts and the ditch was wide and shallow. The site appears to have been an Arikara village of short duration, probably occupied during the 1780’s and 1790’s. The abandoned remains of this village were noted by Lewis and Clark in 1804.     

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 Oglala (Teton Dakota) Sun Dance: Vissicitudes of its Structures and Functions

Abstract

The structure and function of the traditional Oglala Dakota Sun Dance is compared with modern versions of the dance performed at Pine Ridge, South Dakota.     

The Ghost Dance Religion In Saskatchewan,Canada1

Abstract

The “Ghost Dance” religion taught by the Paiute Jack Wilson (Wovoka) was carried to Saskatchewan at the beginning of this century. Its most successful proselytizer was an Assiniboine who inspired the most northern Dakota Sioux community in the province to become a congregation. Surviving members of this congregation profess a creed that closely follows Wilson 1s later teachings, recorded by Mooney, but that differs significantly from the more militant versions Mooney heard from some United States Dakota. The Saskatchewan creed appears to have been a viable accommodation to early reservation-period conditions.     

A Green Pigment from North Dakota Burial Mounds

Abstract

A clayey, green pigment was found in association with human interments in 3 mounds at the Boundary Mound site (32S11) on the Missouri River 16 miles downstream from Fort Yates, North Dakota.

Samples submitted to the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. were identified by microscopic and chemical analysis as Greensand, a sedimentary deposit containing greenish grains of glauconite. The nearest present day exposure appears to be just south of Wessington Springs, in Jerauld County, South Dakota. This report is the first identifi - cation of greensand as a pigment mineral.     

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.     

Theories Of Culture Change Relevant to the Study Of the Dakota Indians

Abstract

In the literature various theories of culture change have been developed relevant to the Dakota Indians. These theories of change can be grouped under the headings of psychological, social, and cultural change.

Psychologically the changes in Dakota personality are seen as developing from the child-rearing process. Social change has been regarded as reflecting the changing values within the family circle due to pressure from white culture. Culture change has been hypothesized as due to indoctrination in the Dakota value system during childhood. It is this persistence of Dakota values which is the main deterrent to the acceptance of many non-Indian skills.     

Additional Annotated References:

Abstract

This addendum contains 23 entrees dating between 1859 and 1927 relative to sites in Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, and the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The first section of this bibliography was published in Volume 7, Number 15, of Plains Anthropologist, 1962, and contained 302 references.     

Lithic Resource Utilization Patterns in the Middle Missouri Subarea

Abstract

Some years ago Donald Lehmer (1954) suggested, on the basis of data from sites near the Oahe Dam, that Middle Missouri Tradition and Coalescent Tradition populations practiced distinctly different lithic resource exploitation patterns. This study attempts to evaluate and expand upon Lehmer’s observations using data from four archaeological sites near Mobridge, South Dakota. An underlying premise is that studies of lithic resource exploitation must be grounded in a firm understanding of the geologic and geographic parameters of the natural resource base. Toward this end, field reconnaissanceand geologic information are used to define 12 stone types which occur in high frequency in the chipped stone artifact assemblages and which have reasonably well defined natural source locations and conditions. Comparisons of the four site assemblages according to the frequency of occurrence of these stone types supports Lehmer’s observations, and illustratescontrastive patterns of resource exploitation associated with the two cultural traditions. Coalescent populations relied heavily on several stone types occurring naturally in the Big Badlands and Black Hills of South Dakota, while Middle Missouri populations generally ignored these sources and relied heavily on Knife River Flint as a major lithic resource. These contrastive exploitation patterns appear to have remained relatively constant through time and across considerable space.     

Cultural Factors in Crime Among the Dakota Indians

Abstract

In spite of the breakdown of traditional Dakota social systems, especially the kinship structuring related to criminality, the modern pattern and rate of Dakota crime appears to reflect old norms of behavior. The comparatively low crime rate against property and the high rate against per sons is particularly suggestive of the traditional pattern operating in a modern context.     

Two human Skeletons from 39LM227, A Mound near The stricker Site,lyman County,south Dakota

Abstract

Two burials from a mound in central South Dakota are considered to be Arikara from a group ancestral to the Arikara, on the basis of observations and measurements.     

The Seven Pipes of the Dakota Sioux*

Abstract

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

An Unusual Pottery Object from South Dakota

Abstract

A pottery spoon found at the Rosa Site of South Dakota is briefly described and discussed. The item is suggested to be a reinterpreted product of acculturation.     

The Wind-Roan Bear Winter Count

Abstract

The Wind-Roan Bear winter count represents a calendrical history of segments and/or factions of the Dakota nation pefore, during, and after the massive westward movement of the American populace during the nineteenth century. This record was received by Harold Shunk (Mato Ska), in December, 1948, from Roan Bear, a Minneconjou residing on the Cheyenne Agency Reservation. It is supposedly the efforts of Zephier Rencontre (Wind), a Frenchman who, by marriage and profession, was closely associated with the Dakota. The Wind count covers the period 1796 to 1885. The Roan Bear count, originally the work of Buffalo (Bull) Head continues recording this historical transformation, covering the period 1886 to 1948. Both counts were of the modern variety, being short, written phrases in the Dakota language, reminding the reader of the indicated event (non-pictographic); Shunk recorded only the English translation.

The purpose of this paper is basically threefold: (1) To present the text of the Wind-Roan Bear count as obtained by Mr. Shunk; (2) In presenting the text, to clarify the obscure and/or unknown passages in the count as gathered by James H. Howard in 1953; and (3) To show the good agreement between the two counts in almost all of the clearly translated sections. In addition the writer has critically compared each year's event, or events, with corresponding events as recorded in various other Dakota winter counts. The author has attempted to place each year's event, or events, with corresponciing events as recorded in various other Dakota winter counts. Finally, the author has attempted to place each year's event, or events, in the proper historical perspective; hence, a brief analysis of each record is included therein.     

Diagnostic function of the neuroinflammatory biomarker YKL-40 in Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases

Introduction: Neuroinflammation is a crucial mechanism in the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases pathophysiology. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) YKL-40 – an indicator of microglial activation ? has recently been identified by proteomic studies as a candidate biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

Areas covered: We review the impact of CSF YKL-40 as a pathophysiological biomarker for AD and other neurodegenerative diseases. CSF YKL-40 concentrations have been shown to predict progression from prodromal mild cognitive impairment to AD dementia. Moreover, a positive association between CSF YKL-40 and other biomarkers of neurodegeneration – particularly total tau protein ? has been reported during the asymptomatic preclinical stage of AD and other neurodegenerative diseases. Albeit preliminary, current data do not support an association between APOE-ε4 status and CSF YKL-40 concentrations. When interpreting the diagnostic/prognostic significance of CSF YKL-40 concentrations in neurodegenerative diseases, potential confounders – including age, metabolic and cardiovascular risk factors, diagnostic criteria for selecting cases/controls – need to be considered.

Expert opinion/commentary: CSF YKL-40 represents a pathophysiological biomarker reflecting immune/inflammatory mechanisms in neurodegenerative diseases, associated with tau protein pathology. Besides being associated with tau pathology, CSF YKL-40 adds to the growing array of biomarkers reflecting distinct molecular brain mechanisms potentially useful for stratifying individuals for biomarker-guided, targeted anti-inflammatory therapies emerging from precision medicine.     

Knife River Flint

Abstract

Twenty-four Knife River F I int quarries have been newly discovered in Dunn County, North Dakota. Five were previously known in Mercer County. The flint occurs as pebbles, cobbles, and boulders in alluvial, slope-wash, and colluvial lag deposits of Pleistocene age. The flint in these deposits was originally derived from a silicified lignite bed in the Golden Valley Formation of Eocene age and possibly also from other lignite-bearing formations. The flint has a characteristic petrography and can be readily distinguished from all other commonly used rock types in North Dakota and adjacent areas.     

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.