Rethinking the Dismal River Aspect and the plains Athapaskans,A.D. 1692-1768

Abstract

Shortly before A.D. 1650, two major and separate cultural traditions of Plains Apache of mixed horticultural-hunting economies evolved in the central High Plains, both with different origins. The “northern” aspect is identical with the Nebraska Sand Hills Athapaskans, or the “Dismal River proper,” and the result of immigration by people of the Fremont culture. The “Southern Aspect of Plains Apache Tradition,” extending from south of the Platte to the middle Pecos, developed as a response to changes stimulated and introduced by Pueblo farming in western Kansas, the core area of this aspect, after 1639. The history of both traditions and their transformations are described from 1692 to 1768. Archaeological sites in the central High Plains of the first half of this period reflect but an episode in the continuing culture of Plains Athapaskans of both traditions. Archaeological and historical information is used to elucidate the dynamics characteristic of the time and the area. The prehistory and history of a given area is viewed as a changing functional entity over time.     

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.     

Some Important Developments in Northern Plains Prehistory, 1942-1967*

Abstract

The area of the Northern Plains is defined as by Wedel in his 1961 synthesis. For the period under consideration, the “process” of archeological work is presented in terms of two main areas of growth--the River Basin Survey Program and the opening up of intensive work in Canada. Also for the period considered, the “results 11 of archeological work are presented in terms of the following eight areas of both fact and theory development: 1) The Middle Missouri “Plains Village” development; 2) Paleo-Indian diversity; 3) Meso-Indian gap filling; 4) Projectile points as diagnostics; 5) Functional interpretations; 6) Ecological prespectives; 7)Relationships outsidethePlains; 8) Broad-ranging synthesis. Future developments are seen in the need and possibilities for historic work, preparation of syntheses and the deeper development of micro-analytic approaches.     

The Red River Valley In The Prehistory Of The Northern Plains

Abstract

Archaeological reconnaissance in the valley of the Red River of the North indicates a heavy utilization of this area by Late Woodland peoples, especially manufacturers of Sandy Lake pottery. Artifact style, raw materials procurement, and the general pattern of northern Plains trade suggest the Red River area was integrated into a larger reticulum joining the northern Midwest woodlands with the northern Plains. Referring to this region as a “periphery” is acceptable only in a geographic sense, not a cultural-historical sense.     

The Organization and Role Of an Amateur Archeological Society

Abstract

The roles and functions of amateur archeologists and archeological societies are critically assayed in constructive terms.

A lot of ink has been spilled recently about “amateurs”, “pothunters”, “professionals”, “nonprofessionals”, and the like, on the pages of American Antiquity, the Plains Anthropologist and other publications. There is no question whatsoever that many professional archeologists have had unpleasant experiences with nonprofessionals, but my opinion is that the current published comments are doing little to help the situation. I object, not from the standpoint of a nonprofessional archeologist, which I am--one whose feelings have been hurt--but from the standpoint of one who is seriously interested in improving the situation.     

Dendrochronology In Plains Prehistory: An Assessment

Abstract

Chronologies and climatological interpretations based upon annual growth rings of trees have been available to prehistorians within the Plains for more than half a century. Until the advent of radiocarbon dating, tree rings provided the only “absolute” chronology for most archeological complexes and subsequently, continued as an important adjunct to radiometric methods. Nonetheless, the validity of tree ring dates in the Plains must be questioned. Continuity of research has been lacking, there have been serious methodological problems, and the provenience of many specimens is in doubt. Moreover, there are significant conflicts between tree ring and recent radiocarbon dates.     

The Identity of La Salle’S Pana Slave

Abstract

In June 1682 Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, was presented with a “Pana” boy by the Illinois Michigamea Indians. The boy told La Salle of his history as a captive in four Indian tribes. He described Indian village locations and listed the tribes which had “many” horses. The significance of the information for which he was the source depends on the tribal identity of the captive. It has been suggested in anthropological literature that “Pana” indicated “Pawnee,” Ponca, Arikara, Wichita, even Apache. After examination of evidence-linguistic, cultural, historical - it seems most likely he was a Southern Pawnee, a Wichita. If this was so, then his information substantiates the theory of Kroeber, Brant and others that some Kiowa Apaches were still living in the southern Plains in the late 17th century.     

On Cheyenne Sociopoutical Organization

Abstract

In a recent (1974) article John H. Moore has challenged the validity of earlier ethnologies of the Cheyenne Indians, with respect to their presentation of Cheyenne sociopolitical organization. Moore advances a dialectic model, positing matrilineal, matrilocal uterine bands from which were drawn the Peace Chiefs, who constituted a uterine tribal council. In frequent opposition, were the military societies, which Moore identifies as agnatic units of organization. Viewed historically, power shifted from the “uterine” bands and tribal council to the “agnatic” military societies.     

Climate,Acculturation, And Costume A History Of Women’S Clothing Among The Indians Of The Southern Plains

Abstract

This paper accepts Clark Wissler’s dictum, offered as long ago as 1915, in his pioneer study of Plains Indian clothing, that for such perishable objects as costume “real historic data is usually available.” Applying a combination of evidence provided by dated, first-hand, written observations, early drawings and later photographs, as well as selected well documented specimens preserved in museum collections to a study of historic Southern Plains Indian women’s body costume one finds that south of the northern limit of 180 frost-free days the prevailing women’s attire prior to the mid-19th century was a skin skirt and a poncho of the same material. In warm weather the poncho was often omitted sometimes exposing a wearer’s profusely painted or tattooed mammae. By the 1820s some women of affluent families made their garments of trade cloth. By the 1850s a long, trade cloth dress, with kimono sleeves and inset gores was becoming fashionable. This garment, in turn, was superceded among women of status by a three piece skin dress after buckskin became relatively scarce. The two piece skin dress which Wissler proposed as the “plains style” was never typical of the tribes of the Southern Plains. Rather the evidence argues against culture area uniformity in women’s clothing, while suggesting that climate and acculturation resulting from white contact strongly influenced a variety of dress styles among the women of the plains tribes. Indeed the body garments worn by women on the Southern Plains prior to 1850 strikingly resemble those depicted on classic figurines from Vera Cruz, Mexico, while they differed totally from garments worn by women of Northern Plains tribes during early historic times.     

Companion Animal Attachment and Military Transfer

Abstract

Human attachment levels to companion animals were compared to whether a companion animal accompanied a military family at transfer time. Attachment levels were measured by combining preexisting subscale instruments to form a 21-item pet attachment scale. Data were collected through a mail survey (67% response rate) of registered pet owners who were to transfer within six months from 13 military installations. Attachment levels to companion animals were positively associated with taking the pet upon transferring (X²=11.44, p <.01).

A semantic differential scale was employed to measure “perceived” attachment levels, which were compared with the attachment levels from the combined subscale instrument. These two scales had a strong association with each other (X²=65.70, p<.001). Factor analysis of the combined subscale instrument yielded two factors, “pet companionship” and “pet affection,” and reliability analysis estimated Cronbach's Alpha of .95.     

Bringing the “General Strike” Back In: DuBois,Slavery and Emancipation

ABSTRACT

The “general strike” of slaves in the Civil War was a direct action that involved millions of small and large acts of defiance by slaves. These actions pushed President Lincoln from hesitation to full on military action, although this chapter of history has been neglected. The work of W.E.B. Du Bois reinserted the agency of slaves in their own liberation through the “general strike” but this analysis has also been pushed to the margins. David Roediger's “Seizing Freedom: Slave Emancipation and Liberty for All' is an important corrective to this historical omission.     

Archeological Investigations at the Spawn Mound, 39LK201, Lake County,South Dakota

Abstract

The Spawn Mound, 39LK201, overlooking Brant Lake in eastern South Dakota, appears to be a Plains Woodland burial mound later used by historic Dakota for secondary interments. The 1966 excavations revealed two burial pits believed to be contemporaneous with the erection of the mound, which were assigned to the Plains Woodland component, and a third pit at the center of the mound which has been assigned to the historic Dakota. Each of the Woodland burial pits contained at least three individuals buried in the flexed position. The intrusive pit contained the remains of at least two individuals, apparently “bundle” burials. These intrusive burials were accompanied by European trade items.

On the basis of the limited ceramic material from the mound, including one rim sherd of the Ellis Cord Impressed type, as well as various lithic materials recovered in the mound fill, the Plains Woodland component has been tentatively assigned to the Loseke Focus. The historic burials would appear to date between A. D. 1800-1850.     

Association of ABO and Rh blood groups with breast cancer

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to determine the association of “ABO” and “Rhesus” blood groups with incidence of breast cancer.MethodsIn this study, we identified 70 research documents from data based search engines including “PubMed”, “ISI-Web of Knowledge”, “Embase” and “Google Scholar”. The research papers were selected by using the primary key-terms including “ABO blood type”, “Rhesus” blood type and “breast cancer”. The research documents in which “ABO” and “Rhesus” blood types and breast cancer was debated were included. After screening, we reviewed 32 papers and finally we selected 25 research papers which met the inclusion criteria and remaining documents were excluded.ResultsBlood group “A” has high incidence of breast cancer (45.88%), blood group “O” has (31.69%); “B” (16.16%) and blood group “AB” has (6.27%) incidence of breast cancer. Blood group “A” has highest and blood group “AB” has least association with breast cancer. Furthermore, “Rhesus +ve” blood group has high incidence of breast cancer (88.31%) and “Rhesus –ve” blood group has least association with breast cancer (11.68%).ConclusionBlood group “A” and “Rhesus +ve” have high risk of breast cancer, while blood type “AB” and “Rhesus –ve” are at low peril of breast cancer. Physicians should carefully monitor the females with blood group “A” and “Rh +ve” as these females are more prone to develop breast cancer. To reduce breast cancer incidence and its burden, preventive and screening programs for breast cancer especially in young women are highly recommended.     

The Dune Buggy Site, 24RV1, and Northwestern Plains Ceramics

Abstract

The study of ceramics in the northwestern Plains has lagged since Wissler included “the lack of pottery” as one of the core Plains traits. In recent years, however, the poor development in ceramic studies is due to the lack of reported sites rather than a real void. The first part of this paper describes the Dune Buggy site and its large ceramic collection. In the second part, the pottery is identified as belonging to a non-Middle Missouri tradition and related to sites in northeastern Montana, southeastern Saskatchewan southwestern Manitoba and northwestern North Dakota. The combinations of profile, designs, and decoration appear to be heterogeneous, and an analogy is drawn to the historic period for the area to suggest an explanation for the apparent mixing. Specific problems include the lack of absolute dates and stratigraphic relationships, unpublished data, and potentially mixed components.     

The Identity and Demography of the Plains-Ojibwa

Abstract

One of the largest Indian tribes of the northern praries is the Bungi or Plains-Ojibwa, Despite their importance in the historic period they go unmentioned in most histories. In large part this is due to semantic confusion in their identification by writers and official agencies.

In language, social organization, art, ceremonial, and costume the Plains Ojibwa is a distinct ethnic group. Although they are descended from Woodland groups, 150 years of separate political and cultural existence has made them a distinct tribe.

The gradual migration of small Ojibwa groups unto the Plains began near the end of the 18th century. By 1800 those living west of the Red River of the North were beginning to be thought of as a distinct group. However, confusion as to their irlentity has persisted.

At present 2 ethnic groups make up the Plains-Ojibwa, a “full-blood” minority group and a metis group which, although basically PlainsOjibwa with some Cree admixture, has a large amount of French as well as other European blood.     

Eco-ethological Study on Raiding Behaviour of the European Amazon Ant,Polyergus rufescens Latr. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

In this paper we report the results of a detailed study on the behavioural ecology of slave raiding in the European amazon ant, Polyergus rufescens Latr. The field study, supported also by a video-tape recording technique, was conducted over an unbroken period of 53 days, during which observations of the activity of the residents (both slave-makers and slaves) were made for 10 h each day. It was possible to observe 38 slave raids distributed over 32 days, among which 27 were followed by the sack of 10 different nests of Formica cunicularia Latr., whereas 11 failed because of various reasons. Simple, compound and multiple raids occurred. We recorded the timing, frequency, distance, and direction of slave raids, including the number of participants and the type of captured brood. Moreover, particular attention was paid to the atmospheric conditions present at the moment of the raid onset. Information was also collected about the behaviour of the “activators” and the scouts before and during the movement of the storming column. Both dealate and winged P. rufescens queens, having emerged from the mixed colony during 6 sexual flights, were seen following the outbound raiding column during 4 raids. Finally, some peculiar behaviour, such as digging out the soil near the target nest to facilitate the entry of the raiding swarm, and the pillage of adult ants (eudulosis) was recorded and described. Data have been compared with what is known about the other species of the genus Polyergus.     

Hexagonal-String Phases in Suspension Flow

Abstract

Investigations of the structure of flowing colloidal suspensions have seen structures of predominantly hexagonal strings moving in layered arrangements in the direction of the velocity gradient. A combination of computer simulation trajectories and computer graphics show that the predominant “hexagonal string phase” is the BCC lattice sheared along its (111) slip plane and, moreover, that all the common cubic lattice types contain “hexagonal strings”.     

Patterns of livestock depredation and cost‐effectiveness of fortified livestock enclosures in northern Tanzania

Human–carnivore conflicts and retaliatory killings contribute to carnivore populations' declines around the world. Strategies to mitigate conflicts have been developed, but their efficacy is rarely assessed in a randomized case–control design. Further, the economic costs prevent the adoption and wide use of conflict mitigation strategies by pastoralists in rural Africa. We examined carnivore (African lion [Panthera leo], leopard [Panthera pardus], spotted hyena [Crocuta crocuta], jackal [Canis mesomelas], and cheetah [Acinonyx jubatus]) raids on fortified (n = 45, total 631 monthly visits) and unfortified (traditional, n = 45, total 521 monthly visits) livestock enclosures (“bomas”) in northern Tanzania. The study aimed to (a) assess the extent of retaliatory killings of major carnivore species due to livestock depredation, (b) describe the spatiotemporal characteristics of carnivore raids on livestock enclosures, (c) analyze whether spatial covariates influenced livestock depredation risk in livestock enclosures, and (d) examine the cost‐effectiveness of livestock enclosure fortification. Results suggest that (a) majority of boma raids by carnivores were caused by spotted hyenas (nearly 90% of all raids), but retaliatory killings mainly targeted lions, (b) carnivore raid attempts were rare at individual households (0.081 raid attempts/month in fortified enclosures and 0.102 raid attempts/month in unfortified enclosures), and (c) spotted hyena raid attempts increased in the wet season compared with the dry season, and owners of fortified bomas reported less hyena raid attempts than owners of unfortified bomas. Landscape and habitat variables tested, did not strongly drive the spatial patterns of spotted hyena raids in livestock bomas. Carnivore raids varied randomly both spatially (village to village) and temporally (year to year). The cost‐benefit analysis suggest that investing in boma fortification yielded positive net present values after two to three years. Thus, enclosure fortification is a cost‐effective strategy to promote coexistence of carnivores and humans.     

The Central Plains Tradition Revisited

Abstract

Recent interpretations of the Central Plains Tradition are critically evaluated. In the process special attention is given to:( 1) alternative interpretations of the extant data base, (2) the cogency of taxonomic proposals, and (3) the construal of radiocarbon determinations. Blakeslee’s ”trade network thesis” is examined and an origin in the exigencies of population growth and spread is suggested.     

Maritime interdiction: Evolution of a strategy

Abstract

The principles of blockade have evolved from maritime siege by the Dutch in 1584, to an internationally sanctioned “coercive blockade”; intended to compel Iraq to leave occupied Kuwait in 1990. This strategy, viable through the centuries, remains a powerful tool in the military strategist's repertoire for meeting the challenges of low level and regional conflicts. Planning a “coercive blockade”; is difficult. In a combined and joint service operation, the careful development of force composition; command, control, and communication (C³) structures; and rules of engagement, becomes extremely critical. International law considerations permeate every level of planning and execution. A careful study of contemporary operations is necessary to create Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that address operational and legal issues for the future use of this creative method of international coercion.