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Field Museum of Natural History Bulletin

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Field Museum
of Natural History
Bulletin

Published by

Field Museum of Natural History

Founded 1893

President: Willard L. Boyd
Director: Lorin I. Nevling, Jr.

Editor/Designer: David M. Walsten
Calendar: Man' Cassai
Staff Photograpiher: Ron Testa

Board of Trustees

William G. Swartchild, Jr.,

chairman
Mrs. T. Stanton Armour
George R. Baker
Robert O. Bass
Gorden Bent
Bowen Blair
Willard L. Boyd
Mrs. Robert Wells Carton
Stanton R. Cook
O.C. Davis

William R. Dickinson, Jr.
Thomas E. Doimelley n
Marshall Field
Hugo]. Melvoin
Charles F. Murphy, Jr.
Lorin 1. Nevling, Jr.
James J. O'Connor
James H. Ransom
John S. Runnells
William L. Searle
Edward Byron Smith
Robert H.'Strotz
John W. Sullivan
Edward R. Telling
Mrs. Theodore D. Tieken
E. Leiand Webber
Julian B. Wilkins
Blaine J. Yarrington

Life Trustees

Harry O. Bercher
William McCormick Blair
Joseph N. Field
Paul W. Goodrich
CUfford C. Gregg
Samuel InsuU, Jr.
William V Kahler
William H. Mitchell
John M. Simpson
J. Howard Wood

CONTENTS

January 1982
Volume 53, Number 1

\ew light on Peru's Past

By Michael E. Moseley, Robert A. Feldman,
and Irene Pritzker

Ancient Air Breathers

By W.D.Ian Rolf e

Latin American Neighbors Day

Egyptian Hall Rejuvenated

Field Museum Tours

Tribes, Traditions, and Totem Poles:
The Northwest Coast Achievement

Learning Museum Program
By Anthony Pfeiffer

Index to Volume 52 (1981)

Letters from the Arctic — /

By Edward Olsen

Our Environment

January and February at Field Museum

Calendar of coming events

back
cover

COVER

The high grasslands of southern Peru (here over 4300 meters
above sea level) are the home of llamas and alpacas, the domesti-
cated New World camelids. These animals are important today,
as they were 1,000 years ago, for the wool and meat they
provide. Photo by Robert A. Feldman.

Field Museum of Natural History Bulletin (USPS 898-940) is published monthly, except combined
July/ August issue, by Field Museum of Natural History, Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore Drive,
Chicago, n, 60605. Subscriptions: $6.00 annually, $3.00 for schools. Museum membership
includes Bulletin subscription. Opinions expressed by authors are their own and do not
necessarily reflect the policy of Field Museum. Unsolicited manuscripts are welcome. Museum
phone: (312) 922-9410. Postmaster: Please send from 3579 to Field Museum of Natural History,
Roosevelt Road at Uke Shore Drive, Chicago, U. 60605. ISSN:aO15-0703. Second class posUge
paid at Chicago, 11.

New Ligfit on Peru!s Past

Recent discoveries on the site of a large copper mine in southern Peru have led to
the formation of a new archeological program in which Field Museum will play
a major role

By Michael E. Moseley, Robert A. Feldman, and Irene Pritzker

Photos by Robert A. Feldman

On the eve of Columbus's New World land-
fall, the largest empire in the world was
probably Tahuantinsuyu, or the "Land of the
Four Quarters," as the Inca called their sprawling
realm. The empire stretched along the moun-
tainous Andean backbone of South America for
more than 4,300 kilometers, an expanse rivaling
the Roman Empire. There is today no Andean
nation of comparable magnitude; nor in the past
did larger states arise, neither in the New World,
nor south of the equator in the Old World.
The four- fold division of the realm was
made for administrative purposes, and reflects
salient geographical differences within the far-

flung empire. Contisuyu was the southwestern
quarter of Tahuantinsuyu and comprised much
of what is today southern Peru. The Inca con-
quest of the southern Andes and their domina-
tion of earlier civilizations is not well known or
understood. Smallpox and other diseases of
European origin decimated the empire as the
Conquistadors were plundering it, and the ear-

Michael E. Moseley is associate curator of Middle and
South American archeology and ethnology; Robert A.
Feldman is visiting assistant curator of South American
archeology; and Irene Pritzker is in the Post-Graduate En-
glish Program at the University of Chicago and is a coor-
dinator of the Contisuyu Program.

Field Museum ar-
cheologist Robert
Feldman examines
ventilator opening in
wall of recently iden-
tified Inca storehouse
upriverfrom Cerro
Baul.

liest written accounts of Contisuyu begin after
Andean civilization was in a state of collapse.

To learn more about the ancient civilizations
of Contisuyu, we scaled the lone precipitous
path winding up the cliff-face of a towering
mesa, called Cerro Baul. This great rock pinnacle
juts out of the center of the little explored
Moquegua Valley, and like a stone battleship,
guards passage between the high mountains and
desert coastlands of southern Peru. Our quest
was the ruined city that sprawled over the sum-
mit of this sheer-sided natural fortress. Like the
mesa of Masada, which confronted the Romans
in ancient Israel, we believe Cerro Baul was the
invincible stronghold where Inca legions were
held at bay by the defenders of Moquegua and
Contisuyu. The one path to the summit is steep,
narrow, and runs a tortuous course between an-
cient defensive walls and rock cliffs where as-
saulting troops could easily be thrown back.

The heroic resistance by the people of
Moquegua is recorded in an account written
hundreds of years ago by Garcilaso de la Vega,
the son of a Conquistador and an Inca noble-
woman. He reports that after learning of the Inca

Villages of later prehistoric periods were often built on defen-
sible hilltops overlooking the river valleys. Elaborate systems
of canals and terraces allowed crops to he raised on steep
slopes.

emperor Mayta Capac's setting forth with his
armies to conquer Contisuyu, the populace
armed and provisioned themselves. They then
withdrew to the towering mesa overlooking
their homeland, which could only be Cerro Baul.
The Inca legions could not scale the cliff-faces or
take the great natural bastion by storm, nor could
the conquest of Contisuyu proceed beyond this
defiant fortress; so Mayta Capa encamped his
forces around the great hill and set siege so that
the defenders could obtain neither food nor
water from the valley below. The isolation of the
great mesa proved to be a liability: its defenders
became its prisoners.

Garcilaso tells of the fall of Cerro Baul. After
fifty days without food or water, the elders sent
the children down in hopes that the Inca would
show mercy and that the young would not die
for the resistance of their fathers. But Mayta
Capac did not wish to harm any of the people, so
he sent the children back up the mountain with
food and water for all. Seeing the Inca's compas-
sion, the defenders surrendered and submitted
to Inca rule.

Upon reaching the summit of Cerro Baul,

L'V

l^?^:

Fortress-like mesa of
Cerro Baul (center
background) provided
refuge to inhabitants of
Moquegua when the
Inca came to conquer
the valley. It fell after a
50-day siege. Store-
houses (foreground)
built by the victo-
rious incas today
lie in ruins.

the weary hiker is today greeted by an amazing
view of grandeur that reaches from the snow-
covered peaks of the Andes down toward the
Pacific coastlands. Far below the mesa the Rio
Moquegua ghmmers like a distant ribbon. The
river is only 125 kilometers long, and its waters
cascade down the western face of the Andes,
descending more than 4,500 meters before emp-
tying into the ocean. This exceptional change in
altitude creates an ideal ecological research situa-
tion, because over a very short horizontal dis-
tance the Rio Moquegua transects a great range
of environments.

This ecological diversity is not random, but
stratified by altitude into distinct environmental
belts stacked one atop another. In this situation,
archeologists can follow human development
back in time through a series of very different
physical settings. These settings range from the
"altiplano," or high plain, where llamas and al-
pacas pasture, to the rocky seacoast, where fish-
ing is the way of life. The basic ecological divi-
sions of the watershed are defined by rainfall,
which is seasonal above 2,000 meters and com-
pletely absent at lower elevations. Indeed, the
lower valley cuts through the world's driest des-
ert, where decades can pass without even a
shower.

From the top of the towering mesa, it
is possible to catch a glimpse of the distant
Cuajone open pit copper mine in the remote
mountains from which the Rio Moquegua de-
scends. The mine began operations in 1976, and
while it was under construction the local com-
munity and mine officials became concerned as

they realized that they were discovering one
archeological monument after another. At this
point. Southern Peru Copper Corporation, the
mine operators, approached Field Museum for
advice, and it was this contact that brought us to
Moquegua for reconnaissance purposes and to
the summit of Cerro Baul, where we hoped to
begin unraveling Inca from pre-Inca civilization
in the valley.

Because the Moquegua drainage is un-
explored archeologically, our initial reconnais-
sance has been concerned with discovering the
numbers and types of sites and monuments in
the region. Here, the use of a small airplane
owned by the mine has proved invaluable in
providing a rapid overview of the many ruins
tucked away in desert canyons and mountain
corridors. This reconnaissance has shown that
the valley contains more than 500 archeological
sites spanning some 10,000 years of human en-
deavor. Discoveries range from painted caves
through cities older and larger than Machu
Picchu to the citadel-city of Cerro Baul. Apart
from imposing architecture, many ruins contain
a myriad of artifacts, ornate textiles, and mum-
mified human remains. Broad expanses of aban-
doned agricultural terraces cover the mountain-
sides, and ancient canals built with sophisticated
engineering methods reach across the desert
plains.

Today Cerro Baul is covered by a ruined
city some 8 hectares (20 acres) in size. A series of
plazas and large buildings — some that were once
two stories tall — claim the central area. Next to
them are large, deep pits, probably granaries and

cisterns for storing water. The houses of the an-
cient city are jumbled and closely packed. Here
and there are large grindstones (weighing over
45 kg, or 100 pounds), which have been labori-
ously hauled up from below; broken pottery lit-
ters the ground.

Discovering ancient monuments is both
exciting and easy when done by airplane. How-
ever, dating such discoveries is difficult and tedi-
ous in an unexplored region where the sequence
of past civilizations is not known. The Inca con-
quest and assimilation of Moquegua left a dis-
tinctive archeological stamp on many of the later
prehistoric sites. However, among the
thousands of sherds of pottery among the ruins
of the mesa-top city we did not encounter Inca
materials. It may be that the Emperor Mayta
Capac forced the citadel to be abandoned in
order to forestall any possible rebellion once his
legions moved on to conquests further afield —
this remains for future research to establish.

The ruins do contain pottery in a pure
Tiwanaku style, and effectively date at least part
of the ancient city to A.D. 500-700. Tiwanaku
was a great pre-Inca empire, and its capital city
was near the edge of Lake Titicaca on the alti-
plano, high above Cerro Baul. We have encoun-
tered pottery of this imperial style at scattered
sites all the way down to the port city of Ilo, at
the mouth of the Moquegua Valley. Because the
desert around Ilo is even drier than that of an-
cient Egypt, archeological preservation is excep-
tional, and ancient cemeteries yield fine textiles,
feather headdresses, and other delicate objects,
including elaborate tapestry tunics of Tiwanaku
style. As yet, we do not know if these magnifi-
cent Tiwanaku tapestries — or the pottery at
Cerro Baul — reflect a military conquest like that
of the Inca, or if more peaceful colonization was
involved. We know that the Aymara kingdoms,
which arose around Lake Titicaca after the fall of
Tiwanaku, maintained peaceful colonies of
farmers in the Moquegua Valley, and this pat-
tern might extend back to the earlier empire.

Looking out from the summit of Cerro Baul,
great tracts of abandoned terraces can be seen
flanking the valley and extending back into
the mountains. Agricultural terraces such as
these were so characteristic of the highlands of
Tahuantinsuyu that the Spanish Conquistadors
gave the native name for the terraces, andenes,
to the whole cordillera — the Andes. Farming on
any scale within the Andean highlands must be
based on terraces, as the valleys are steep-sided,
with very little flat land even near the rivers.
The engineering problems presented by the
steep hillsides and rapidly flowing rivers were
enormous, though successfully overcome. A far
greater area was farmed in the past than today.

Where modern irrigation farming ends, the
canals often do not: they continue for kilometers
through remnants of abandoned terraced fields.

The terraces are not the only evidence of
long-term agricultural changes. Long canals and
irrigation systems now make the desert area on
the floor of the valley productive, but hundreds
of hectares of now-barren land on either side of
Moquegua reveal a webwork of small feeder
canals, showing that this area too was once
farmed. A strong wind, occurring daily, has
blown away most of the soil from the fields, but
the canals are preserved because of their stone
lining or by thick layers of hard silt deposited in
them during their use.

Coastal Chirihaya-style pottery (ca. a.d. 1200) features mul-
ticolored geometric designs, probably derived by simplifying
and stylizing the more naturalistic Tiwanaku designs from
the Bolivian altiplano.

Nowhere in the world do people simply
abandon arable land; but nowhere in the world
has as much land been abandoned as in the
Andes. Survey has shown that many of the
Moquegua terraces are associated with pre-Inca
settlements as well as with Inca sites, but ques-
tions such as how they were watered — from
canals or by rainfall — and why they are not now
in use remain unanswered. Study of the ter-
races can provide important information on past
climatic conditions, and whether there have
been changes in rainfall, evaporation, or river
flow — changes that could have important
implications for the future of the region.

When and why these fields were aban-
doned are also important questions. The Inca
chronicler Garcilaso de la Vega relates that
when the Inca Mayta Capac conquered the
Moquegua area it was underpopulated, so he

Much of the lower part ofContisuyu is dry and barren, with
farming now limited to narrow river valleys (center). In the

brought in settlers. The abandoned fields ap-
pear to be more closely related to the earlier
Tiwanaku villages than to the later, scantier Inca
remains. It appears that the Moquegua Valley
saw several peaks and declines in population.

past, canals carried water out of valleys to fields on some of
these wastelands.

The causes for the abandonment of the agricul-
tural lands need to be understood, especially
the question of whether these causes could
recur and affect the area's modern inhabitants.
After the Inca's armies took Cerro Baul, they

moved its defenders out of their villages and
resettled them — along with the colonists that
were brought in to pacify and repopulate the
region— in two new villages. Garcilaso named
only one of them — Moquegua — so there has
been some speculation about the second. We
think we have found the evidence needed to
answer this question.

We discovered spectacular terrace systems
and a major complex of monumental architecture
in the mountains above the sierra town of Torata,
within the sight of Cerro Baul. The complex is
tied to an Inca highway that descends the crest of
a long mountain ridge covered with abandoned
terraces. Walking down the road, the visitor is
first greeted by a scatter oichulpas, circular
masonry burial towers. Chulpas are an altiplano
attribute that we have not found in the lower
coastal valley. Below the ruined towers, the an-
cient road is straddled by an impressive group of
stone-walled Inca storehouses. The walls of
these four ranks of rooms still stand high, after
almost 500 years of abandonment. Small open-
ings in the sides at ground level — below the
raised floors inside — served as ventilators and
show that these storerooms held agricultural
produce, undoubtedly gathered from the stone-
faced terraces that blanket the hUls on all sides.

A short distance away is a fortified village,
its jumbled walls presenting a very different
aspect from the regimented storerooms. Pottery
found on the site shows a mixture of local and
Inca styles, a pattern often repeated in the Inca
provinces. When they conquered an area the
Incas Would not replace the local culture, but
rather would superimpose their own. Physical
evidence of the Incas, such as architecture and
pottery, is often restricted to sites they actually
occupied. Thus, we find the mixture of pottery
styles at the village adjacent to the storerooms,
while in an architecturally identical village only a
kilometer away, Inca pottery is extremely rare.

An even greater contrast is seen down in the
valley by Torata, where there is an Inca adminis-
trative center adjacent to a local village. The Inca
center is severely regimented, with identical
rooms grouped inside walled rectangular blocks
lining a grid of streets. To build their city, the
Incas chose (and possibly partially leveled) a flat
saddle on a ridge. The rocky promontory at the
end of the ridge is occupied by the local village.
Its rooms are built on terraces following the
curve of the hill and lack the order and regularity
of the Incas' rigid blocks. Very little Inca pottery
was found at the local village, showing that even
though they existed side-by-side, the culture of
the conquerers made few inroads on the local
pattern.

The Inca administrative center identifies the

10,000-year-old paintings found on the walls of two caves
near Toquepala show ancient hunters stalking wild game of
Andes. Unfortunately, vandalism threatens to destroy
these priceless artifacts. One of the aims of the new Con-
tisuyu Program is to prevent similar destruction of
Moquegua's cultural heritage.

Heavy grindstones found on Cerro Baul shew that people
once lived in ruined buildings on its summit. Pottery shows
that this occupation dates back some 1,500 years.

Lights of Villa Cuajone

(lower left) signal new

future for Cerro Baul

and other prehistoric

sites in Moquegua.

Money provided by

owners of Cuajone

copper mine wil help

contribute to

protection and study of

these valuable

monuments of

Contisuyu'spasf.

adjacent village as the second of the two founded
after the fall of Cerro Baul. It is possible that we
are too literal in our reading of Garcilaso's chron-
icle, and that this village was not a single concen-
trated settlement such as we are accustomed to.
The storehouse site and its village are about 5
kilometers from the Torata center, but they might
have been part of the same "village" or commu-
nity. More work remains to be done, but we
know where to look.

Below the Inca center, in the middle and
lower Moquegua basin, the severity of the desert
conditions greatly restricts where people can
live: the occupation was densely packed along
the river banks and shoreline, but almost absent
in the intervening desert regions. Canal systems
and irrigation agriculture make the valley zone
productive, and the modern city of Moquegua is
located there. Today, large areas of the river val-
ley are given over to grapes, which are used to
make Moquegua's renowned Pisco brandy. In
the past, maize, beans, cotton, and fruit trees
such as avocado were the principal crops; abun-
dant food remains found in the village middens
will provide important information on past crops
and diet.

Only a few parched olive groves can
be found on the Pacific coast, where water is
extremely scarce. The copper company must
desalinate seawater at great expense in order to
supply the needs of the workers at its smelter
north of the city of Ilo. In the past, limited farm-

ing was possible with the use of short canals
from springs at the base of the Andes. However,
fishing and marine collecting was the most im-
portant way of life on the coast. Extensive shell
middens blanket the coast on either side of Ho —
some are 5,000 or more years old.

In sharp contrast to the coast is the altiplano,
a relatively flat tableland situated more than
4,000 meters above sea level. It is cold and out-
wardly forbidding. Numerous snow-capped
peaks, many volcanic, tower above the plains,
reaching heights over 5,400 meters (17,700 feet).

Human occupation of the altiplano is sparse
and scattered, restricted to areas with favorable
combinations of water, temperature, and wind.
While life is definitely not easy, an extremely
successful adaptation hasbeen developed, based
on herding the llama and alpaca and on cultivat-
ing a suite of high-altitude, frost-tolerant plants,
potatoes in particular. The prehistoric record on
the altiplano goes back many millennia. Survey
of a recently abandoned farmstead there turned
up not only the expected glass and tin cans, but
also stone flakes and projectile points that show
the site to have been occupied over a span of up
to 5,000 years.

The range of archeological monuments
shown to us by officials of the Cuajone mine and
by interested and concerned local residents, as
well as the additional sites we found, confirm the
importance of Moquegua. The discovery of this
cultural wealth created a great deal of excitement

at Field Museum as well as in Peruvian institu-
tions. Luckily, Southern Peru Copper Corpora-
tion was interested in helping, and offered
matching funds to develop a program for the
preservation and study of the valuable sites. As
a result, the Contisuyu Program has recently
been created.

The Contisuyu Program is a cooperative
Peruvian-U.S. agreement involving Field
Museum, the Peruvian Museum of Health Sci-
ences, and the Peruvian National Cultural Insti-
tute. These three institutions have agreed to
combine forces to organize a multinational proj-
ect of investigation, conservation, and regional
development of the cultural heritage of Moque-
gua's portion of Contisuyu. The ultimate goal of
all involved with the program is that the ar-
cheological sites be protected, studied, and
shared with interested visitors from all parts of
the world.

From a Peruvian standpoint, the involve-
ment of Field Museum is very important. From
its beginnings. Field Museum has had a great
interest in Andean research, and is expert in
conceptualizing and implementing broadly
based programs such as the Moquegua sites re-
quire. The transfer of technical and scientific
knowledge to Peru for purposes of taking inven-
tory and protecting the sites is vital to the success
of the Contisuyu Program, and it is in this area
particularly that the Field Museum is uniquely
qualified to contribute. In addition, an area as
large as the Moquegua Valley requires not just
the ability to investigate a particular site, but the
ability to manage a large scale, self-perpetuating
business enterprise. Few museums in the world
know how to do this. Field Museum does, and it
is wilhng to share its expertise with Peru.

The impact of modern civilization on the
region, and the urgent need for the Contisuyu
Program, can be seen at the oldest known mon-
ument in Contisuyu: the Toquepala Caves. Some
10,000 years ago hunter-gatherers lived in the
Toquepala Caves near the Quebrada Cimarron, a
now-dry stream running from the sierra to the
desert. The midden garbage of these ancient res-
idents accumulated in thick deposits covering
the floors of two small caves, and on the cave
walls the people painted a graphic record of their
presence.

Designs in red, black, yellow, and green
show ancient hunters amid herds of guanaco, a
wild relative of the domesticated llamas and al-
pacas. Other animals, including armadillos and
condors, are also shown, along with enigmatic
geometric designs. These hunting scenes are an
irreplaceable window back into the distant past,
long before farming assumed importance.

Unfortunately, vandalism has destroyed

many of the caves' paintings. The caves were
discovered more than twenty years ago by sur-
vey teams planning Southern Peru Copper Cor-
poration's first mine at Toquepala. The mine
funded a study of the paintings, and archeolo-
gists were also sent from Lima. A fence was
erected to protect the paintings, but people dug
under it and tried to chip off the designs, proba-
bly to sell them; they only succeeded in shatter-
ing and destroying many precious paintings. Re-
cently, the corporation erected a new and much
stronger barrier, so further destruction, it is
hoped, will be prevented.

A major goal of the Contisuyu Program will
be to increase public awareness and appreciation
of the importance of archeological remains. By
building local pride, we seek to prevent the de-
struction of more of Moquegua's patrimony.

A major step forward in unravelling the
mysteries of Moquegua has been the formation
of the Contisuyu Program. Not only does the
program provide necessary finance, it also cre-
ates official Peruvian enthusiasm by virtue of the
fact that it owes its existence to the concern
shown by a responsibly minded large American
corporation. It is with great anticipation that
Field Museum, together with our Peruvian col-
leagues, looks forward to the enormous task of
preserving, studying, and developing the cul-
tural patrimony of the Valley of Moquegua,
and to bringing into focus the civilizations of
Contisuyu. D

Extremely dry
conditions in
Moquegua desert have
preserved a wide range
of perishable remains,
including this wooden
spoon handle. Design
is carved in Tiwanaku
style (ca. A.D. 500) and
depicts two condor
heads (at top), cactus
flower (top center), and
unidentified plant
form.

ANCIENT AIR BREATHERS

b;^ w. D. Ian Rolfe

Burgess shale fossil
Opabinia may be an
early descendant of the
segmented animals
from which annelid
worms (such as the
earthworm) and ar-
thropods were derived.
This reconstruction
provoked laughter
when first shown at a
normally sober, scien-
tific meeting — a trib-
ute to the animal's
unique combination of
characters. (After
Whittington)

Most paleontologists would still agree with
Darwin that "the whole science of geology
loses glory from the extreme imperfection of the
record." Yet, now and again a new find of fossils
is made which reminds us of what we are miss-
ing — another window onto the past is opened.

The most famous of these finds is the
Burgess Shale (530 million years old) of British
Columbia, with its multitude of soft-bodied
forms. An international research team led by H.
B. Whittington, of Cambridge University, has
shown that there is still much that can be learned
from these fossils, discovered in 1908. Or the
more local, but scarcely less famous, Mazon
Creek Pennsylvanian biota (300 million years
old) of Illinois, with its 800 or so different animal
and plant fossils, mostly still unique to Illinois.
These are chance occurrences of a spectacular
kind.

No less remarkable, however, may be finds
made by workers patiently processing rock in
their laboratories. One thinks of the beautiful
Permian silicified brachiopods recovered by G.
Arthur Cooper and his co-workers at the Smith-
sonian Institution, by acid digestion of blocks
of the Glass Mountains, Texas. Or the minute,
crystal-clear copepod crustaceans and spiders
dissolved from concretions in the Mojave Desert
by Alison Palmer. We take for granted the rou-
tine recovery of large masses of often exquisitely
preserved spores with their resistant sporopol-
lenin coats.

Yet, few geologists are prepared to take the
risk of expending vast effort in processing large
volumes of rocks on the off-chance that they
might contain some new fossils. The German

geologist Erich Malzahn was willing to take
such a chance: by washing many tons of Permian
marl, he recovered a few, minute, exquisitely
pyritized crustaceans of groups previously un-
known as fossils. Klaus Miiller, of Bonn Univer-
sity, has suggested that such occurrences are not
as few and far between as we tend to think; we
just do not bother to look for them adequately.
Miiller should know, since in the course of dis-
solving phosphatized water fleas from Swedish
Cambrian limestones, 510 million years old, he
noticed that a few had soft parts attached to
them. By carefully dissolving less than nine
pounds of the rock he was able to recover
thousands of shells, 400 of them with their soft
parts and multisegmented limbs preserved in-
tact.

Knowledge of life on ancient land surfaces is
much harder to come by. This is partly for the
obvious reason that land animals have to end up
in a water-laid sediment before they can be found
as fossils — a rather unlikely event. Yet one of
these remarkable chance finds has just been
made by paleobotanists Pat M. Bonamo and
Doug Grierson of the State University of New
York at Binghamton.

Whilst etching out fossil plants from the

W. D. Ian Rolfe was recently at Field Museum under the
Department of Geology's Visiting Scientist Program, inves-
tigating pod-shrimps of Mazon Creek, Illinois, and Mecca
shale, of Indiana; he also initiated the work on Devonian
microarthropods of New York, discussed in this article. Rolfe
has returned to his position as deputy director of the Hunte-
rian Museum, University of Glasgow.

middle Devonian (380 million years old)
mudstones of Gilboa, New York, to use their
own words, "We made an extremely exciting and
fortuitous discovery. While we were examining a
preparation with the dissecting microscope we
found an almost complete small arthropod,
swaying gently in the water filling a depression
left by the acid removal of the rock matrix, the
tips of its legs being still embedded in the un-
etched rock. We were able to remove it with
cephalothorax and abdomen still intact." Since
then, they have found more specimens, most of
them fragmentary.

That first animal Bonamo and Grierson
found is a trigonotarbid arachnid — a group of
daddy longlegs-like animals, extinct since the
Pennsylvanian. The finest details seen on any
fossil arthropod can be seen on this species —
including the first slit sense organs — the "strain
gauges" which detect minute deformations in
arachnid exoskeletons. These structures, only a
few thousandths of a millimeter in length, were
spotted by Field Museum's John Kethley, associ-
ate curator of entomology. In an equally striking
specimen were the poison fangs of what was
obviously a centipede. Ralph Crabill, the senior
U. S. worker on centipedes, was excited to find
that this most closely resembles a living form on
which he had worked for many years — Cratero-
stigmuS) known today only from New Zealand's
South Island and Tasmania. He could state with

New trigonotarbid arachnid, 2 mm long (1/12 inch), from the
Middle Devonian (380 million years old) of Gilboa, New
York. It closely resembles animals of similar age from Rhynie,
Scotland, and Aiken, West Germany. (Photo courtesy Pat
M. Bonamo and D. Grierson)

Phosphatized ostracode (water flea), 0.2 mm long, acid-
etched from Upper Cambrian (510 million years old) lime-
stone in Sweden. (Photo courtesy ofK.J. Miiller)

^^^^H

*»^-

^■■H^^M

Le^ tip ofGilhoa, N.Y.
trigonotarbid, show-
ing well preserved
spurs , and hairs still
set in sockets. (Photo
courtesy Pat M.
Bonamoand
D. Grierson)

Poison fimgs of the oldest known centipede, from 380
million-vear-old rocks ofGilboa, N.Y. They most closely
resemble Craterostigmus — known today only from New
Zealand and Thsmania. (Photo courtesy Pat M. Bonamo
and D. Grierson)

authority that this could not belong to any cen-
tipede living in North America today. An impor-
tant point, since other authorities had begun to
question whether these acid residues were not
simply contaminants — minute scraps of arthro-
pod that had, perhaps, fallen out of a crack in
the ceiling.

This sort of thing had happened before —
supposed outer-space spores found in the
Orgeuil meteorite proved to be only ragwort pol-
len contaminants that had survived superficial
cleaning of the meteorite. The possibility of such
contamination was ruled out here by the pres-
ence of trigonotarbid, and also by the extreme
flatness of the materials — only a few thou-
sandths of a millimeter thick: it was difficult to

imagine how such Recent contaminants had got
so squashed, unless they really had been en-
tombed in a column of rock, originally miles
thick. As more groups were recognized, it be-
came clear that the fossils belonged to groups
that had long been thought to be primitive. That
was true oi Craterostigmus, and of the single mite
specimen recovered. Identification of mites is
very much a matter for specialists, and John
Kethley recognized that this was one of the
oribatid mites in which Roy Norton, of the S. U.
N. Y. College of Environmental Science and For-
estry, was expert. Norton was able to compare it
with living ctenacarids, a family of Palaeosomata
which, as the name suggests, had long been con-
sidered among the most ancient of mites.

Other animals are represented by the small-
est of fragments, and one needs to enlist the help
of many specialists in order to run them down.
Two such experts. Otto Kraus in Hamburg and
Bill Shear of Hampden-Sydney College, Vir-
ginia, independently identified one scrap as the
tip of the leg of a tarantulalike arachnid. These
animals have a very patchy distribution at the
present day, suggesting a former much wider,
tropical- subtropical distribution. Fossils had
been known from the Carboniferous of Mazon
Creek, as well as from Europe, but once again
this find was much older than any hitherto.

The work of identifying the fragments —
most of them less than a millimeter across —
continues. E. Laidlaw Smith, of the California
Academy of Sciences, has identified one perfo-
rated plate as a possible machilid — a silverfish,
long thought to be primitive, which would make
them the earliest true insects. It will take a long
while, and probably much more etching out of
material, before a complete picture of the ancient
air-breathers of Gilboa can be built up.

Land fossils of this age are very rare, and
known from only two other localities in the
world: Scotland and Germany. The first of these
finds was made only in the 1920s, when the
tough, splintery Rhynie Chert of Aberdeenshire,
Scotland, was found to contain not only some of
the earliest land plants, but also a whole fauna of
minute arthropods. This fauna comprises sev-
eral minute mites, a shrimp resembling the living
fairy shrimp, a possible spider, a springtail insect
(of which the spring organ has just been discov-
ered) and some trigonotarbid arachnids very like
the Gilboa beast. These animals are exquisitely
preserved in the clear silica of the chert, since
they were killed and petrified in situ when an
ancient peat bog was inundated with hot-spring

waters.

Paleobotarust A. G. Lyon, then of Cardiff
University, was sectioning some of the chert to
study the plants in detail when he was startled to

see some finely laminated structures inside the
abdomen of one of the arachnids. He recognized
these as lung-books — the structures by which
many land arthropods breathe today. These are
the oldest, and remain the only fossil, lung-
books known, and really confirm that these ani-
mals were air-breathers, as had been deduced
from their general resemblance to living spiders
and their kin.

A second find of these Devonian land forms
was made only in the 1960s at Aiken, on the River
Mosel, in Germany. The fossils are not so spec-
tacularly preserved as at Rhynie and Gilboa, but
a similar trigonotarbid was recognized and de-
scribed by the late Leif St0rmer of Oslo Univer-
sity, a leading and inspiring worker on early
fossil arthropods since the 1930s. This deposit
probably formed in a lagoon, and the presence of
many sea scorpions, some of them possibly am-
phibious, at this locality suggests the land fossils
were washed in from a nearby shore. Also pres-
ent is Eoarthropleura — the dawn Arthropleura —
a possible ancestor of those giant, six-foot-long
millipedelike animals known from Mazon Creek.

The similarity of the undoubtedly terrestrial
trigonotarbid arachnids of Gilboa to those of
Rhynie and Aiken raises several interesting
points about these early air-breathers. First of all,
they were even then so well developed and spe-
cialized that biologists think they must have
evolved onto land long before the Devonian.
When the original ancestor, or ancestors, of mil-
hpedes, centipedes, and insects left the sea to hit
land, it (or they) probably diversified rapidly

into the many different types of land arthropods.

Maps of the ancient geographies of those
times, recently compiled by workers at the Uni-
versity of Chicago, show a chain of continental
fragments, scattered around the globe in low
tropical latitudes. Our ancestral trigonotarbid
must therefore have emerged onto either one of
these land masses — Laurentia or Baltica (see
maps) — and then spread to the other after these
continental plates collided in the late Silurian/
early Devonian, 400 million years ago, to form
the larger continent of Laurussia. The present-
day distribution of close relatives of the Gilboa
air-breathers shows that further major expan-
sion of their range must have occurred — and the
recent discovery by Mario Hiinicken, of Cordoba
University, of a giant fossil spider with a body
thirteen inches long and a leg span of almost two
feet, in the Carboniferous of Argentina, tells us
that at least some of these territorial gains had
been made by the Pennsylvanian, 280 million
years ago. The maps also show that Laurussia,
bearing its cargo of Gilboa arachnids, had im-

Above: Fossil tamn-
tulid claw (OS mm
long) from Gilboa,
N.Y. (Photo courtesy
PatM.BonamoandD.
Grierson.) Below: The
living tarantulid
Charinus, of Africa.
(AfterMillot) 15

Maps of ancient geographies, showing that the three known sites of the oldest terrestrial faunas are confined to the on.
Laurussian plate, in Devonian times (380 million years ago). (After Scotese et al, © 1979, The University of Chicago)

pacted with the southern hemisphere plate
known as Gondwana just before this time, allow-
ing the arachnids to spread far and wide, ulti-
mately to reach the places that their descendants
inhabit, often as relict faunas.

If this is a true account of events, it enables
us to make an intriguing prediction, testable by
future, worldwide collecting: terrestrial arachnids

older than the Carboniferous should not be found out-
side the Laurussian plate. In other words, none
should occur in Gondwana rocks — or in Kazakh-
starua, China, or Siberia, for that matter, since
such land animals could not cross the sea barriers
that separated those former continental plates. It
will be interesting to see how long this prediction
can survive. D

Latin American
Neighbors Day

Dia de los Vecinos
Latinoamericanos

Sunday, January 31
12 noon-4:00 pm

Come celebrate Latin American Neighbors Day,
Sundayjanuary 31, from 12 noon to 4:00 pm at Field
Museum. Enjoy tours, lectures, touchable exhibits, craft
projects, games, and dance performances that highlight
the cultures of Mexico, Central and South America.

"Nuevo Ideal" offers two half-hour dance perform-
ances at 1:30 pm and 3:30 pm in Stanley Field Hall. Sixteen
dancers (ages 7-17) perform lively folk dances from the
many states of Mexico: Vera Cruz, Oaxaca, Tamaulipas,
and Jalisco. The featured dances include shotis (polkas),
the bamba, the zapateado, la tortuga, pinotpa nacional
and uapango (the cowgirl dance). "Nuevo Ideal" per-
forms under the direction of Ophelia Solano. Tours of the
Latin American halls are offered in English and Spanish.
Explore "The World of the Aztecs" ("£/ Mundo de los
Aztecas"'), "Mesoamerican Civilization," and "Textiles of
Ancient Mexico." Watch a pottery demonstration that rep-
licates traditional Indian handbuilding techniques.

Children can enjoy tours scheduledjust for them
— "Exploring the New World" and "Animals of South
America" (in English and Spanish) . After the "Animals"
tour, children can make an animal baby out of clay to take
home. Young people can play pinata, learn to grind corn
using the mano and metate, make Ojos de Dios ("God's
Eyes") — a symbol of peace and happiness — and spin
wool into yarn using a drop spindle. A special Discovery
Room full of touchable exhibits relating to life in Mexico
will provide fun for the whole family. Children can try on
clothes from Mexico, create a mola design out of colored
paper, make paper flowers and listen to Mexican folktales
in English and Spanish.

There is a special performance by the Clemente
Steel Band of Roberto Clemente High School at 2:45
p.m. in Stanley Field Hall. Fifteen musicians will per-
form this delightful music on 24 steel drums.

Dr. Alan Kolata, visiting assistant curator of Andean
archeology, presents an illustrated lecture on "The Lords
of Tiwanaku" at 2:00 pm in James Simpson Theatre on
the ground floor (at the Museum's West Entrance). He
explores the evolution of Tiwanaku, one of the greatest
native states of the ancient Americas, located near Lake
Titicaca in what is now Bolivia. He details the economic,
political, and religious universe of the metropolis of
Tiwanaku and the Andean empire it controlled from
A.D.200toA.D.1000.

An illustrated lecture on "Fossil Mammals of South
America" is offered at 1:00 pm in Lecture Hall I on the
Ground Floor (at the Museum's West Entrance) by Dr.
Larry Marshall, visiting assistant curator of fossil mam-
mals. South America was an isolated island continent for
most of the last 65 million years. The animals
evolved there in a world all their ow^n. Meet Megatherium ,
the giant ground sloth, and the armored glyptodont, ex-
tinct cousin of today's armadillo. After the lecture, you
can see the skeletons of these prehistoric animals on dis-
play in Hall 38.

All events are free with admission to the Museum.
A detailed schedule (in English and Spanish) is available
after January 15. Please send a self-addressed, stamped
envelope to receive the advance schedule. Schedules are
available at Museum entrances on the day of the event.

This program is partially funded by the Illinois Arts
Council. 17

Egypi

Reju

Hall J, the Museum's world-faf
lije with the installation of tifi
culture, the opening of the tomb
exhibit, and the 'renovation' o
viewers may now appreciate thi
arrival of a magnificent, modi
Thebes [on long-term loan from
out the rejuvenation of Hall J
Museum's visitors.

18 I

Case 12: Egyptian p
pottery-mahng.

The tomb chapel o
showing the fake di

Field Museum Tours for Members

The Ancient Capitals of China

June 6-28

This unique itinerary, rarely granted by the Chinese au-
thorities, includes the most significant sites of early Imperial
China and will give an opportunity to explore in depth the
civilization which characterized one of the oldest and longest-
lived societies on earth. We will have the opportunity to
observe the emergence of this remarkable culture and its de-
velopment to a level which surpassed its contemporaries in the
Western World.

June 6: Departure from Chicago to San Francisco in time for
evening briefing.

June 7: Departure via Japan Airlines for flight to Tokyo.
June 8: Afternoon arrival in Tokyo; overnight at Nikko Narita
Hotel.

June 9: Flight to Peking, where we will spend 4 days, visiting
Imperial Palace, Temple of Heaven, Tien-an Square, and the
antique shop district; Ming emperor tombs, the Great Wall,
the Summer Palace, and the National Museum.
June 13: Overnight train ride to Zhengzhou, capital of Henan
Province, where we'll spend 3 days; in addition to sight-seeing,
we can rise early to participate in tai chi exercise groups in the
People's Park.

June 16: A short, train ride takes us east to Kaifeng, where we'll
spend 2 days. The city is rarely visited by tourists; it's just at the
beginning of modernization, and we'll get a wonderful feeling
of Old China.

June 18: Two days in Luoyang, one of the oldest centers of
Chinese culture.

June 20: A westward train ride takes us to Xian, our home for 4
days. This is where the fabulous clay horses and warriors of
the "Great Bronze Age of China" exhibit were discovered.
June 24: We'll travel by air to Shanghai, where we will spend
four days, including a one-day side trip to Souchou, silk-
manufacturing center.

June 27: To Tokyo again, for a one-night stay before flying back
to the States.

At a small additional cost, you may stay longer in Japan or
in Hawaii, at completion of the China tour.

Our tour leader is Mr. Phillip H. Woodruff, Ph.D. candi-
date in Chinese history at the University of Chicago. This is Mr.
Woodruffs third time as a Field Museum China tour leader
and his fourth visit to that country in two years. Cost of the
tour is $3,850 (per person, double occupancy).

Alaska Native Culture Tour

June 19-July 1

This 13-day tour begins with a flight from Seattle to Sitka,
Alaska, where we wall spend two days and nights viewing old
Russian settlement buildings, Sheldon Jackson Museum, and
National Park Service exhibits. Our third, fourth, and fifth
nights will be aboard two yachts, which will take us to Admi-
ralty Island. We will see Tenakee Hot Springs, the native vil-
lages of Angoon and Hoonah, and make a tour of Glacier Bay.

Sightseeing in Juneau and its environs will be our activity
during the next two days, followed by a day and night in
Anchorage and a visit by motorcoach to Denali National Park
(formerly McKinley National Park), where we will enjoy the
spectacular scenery and view wildlife, spending two nights
there. A day and a night in Kotzebue, a day in Nome, and a
final day in Anchorage will round out the tour.

All hotel accommodations will be first class; the two
yachts will accommodate 16 and 10 persons, respectively. Tour
rates to be announced.

Coral Reef Biology and Natural History
Explorations in the Western Caribbean

June 22-Jufy 11

The richness of marine life and the beauty of the offshore reefs
and islands of Belize and Honduras are unsurpassed in the
Atlantic tropics. Field Museum's 20-day tour of this region
offers a unique opportunity to explore and study tropical
marine and terrestrial ecosystems and, if desired, to earn uni-
versity credit for doing so. Leading the tour will be three
professional marine biologists, each with considerable field
work in the Gulf of Honduras and well acquainted with the
local flora and fauna.

Last Can for Baja!

If you are looking for a place in the sun, but want something
more than a pretty beach, then come with us for a real
adventure. We have just two spaces left for our whale-watching
erpedition to Baja California scheduled to depart injustafew
weeks . . . February 6.

Chinese scholar learns his "A-B-Cs."

If you wish additional details for any tour or
would like to he placed on a special mailing list,
please call Dorothy Roder, Tours manager, at
3ZZ-886Z, or write Field Museum Tours,
Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL
60605.

g^ '^' . .I'Algfg-. j..'j>.;i». ' ALi -

teresting algae of this isolated, untouched coral-reef. Daily
scuba diving is available. The 50-foot motor sloop Christmas
Bird will take us to and from the reef, where we will stay at
Lomont's Glovers Reef Village resort.

Our stay at Glovers will be followed by a four-day in-
depth exploration of the central Belize mainland, including
rain forests, the famed Blue Hole on the Hummingbird High-
way, a stay at the Blancanaeux Lodge atop Mountain Pine
Ridge, a visit to Rio Frio Cave and the Thousand Foot Falls, and
exploration of Mayan ruins at Xunantunich. Aiding us for the
four days will be Belize resident Dora Weyer, internationally
known naturalist and expert on bird identification.

We will then stay five days at Roatan, one of the Bay
Islands, where steep cliffs, rocky shores, and sandy beaches
and associated wildlife provide a sharp contrast to the Glovers
atoll environment. At Anthony's Key Resort, our Roatan home,
first class accommodations, scuba facilities, fantastic sport
fishing, tennis, etc., and superlative surroundings will add to
our enjoyment. The tour will end with a day at San Pedro Sula,
on the mainland, with sight-seeing and shopping or a tour to
Mayan ruins at Copan.

Leading the tour will be Dr. Robert Karl Johnson, curator
of fishes and chairman of Field Museum's Department of Zool-
ogy; Dr. David W. Greenfield, research associate in the
Museum's Division of Fishes and professor of biological sci-
ences at Northern Illinois University (NIU), and Dr. Norman A.
Engstrom, associate professor of biological sciences at North-
ern Illinois University. Three semester hours of undergraduate
or graduate credit in biological sciences are available from NIU
to tour participants. The tour will be limited to 14 partici-
pants. Rate to be announced.

Motor sloop Christmas Bird at Glovers Reef

Grand Canyon Adventure

May 22-30

An exciting 280-mile cruise down the Colorado River by
motorized rubber raft, camping outdoors under the stars. Dr.
Bertram Woodland, curator of petrology, will lead the tour.
Group limited to 25. Details to be announced.

Galapagos tour cruise ship, M.V. Buccaneer, in background; shorebird
hobnobs with iguanas.

Ecuador and the Galapagos

March 11-25

The Galapagos Islands affect our imagination like no other
place on earth. Field Museum is pleased to offer its members
an opportunity to visit this remote archijjelago under the ex-
pert guidance of Dr. John W. Fitzpa trick, associate curator and
head, Division of Birds. If you are a "birder" or a "photog-
rapher" this tour is a Utopia.

We'll see 500-pound tortoises, ferocious-looking land
iguanas that eat cactus flowers, marine iguanas which are
superb divers, penguins, flightless cormorants, colonies of sea
lions and fur seals, and many other exotic and unique birds,
mammals, and reptiles. The plant life, with 40-foot cacti in
coastal deserts and dense rain forests in the mountains, is
equally interesting.

In addition to the unique sightseeing and learning oppor-
tunities on the cruise, we will spend four nights in Quito,
Ecuador, where we'll enjoy old world ambience, along with the
color of the centuries-old Indian market and villages of
Latacunga and Ambato — we'll overnight in Ambato. Our
transfer from Quito to Guayaquil will give us a chance to see
the country's remarkable scenery. Special attention will be paid
to the unique bird life.

Our cruise ship, the 2,200-ton M.V. Buccaneer, meets the
highest safety requirements. Originally designed to carry 250
passengers, it was refurbished in the United States in 1976 to
carry only 90, and has recently been again refurbished. All
cabins are outside and are equipped with complete private
bath. The Buccaneer offers a comfortable, informal cruising
environment. Although we'll be in the tropics, it will never be
unpleasantly hot because of the cooling effect of the Humboldt
Current.

The price is $3,550 (per person, double occupancy). We
hope you will join us in one of the greatest adventures in travel.

Coming up.

Australia Ibur

August 23-September 12

Kenya Tour

(with optional extension to Seychelles)
September 11-October 1

Learning Museum continues with

Tribes; Traditions; and Totem Poles:
The Northwest Coast Achievement

fav Anthony Pfeiffer ,^>to.
Project Coordinator %^

Made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities , a federal agency

Cmlization has its Seven Wonders, all created by
people who practiced agriculture, and all
created in the last 10,000 years — less thanl percent
of the time that humanlike creatures have existed.
What are the wonders of 99 percent of human evolu-
tion? What are the hunting and gathering accom-
plishments which shaped human-kind? Among the
most wondrous of these were the achievements of
natives of the Northwest Coast of North America.
Northwest Coast cultures were the greatest ever
nurtured by hunting and gathering systems — as
opposed to agriculture.

It is hard to imagine life without agriculture
and domesticated animals. In almost all regions,
hunters and gatherers roamed large territories in
small bands, taking advantage of the seasonal
availability of plants and animals. They knew their
lands. Knowledge of what, where, and when
foodstuffs could be found was passed on, generation
to generation. It was a good life, requiring pjerhaps
eight hours' labor a week to satisfy basic needs,
though people had to keep moving in a perpetual
restless following of food. They couldn't own more
than they could carry. But this pattern of hunt-
ing and gathering did not prevail in the
Northwest Coast. It was an unusually
generous environment.

Top of wooden wand carved to represent a witch spirit. Used
by Alaskan Tlingit shaman in ceremony.

Above: Aleut children pose uncertainly for Field Museum
photographer Charles Carpenter at St. Louis, Missouri,
Exposition, in 1904.

Right: Decaying totem pole at Gitksan, British Columbia,
photographed in 1977 by Ron Testa, Field Museum photog-
rapher. Does the disintegrating pole symbolize the fate of
Native Northwest Coast traditions?

Below: Map shoivs ranges of many of the Northwest Coast
tribes discussed in the Learning Museum Program. Artistic
heritage of Alaska will be represented by Ronald and Joseph
Senungetuk in April 18 Contemporary Arts Symposium;
Bill Reid and Robert Davidson will represent the Haidan
tradition; Joe David will represent the Nootkan, or West
Coast People.

BRITISH COLUMBIA '''*?S>^yi.2^i.:-' ■"""' A. _'-

ETMNOt-OGICAL MAP OF

SOWHEASTERN ALASIWV

^^^,

■^^

,1.. ,-\^^j^

^4?*^,

^i^

In 1899, Field Museum

zoobgist Daniel G.

Elliott photographed

this deserted Tlingit

village of Cash, Cape

Fox, Alaska, notable

here for its many

totem poles.

Temperate rain forests contained an abun-
dance of plant and animal life, rivers teemed with
fish, and the adjacent sea hid virtually infinite num-
bers of shellfish and other edibles. Everywhere one
turned there was food, much of it available
throughout the year. It was as close to an agricul-
tural lifestyle as one could get by living off the land.
Many aspects of social and cultural advancement
normally associated with agriculture were de-
veloped. Full-time artists, religious practitioners,
craftsjjeople, and other specialists were supported
by the wealth of food. Complex systems of tribal
government regulated relatively large numbers of
people. War was waged.

Lavish resources were not the whole story be-
hind the remarkably advanced Northwest Coast

NEH Learning Museum at Field Museum

The NEH Learning Museum program is a
three-year sequence of learning opportunities
Jbcused on the Museum 's outstanding exhibits
and collections and designed to give partici-
pants an opportunity to explore a subject in
depth. Each unit of study consists of one or
more special events, a lecture course, and a
seminar for advance work. Special events are
lectures by renowned authorities or interpre-
tive performances and demonstrations.
Course members receive an annotated bibliog-
raphy, a specially developed guide to pertinent
Museum exhibits, and study notes for related
special events. In-depth, small group semi-
nars allow more direct contact with faculty
and with Museum collections.

societies. A sophisticated material culture fashioned
in a tradition of Stone Age technology was developed
to get food and for general living comfort. Wood-
working produced everything from totem poles, to
homes, to many kinds of canoe. Harpoons were
armed with special-purpwse tips made of bone or
flint, and their shape depjended on the kind of
quarry being sought. Fish and other meat was
smoke-dried for future use.

One would not think that inhabitants of this
richly endowed environment had to worry about the
future. The coastline stretched 1,000 miles — from
southeastern Alaska to the state of Washington, as
the crow flies. If one followed the coast as it in-
dented inland or jutted into the sea, it could be
considered 12,000 miles long. Stretched along this
coast and sandw^iched between the sea and a tower-
ing mountain range were a bewilderingly diverse
group of unique native cultures. Any particular cul-
ture might suddenly be struck destitute in spite of
nature's normal endowment of plenty. Local rains
could fail. The sea could rise up to inundate the
villages or recede to turn life-giving beds of shellfish
into barren rock. Any number of environmental
perturbations could and did periodically transform
a hunting-and-gathering paradise into hell-on-
earth.

Periodic disasters may have been harder on the
Northwest Coast peoples than on other hunters and
gatherers. Typical hunters and gatherers simply
pack up and leave the scene of trouble. Northwest
Coast peoples could not easily move. They had
elaborate and permanent homes. They lived in large
villages. They were surrounded by other settled
neighbors, people who would resist territorial in-
cursions. In short, although they lived by a
hunting-and-gathering economy they were tied to

an area for better or for worse. Some scientists think
that religious gatherings as well as extensive trade
networks up and down the coast protected against
local disasters. Such ceremonies served to distribute
food and wealth from the haves to the have-nots.
Whether or not the dramatic rituals can be ex-
plained so functionally, it is clear that science is just
beginning to understand the dynamics of a system
that has radically changed.

Much of the material grandeur of the Native
Northwest Coast has endured to this day. Field
Museum garnered many spectacular artifacts in the
late 1800s and the early 1900s. Since these times the
Museum has been renowned for the quality of its
Northwest Coast collections. This spring, after
do5sens of people have worked for nearly five years
at a cost of millions of dollars, Field Museum's
newest permanent exhibition, "Maritime Peoples of
the Arctic and Northwest Coast," opens. The Learn-
ing Museum course — Tribes, Traditions, and Totem
Poles — is offered as a prelude to this historic open-
ing.

Tribes, Traditions, and Totem Poles explores
the origins and flourishing of Northwest Coast cul-
tures. Archeological evidence and native traditions
are juxtaposed to shed light on where the peoples
came from and when. Varied coastal habitats are
discussed and the seemingly lush uniformity is
broken into distinct ecological zones, each posing

different challenges for human settlers. The tech-
nologies of survival and art are shown. Trading,
raiding, and huge feasts are seen as adaptations to a
changing environment. Family life, day-to-day soci-
ety, and activities involving the whole tribe are dis-
cussed. Finally, shamans, secret societies, super-
natural presences, and the spiritual side of coastal
life are explored. Details of the course are available
in the Winter, 1982 Courses for Adults brochure.

In conjunction with studying Northwest Coast
peoples. Members and nonmembers alike are in-
vited to attend a Symposium on Contemporary Arts,
April 18, 1982. "Echoes of the Past, Tides of Change"
presents four artists who have rescued their respec-
tive heritage and are taking them forward. Their
work is guided by the past but not determined by it.
Robert Davidson, for example, has expanded the
boundaries of Haida style by using circular, as op-
posed to boxlike, forms, and through other innova-
tions. The artists discuss not only their unique con-
tributions but the future of the arts as well. As Bill
Reid, moderator, puts the issue, "just because a few
people are doing second-rate silkscreens doesn't
mean the old traditions are alive." Is the resurgence
of Northwest Coast art a renaissance or is it a fleet-
ing moment based on the work of just a few? Are we
seeing a rebirth or slow death? Details of the sym-
posium are featured in the April Calendar of
Events. D

Index to Field Museum of Natural History Bulletin , Volume 53 (1981)

Articles

Ancient Egypt: Mummies, Magic, and Love: Learning

Museum Program, by Anthony Pfeiffer: Mar 12
Argentine Connection, The, by Larry Marshall: May 16
Baja Circumnavigated, by Robert K. Johnson: Oct 18
Canoes of the Maritime Peoples of the Northwest Coast, by

Ronald L. Weber: Oct. 12
Curatorial Legacy, A: Six Zoologists Dedicate 226 Years'

Service to the Field Museum of Natural History, by Alan

Solem: Jan 6
Edward E. Ayer and W. M. Flinders Petrie: 'Founding

Fathers' of the Egyptian Collection, by Judith Cottle:
Nov 33
Egypt in 1903: Travel Notes of Henry Isaac Hart, by Gerda

Frank: J/A 20
Eskimo and Indian Settlements in Southwestern Alaska, 1902:

A Photographic Record, by James W. VanStone: June 4
Farrington's Folly?, by Edward Olsen: June 3
Field Musuem, The: Spotlight on the Collections, by

Matthew H. Nitecki: Part I (introduction and

Anthropology): Feb 18, // (Geology): March 6, ///

(Zoology); April 6, IV (Botany): May 10
Frasnian-Famennian Extinctions, The: A Search for

Extraterrestrial Causes, by George H. McGhee, Jr. ; J/A 3
Giovanni Belzoni: King of the Tomb Robbers, by Peter

Gayford: Sept 28
Hopi as they Were, The, by Alice Schlegel: June 16
Hummingbirds, by Alex Hiam: Sept 12
In the Shadow of the Pyramid: An Introduction to the Exhibit,

by Donald Whitcomb: Nov 3
Kimberley Snail Hunt Again!, by Alan Solem: Mar 18
Kohlman Amber Collection, The: A Stained Glass Window to

the Past, by Gene Kritsky: J/A 14
Lungfishes — Alive and Extinct, by K. S. W. Campbell:

Sept 3
North American Challengers of the Southwest, by Anthony
Pfeiffer and Donald McVicker; May 4

Paintings from the Tomb of Nakht at Thebes, by William J.

Murnane: Nov 13
Planned Giving: A Program to Augment Field Musuem's

Endowment Fund, by Clifford Buzard: Sept 8
Predynastic Egypt, by Peter Lacovara: Nov 7
Receptaculitids: Ancient Organisms Studied by Visiting

Scientist, by Matthew H. Nitecki; April 21
Rugs of the Orient: Threads of Time, by Anthony Pfeiffer:

Oct 4
Searching for Meteorites: The Press Release Strategy, by Paul

Sipiera: Oct 8
Through A Missionary's Eyes: Photo-Documentation of

Ingalik Indian Life, 1893-1925, by James VanStone; Feb 4
Tipi, The: A Cultural Interpretation of Its Design, by Terry

Strauss: April 14
Tobacco and Pipe Use Among the Indians of the Northwest

Coast, by Daniel J. Joyce; Oct 14
Tomb Chapels of Netjer-user and Unis-ankh, The, by Bruce

Williams: Nov 26
Venetians and Minoans: A Voyage of Discovery, by Dorwld

Whitcomb; Jan 15
West African Art: Power and Spirit, by Anthony Pfeiffer;

Jan 26
Whale of a Tale, A, by Larry G. Marshall; June 12
William Henry Jackson: Historian with a Third Eye, by

Audrey Hitler; J/A 6

Authors

Buzard, Clifford; Planned Giving, Sept 8

Campbell, K.S. W.: Lungfishes — Alive and Extinct, Sept 3

Cottle, Judith: Edward E. Ayer and W.M.F. Petrie, Nov 30

Frank, Gerda: Egypt in 1903, J/A 20

Gayford, Peter: Giovanni Belzoni, Sept 28

Hiam, Alex; Hummingbirds, Sept 12

Hiller, Audrey: William Henry Jackson, J/A 6

Johnson, Robert K. : Baja Circumtmvigated, Oct 18

Joyce, Daniel J. ; Tobacco and Pipe Use Among the Indians of

the Northwest Coast, Oct 14
Kritsky, Gene: The Kohlman Amber Collection, J/A 14
Lacovara, Peter: Predyrmstic Egypt, Nov 7
Marshall, Larry G.: The Argentine Connection , May 16

_, : A Whale of A Tale: June 12

McGhee, George H.: The Frasnian-Famennian

Extinctions, J/A 3
McVicker, Donald: North American Challengers of the

Southwest (with A. Pfeiffer), May 4
Murnane, William J. ; Paintings from the Tomb of Nakht at

Thebes, Nov 13
Nitecki, Matthew H.: The Field Musuem: Spotlight on the

Collections, Part I, Feb 18; Parf //, Mar 6; Part III, April 6;

Parf IV, May 10

: Receptaculitids, April 21

Olsen, Edward; Farrington's Folly? , June 3
Pfeiffer, Anthony: West African Art: Power and Spirit,
Jan 26

: Ancient Egypt, March 12

North American Challengers of the Southwest,

May 4

: Rugs of the Orient, Oct 4

Schlegel, Alice: The Hopi as They Were, June 16
Sipiera, Paul; Searching for Meteorites, Oct 8
Solem, Alan; A Curatorial Legacy, Jan 6

: Kimberly Snail Hunt Again!, Mar 18

Strauss, Terry: The Tipi, April 14

VanStone, James: Through a Missionary's Eyes, Feb 4

: Eskimo and Indian Settlements in Soulhvxstem

Alaska, 1902, June 4
Weber, Ronald L.; Canoes of the Maritime Peoples of the

Northwest Coast, Oct 12
Whitcomb, Donald: Venetians and Minoans: A Voyage of

Discovery, ]anl5

: In the Shadow of the Pyramid, Nov3

Williams, Bruce: The Tomb Chapels of Netjer-user and 25

Unis-ankh, Nov 26 >

INDEX

Continued from p. 25

Subjects

Abendroth, H.: Ap4
Acheulian stone-working: Ap

12
Adelman, W.: Mr 4
Afro-Blue; Jan 29, F 3
alligator meat sale: June 10
amber, Baltic: J/A 15
Anazazi Pueblo culture: May 5
Anthropology, Dep't of: F 20
anthropology course: Mr 3
anthropology films: S 17
Anvik, AK: F 4
armadillo: May 2
asbestos: Mr 27
AsUn, F.:Mrl9
Aslin,J.:Mrl9
Aubrey, J: Mr4
Auffenberg, W.: Mr 3
awlbill, fiery-tailed: A 21
Ayer, E.E.:S8, N33
babirusa exhibit: Mr 17
Bacubirito meteorite: June 27
Baja California: 18
Baker: G.R.:F 16
Bald Eagle Days: Jan 31
Baltic amber: J/A 15
Barnes, Judge R. M. : AP 6
Bayalis, J.: Ap4
Beagle: June 12
bearberry: O 2
beard-tongue: S 14
bee-balm: S 24
Bering, v.: 14
Belka, M.:Jan6
BeLzoni, G. B.:S28
Berliner, P: F 3
Bernhardt, U.:Jan4
biotelemetrv: Mr 11
bird feed: F'17
bird pests: Jan 32
Blake, E. R.:Ap7
Blaschke, F.:F20
blenny, oyster: F 14
Bolivar Trough: May 18
booby, blue-footed: O 21
Botany, Dep't of: May 10
Boyd, W. L.:Myl4, S6, 3
Brown, B: Jan6
Bruce, R.E.: Jan 10
Brudd, R.;02
buckeye tree: S 14
buckwheat, wild: June 18
Burger, W.: May 11
Bushman: Mr 17
Calhoun, L.: Apl3
Callahan, G.:0 21
Camacho, H: June 12
camaenid snails: Mr 18
Campbell, K.S.W.:S 7
canoes of NW Coast: 12
Canty, V: Jan6
Canyon Diablo meteorite; O 9
Cape Sounian: Jan 19
capybara; May 21
carpets: O 4
Caskey, N.:08
Cassai, M: S6
Chapman, Rev. J. W: F 4
Cherrie, G. K: Ap6
Chicago SheU Club: Mr 18
chondrules (in meteorites);

OlO
clay balls: Jan 2
Coachella lizard; Jan 31
Cole, G.;Apl2
colobus: May 2
columbine; S 16
condor, Andean: May 15
condor, Calif.: May 15
Conover, B.: Ap7
Continental Bank: F 16
Curfu; Janl6
Cory, C. B.:Ap6
cotinga; S 22

crane, whooping: JunelO, 026
cricetid; Mav 19
26 cui-ui: S 27 '

Curtis, G.:Mr5
Dahlgren, B.E.:Mayll
Danziger, C.:F20
Darwin, C: June 12
Daskal, K.:Apl2
Davis, D.: Jan 10, Ap 7
de la Torre, L. : Jan 6
Dearborn, N.: Ap 6
Delphi; Jan 16
Delta green ground beetle:

Jan 31
Denison, R. H.;Janl3
Derda, D.:Jan6
Despots, Palace of the: Jan 17
Devonian shales (Walnut

Creek): J/A 3
Diaz, A: O 20
Dillon, M.: May 11
Dinosaur Day: 11
dinosaur eggs: Jan 32
Dixon, G.:0 14
Djoser pyramid: N 3
donor honor roll: Mr 26, S 24
Drake, R: Mr 5, June 12
Drouet, F.: May 11
Drovetti, B.;S31
Dubrovnilc Jan 16
Duckworth, B.; Mr 20
Dunkirk Black Shale: J/A 5
Dybas, H. S.: Jan 3, Ap 10, N 2
eagle, bald; Mr 25
Egegik, AK: June 4
Egypt, ancient; Mr 12,

Nov issue
Egypt, predynastic; N 7
Elliot, D.G.:Ap 6
EUis, Mrs. G. C.;Jan5
endowment fund: S 8
Engel, J.: May 11
Eskimo culture: June 4
Evers, C; Jan6
evolution: May 17
evolution, convergent; S 23
false door (Egypt): N 28
Farrington, O.: Mr 4, June 3
faunal interchange: May 18
Feuer-Forster, S.: May 11
Field, M. ra:S9
Field, M.I; Jan 4, S 8
film festival; S 17
First Mesa (AZ): June 19
Fischer, D.: Ap 5
Fitzpatrick, J. W.: Jan 3, 14
Flaherty, R.:S 17
flower-pecker S 23
flower-piercer; S 23
flute dance (Hopi); June 24
flycatcher: S 22
Fooden, J.: Ap6
forest, Illinois: O 26
Famenian epoch: J/A 3
Frasnian epoch: J/A 3
Frassetto, M.F.:S17
Friesser, J.: Mr 16
Ganapathy, R.; J/A 5
geese, weeder S 27
Geology, Dep't of: Mr 6
Gerhard, W. J.: Jan 8, 10, Ap6
Gilpin, O: Mr 9
Gladiolus: S 24
glyptodont; May 17
Gotfo San Jose: June 15
Great Bronze Age of China

attendance: Jan 3
Greenewalt, C. H.: S 22
Greenfield, D.W.:Ap 10
Greenman, J. H.: May 10
Gueret, N.: Ap6
Gulick, B.:Junel2
Haake, N. M.:S6
Haas, F.: Ap7
Haida canoes; 12
Haida pipemaking: 15
Hanover Gray Shale; J/A 5
Harris, N.W.:S 9
Hart, H. I.: J/A 21
Hatshepsut: Mr 13, J/A 23
Hay, OP: Ap 6
Hayes, H: Jan5
Hayden, F. V.:J/A7
hegetothere: May 16
HeUer, E.;Ap6
Hellmayr, C. E.: Ap7
Hero (ship); June 12
Herrin, W.;J/A14

Hershkovitz, P.: Jan 6
Hollingsworth, W. E; 09
honey eater: S 23
honeycreeper: S 23
Hopi culture: May 4, June 17
Hopi Gift Shop: S 7
housefly; Jan 32
HoweU, F. C: Ap 13
Hubbs, C.:Ap6
hummingbirds: S 2, 12ff
Indian paint brush; S 14
Ingalik Indians; F 4
Inger, R. F.: Ap7
insecticide: S 33
Irving, M.;0 12
Jackson, W.H.: J/A 6
Jastrzebski, Z.; Jan 25, F 14
John G. Searle Herbarium:

May 10, S 10
Johnson, L.; Ap 11
Johnson, P.: Jan 6
Johnson, R.K.; Jan 3, 14, Ap 10
juniper O 2
Just, T: May 11
kachina doU; May 5, June 17
kangaroo ban: S 33
Kathakali; Ap 26, May 26
Keller, M: J/A 21
KeUogg Hall of Jade; SIC
Kemp, A.: S3
Kethley,J.:Jan6, 14
Kijik, AK; June 4
Kiva: June 19
Klein, R.:Ap 13
Kleindienst, M. R.: Apl3
Kohlman, A. F.:J/A14
Kokwok, AK; June 4
Kolata, A. L. Jan 22
Komodo dragon: Mr 3
Kozlowski, N.: Jan 6
Knossos; Jan 16
Kroc, R. A.; S 10
Kukalova-Peck,J.:F16
LaMum, L.;Mr21, Ap7
Lake Clark, AK: June 4
Lasisi, D.;F22
Laubach, R.: Jan6
Laughlin, K.:F17
Learning Museum Program:

Jan 26, Mr 12, O 4
Lewis, P: Jan 21, F 22
Liem, K. F.:Jan6,]3
lily, spear: S 16
Lloyd, M.; Jan 10
lobeUa: S 14
lungfish: S 2
MacBride,J. F.:MaylO
MacRae, J.:S6
macraucheniid: May 16
manatee: Mr 25, June 10
Martin, R:F 22
Marx, H: Jan 6,10, Ap 7
Masau (Hopi god): June 23
masks of NW Coast: Dec issue
Matheson, M.;08
Maurer, D.: Ap9
McLaren, D.J. : J/A 4
McMahon, F.;F16
Meek, S.E.:Ap6
Meevers, H.: June 27
Members' Nights: May 3
Menke, H.W.;Mr7
Merrick, M.: Ap9
MerriU, G. K.;S7
mesothere: May 16
meteorites: O 8
Meza, M.; Jan2
"Middle Stone Age": Ap 12
Millspaugh, C. F.; May 10
Minoan Palace: Jan 16
Mistra: Jan 17
MogoUon Rim: May 4
Molnar, A.: S 3
monkey, guereza: May 2
Moseley, M. E.; Jan 22
Moulding, Mrs. A. T.: Mr 18
Mudhead (Hopi): June 23
Murphy, J. C: Jan5
Nagel, C.;O20
Nakht, tombof;NB
Naupactos; Jan 18
Naxos: Jan 18
NEA grant (Educ.):F 16
Neanderthal figure: F 20
Nee, M: May 11

NEH grant (Anthro.): Ap 5

Netjer-user; N 26

Nevling, L. I., Jn Jan 4, My 11,
03

Nichols, H.W.: Mr 6

Niman kachina: June 20

Nitecki, M. H.;Ap5

Nootka canoe-builders: 12

Northwest Coast pipemakers;
015

NSF grants (Anthro.); May 14,
(Birds); Jan 3, (Botany); S 6,
(Herbarium): My 14, (GeoL):
S 6, (Manunals): F 16, (sys-
tematica symposium): F 16

Nsongezi Prehistoric Site:
Apl3

Nushagak, AK: June 6

Office of Polar Programs:
June 12

Old Iliamna, AK: June 4

Olsen, E.J.;J/A5

opossum: May 21

Oraibi Pueblo: May 4

Osgood, W. H.; Ap 6, June 4

osprey; O 20

Palace of Fine Arts: F 18

Palmer, H.: Jan 6

Palmer, N.: June 12

Panamanian land bridge: Mr 5

parrot, brush-tongued: S 23

Pascual, R.:Mr5

Patagonia; June 12

Petrie, W. M. F.;N33

petunia: S 14

Phobos (Mars moon): J/A 4

phororhacoid ground bird;
May 22

Planned Giving Program: S 10

Plowman, T.: May 11

Ponce de Leon, P.; May 11

porcupine: May 21

porpoise quota: Mr 25

Powamuya ceremony (Hopi):
June 21

Price, L.; Mr 19

Prince Trust: S 6

procyonid: May 19

Prokop, M.: Jan6

protothere: May 16

Pueblo Bonito; May 5

Rabb, G.: Ap 7

Radtke, N. P.: S 7

Rameses H: S 30

rattlesnake, rattleless: 19

Raup, D. M.:Jan3, 4

Raymond, Mrs. A. L.: S 10

Reaves, V.: Jan6

receptaculitids: Ap 21

Resetar, A.: Ap8

Rhino, black: Jan 32

Rietschel, S.: Ap21

Riggs, E. S.;Mr6, 7

Roberts, H.W.: Mr 18

Robertson, M.: Apl2

Rock Creek (TX) meteorite: O 9

Roggenthene, W.: June ^

Roife, W. D. I.;S7

roof recovered: S 7

Rosetta Stone: Mr 15, S 30

Roy, S. K.:Mr6

Rueckert, A. G.:June7

rugs; O 4

Runnells, Mrs. C.;S2

Ryerson, M. A.:S8

sabertooths: May 25

saguaro; Mr 11

Salonika; Jan 19

Salt, H.:S30

salvia; S 24

San Francisco Peaks (AZ):
June 2, 17

Sanders, T. : Ap 5

Santa Fe Industries Fndtn.;
May 14

Schmidt, K. R:Jan7, Ap6

Schoknecht, R.: Jan 6

sea lion: 19

SeaofCortez:018

seal, northern elephant: O 22

Searle,J. G.:S10

SegaU, W.:Ap4

Senmut: Mr 13

Shedd Aquarium; S 3

Shipaulovi: June 20

Simpson, G. G.: May 17

Singer, R.: May 11

Singer, R.:Mr4

sloth: May 18, 22

Smith, H.:Mr4

Solem, G. A.: Apll

Soyal (Hopi ceremony):
June 24

sphinx: J'A 24

Standley, R C: May 10

Stewart, D. J.; Jan 3, Ap 10

Steyermark, J. A.; May 11

Stoize, R.:Mayll

Streuver, S.:Mr4

Swartchild, W. G. Jn Ap 4

Systematics Symposium; Ap 5

Tanaina Indians; Jime 5

Tchen, H: Jan5

teepee {see tipi)

Tecopa pupfish: Jan 32

Terrell, J.; Ap4

Tesser, N.;F3

Testa, R.:F 17

Thera (Akroteri): Jan 18

Timm, R.: Jan 14, Ap 11

tipi: Ap 14

Tlingit Indians: 14

tobacco use (NW Coast); 14

Townsend, J.; June 6

toxodont: May 16

Traylor, M. A.: Jan 3, Ap 9

Tri-StateUniv.:Jan3

Trinklein, F. E.:J/A14

Tripp,C. D.:S9

trumpet-creeper S 14

tuna fishermen: Mr 25

turtle, loggerhead: S 33

turtle, sea: Mr 11

Unis-ankh:Jan24, N26

U. S. Antarctic Research Pro-
gram: June 12

valley elderberry longhom
beetle; Jan 31

Valley of the Kings: S 31

Venice; Jan 15

Vermillion, D.; S 7

Visiting Scientist Program;
F 16, Ap 21, S 6

volunteers: Ap 23

Voris, H.: Ap 7, 8

vulture; May 15

Walpi Village (Hopi); June 19

Walters, L; Mr 17

warbler, Kirtland's: S 10

Watrous, L.: Jan 14

Webber, E. L.:Jan5,F16,
May 14, S 6, O 3

Weed, A. C.:Ap6

WeUs, F. E.:Mr20

Wenzel, R. S.:Jan6, AplO

WestoU,TS.:S4

whale: June 15, 19, 21

Whitcomb, D. A.:Jan24

white-eye: S 23

Whitt, N.:Jan6

Wilkie, L.;012

Willamette meteorite: June 3

Williams, L: May 11

Williams, L. O.: May 11

Winter, B; Jan 6

Woodland, B.G.; Jan 3

Woods, L. R:Jan6, Ap9

Woodward, S.; Jan 25

Woolman, A. J; Ap9

women, role of in Hopi cul-
ture; June 21

Wonder, F.C.; Mr 16

Wuwucim (Hopi ceremony):
June 24

Young, K.; Mr 20

Young, S: Ap5

Zangerl, R.:Mr6

Zawacki, R.;MrlO

Zimmer, J. T.: Ap 6

Zinsmeister, W.; June 12

Zoology, Dep't of: Ap 6

LdtMA f/toin; tte iA/tctuo -- 1

By Edward Olsen
Cu ra to r of Mi ne ralogy

Photos courtesy of the author

Hindsight is a marvelous teacher. Once we
know something is possible it becomes
easy to say why it is so and to go on to make
predictions. Such is the state of things for those
of us who search this planet for meteorites.

Over the past twelve years something like
6,000 meteorite fragments have been recovered
from the ice cap of east Antarctica. Once the
phenomenon of Antarctic meteorite concen-
trations was discovered accidentally by the
Japanese, hindsight came into action and it
was obvious why meteorites were there in such
quantities in the first place.

When a meteorite lands in a place like an
Illinois prairie, for example, it finds itself in a
(chemically) hostile environment. The ambient
air contains two deadly chemicals — oxygen and
water. The meteorite came from deep space,
where both of these are utterly absent. The

minerals that make up the meteorite begin to
oxidize, or rust, from reaction with oxygen.
This reaction proceeds more rapidly in warm
weather than in cold. Then during the warm
months, moisture slowly creeps into the minute
ppre spaces along mineral grain boundaries that
permeate the meteorite. Rains soak in. Winter
comes and, as we all know, when water freezes
it expands. A bottle of water sitting outside in
freezing weather cracks into pieces. The same
thing happens to the meteorite — small cracks
are opened and chips flake off due to the crack-
ing action of ice. Each year the cracks get larger,
until the meteorite falls to pieces. In addition,
soils in which fallen meteorites find themselves
are full of bacteria and decaying vegetation,
both of which release complex acids. These cor-
rode minerals in the meteorite, aiding the pro-
cess of weathering. In a few years, the meteorite

Edward Olsen (right)
with party members
on Devon Island ice-
cap. From left:
Blyth Robertson,
Les Coleman, Steve
Kissin, and Olsen.
In the search heli-
copter is pilot
Lin Hoe, 27

is not easily recognized as anything different
from other crumbly rocks. In ten years it's
totally reduced to rubble.

We've known for a long time that meteor-
ites endure longer in desert climates like Ari-
zona, west Texas, and eastern Colorado. This is
because moisture levels are low and the soils
have low levels of organic compounds. Know-
ing this, it should have occurred to someone
that a place like Antarctica, which is bitter cold,
sterile, has practically zero humidity, and no
soils, would be a place where meteorites could
last longer than in temperate climates. But no
one thought of this.

With the Antarctic meteorite discoveries
now well documented, the next step is obvi-
ous. If one ice cap is a good place to look for the
preservation of meteorites then we ought to
look at the world's other ice caps. The next
largest cap is on Greenland. Ever since the
Antarctic discoveries, there has been interest
in going there for a search. In 1978, two years
after I returned from the Antarctic, a joint
Danish- American expedition to Greenland was
planned. But because of a combination of prob-
lems over transportation and financing, the
search never took place; the idea lingers on,
of course.

There are other, smaller ice caps in the Arc-
tic Islands of Canada's Northwest Territories.
The largest of these covers the eastern half of
Devon Island. In the spring of last year I was
asked to join a Canadian expedition to make
a reconnaissance search for meteorites on the
Devon Island ice cap as well as a shorter search
on part of the smaller ice cap on EUesmere Is-
land, just north of Devon Island. The group
consisted of Dr. Blyth Robertson of the Depart-
ment of Mines, Energy and Resources Canada,
Dr. Les Coleman of the University of Saskat-
chewan, Dr. Steve Kissin of Lakehead Univer-
sity (Thunder Bay, Ontario), and me. Although
the ice caps appeared to have surface conditions
that are poor for meteorite recovery, it looked
like a worthwhile project.

On July 20 I flew from Chicago to Montreal.
The next morning I met Robertson and we took
off to the north on Nordair, a local airline. We
flew northward over Quebec and Labrador. The
air was clear and I could see the thousands of

^is^^=

w^-^^-^^^i

v^}.,.i^. -^'^

c-.;ir.

lakes that dot the interior of Labrador. I thought
of the five years I had worked down there,
years and years ago, doing geological mapping
around those lakes. Soon the treeline was
passed and we were flying over barren lands.
Over Hudson's Straits we could see our first
icebergs. We made a forty-minute stopover at
Frobisher Bay, on Baffin Island, to drop off some
of the passengers, then flew on to an airfield at
Resolute Bay, on Comwallis Island, one of the
Arctic islands just to the west of Devon Island.

At Resolute we stayed in barracks that are
M^^ed by the Canadian government for arctic
reseSfeli parties. The barracks are trim wooden
buildir^ with sleeping rooms, toilet and laun-
dry facffities, and a dining room operated by a
smiiin^skimo woman and her pretty teenage
daughKv The next day we were joined by the
other party members who flew in by way of
Edmonton, Alberta.

The first day was sunny and fairly warm;
however, for two days the weather was dark
and windy with snow squalls. While waiting for
transportation to Devon Island we hiked to one
coast of Comwallis Island to visit a cluster of
ancient Eskimo ruins — a Thule culture site.
Long ago a small group of these people built
houses (igloos) of flagstone walls. Whale ribs
over the top held skins and sod blocks for roofs.
Now only stone rings and a tumble of whale
bones remain next to a shoreline of stranded ice-
bergs and floating sea ice.

On July 24 the weather improved and we
took off from Resolute Bay aboard a Twin Otter
aircraft. We flew to Truelove Inlet, named after a
whaling ship, the Truelove, that overwintered
there a long time ago. At Truelove there is a
camp consisting of five quonset-type huts. Here
was a party of five biologists making a siu-vey
of arctic birds. Over fifty bird species visit this
area, many of them nesting here. The most
common are snow buntings, old-squaw ducks,
and Baird's sandpipers, but there are abundant
species too, like red-throated loons, golden
plovers, knots and even the occasional raven.

It is interesting that in these polar islands
birds from Europe and North America con-
verge. They intermingle in the siunmer months,

Edward Olsen standing by meltwater stream in ice
cave, Devon Island.

ELLESMEFE ISLO.ND

CANADA

Nodding, or bulblet, saxifra^
Truelove lowland, Devon Islam

>e (Saxifraga cornua) on

nest, raise young, then depart in late August
southward down their separate migration
paths, ending up in Spain, North Africa, etc., or
the United States and the Gulf of Mexico. The
birdwatching was excellent at Truelove, as was
the display of a wide variety of flowering plants
— all small alpine types — in yellow, red, purple,
and blue. 1 didn't realize it at the time, but the
Truelove lowland is a kind of environment
that is not too widespread on Devon Island.
Most of the island is an elevated plateau with
almost no vegetation, no soil, and no birds.

The party of five biologists doing the survey
consisted of two graduate students: Jody Butler
of the University of British Columbia and Galen
Pittman from the University of Kansas; a Cana-
dian government biologist, Al Smith from Ot-
tawa; and two faculty members from the North-
ern Alberta Institute of Technology, Rod Moore
and Don Pattie. Don is the man principally re-
sponsible for the presence of the facilities at
Truelove. Through his affiliation with the Arctic
Institute of North America he has, over a period
of eleven years, built up the station to what it is
today. Among the buildings are three sleeping
quarters, a repair shop, a cook house, and an
airstrip. Don has surveyed the bird populations
on the Truelove lowland for a decade, measuring
increases and decreases in species. His total
count of all species for a summer ranges from
about 1,100 to 1,700 individuals. With such low
populations it is undesirable to collect birds. Don
noted that the first surveys of arctic birds were
made by ornithologists with guns, who shot and
collected specimens. This resulted in the near
elimination of some species; but now with a de-
cade of no shooting, these species have in-
creased their nesting numbers
in this region.

To reach the ice cap for our meteorite search
we would need a helicopter. The cap lay only 18
miles away; however, a river and two large
scarps, or cliffs, together almost 2,000 feet high,
lay between us and the ice. Although the
weather at Truelove was good, at Resolute it was
terrible and a helicopter couldn't be sent. On top
of it all, a burst of sunspot activity ruined radio
communication for a day and some aircraft
flights were restricted. Resolute is only a short
distance from the north magnetic pole. Sunspot
activity is more disturbing to communications in
this area because of that.

We had some time on our hands while wait-
ing for the helicopter. We spent a little time get-
ting used to our rifles and shotguns. The arctic's
first citizen is the polar bear and in some years
they can be numerous. In 1980 nine were seen
near Truelove. Guns are required for peace of
mind more than anything else. Few bears are

ever actually shot, and none of us had any desire
to do so.

We took some long hikes over the tundra
and into the adjoining hills. The Truelove low-
land is in front of a series of mesa-like ridges of
flat-lying Cambrian sedimentary rocks. A giant
fault scarp runs east-west a few miles south of
camp, exposing pre-Cambrian granites along the
base of a 1,000-foot cliff. The scenery is stark,
barren, and impressive. Hiking the lowland, we
encountered herds of grazing shaggy muskoxen.
At one place a small herd, consisting of a bull,
two calves, and five cows, stood their ground
before us in true muskox fashion, forming a
line in front of their young with heads lowered
and horns aimed at us . I walked within 35 feet of
them, and although they shuffled about they
stood fast, the bull snorting at me, honing one of
his horns against his foreleg. If the bull were
alone he would have made short charges at me,
but with calves present he stayed with them.
Standing close by you can easily feel a real affec-
tion for them; they are great mounds of fur that
hang to the ground and blow in the wind. They
are basically gentle creatures that seem to want

only to be left alone. This group finally broke and
thundered off over the tundra towards a nearby
low ridge.

Across the tundra you can find places where
muskoxen have shed mats of hair. A small ball of
it, loosely cupped in the hand, will cause your
palm to become very warm. Its insulating qual-
ities are so good that the heat from your hand
builds up and little is lost.

We continued our hike to a broad, rocky
valley with a roaring glacial stream criss-crossing
its floor. At one point a magnificent waterfall was
seen pouring over a notch in the scarp, in a series
of cascades. As we climbed over a high ridge we
could see the icecap in the distance, high above
the valley wall, gleaming white in the sunlight.
The weather was improving.

The next day the helicopter arrived with a
pilot and a mechanic. We flew to the ice cap as
the weather began to go bad again. Part of our
group was set down to traverse a moraine of rock
that lay strewn on the ice. Steve and I flew
northward along the cap to do the same at any
other rock showings. We set down at another
moraine and then hiked about four miles to some

Moraine area of valley
glaciers on Ellesmere
Island; Blyth
Robertson at right.

,Mi^^

Above: Surface of
icecav, Ellesmere Is-
land. Meltwater river
meanders across fore-
ground. Far right:
Muskoxen arrange
themselves in charac-
teristic defensive pose.
Truelove lowland,
Devon Island.

isolated rocks that we could see through binocu-
lars high up on the top of the ice slopes. All the
rocks in this area were granites of several kinds. I
got a special, personal thrill out of this trek, for I
had now hiked on all three of the world's largest
continental ice caps — Antarctica, Devon Island,
and (exactly 30 years earlier) Greenland.

The weather was getting terrible. Low
clouds rolled past at surface levels, obscuring the
view in several directions. Snow squalls swirled
by. The ice surface was cut by melt-water rivu-
lets, and walking required constant probing with
an ice axe handle to see if we were going to break
through small crevasses. We finally found our
way back to the helicopter and took off. Finding

the other part of our party wasn't easy in the
snowstorm. I began to get worried that we'd
have to return to Truelove without them until the
weather improved. A small break in the clouds,
at the right time, revealed a tiny figure plodding
through the snow below us. We set down and
picked them up. We flew back to Truelove to wait
out the weather.

The next day the weather continued to be
bad. The ice cap had black clouds rolling over its
surface; however, by about 8 p.m. it cleared and
was bright and sunny over the cap. With 24
hours of daylight, work can go on when the
weather is good rather than by the clock. So we
packed our gear and took off in the helicopter.

■q^:^

%.. '*<,

We cruised the ice cap at 1-3 mph, setting down
near any rocks showing on the surface. By about
3 a.m. we had covered the entire portion of the
ice cap that we had planned to search. No
meteorites!

We sailed down a huge valley glacier, the
Sverdrup Glacier, between vertical walls of gra-
nite, and emerged out over the Arctic Ocean — a
magnificent flight experience. We followed the
coastline back to Truelove Inlet, counting 105
muskoxen, in herds up to 14 individuals, along
our course. The scenery was spectacular in the
light of the low-hanging sun. When we landed
back in camp we flushed a group of arctic foxes.

Although our expectations for meteorite re-

coveries on Devon Island were never high, we
were all disappointed at not finding at least one.
Theoretical calculations indicated between 1,500
and 3,000 meteorite fragments would be there,
potentially. We knew ahead of time, from aerial
photographs, that the ice cap had a heavy snow
cover at any given time, and was very different
from the Antarctic ice cap, which has bare blue
ice, little snow cover, roaring winds, and no melt-
ing. The main hope of finding any meteorites on
Devon Island was the chance some portion of the
ice cap would be windswept and clear of snow,
exposing the old ice beneath it. We found no
such areas.

The next day a Twin Otter aircraft arrived
from Resolute and took our party north, across
the sea, to an Eskimo village at Grise Fjord on
Ellesmere Island. Shortly afterward our helicop-
ter arrived, and while it was refueling, we had a
chance to go into the Eskimo Cooperative trad-
ing post, where I bought a soapstone carving .

We took off and headed eastward across the
ocean to a large headland, where we turned
north and flew up a glacier- filled valley, over a
height of jagged mountains and into a valley of
spectacular arctic beauty. It was a place on the
Ellesmere ice cap where eight valley glaciers
flowed into a depression with no outlet. When
the expedition to Devon Island was originally
planned, a Canadian glacier expert had sug-
gested we might also look at this place on
Ellesmere.

It is an extraordinary situation, glaciologi-
cally, to have so many valley glaciers pushing
into a central depression. It was thought that
perhaps, among the accumulated rock debris of
all these glaciers carried into this spot from sur-
rounding areas of several thousand square miles,
there might be some concentration of meteorites.
Our hopes were never high for this area because
we knew that there would be vast amounts of
rocks from the surrounding mountains that
would make it almost impossible to notice any
meteorites among them. That is exactly how it
worked out. The depression was a jumble of

The stark, lonely
beauty of the arctic ts
captured in Olsen's
shot of stranded ice-
bergs on Comwallis
Island coast, near
Resolute Bay.

granites and other terrestrial rocks. We climbed
onto one of the largest glaciers and walked across
it for miles on the chance some meteorite might
be on the surface. We found no rocks at all.
Across the surface of the ice ran a huge meltwa-
ter river — icy water cutting into pure ice. The
channel was deep blue in color and utterly clear
and clean. The water coursed swiftly, swinging
along deeply cut meanders, almost completely
silent.

We flew back to Grise Fjord, refuelled, then
flew across the sea to Devon Island and Truelove
Inlet. While cruising over the sea ice we saw
our first polar bear — a huge white fellow, who
was obviously upset by the sound and whoosh of
air from the helicopter. He dove into a pond of
meltwater on the ice surface, then raced off
across the ice as we followed him. We circled him
at low elevation and he finally sat down and
looked up at us in confusion. We left him in
peace.

The next day a Twin Otter flew us to Reso-
lute Bay, and Les and Steve departed for home. I
was to spend more time back on Devon Island

collecting samples from an ancient meteorite im-
pact crater on the western, unglaciated end of
the island.

The meteorite search on the Devon Island
ice cap did have a yield of information, if not of
meteorites. Ice caps in arctic regions are too snow
covered to be good search areas for meteorites.
The Antarctic ice cap is much colder; virtually no
melting takes place there at any time of the year,
and most of the ice accumulates on the surface by
direct condensation of small amounts of mois-
ture in the air, rather than by snowing, as it does
in the arctic. These differences are due to several
factors. The Antarctic continent sits alone over
the south pole and is surrounded by open oceans
that have no effect on altering the circumpolar
weather pattern. The ice caps in the arctic,
Devon and Greenland, are in subpolar positions
and have many land masses nearby to break up
the circumpolar weather pattern. The arctic is
warmer as a result, and the ice surfaces are dif-
ferent. From the Devon Island search we learned
that a search of Greenland, too, may not yield
new meteorite finds. D

OUR ENVIRONMENT

Radio Beacon Leads Investigators
to Bald Eagle Burial Site

"He that has patience may compass any-
thing," the 16th-century French satirist
Rabelais wrote. "Patience," in both the
literal and figurative sense, coupled with
some sophisticated 20th-century technol-
ogy, led U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
investigators recently to the conclusion of
an unusual case involving the death of an
endangered bald eagle.

A matchbox- sized radio transmitter
emitting a prolonged rapid-pulse "dis-
tress" signal off the taU of a bald eagle
nicknamed "Patience" led airborne biolo-
gists to a 50-acre island in Oregon's Snake
River, where they uncovered the eagle's
burial site.

Their discovery, after three months of
charting the research bird's elusive migra-
tion path through the intermountain
west, led to an inquiry by Fish and Wildlife
Service law enforcement agents. Charged
with the shooting of the endangered bald
eagle was an Oregon rancher, who had
tossed its carcass into the island's garbage
dump last January. There, its miniature
radio device continued to emit a staccato
pulse that led its trackers ever closer to the
scene of the bird's abrupt end.

In July, after a lengthy investigation
during which the Oregon man confessed
to the shooting, the Federal Court in Port-
land, Oregon, ordered the rancher to pay
a $2,500 fine under a settlement with the
U.S. Attorney's office. One-halfof the fine
will be turned over to Glacier National
Park's Bald Eagle Research Project to fund
further research. The rancher received the
fine and a 30-day suspended jail sentence
for violating the Bald Eagle Protection Act.

"Patience," a three-year-old female
that had not yet acquired the "bald" head
of white feathers distinctive for mature
five-year-old birds, became a research
subject in the McDonald Creek section of
Glacier Park. There, researchers captured
the bird, attached the tiny radio transmit-
ter and identification markers, and re-
leased it. In a program cosponsored by the
National Park Service and the University
of Montana and supported by the Na-
tional Audubon Society and the Wildlife
Management Institute, the scientists are
studying the migration patterns of the
birds, which are officially listed as "en-
dangered" in 43 states and "threatened"
in five others. (In Alaska, the species is not
in such danger, however.)

An estimated 10 percent of the bald
eagles known to winter in the United
States pass through Glacier each fall. At
times, their concentration in McDonald

Creek can range as high as 600 birds. In
1980, researchers began equipping the
birds with radio transmitters in an effort to
reveal the eagles' winter migration routes
farther south and their return routes to
summer nesting grounds in Canada, with
an eye towards developing a management
plan for crucial roosting and feeding sites
along their path.

"Patience" remained in the vicinity of
Glacier Park and nearby Rathead Lake
until December, 1980, when it departed on
a migration of more than 500 miles along
Idaho's Bitterroot Mountains and the
middle fork of the Salmon River. This was
the first time that researchers were able to
fully track a research bird's westerly mi-
gration, in contrast to the more southerly
migration route taken by most of Glacier's
eagles.

Harriet Allen, a Bald Eagle Research
Project biologist, tracked the bird for most
of its journey, driving more than 6,000
miles on mountain roads as she followed
the flight path. Somewhere along the
Snake River near Ontario, Oregon, "Pa-
tience's" radio signals were lost. Allen
reestablished contact during two flights
over the river, but an unchanging series of
"fast pulse" radio signals told her the bird
was possibly in trouble.

Allen pinpointed Old Crow Island,
about two miles south of Ontario, where
she had sighted the bird on one instance
the week before, as the site of the distress
signals. The island, in the middle of the
Snake River, is owned by the state of Ore-
gon and leased for farming and grazing.
There, under a foot of rubbish covered
with a sheet of metal, Allen and state
biologists found "Patience," its orange
wing markers torn off but its radio trans-
mitter still attached and operating. X-rays
revealed that the bird had been struck in
the head by a shotgun pellet.

"I felt a tremendous sense of loss, as
did everyone on the project," Allen said.
"There was much more we could have
learned from this bird. But it was one of
the few instances when we could fully
piece together the details of one of the
many eagle shootings in the West."

The Fish and Wildlife Service esti-
mates that up to 200 bald and golden
eagles may be killed in the Pacific North-
west each year by gunners who illegally
shoot raptors, by suppliers of the illicit
trade in eagle feathers and related items,
and by people who set baited traps for
other wildlife and accidentally snare eagles.

The service began an investigation
into the eagle's death by interviewing a
nearby landowner who raises livestock
and poultry on Old Crow Island. He con-

fessed to the shooting, claiming that he
thought the bird was a hawk that posed a
threat to his livestock.

Under the Bald Eagle Protection Act,
bald and golden eagles are protected and,
except under limited circumstances, their
killing, possession, and trade is illegal,
with penalties of up to one year in jail and
a fine of $5,000 for first offenses. (The bald
eagle is also protected under the En-
dangered Species Act and, in addition to
hawks and other birds, is protected by the
Migratory Bird Treaty Act.)

^If^-ft-

Painting Town Red Passe?

Incredible though it may sound, a French
artist, Jean Verame, is currently spray-
painting the mountains in the previously
untouched valley of Bir Nafach, an area
close to the historically sacred Mount
Sinai, with 13 tons of black and blue paint.
Boulders, peaks, and rock walls are now
literally black and blue in polka-dots,
triangles, and squares.

The artist calls it "adding a human
dimension to nature"; conservationists
call it "vandalism." The natural desert
sandstone hues of the mountains of
southern Sinai will bear Verame's imprint
for many years.

Killer Deer

You think that cuddly fawn you picked up
and raised by hand would never harm a
soul? Think again.

Kim Heller, a photographer with
Ohio Department of Natural Resources,
died from wounds suffered when he was
gored by a deer. Heller was on assignment
for the department at a private wildlife
preserve when a semidomesticated
white-tailed deer charged and gored him
in the chest and abdomen.

Cut and bruised. Heller managed to
crawl into a nearby pond and escape the
deer. Later, he was able to make his way to
his vehicle and drive to the home of the
preserve manager for help. But he died
five days later in a hospital.

The attack on Heller is not a rare type
of incident. There are many reports of
"tame" deer kicking, goring, or otherwise
inflicting injury on their "owners" or
others. 35

f EDITH FLEMING
' 946 PLEASANT
fcOAK PARK ILL 60302

*■'.

January & February at Field Museum

January 16 through February 15

Continuing Exhibits

"In the Shadow of the Pyramid." A newly designed section of
the Egyptian Collection, Hall J, presents prehistoric and early
historic exhibits in proper context. Visitors can walk through the
tomb chapel of an Egyptian nobleman, Unis-ankh, and view
afterlife offerings in another tomb through a glass wall. Outside
the south entrance to the Egyptian Room a replica of the Tomb
Chapel of Nakht, on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
has been installed. The chapel walls are covered with reproduc-
tions of some of the finest known Egyptian tomb paintings.

Indians of Middle America. Aztec stone sculptures are a high-
light of this exhibit, focusing on Middle American cultures, 1500
B.C. to the present. In addition to costumes, pottery, and farm
tools, you'll see dioramas of an Aztec marketplace and of a Maya
ceremony, as well as a canoe of modern-day Cuna Indians. Hall
8, main floor.

New Programs

Winter Fun. Children in various age groups are invited to join a
natural history workshop during January. Each project will be
for one or two Saturday sessions. Call 322-8854 for a brochure
with more information and prices.

D January 16: 10 a.m. -12 noon.

"Arctic Journey." A craft project, making a mini-igloo, weather

permitting; ages 4 and 5.

"Costumes for the Sorcerer's Dance." Continuation of Jan. 9

workshop.

"Metal Casting." Craft project and tour; ages 9-12.

n January 16: 1 p.m. -3 p.m.

"Different Faces from Faraway Places." Continuation of Jan. 9

workshop.

"Indian Drums." Craft project and tour of Pawnee Earth Lodge;

ages 6-8.

"Metal Casting." Craft project and tour; ages 9-12.

D January 23: 10 a.m. -12 noon.

"Arctic Whales." Stories, songs, and slide program; ages 4 and 5.

"Reptile Tales." Demonstration and tour; ages 6-8.

"Our Feathered Friends." Craft project and tour; ages 9-12.

n January 23: 1 p.m. -3 p.m.

"People of Clay." Craft project and tour; ages 6-8. Continued
Jan. 30.

"The Secret Life of Salamanders." Craft project and tour; ages
6-8.

"The Invisible World." Microscopic demonstration and experi-
ment; ages 6-8.

D January 30: 10 a.m. -12 noon.

"The Corn Maiden's Feast." Craft project and tour; ages 4-5.

"The Chinese Shadow Play." Craft project culminates in a

shadow play; ages 6-8.

"Marine Fossils." Demonstration and tour; ages 9-12.

D January 30: 1 p.m. -3 p.m.

"Crickets, Kites and Kids: Village Life in China." Craft project

and tour; ages 4 and 5.

"The Primates: Our First Cousins." Tour and demonstration;

ages 6-8.

"People of Clay." Continuation of Jan. 23 workshop.

Latin American Neighbors Day. A fiesta of events will acquaint
Chicagoans with Spanish-speaking Americans. Dances, tours,
lectures, touchable exhibits, craft projects, and games from the
cultures of Mexico, Central and South America will be featured.
Special programs for children, in Spanish and English. All events
free with Museum admission. Sunday, Jan. 31, 12 noon to 4 p.m.
Highlights include:

D "Nuevo Ideal." Mexican folk dances will be performed in
Stanley Field Hall at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m.

n "Lords of Tiwanaku." Dr. Alan Kolata, visiting assistant
curator of Andean Archeology, will present an illustrated lecture
on the history and evolution of Tiwanaku, one of the great
civilizations of the ancient Americas; 2 p.m. in Simpson
Theatre.

D "Fossil Mammals of South America." Dr. Larry Marshall, as-
sistant curator of fossil mammals, will introduce some of the
strange mammals that evolved in South America during the
millions of years that it was an isolated island continent; 1 p.m.
in Lecture Hall I.

n The Clemente Steel Band of Roberto Clemente High School
will perform at 2:45 p.m. in Stanley Field Hall.

Winter Journey "The Adventures of Marco Polo." In this self-
guided tour, visitors observe animals that Marco Polo saw on his
travels and read his own descriptions of them. Free Journey
pamphlets available at Museum entrances.

Weekend Discovery Programs. Tours, craft projects, slide pre-
sentations, and films which use exhibits as a springboard for
new insights into natural history topics. The January "Film Fea-
tures," focusing on ancient China, will be shown every Saturday
at 1:30 p.m. in Lecture Hall I; free with Museum admission.
Check Weekend Sheet at Museum entrances for other programs.
Coming February 21. "Hidden Valleys of Tibetan Myth and
Legend." Lecture by Edwin Bernbaum, author of The Way to
Shambhala.

Continuing Programs

Volunteer Opportunities. Persons with scientific interests and
backgrounds are needed to work in various departments. Call
the Volunteer Coordinator, 922-9410, ext. 360.

January and February Hours. The Museum is open from 9
a.m.— 4 p.m., Monday-Thursday; 9 a.m. -9 p.m., Friday; and 9
a.m. -5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday.

The Museum Library is open weekdays, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Obtain a
pass at the reception desk, main floor.

Museum Telephone: (312) 922-9410

Field Museum of Natural History Bulletin

<se>.

February 1982

Field Museum
of Natural History
Bulletin

Published by

Field Museum of Natural History

Founded 1893

President: Willard L. Boyd
Director: Lorin I. Nevling, Jr.

Editor/Designer: David M. Walsten
Calendar: Mary Cassai
Staff Photographer: Ron Testa

Board OF Trustees

James J. O'Connor

chairman
Mrs. T. Stanton Armour
George R. Baker
Robert O. Bass
Gorden Bent
Bowen Blair
Willard L. Boyd
Mrs. Robert Wells Carton
Stanton R. Cook
O.C. Davis

William R. Dickinson, Jr.
Thomas E. Donnelley 11
Marshall Field
Richard M. Jones
Hugo J. Melvoin
Charles F. Murphy, Jr.
Lorin I. Nevling, Jr.
James H. Ransom
John S. Runnells
William L. Searle
Edward Byron Smith
Robert H. Strotr
John W. Sullivan
William G. Swartchild, Jr.
Mrs. Theodore D. Tieken
E. Leland Webber
Julian B. Wilkins
Blaine J. Yarrington

Life Trustees

Harry O. Bercher
William McCormick Blair
Joseph N. Field
Paul W. Goodrich
Clifford C. Gregg
Samuel Insull, Jr.
WiUiam V. Kahler
William H. MitcheU
John M. Simpson
J. Howard Wood

CONTENTS
February 1982
Volume 53, Number 2

Field Briefs

Letters from the Arctic — //

by Edward Olsen
Curator of Mineralogy

The Plains Indian Bull-Boat

By James W. VanStone
Curator of North American
Archeology and Ethnology

Dermestids

By Robert M. Timm

Assistant Curator and Head, Division of Mammals 14

Edward E. Ayer Film Lecture Series

Gone Fishing in the Gulf of Honduras

By Robert K.Johnson, chairman of the

Department of Zoology and David W. Greenfield,

Research Associate 20

Field Museum Tours

February and March at Field Museum

Calendar of Coming Events

back
cover

COVER

Winter Afternoon at Lake Michigan Dunes. Photo by
John Kolar.

Field Museum of Natural History Bulletin (USPS 898-940) is publistied monthly, except combined
July/ August issue, by Field Museum of Natural History, Roosevelt Road at Lake Stiore Drive,
Ctiicago, n. 60605. Subscriptions; $6,00 annually, $3.00 for schools. Museum membership
includes Bulletin sut)Scription. Opinions expressed by authors are their own and do not
necessarily reflect the policy of Field Museum. Unsolicited manuscripts are welcome. Museum
phone: (312) 922-9410. Postmaster: Please send from 3579 to Field Museum of Natural History,
Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, II. 60605. ISSN:0015-0703. Second class postage
paid at Chicago, II.

FIELD BRIEFS

Field Museum's new Mary W. Runnells Rare Book Room, viewed Rare Book Room and of the renovated Library Reading Room was eel-
through display window. Funding for the new facility, opened December ebrated with a luncheon and tour of the facilities, sponsored by the
2, was provided by Mr and Mrs. John S. Runnells. The opening of the Women's Board of Field Museum.

The Planned Giving Program

All their working lives, the married couple
had wanted to make a substantial gift to
Field Museum. Soon after his wife's
death, the husband realized that now,
having no heirs, was the time to make that
gift, and that his wife would want it this
way. Therefore, he transferred a substan-
tial securities portfolio into the Field
Museum Pooled Income Fund.

In making the gift in this manner, this
individual will receive a lifetime income
through the Fund; morever, he has freed
himself from financial concerns, with his
funds now receiving professional man-
agement. His income, incidentally, will re-
flect a higher yield than his original
portfolio, because he had been "locked
in" to low-yielding, but highly ap-
preciated, securities. By making the trans-

fer, he avoided recognizing the capital
gains, and, therefore, avoided any capital
gains tax; yet, he was able to get an im-
mediate charitable tax deduction on a por-
tion of those funds.

Another person, anxious to help a
friend, this past Christmas transferred
funds into the Pooled Income Fund suffi-
cient to give the friend a generous
monthly income, for life. This donor also
received a charitable income tax deduction
and was freed from any capital gains tax.

These are two examples of types of
gifts that have been made to Field
Museum's Pooled Income Fund since in-
auguration of the Museum's Planned Giv-
ing Program this past September (see the
September Bulletin).

The Pooled Income Fund is a conve-
nient way to assure having a life income
and to make a significant gift to the

Museum at the same time. It is the excep-
tion to the adage, "you can't have it both
ways!" Gifts to the Pooled Income Fund
pass to the Museum's Endowment Fund
at the conclusion of the final life interest.

Since announcement of the
Museum's Planned Giving Program, the
Museum has been informed by many
Museum friends that they have remem-
bered Field Museum in their wills. This
past fall, a survey of the Membership was
taken, to find those persons, and to inter-
est others. The survey had gratifying re-
sults, and any Member who has not yet
responded is urged to do so.

Purpose of the Planned Giving Pro-
gram is to increase the Museum's en-
dowment. Bequests by will and gifts
through life income trust agreements go
into the Endowment Fund, perpetuating
Continued on page 27 3

The first segment of
Edward Olsen's 1981
visit to the Canadian
Arctic was recounted
in "Letters from the
Arctic — I," in the
January, 1982, Bulle-
tin.

Lette/(A f/t/mi tim Aidkj -U

By Edward Olsen
Curator of Mineralogy

Photos courtesy of the author

Sedimentary rock

outcrops, tipped

vertical by asteroid

impact 15 million yean

ago, are still coated

with pale rock dust

created by the impact.

-\>*-. -^i- ;_<ris<f »,l:-5;i'-^^.S.'1-_;:*t5^j3>^af!&

/n 1955, or thereabouts, the first detailed
geological maps were made of many of

the arctic islands of northern Canada. On
Devon Island the geological features were pretty
straightforward: granitic rocks of the deeper
crust are exposed on the eastern half of the is-
land, and these are overlain with sedimentary
rocks (of Paleozoic age) on the western half.

In the western half, however, a peculiar
geological structure was observed. This was a 20
km (12 mile) circular structure consisting of dis-
continuous rings of rock layers tipped upward,
very much broken up by fractures and faults,
and coated with pale gray pulverized rock
that contains chips and fragments of all the
kinds of rock types represented in the area.

The geologists who first mapped this odd
structure were perplexed. It is somewhat similar
to a structure known as a salt dome — so, having
to call it something, that is how they designated
it on the map. It remained that way for sixteen
years, when another geologist. Dr. Mike Dence
of the Department of Energy, Mines and Re-
sources Canada, looking over the geological
maps of the arctic islands, noticed that it was all
by itself on Devon Island; the nearest other
known salt dome was over 500 km (about 300

miles) away on another arctic island. Since salt
domes are sedimentary rock structures that al-
most always occur in clusters, not as singles,
Dence thought the solitary nature of the Devon
Island "salt dome" really odd. Besides, he com-
pared the position of the structure with the
height contours of a topographic map that
existed for the region and found that it consisted
of a slight depression. It occurred to him then
that the structure might really be an ancient
scar from a huge meteorite impact explosion.

In 1975 Dr. Blyth Robertson, also of the
Department of Mines, Energy and Resources
Canada, met a mining company geologist who
was going up to the area. Robertson asked him
to collect some sample rocks, especially any-
thing that looked unusual. In due course he re-
ceived from him a group of samples that were
clearly recognizable as evidence of an impact
explosion — shatter cones.

Shatter cones are just what their name im-
plies, cones formed by the shattering of the rock
from which they are made. Many of us have had
the experience of having our car windshield
struck by a pebble flying up from the wheel of a
passing car. The common form of damage is a
tiny hole on the outside surface, with a small

cone-shaped chip popped out of the inside sur-
face. The pointed end of the cone aims at the
source of the impacting pebble.

For about 25 years it has been recognized
that very large meteorite impact craters have
shatter cones developed in the rocks that sur-
round their centers. These take the form of typi-
cal cones with unique, characteristic flutings on
their surfaces. It has been found that if the direc-
tion of the pointed ends — as seen in outcrops of
the blasted, contorted rocks — are mapped, and
if the original position of horizontal layers is
taken into account, the points all aim radially
toward a single, central point — the point of
impact: "ground zero."

In 1977 Robertson spent part of the arctic
summer at the site, collecting shatter cones,
mapping their positions, and doing a survey of
the gravity field over the structure. When a por-
tion of the earth's surface has suffered a crush-
ing blast, the shattered rock has more pore space
than the original rock, due to the fractures that
form between and through the mineral grains
that comprise it. As a result, crushed rock under
an area will cause the pull of gravity to be very
slightly less than in surrounding areas where
the bedrock is uncrushed. The result of this sur-
vey showed just such a gravity feature: a circle
of 20 km that coincided with the geological
structure and with the slight topographic de-
pression. All this, combined with the shatter
cones and the discovery of a form of quartz in
the rock that is known to crystallize only at very
high shock pressures, made the story conclu-
sive. The structure is definitely an impact crater.

Subsequent study has shown that the im-
pact occurred 15 million years ago, and the orig-
inal crater has been largely filled by sediments
of a lake that once occupied it — which is why
the depression is only slight today. The impact-
ing object was about 1 km in diameter (more
than 3,000 feet). It vaporized completely on
impact.

When a small meteorite, less than about 100
tons, hits the earth, it merely punches a hole
into the soil and usually breaks into fragments
itself. When a meteorite of 100 tons or more hits,
the energy is too high for the meteorite to hold
itself together. The energy is literally greater
than the energy that binds atom to atom in the
minerals that comprise the meteorite. It vapor-
izes as an explosive cloud, excavating millions
of tons of the rock at ground zero, uplifting lay-
ered rocks next to the explosion, and sending a
shock wave through the surrounding area,
causing shatter cones to form. If the blast is
below a certain magnitude a simple, hollowed-
out crater is developed. An example of that kind
of crater is Meteor Crater near Flagstaff,

Arizona. If the explosion is above a certain mag-
nitude a complex crater develops: the central
part is excavated in the blast and immediately
afterward the earth under the center rebounds,
forming a small peak. Such craters are common
on the lunar surface. The central peak is analo-
gous to the blip of water that spurts upward
when a pebble is dropped into standing water.
The crater on Devon Island is one of these. The
central portion has been uplifted into a small
peak just after the impact explosion. In the 15

Limestone shatter cone
formed by severe shock
waves from asteroid
impact.

Ground willoic (Salix

sp.), the single wood]/

plant species in the

high arctic, in

characteristic

ground-clinging

posture.

million years since the impact, however, most of
the peak has been eroded away. The impact
structure has been named Haughton Crater
after a name given by the original geologist to
the "salt dome" he found.

During part of July and August of last year
I had a chance to be a member of a Canadian
expedition to search for meteorites on the ice
cap of eastern Devon Island. When that part
of the expedition was over, I remained with
Robertson and a field assistant, Chris Pitre, to
fly to the Haughton area, set up camp, and run
a different kind of survey — this time a mag-
netometer survey, over the structure.

We flew out of Resolute Bay, on Cornwallis
Island — just west of Devon Island, in a Twin
Otter aircraft with all our equipment on July 30.
We landed on a flat gravel surface next to a river,
not too far from the center of the impact struc-
ture, and put up three tents. A small portable
transmitter radio was hooked up so we could
communicate with the Resolute Bay station. The
place we camped was starkly beautiful. The area
looked just like the desert of central Arizona —
but without the trees and cacti. The valley of the
nameless river, beside which we were camped,
was enclosed between two rows of beautiful
mountain ridges — one of them blanketed with
the pale gray, almost white, coating of pul-
verized rock that had been blown out of the
impact crater so long ago and settled over the
hills surrounding the crater.

The river was shallow, ice cold, crystal
clear, and made a pleasant sound as it splashed
over the rapids in front of the two tents set up
for sleeping. It meandered back and forth across
the valley floor, fed by tributaries that entered

it from melting snowfields on the mountain
sides. The valley floor was made up of a series
of gravel terraces, each quite flat, that were de-
posited during the retreat of the ice cap from
this half of Devon Island.

Our field work began as soon as the camp
was set up. Robertson and Pitre were going to
do the magnetometer survey; my main interest
was in collecting specimens of shatter cones and
impact-shocked bedrocks for study and for use
in future exhibits in the Museum, as well as for
possible exchanges with other museums. Up to
this time only a small collection of specimens
had been made of the Haughton area by the few
government geologists working on it. The Field
Museum was to have the first chance to collect
for broader uses. In fact, I was the first outside
{i.e., nongovernment) geologist to visit the area
since it was recognized as a crater.

In doing work here, field parties have come
to use small all-terrain vehicles — ATVs. I have
always opposed these machines, which allow
men to smash their way into remote places. In-
excusable damage has been done to areas of the
southwestern deserts in Arizona, New Mexico,
and California. In those cases, use of ATVs has
caused compaction of soils, resulting in the de-
struction of the flora and subsequent negative
effects on the fauna. The compacted soils are
also crushed into smaller grain sizes, which are
more easily blown and washed away.

So it was with great concern that I found
our party supplied with three ATVs, one for
each of us. As I walked over the desertlike ter-
rain near the camp I realized that no damage
could be done to the soils, flora, and fauna —
there weren't any! This was a desert of com-
pacted gravel, boulders, and rock outcrop — a
high arctic desert. The only flora consists of
small, widely scattered patches of mosses, a
few algal mats along streams, a wildflower here
and there, and an occasional small, sprawling
willow clinging to the ground. No soil is devel-
oped. The field parties use ATVs because these
vehicles make it possible to cover large distances
and visit more outcrops than would be possible
on foot. In the arctic, field seasons are short and
every effort is made to do the maximum amount
as quickly as possible. The availability of ATVs
and the ability to work around the clock with 24
hours of daylight make it possible to get a lot of
work done each season. In general, Canadian
activities in the arctic are becoming more and
more responsible. Field parties are now re-
quired to bring out all their garbage and to leave
campsites as they found them.

In spite of the justification, I approached my
little, balloon-tired puddle-jumper with a lack
of enthusiasm. As it turned out, the vehicle was

actually of little use to me. Driving along at the
vehicle's lowest possible speed, I was still mov-
ing too fast to examine loose specimens and
outcrops. When walking, I saw far more, and
got'better samples. Besides, I came to hate the
exhaust fumes and the engine noise. Walking
across that vast, empty, unexplored land in
complete silence, with only a whisper of wind
or the subtle rumble of a distant stream or wa-
terfall is too extraordinary an experience to be
spoiled by motor fumes and noise. I used the
vehicle on only two occasions, and on one of
these it rolled over on me when going up a slope
so steep that I shouldn't have tried to climb it in
the first place. The vehicle rolled over a dozen
times as it tumbled down the slope, but after-
ward it still ran just fine.

The day after my accident, Chris went over
a cliff with his ATV. He escaped serious injury,
but his vehicle was smashed beyond immediate
repair. From then on he rode my vehicle and I

did my traverses happily on foot, and alone.

On one of these traverses, a beautiful
sunny day, I was walking through a valley many
miles from camp when I came across fairly fresh
polar bear tracks. I didn't have anything along
for defense because I had mistakenly assumed
the bears wouldn't get that far away from the
sea — about 20 miles. There are few incidents of
serious bear attacks; however, those few are
enough to keep up your respect for them. Sub-
sequently, I carried a loaded rifle on all my treks.
This gave me a feeling of security, although I
had to admit to myself I would find it just about
impossible to shoot one of these animals. I
hoped that shooting at it might be enough to
scare it away. I also carried an old beer can con-
taining small pebbles, for it is said that polar
bears will run away from loud, clanging sounds.
Happily I never had a chance to test out this
theory — or fire the rifle.

One day a helicopter came in to spend the

Canadian govern-
ment geologist Blyth
Robertson (left) and
assistant Chris Pitre
atop a mass of gyp-
sum crystals formed
In/ ground water
deposition.

Pitre, Robertson, and

Olsen (I. to r.) pose by

cook tent witn

all-terrain vehicles.

day with us putting in magnetometer reference
stations. Because of rapid fluctuations in the
magnetic field in this region, so close to the
north magnetic pole, it was necessary to place
all the reference stations as quickly as possible
— hence the helicopter. This process involved
landing at a chosen site, taking a magnetometer
reading, marking the spot with a rock cairn,
hopping into the helicopter again, taking off to a
new spot, miles away, and repeating the pro-
cess. We made sixteen stations that day. It
would have taken several days to do the same
thing by surface travel, even by ATV.

Like most polar field work, north or south,
there is a pattern of intense activity followed by
periods of boring inactivity when the weather
is too rotten to work, or while waiting for air-
craft. On this trip we had long stretches of fog,
drizzle, rain, a few snow flurries, and heavy
overcast skies. After a period of several days of
drizzle we noticed that the little babbling stream
in front of our tents was rising. Our pretty, blue
creek had turned green, was cloudy with fine
sediment, and had grown into a deep, formida-
ble roaring river. By putting reference-marker
stones along the gravel bank that contained it,
we figured the creek was rising at about three
inches an hour. In a few hours our tents would
be flooded. So we moved the two sleeping tents
to a higher gravel terrace, but left the cook tent
where it was, on slightly higher ground away
from the river. In the arctic it is always wise to
put the cook tent a long walk from the sleeping
tents. If a polar bear shows up it will probably
go for the cook tent, with its food odors, first.
The clattering of pots becomes your warning to

get up and eitlier run or shoot it out. If you're
far enough away you have a chance.

After a few hours the river was a raging
torrent, cutting away at the gravel banks. By 11
p.m. the drizzle stopped and we determined
the river had ceased to rise — to only an inch
below the first terrace level. We left the sleeping
tents where they were in case of future rain.

In spite of the off-and-on bad weather, our
work was soon completed. It was an unusual
period. Every few hours a swell of fog would
pour through the mountain passes from the di-
rection of the sea and settle in the impact basin.
The wind would finally dispel the fog, giving us
an hour of clearer weather — still dull gray —
before the next fog layer, sitting over the sea-
coast, would become deep enough to pour over
the passes onto us again.

The Twin Otter from Resolute was sup-
posed to come in on one particular evening
and take out our camp, but this fog-clear-fog
weather situation meant that landing was im-
possible. With 24 hours of daylight the plane
might arrive at any hour of the "night." By mid-
night our weather had improved marginally and
the sun made the northern sky dull red. This
was one of those boring waiting periods that are
part of arctic field work. As I wandered along
the bank of the swollen river I saw a flight of
nine eider ducks land on a gravel bank. They
consisted of adults and a couple of birds that
appeared somewhat small — like the young of
this season. They were the only living animals
I saw during this time at that camp, and were
grouping for the migration south — August 7.
It was time to leave the high arctic. D

The Plains Indian Bull-Boat

Specialized Transportation on
the Upper Missouri River

Bv James w. VanStone

Curatorof North American Archeology and Ethnology

In 1891 Frederic Ward Putnam, curator of the
Peabody Museum of American Archaeology
and Ethnology at Harvard, was appointed
chief of the Department of Ethnology and Ar-
chaeology for the World's Columbian Exposition
in Chicago. His task was to assemble a large
anthropological collection for the world's fair in
1893, and for this purpose field parties to various
parts of the world were directed to collect
ethnographic specimens and other materials
representing many different cultures.

Early in 1892 Putnam wrote to A. W. Fair-
banks of Fort Berthold, North Dakota, request-
ing that Fairbanks collect ethnographic speci-
mens from among the Plains Indian tribes of the
upper Missouri River region. This material was
apparently collected and shipped, but when it
was accessioned on October 31, 1893, by Field
Columbian Museum, established to house col-
lections gathered for the world's fair, the only
specimen that could be located was a bull-boat,*
an example of one of the most primitive skin-

* Catalog number 15568

covered canoes built by the Indians of North
America.

Bull-boats were not actually canoes, but
rather coracles similar to those used in Ireland
and by the ancient Britons. They were bowl-
shaped and suitable only for use on streams
where ferrying would be the primary require-
ment. Although all Plains Indians living near
streams probably once constructed bull-boats,
this form of vessel is associated most frequently
with the Mandan, Arikara, and Gros Ventre,
who used it to cross the Missouri River and its
tributaries.

Many boats from various parts of the world
were collected for the World's Columbian Expo-
sition and subsequently accessioned by Field
Columbian Museum (in 1906 renamed Field
Museurri of Natural History). In 1929 the
Museum donated a collection of 75 boats — one of
the finest assemblages of aboriginal water craft in
the world — to Chicago's Museum of Science and
Industry, apparently hoping to solve a storage
problem. Because that institution also had no
facilities for storing such a large collection, ar-

rangements were made to place the vessels in
temporary storage under the seats in Soldier
Field, across the street from Field Museum.
When new construction was undertaken at Sol-
dier Field in 1937, virtually the entire collection
was destroyed by the Chicago Park District "in
the belief that they had been used in the past for
pageants, festivals and parades and because of
their age were no longer usable."'

Field Museum's bull-boat was slated for in-
clusion in this collection of deaccessioned boats,
and in the catalog of the Department of An-
thropology is the notation that the specimen was
"sent to Rosenwald Industrial Museum
[Museum of Science and Industry] 12/13/28." For
reasons that are unclear but extremely fortunate,
the bull-boat was not included in the collection
stored in Soldier Field. It disappeared, however,

from Field Museum's collections and was redis-
covered only in 1968 when extensive renovations
were made to the building's fourth floor for the
newly created Department of Exhibition. When
found, the bull-boat was in a crate, perhaps in
anticipation of removal from the Museum. In
any event, it has been preserved and is one of the
few water craft remaining in the Museum's
North American Indian collections.

Wherever they occur, bull-boats are always
described as temporary craft constructed for spe-
cial purposes. Unlike the Eskimo kayak, from
which the skin cover can be removed because the
parts of the frame are rigidly lashed and pegged
together, bull-boats were usually built according
to bark canoe methods, whereby the covering
was part of the structure holding the framework
together.^

Field Museum's specimen has shallow, flar-
ing sides and is covered with cowhide (with the
hair side on the exterior) rather than with the
buffalo hide ordinarily associated with tra-
ditional craft. The vessel has a diameter of ap-
proximately 51 inches and is about 20 inches deep
in the center. The rim is made of overlapping
willow branches, lashed together at intervals
with strips of willow root; the cowhide is also
lashed to the rim with root strips. Below the rim
on two sides and running in the same direction
are more strips. The framework is made of bent
willow branches placed at right angles to one
another in more or less haphazard positions.
Where they cross, these branches are lashed to-
gether with strips of cloth (fig. 2). It seems
clear that the craft was built up on the skin.

Over the years, as the cowhide has dried,
the supporting framework has twisted and
slipped; some branches have punctured the
hide. When it was new, the boat was probably
somewhat deeper than now; the sides were less
flaring, and the shape more regular. Neverthe-
less, it is obvious that the vessel is not well made;
Fairbanks, in fact, cautioned Putnam in a letter of
September 20, 1892, that "this boat is really not a
very good specimen of a bull-boat but it was the
best I could obtain at the time."^

Early travellers on the Missouri River and its

tributaries admired the versatility of the bull-
boat and described it in considerable detail. One
of the earliest of these descriptions, written by a
member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, is of
vessels made by the Arikara and Mandan.
These are made in the following manner: two
sticks of an inch and a quarter in diameter are
tied together so as to form a round hoop, which
serves for the brim, while a second hoop, for the
bottom of the boat, is made in the same way; both
are secured by sticks of the same size from the
sides of the hoops, fastened by thongs at the
edges of the hoops and at the interstices of the
sticks; over this frame the skin is drawn closely
and tied with thongs, so as to form a perfect
basin, 7 feet 3 inches in diameter, 16 inches deep,
with 16 ribs of cross- sticks, and capable of carry-
ing six or eight men with their loads.*
Although this account appears to suggest
that the vessels described had rigid frames, it is
probable that once constructed, their covers
could not be removed without collapsing the
framework. These boats were also considerably
larger than most craft of this type. On August 8,
1806, three members of the Lewis and Clark ex-
pedition constructed such a boat in order to de-
scend the Yellowstone River: "In these frail ves-
sels they embarked, and were surprised at the
perfect security in which they passed through

the most difficult shoals and rapids of the river,
without ever taking in water, even during the
highest winds. "^

Another, somewhat later, description is
provided by E. T. Denig, a trader on the upper
Missouri from 1833 to 1856. Noting that Arikara
bull-boats were used for crossing the Missouri,
he went on to say that

The body of the boat is made of willows, bent
round in the form of a basket and tied to a hoop of
the same at the top, which hoop is about three or
four feet in diameter. The hide of a buffalo, either
fresh off the animal's back, or if dry, well soaked
in water, is stretched over the frame, the hair
inside. It is then turned upside down, dried, and
sometimes smeared over with tallow. *

Other early observers also noted that the hair
often faced in rather than out, as it does on Field
Museum's boat.

Interesting and instructive drawings of
bull-boats were made by Charles Bodmer, the
artist who accompanied Prince Maximilian of
Wied on his travels through the Plains region in
1832-1834 (fig.l). and by Rudolph Friederich
Kurz, whose drawings of women carrying bull-
boats were made in 1851 (fig. 3). These illus-
trations, together with the descriptions just
given, suggest a more precise method of con-
struction than is to be found in Field
Museum's specimen.

As might be imagined, the propelling of a
bowl-shaped vessel required a specialized tech-
nique. Denig's description is especially graphic:
Usually these boats are propelled by the women,
one in each boat, which also contains the meat of
the same [buffalo] cow whose hide made the
canoe. She uses a paddle in front making a paw-
ing motion directly under the boat which turns
half round to alternate sides at each stroke of the
paddle. ''
In his letter to Putnam quoted earlier, Fair-

banks described the paddling of a bull-boat as
follows:

// used by a single person, he takes his place in
the boat to one side, usually balanced by a stone
on the other side but I have seen them without.
Then [he] uses the paddle to pull himself forward
[and] at the same time as the paddle leaves the
water he gives it a tivist which offsets thecurrent
and keep[s] the boat directly across the river. The
first part of the stroke also is made upward to-
wards the current as well as forward.
Famed photographer Edward S. Curtis,
who visited the Mandan about 1907, provides an
obviously posed but informative view of a
woman paddling a bull-boat (fig. 4).

Denig emphasized that although the bull-
boat was usually associated with women, both
sexes were expert at this type of navigation.
Parties of both [sexes] go for some distance up
the Missouri in the summer when the hair of the
animal is not seasonable, kill buffalo, make
canoes of the hide, put meat in and each one
paddles his boat to the village. Fifty, sixty, or a
hundred canots can be seen, all loaded, manned
or womaned by a single paddler, plying their
way even in high wind down the rapid and
dangerous current of the Missouri. '
In his letter to Putnam, Fairbanks reported
that he had seen vessels similar to the one he
collected cross the Missouri loaded with three
women, a child, and many bags of flour without
seeming to be affected by a rapid current. In 1847
Charles Larpenteur, a fur trader on the upper
Missouri, observed a party of 22 Arikaras going
to war against the Sioux in 11 bull-boats.'

There were, however, some drawbacks to
these versatile water craft. Alexander Henry and
David Thompson, fur traders writing at the be-
ginning of the nineteenth century, observed that
although these boats were capable of carrying
great loads, it was necessary to unload them once
each day and dry them in the sun or over a fire;
otherwise they would become waterlogged and
sink.'"

Temporary or emergency water craft, com-
mon among North American Indians, varied
from relatively simple vessels like the bull-boat
to sizeable boats with crudely constructed but
rigid or semi-rigid frames. One of the more com-
plex forms was used by Eskimos living along the
Kuskokwim River in southwestern Alaska; in the
fall they moved up tributaries by canoe to hunt
large game animals. After hunting for a month or
more, they cached their small canoes to be
picked up during the winter and the hunters
assembled their catch near a stream where a boat
was built for the return trip. The frame of the
new boat was constructed of spruce or alder and
covered with the skins of freshly killed caribou or

bear. Its size depended on the success of the
hunters. Although these vessels were undoubt-
edly clumsy, they were also very flexible and
thus able to safely negotiate swift streams,
bouncing off the projecting rocks that were an
ever-present hazard."

One vessel of this type, seen at the village of
Kwethluk on the lower Kuskokwim River in the
spring of 1956, was of modified-traditional form
but appeared to resemble closely the type of craft
used in aboriginal times (fig. 5). This boat was
large, approximately 30 feet long but less than
two feet deep, and similar to the traditional Es-
kimo umiak, being pointed at both ends. The
frame, made of roughly worked strips of alder
wood, was nailed together and covered with
bear skins, one of which is shown in the photo.

NOTES

1. Letter of April 19, 1938, from E.I. Kelly, director of Spe-
cial Services, Chicago Park District, to J.W. Block, regis-
trar. Museum of Science and Industry.

2. Adney and Chapelle, 1964, p. 219.

3. Department of Anthropology files, accession 55.

4. Coues, 1893, vol. 3, p. 1,172.

5. Ibid.

6. Denig, 1961, pp. 51-52.

7. Ibid.

8. Ibid.

9. Larpenteur, 1933, p. 213.

10. Henry and Thompson, 1897, p. 181.

11. Oswalt, 1963, pp. 126-27.

REFERENCES

Adney, Edwin T. and Howard I. Chapelle
1964 The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America.
Museum of History and Technology, Smithsonian
Institution. Washington, D.C.

The use of nails in constructing the frame doubt-
less made it more rigid than would have been the
case with the skin or root lashing used in aborig-
inal times. The vessel's shallow depth was
characteristic of its type.

The Plains Indian bull-boat was obviously a
less ambitious craft. Some were even too small to
carry a person, but were intended to be loaded
with cargo and towed by a swimmer. Although
the previously described vessels encountered by
the Lewis and Clark expedition were apparently
very large, specimens preserved in museum col-
lections indicate that a craft more than five feet in
diameter and made of more than one skin was
extremely rare. Most examples are built on a
single skin and are approximately the size of
Field Museum's boat. D

Coues, Elliott, ed.
1893 History of the Expedition under the Command of Lewis
and Clark. 4 vols. N.Y.
Curtis, Edward S.
1907-30 The North American Indians. 20 vols. Norwood,
Mass.
Denig, Edwin T.
1961 Five Indian Tribes of the Upper Missouri. Univ. of Okla-
homa Press.
Henry, Alexander and David Thompson
1897 New Light on the Early History of the Greater Northivest.
Ed. by Elliott Coues. 3 vols. N.Y.
Larpenteur, Charles

1933 Forty Years a Fur Trader on the Upper Missouri. The
Personal Narrative of Charles Larpenteur 1833-1872.
Chicago.
Oswalt, Wendell H.
1963 Mission of Change in Alaska. Eskimos and Moravians on
the Kuskokwim. The Huntington Library, San
Marino, California.
Thwaites, Reuben G., ed.
1904-07 Early Western Travels, 1784-1897. 32 vols. Cleve-
land.

Author Robert Timm

with mounted skeleton

of kangaroo rat that

had been cleaned by

feeding dermestid

beetles.

DERMESTIDS

The remarkable ability of
these tiny beetles to strip
bones clean of flesh has been
turned to the advantage of

By Robert M. Timm
Assistant Curator and Head,
Division of Mammals

Curiously, the busiest room at Field
Museum is one of the least known. It
houses thousands of workers who go un-
complainingly about their task 24 hours a day,
seven days a week, 52 weeks out of the year.
The name of this room, tucked away on the
third floor, is "the Bug Room" — a matter of
irony, since it's located in the Division of
Mammals, not in Insects.

The solution to this seeming conundrum is
simplicity itself: In the Bug Room are cages of
various sizes, each containing hundreds or
thousands of matchhead-size beetles of the
species Dermestes maculatus, all gnawing happily
away at the carcasses of dead animals. In return
for the free meal, these carrion eaters are per-
forming an invaluable service to the Museum
and to science: they are able to clean an animal
skeleton of its flesh more efficiently than any
other way — chemical or biological — known to
science. Given the time and the right condi-
tions, such as humidity and temperature, an
army of dermestids can reduce the body of a
shrew, a dog, or a horse (even, theoretically, a
whale!) to a gleaming skeleton, still articulated

{i.e., with its bones still properly intercon-
nected). Muscles and fat are all grist for the
dermestids' gastronomic mill — leaving the
bone, eschewed as it were, rather than chewed.

Since science first recognized the animal
skeleton as something to be preserved and
studied in a systematic fashion, scientists have
looked for ways of cleaning from the bones the
extraneous tissues that surround them in life. In
former times, the carcass was simply soaked in
water until the bacterial action broke down the
soft tissues; then began the tedious manual pro-
cess of picking and scraping off the remaining
bits of tissue. Not only was this tiring and
time-consuming, the results were never satis-
factory. If the bacterial decomposition went on
too long, the bones became disarticulated and
teeth fell out. Too little soaking meant that extra
time was needed for the hand-cleaning stage,
and tendons and ligaments usually required
more attention. The end result was poorly
cleaned, piecemeal material.

So zoologists were constantly on the look-
out for a better method, and they experimented
with ants, clothes moth larvae, mealworms.

Dermestes
maculatus (larva left,
adult right), some-
times called the leather
beetle, is the dermestid
species used for clean-
ing skeletons at Field
Museum. Larvae grow
to slightly more than
Vz inch long, adults
are somewhat smaller.
Drawings by Rosanne
Miezio.

crawfish, marine isopods and other biological
methods — to say nothing of corrosive chemi-
cals. All had serious drawbacks. Then, in the
1870s, in France, dermestid beetles were tried,
and they came through with winning colors.
About sixty years ago dermestids came into use
in American museums, and today colonies of
these beetles are standard equipment wherever
larger collections of vertebrate skeletons are
maintained.

Dermestid beetles, which constitute the

family Dermestidae, are worldwide in distribu-
tion, with about 700 known species — 125 in the
United States and 25 in Illinois. About 50 have
reputations as pests of stored animal and plant
products, consuming everything from Jello to
rugs to wool sweaters to butterfly collections.
Of these dermestids, a few have proven useful
to scientists as bone cleaners; some don't adapt
well to colonization, however (whole skeletons
are cleaned efficiently only with self-perpetuat-
ing "colonies" of hundreds or thousands of in-

U.S. dime shows rela-
tive size of
beetle grub and tiny,
partially disarticulated
shrew skeleton, cleaned
by the
beetles. 15

Scanning electron

microscope photos of D .

macula tus: (above,

left) head of first instar,

or growth phase, of

larva magnified 125

times; (above, right)

head of first larval

instar X520; (opposite

page, top left)

urticating, or irritant,

hairs that cover the

grub'sbodyX690;(this

page, below) head of

adult X33. Photos by

Robert Timm.

dividuals); others are not efficient enough in
cleaning up soft tissues or are too rough with
the bony parts.

Dermestes maculatus, the dermestid species
we use at Field Museum, is commonly known
as the leather beetle, because of its special fond-
ness for leather and fur. (Before effective insec-
ticides were developed it was a serious pest in
industries that dealt in these products. ) When

properly cared for, D. maculatus is highly pro-
lific; a female may lay 500 or more eggs; these
eggs hatch two to ten days later into grubs,
which grow to adulthood in six to nine weeks.
The larval period may be protracted for years if
the temperature and humidity are not optimal
and food is scant.

The newly hatched larvae, 1mm long (1/25
inch), are voracious eaters, and an army of

Timm brushes beetles
from cleaned kangaroo
head. Surgical mask
prevents inhalation of
dust-size particles of
dried beetle exoskele-
ton, larva setae (hairs),
and excreta that per-
vade air of Bug Room .
Prolonged exposure
may result in allergic
reaction.

grubs can reduce a shrew, or mole, or bat to a
skeleton overnight; a horse may take a few
weeks. The larvae molt six or seven times, and
when fully grown at 15mm are ready to pupate.
When this time comes, they bore into whatever

Dermestid adults and
larvae at work on squir-
rel head. 17

Timm in Bug Room

with largest of several

dermestiacolony cages.

The cage lids as well as

the double doors to the

Bug Room are precision

sealed.

material is at hand, finding a snug, isolated spot
to lie dormant for 7 to 14 days. One of the ex-
traordinary facts about the dermestid is the
ability of this pupating grub to bore through the
hardest material — even through the mortar and
stonework of walls; lead pipes, cables, and elec-
trical fuses have proven notably vulnerable to
them. Hakluyt's Travels records that in 1593 a
ship carrying a cargo of dead penguins was
made unseaworthy by the hundreds of thou-
sands of tunnels bored into the wooden hull by
pupating dermestid larvae (after feeding on the
penguins).

Cleaning the bones with dermestids is both
good husbandry and an art; it is not simply a
matter of throwing the bones to the bugs. Be-
fore being placed in a beetle colony, the animal's
body is skinned, eviscerated, and the larger
muscle masses removed. The beetles prefer to
feed on tissue that is well dried — but not too

dry. Temperature and humidity control are also
critical, and the beetles are extremely sensitive
to mold and mites; either can wipe out a colony
overnight. At the Field Museum we use dermes-
tids not only for cleaning the skeletons of mam-
mals, but also those of birds, reptiles, amphibians,
and fish — dried fish seems to be their favorite.

But we must pay the price for this wonder-
ful talent: since dermestids will nibble on just
about anything that is dead (including Egyptian
mummies), natural history museums must take
special care that their dermestid guests are
housed in carefully sealed quarters. The Bug
Room has a double set of tightly fitting doors
and each colony container (commonly a tropical
fish aquarium a few cubic feet in volume) has a
dermestid-proof lid.

The beetles also pose a unique health prob-
lem for technicians who must work with them.
Persons exposed to the room's air over a period
of time may develop a host of disagreeable
symptoms that are an allergic reaction to sub-
stances in the beetle's system: itching of the
skin, hives, irritation of the eyes and respiratory
passages, cold sweat, weakness, fever, head-
ache, and nausea are all part of the syndrome.
An allergic person who is overexposed to the
room's atmosphere may even go into serious
anaphylactic shock of the sort that can befall a
bee-sting victim.

The allergic reaction is the result of breath-
ing microscopic particles of dead beetle exo-
skeletons, molted grub skins with their fuzz of
irritant hairs, and excreta — all floating in the air
as a fine, impalpable dust. The only protection
against this insidious hazard is to wear a surgi-
cal mask.

What good are all these old bones? Does
anyone ever look at them? The answer is a re-
sounding YES. In the past year, the mammal col-
lection received some 800 visitor-days of use by
professionals (in addition to that by our own
staff), and we sent out almost 100 loans of
specimens to scientists at other institutions. The
loan and visitor use of the Field Museum collec-
tion is one of the busiest such arrangements in
the scientific world. During this 12-month
period, scientists in 28 states and 11 foreign
countries made use of it — including mam-
malogists, anatomists, archaeologists, paleon-
tologists, anthropologists, and veterinarians. In
recent years, an annual average of more than 40
published technical papers and scholarly books
have involved research based on the study of
our specimens — many of which had been beau-
tifully "prepared" by the remarkable dermes-
tids. Once looked upon as just a pest, Dermestes
maculatus has risen to become a valued tool in
the pursuit of scientific knowledge. D

Ayer Film Lectures

March and April
James Simpson Theatre
Saturdays, 1:30 pm

The Spring Edward E. Ayer Film Lectures are offered each
Saturday in March and April. Please take special notice of the
new, earlier starting time — 1:30 pm. These 90-minute travel
films are narrated by the filmmakers themselves, and are rec-
ommended for adults. Admission is free at the Museum's
barrier- free West Entrance, located on the ground floor. Handi-

March6

"Footloose in Newfoundland,"
by Tom Sterling

A visit to Newfoundland brings you the
wonders of nature — the great fiords,
bird colonies of gannets and kittywak.es,
whales, moose, and tundra plant life.
Sterling also introduces you to the people
of Newfoundland — their families, "out-
ports," and daily life.

March 13

"Switzerland," by Ric Dougherty
Visit Chateau-D'Oex, a tiny hamlet
of Swiss chalets, ride up Mount Rigi,
and trek to the Matterhorn. Watch the
Reynaud family making Gruyere
cheese, and stay to welcome the cele-
brants from Vivey of The Feast of the
Wine Growers, Europe's greatest folk
festival.

March 20

"In the Footsteps of Richard Hallibur-
ton," by William Stockdale
From London to Spain, to India and
Khyber Pass, we follow in the footsteps
of adventurer Halliburton (1900-1939).
He climbed the Matterhorn, swam the
Hellespont, and sailed a junk out of
Hong Kong, never to be heard from
again. Join Stockdale as he retraces
Halliburton's travels.

March 27

"China After Mao," by Jens Bjerre
This fascinating film invites you to sail
down the beautiful Likian River, explore
giant caverns, tour Peking, and take a
train ride through China to Kwangchow
(Canton). Bjerre also explores the many
changes in China since the death of Mao
— changes which have deeply affected
each individual with new freedom.

capped persons have access to the theatre via this entrance.
Doors open at 12:45 pm for Museum members. When the
theatre has reached full seating capacity, the doors will be
closed by Security personnel in compliance with fire
regulations.

April 3

"The Galapagos," by John Wilson
A devoted naturalist and cinema-
tographer, Wilson exploreSithe
Archipelago of Columbus — better
known as the Galapagos. Because these
islands are isolated, they are home to
some of the world's most remarkably
adapted wildlife. Scenes include the
courting of the albatross, a climb to the
top of Volcan Fernandina, and a trip to
Alcedo Crater — home of the Galapagos
Tortoise.

April 10

"Paris and the Seine,"
by Kathy Dusek

The film begins in the hills of Burgundy,
then on to the medieval city of Troyes.
See Paris at sunrise, the flower market,
and the Louvre. Visit Rouen and hear
the story of Joan of Arc. Finally we
arrive at Normandy and Le Havre —
totally rebuilt since World War II.

April 17

"South and East Africa,"
by Ted Bumiller

An exciting film safari to the great con-
tinent of Africa. Game preserves abound
with wildlife — elephants, leopards, and
crocodiles. Watch fishermen catch the
200-pound Nile perch; climb Kiliman-
jaro, visit Nairobi, and meet Africa's
many peoples.

April 24

"Himalayan Odyssey,"
by Frank Klicar

The Himalayas are the meeting place
for Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam.
Pilgrims seek spiritual enlightenment
at Bhaktipur in Nepal, Rishikesh on
the Ganges, and at the Tibetan monas-
leryof Leh. Village activities center on
grain planting and harvesting, process-
ing tea, making rugs, raising livestock,
and paper-making.

«?«','

119

Gone Fishing

In the Gtdf of Honduras

By Robert Karl Johnson and David W. Greenheld
Photos courtesy of the authors

Cabins overlooking reef

crest at Long Cay,

Glovers Reef.

rystal clear water, multihued coral ram-
parts, the continuous line of surf on the
windward reef, palm-covered cays seem-
ingly suspended between the blue of sky and
sea — these are what come to mind when think-
ing of the coral reefs of the Gulf of Honduras.
But for those of us who are studjdng the fishes
of the western Caribbean, there are additional
images and rewards: the discovery of species
new to science, captures of rare species known
from few individuals, and the chance to learn
about the life histories, ecology, and distribution
of these and other coral reef fishes not previously
studied. It is the lure of these opportunities that
has caused us to return to the western Carib-
bean each of the past 11 years.

Our association with the nation of Belize
and the western Caribbean began in 1970,
when one of the authors (Greenfield) moved to
Northern Illinois University from California.
There existed at NIU the opportunity to help
establish a program in tropical biology to be

Robert Karl Johnson is curator of fishes and chairman of the
Department of Zoology at the Field Museum; he is also
adjunct associate professor of biological sciences at Northern
Illinois University. David W. Greenfield is professor of
biological sciences at Northern Illinois University and is a
research associate, in zoology, of the Field Museum.

taught in Belize. Glovers Reef, an atoll 28 miles
off Belize, has been since 1970 the site of a tropi-
cal marine biology course, which has drawn
students from across the United States and
Canada. Sampling of the Belize marine fish
fauna also began in 1970.

Our collaboration on western Caribbean
fishes began in 1975, with an expedition to the
Miskito Coast of Honduras, a venture jointly
sponsored by Field Museum, NIU, and the
Museum of Zoology of the University of Michi-
gan. We have since returned to Belize on numer-
ous occasions, to teach the course in coral reef
biology and to continue our investigations of
the shorefishes of the Gulf of Honduras. Our
collections to date number 382 stations, an
estimated 10,000 lots,* and more than 100,000
specimens. These collections, all deposited
at Field Museum, are without peer for the
western Caribbean.

Belize, with an area of some 8,866 square
miles, has a population of about 122,000. To the
east lies the Caribbean, to the north the Yucatan
peninsula of Mexico, to the west and south,
Guatemala. Geographically diverse despite its
small size, Belize has elevations ranging from

*A lot is all specimens of a single species collected at the same
station. Fifty or more species are often taken at a single
station on the coral reefs of Belize.

sea level to about 3,680 feet inland and a mean
annual rainfall ranging from 50 inches in the
north to 220 inches further south. The flatter
inland areas are covered with broad expanses of
savannah. Hardwood forests are widespread,
although much of the hardwood has been cut
for timber or removed (by burning) to create
farmland; in many places the tangled secondary
undergrowth has formed dense jungle. The
Maya Mountains running along the southwest-
ern edge of Belize are blessed with many beauti-
ful clear swift streams, waterfalls, caves, and
tropical pine forest.

The entire coastal area is bordered by
mangrove swamps, many of which connect
to inland lagoons, providing a gradient from
brackish to fresh water. Eight to twenty-five
miles offshore lies the second longest barrier
reef in the world, extending southward from
the Yucatan peninsula some 168 miles into the
Gulf of Honduras.

Offshore, between the mainland and the
barrier reef, the waters tend to be clearer and
saltier than along the coast; however, during the
rainy season this zone receives vast volumes of
freshwater runoff from the large tropical rivers,
and its waters are more turbid and less saline
than those of locations further offshore. Innu-
merable mangrove-covered cays are to be found
here, often with shores of coral rubble covered
with extensive algal mats and surrounded by
vast beds of turtle grass.

There are three atolls in Belize (of 10 atolls
or atoll-like formations in the entire Atlantic):
Turneffe Islands, Lighthouse Reef, and Glovers
Reef. Turneffe, which is closest to the barrier
reef, has the most extensive land area, including
a vast lagoon occupied almost throughout by
mangrove swamp. Lighthouse Reef and Glov-
ers Reef are farther offshore, more oceanic in
character {e.g., more saline, less turbid waters,
etc.) and have the most extensive coral de-
velopment. Their lagoons contain numerous
coral-patch reefs, and precipitous dropoffs
occur on the outside of the encircling reef struc-
ture. Neither has large islands, though there are
a number of small cays at each, many thickly
beset with coconut palms.

To the southeast of Glovers Reef, some
90 miles across the Gulf of Honduras, lies the
island of Roatan, one of the Bay Islands. Unlike
anything found in Belize, Roatan is a high is-
land, with rocky shores meeting the sea as cliffs,
rocky reefs, beaches of cobble, and with inter-
spersed sandy beaches. Offshore lies a well
developed coral reef system with precipitous
dropoffs.

Thus, within a relatively small geographic
area are found a great variety of habitat types.

This summer, the authors will con-
tinue their studies in Belize and
Honduras. For the first time. Field
Museum is joining with Northern
Illinois University in offering
Museum members a unique oppor-
tunity to join in the study and explo-
ration of the reef systems of the Gulf
of Honduras. For further informa-
tion on this exciting program see
"Field Museum Tours," page 25.

The variety of habitats in Belize and
This variety contributes substantially to the
richness of the Belizean shorefish fauna, which
we estimate as nearly 500 species. Despite this
richness, the fishes of the western Caribbean
were very poorly sampled until the beginning of
our efforts. New knowledge of the blennioid
fishes, based on our sampling efforts, is illus-
trative of the gains we have made. In the past 11
years we have taken 60 species of "blennies"
(four distinct families) in Belize and Honduras;
40 of these were previously unknown from
Honduras, 27 unknown from Belize, 20 un-
known from the Caribbean coast of Central
America, and 4 were new species. A sixty-first
species, also unknown to science, is being given
formal scientific description by a colleague.

Honduras also offers the opportunity for the
biologist to ask ecological questions relating to
habitat restriction, distribution of diversity, and
the coherence and organization of species as-
semblages. Over the years we have attempted
to sample repeatedly from the full range of
habitat types present and in stratified fashion
over the depth range (to about 100 feet) practical
with conventional scuba.

Because of the course offered each summer

swarms of coral reef fishes* surrounding and
inhabiting patch reefs, among the more con-
spicuous because of their behavior are the ter-
ritorial species of damselfishes. Only several
inches long, these fishes are so pugnacious they
will take on virtually any invader of their terri-
tory, even nipping at a snorkeler's hand. Some
damselfish species establish and maintain algal
gardens from which they derive their food.
The typical day mode on a coral reef is a

Hogfish in nighttime shelter at base of patch reef in lagoon at Glovers Reef.

at Glovers Reef, our greatest concentration of
effort at a single location (noting that Glovers
Reef is a "location" 20 miles long by 6 miles
broad) has been at this atoll. Rising some 6,000
feet from the off-reef sea floor. Glovers Reef is
truly one of the finest reef structures in the trop-
ical Atlantic. In 1971 the Smithsonian Institution
sent a team of marine biologists throughout the
Caribbean in an effort to identify the "best"
coral reef site for possible study during the
International Decade of Ocean Exploration;
Glovers Reef was the team's choice.

The hundreds of patch reefs within the la-
goon at Glovers Reef provide excellent oppor-
tunities for one to view numerous fish species in
shallow water using only snorkeling gear. In the

picture of color and movement — grazing parrot-
fishes and surgeonfishes, nibbling and brows-
ing angelfishes and wrasses, actively territorial
or midwater damselfishes, butterfly fishes, mill-
ing schools of grunts and snappers, and many
others. The nocturnal picture is quite different,
for at night the day-active species are mostly
nestled into crevices. Conversely, the fishes ac-
tive at night are for the most part not readily
visible during the day, for they spend the day-
light hours hiding in coral caves and crevices.
Night-active species include the squirrel and

*"Fish," used in the plural sense, refers to more than one
individual of the same species; "fishes" refers to more than
one species.

soldierfishes, the cardinal fishes and sweepers.
This changing of the guard is just one of the
ways that make it possible for so many fish
species to coexist on a coral reef.

For both the snorkeler and the scuba diver,
the deeper reefs beyond the atoll rim offer ex-
ceptional beauty and excitement. The reef
slopes gently from the rim to the edge of the
dropoff with a system of ridges (spurs) and
channels (grooves) providing topographic relief.
At the edge of the dropoff the bottom seems to
curl over as it plunges downward to a depth of
several thousand feet in a jagged and terraced
wall. To swim off the edge is to experience the
dream of flight. Great concentrations of fishes
and other sea life seem to occur at and just off
the edge. Looking over it and into the "blue"
one may see schools of larger, predatory fishes
such as jacks, clouds of plankton-feeding
species such as the Creole wrasses, lumbering
porgies, chubs that seem always in a hurry, and
perhaps, with real luck, a sea turtle as it passes
gracefully by.

Until the advent of scuba and diving scien-
tists, the cryptic species inhabiting the deep-
reef and dropoff zones — species which spend

Emblemaria hyltoni
Johnson and Greenfield
1976, the filament
blenny, a species col-
lecteaby the authors in
1975 and still known
only from Isla Roatan,
Honduras. Drawing by
Zbigniew Jastrzebstci.

their lives hidden in concavities, crevices, caves,
and tubes — were all but unknowable. It is for
this reason that our greatest gains in knowledge
have included new light on "indwelling" spe-
cies of this zone, including the discovery of
species new to science.

In addition to our studies at Glovers Reef
we have been fortunate in being able to mount
collecting trips along the length of the Barrier
Reef, either cruising along the reef, stopping
at a different area each day, or concentrating
our studies on a particular site for periods of
a week or more. Other collecting trips have
taken us to numerous mainland sites, many
of the cays inside the barrier reef, and to
Turneffe and Lighthouse Reef.

The motorlsailer Christmas Birdarriving at Long Cay.

Grunts seek shelter in the reef by day and wander jar jroin the reef at night in search of food.

Our goals are both faunistic and ecological.
Eventually we hope to produce a book on the
fishes of the Gulf of Honduras, a work that will,
we believe, adequately characterize the western
Caribbean shorefish fauna. We are also inter-
ested in distribution of species and assemblages
of species on local and regional scales.

One result of our work thus far is the
recognition of marked habitat preference and
restriction in many of the small-bodied and
cryptic species; the restriction applies not just
to individual species but to groups of species.
Using a variety of grouping and statistical tech-
niques, we have been able to recognize and de-
fine groups of fishes that commonly co-occur.
This accomplished, we were able to correlate
the occurrence of these fish species groups with
the occurrence of specific habitat types, depths
of occurrence, and other phenomena. For the
"blennies," we now know what kinds of habitat
they occupy. Our data base seems sufficiently
large, our techniques sufficiently robust, so that
we can predict which species and group(s) of
species will be present in particular habitat
types. Except for extremely rare species, we
have been able to corroborate prediction with
subsequent observation and collecting. We are
now applying these techniques to several other

large groups of species.

The shorefishes of the tropical western At-
lantic are perhaps better known than those of
any tropical marine area comparable in size.
This knowledge notwithstanding, our studies
have shown that even at the most basic descrip-
tive levels in taxonomy and zoogeography we
have much to learn in the case of many groups.
This is particularly true of cryptic, "indwelling"
small-bodied fishes (those living in caves, cre-
vices, tubes, etc.) such as many of the blennies
and gobies. Species in just these two groups
may account for up to one-third of the esti-
mated 500 shorefish species in the Gulf of
Honduras and, for most, we know next to
nothing of their habitat requirements and life
history. Yet it is bottom-associated, habitat-
restrictive groups such as these that may have
the most to tell us about zoogeographic pattern
and history — for tropical Atlantic shorefishes.

Vital to this will be studies looking at dis-
tributions in terms of habitat specificity and
broad-scale habitat patchiness over a suitably
broad and diverse area. Because of the diversity
of habitats represented within relatively re-
stricted inshore to offshore distances, we be-
lieve that the Gulf of Honduras is an ideal area
in which to make such an attempt. D

Field Museum Tours for Members

Coral Reef Biology and Natural History
Explorations in the Western Caribbean

June 22-July 11

Included in the tour is a six-day stay at Glovers Reef, 28
miles offshore from Belize. Reef formations at Glovers are
among the Caribbean's most richly developed. Lectures and
field-trips, including snorkeling, will familiarize participants
with the mammals, invertebrates, fishes, sea birds, and algae
of this isolated, untouched coral-reef. Daily scuba diving is
available. The 50-foot motor sloop Christmas Bird wall take
us to and from the reef, where we will stay at Lomont's Glov-
ers Reef Village resort.

Our stay at Glovers will be followed by a four-day in-
depth exploration of the central Belize mainland, including
rain forests, the famed Blue Hole on the Hummingbird High-
way, a stay at the Blancanaeux Lodge atop Mountain Pine
Ridge, a visit to Rio Frio Cave and the Thousand Foot Falls, and
exploration of Mayan ruins at Xunantunich. Aiding us for the
four days will be Belize resident DoraWeyer, internationally
known naturalist and expert on bird identification.

Leading the tour will be Dr. Robert Karl Johnson, curator
of fishes and chairman of Field Museum's Department of Zool-
ogy; Dr. David W. Greenfield, research associate in the

;^|^:r i^

Museum's Division of Fishes and professor of biological sci-
ences at Northern Illinois University (NIU), and Dr. Norman A.
Engstrom, associate professor of biological sciences at North-
ern Illinois University. Three semester hours of undergraduate
or graduate credit in biological sciences are available from NIU
to tour participants. The tour will be limited to 10 partici-
pants. The price is $2,385, from New Orleans (per person,
double occupancy) .

If you wish additional details for any tour or
would like to be placed on a special mailing list,
please call Dorothy Roder, Tours manager, at
3Z2-8862, or write Field Museum Tours,
Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL
60605.

Ecuador and the Galapagos

March 11-25

The Galapagos Islands affect our imagination like no other
place on earth. Field Museum is pleased to offer its members
an opportunity to visit this remote archipelago under the ex-
pert guidance of Dr. John W. Fitzpa trick, associate curator and
head. Division of Birds. If you are a "birder" or a "photog-
rapher" this tour is a Utopia.

The price is $3,550 (per person, double occupancy). We
hope you will join us in one of the greatest adventures in travel.

Coming up...

Harbor of Belize City

David W. Greenfield

Australia Tour

August 23-September 12

Kenya Tour

September 11-October 1 25

for additional tours, please turn page

Field Museum Tours for Members

Grand Canyon Adventure

May 22-30

The Ancient Capitals of China

June 6-28

June 6: Departure from Chicago to San Francisco in time for
evening briefing.

June 7: Departure via Japan Airlines for flight to Tokyo.
June 8: Afternoon arrival in Tokyo; overnight at Nikko Narita
Hotel.

June 9: Flight to Peking, where we will spend 4 days, visiting
Imperial Palace, Temple of Heaven, Tien-an Square, and the

antique shop district; Ming emperor tombs, the Great Wall,
the Summer Palace, and the National Museum.
June 13: Overnight train ride to Zhengzhou, capital of Henan
Province, where we'll spend 3 days; in addition to sight-seeing,
we can rise early to participate in tai chi exercise groups in the
People's Park.

June 16: A short train ride takes us east to Kaifeng, where we'll
spend 2 days. The city is rarely visited by tourists; it's just at the
beginning of modernization, and we'll get a wonderful feeling
of Old China.

June 18: Two days in Luoyang, one of the oldest centers of
Chinese culture.

June 27: To Tokyo again, for a one-night stay before flying back
to the States.

At a small additional cost, you may stay longer injapan or
in Hawaii, at completion of the China tour.

Alaska Native Culture Tour

June 19-July 1

This 13-day tour begins with a flight from Seattle to Sitka,
Alaska, where we will spend two days and nights viewing old
Russian settlement buildings, Sheldon Jackson Museum, and
National Park Service exhibits. Our third, fourth, and fifth
nights will be aboard two yachts, which will take us to Admi-
ralty Island. We will see Tenakee Hot Springs, the native vil-
lages of Angoon and Hoonah, and make a tour of Glacier Bay.

All hotel accommodations will be first class; the two
yachts will accommodate 16 and 10 persons, respectively. Tour
rates to be announced.

Stanton R Cook, courtesy C/i/cago Tribune

If you wish additional details for any tour or
would like to be placed on a special mailing list,
please call Dorothy Roder, Tours manager, at
322-8862, or write Field Museum Tours,
Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL
60605.

Field Briefs

Continued from p. 3

the donor's name and the donor's giving,
as well.

Two brochures, "How To Remember
Field Museum in My Will" and "How I
Can Receive a Lifetime Income From My
Gift to Field Museum," are available free
upon request. Please write the Planned
Giving Office, or telephone, (312) 922-9410
ext. 858.

Prairie Workshop

The Fifth Northern Illinois Prairie Work-
shop will be held on March 13 at the Uni-
versity of Illinois Chicago Circle Campus.
Session titles will include Basic Concepts
in Prairie Ecology, Prairie as a Constructed
Landscape, Propogation of Prairie Flora,
Presettlement Natural History, Prairie
Management: Fire Ecology and Tech-
niques, Prairie Preservation, Prairie
Wildlife, Identification of Prairie Grasses
and Sedges, Prairie Wetlands, Methods of
Prairie Restoration, Linear Prairies, Esthe-
tics, Prairie Protection, Cemetery Prairie
Preservation, Prairie Interpretation, and
Prairie Management: Alternatives to
Burning. There will also be technical ses-
sions. Further information may be ob-
tained from Albert Rouffa, Department of
Biological Sciences, University of Illinois
Chicago Circle Campus, Box 4348,
Chicago, II 60680.

Solomon Gurewilz
(1899-1981)

Solomon Gurewitz, a volunteer in the
Department of Anthropology for some
twenty years, died in September at the
age of 82. Following his retirement in
1961 from a successful business career,
Gurewitz came to Field Museum as a
nearly full-time curatorial assistant —
without pay.

Within a month Gurewitz had taken
over responsibility for reorganizing one
of the former Chinese storerooms. He
cataloged, studied, found things for
visiting scholars, packed, cleaned,
selected things for loans, rearranged
other storerooms, and helped set up ex-
hibitions. He became expert in a number
of branches of Far Eastern art and cul-
ture. He often gave lectures and advice
to other students of those subjects.

About fifteen years ago, Gurewitz
managed to convince the Museum that a
very high priority should be given to
making a photographic record of its col-
lections. (Like most museums founded
before film and cameras became cheap,
we had never photographed or made
drawings of more than a small percent-
age of our holdings.) He organized a de-
partmental photographic studio with the

help of the Museum photographer, re-
learned the needed skills (he had once
run a small photo finishing business),
and set out single-handedly on a task
that had daunted several generations of
Museum employees. He and several
other volunteers have by now produced
many tens of thousands of excellent pic-
tures which have been duly filed and
mounted on the backs of the catalog
cards for those particular objects'.

Gurewitz was the first of his kind.

proof that a volunteer with the right at-
titude and skills could do the work of a
museum professional. Field Musuem has
established in his name a special fund for
the purchase of Oriental and other an-
thropological objects. Contributions may
be sent to the Vice President for De-
velopment. Checks should be made out
to Field Museum with a note specifying
that the gift is to be added to the Sol-
omon Gurewitz Memorial Fund.

Tibet Lecture by Edwin Bembaum

James Simpson Theatre

(West Entrance)

Sunday, February 21, 2:00 p.m.

To many, Tibet is a land of enchantment, a
land of holy men, towering peaks and
mystical legends. In this fascinating
illustrated lecture, "Hidden Valleys of
Tibetan Myth and Legend," author Edwin
Bembaum recounts the legend of
Shambhala — the source of James Hilton's
concept of "Shangri-La" in his novel Lost
Horizon. Bembaum explores Tibetan
myths and legends relating to the
mythical kingdom of Shambhala through
slides and tape recordings he made in
Nepal, India, and Sikkim.

Bernbaum has done extensive
research in comparative religion and
mythology. The Shambhala prophecies
originate in a set of more than 300 volumes
of ancient sacred texts called the Kangyur
and Tengyur, which are for Tibetans what
the Bible is for many Westerners. He has
returned to Nepal four times to gather
information and photograph ancient texts
and artworks. On one of his early trips.

Bernbaum met the Incarnate Lama of
Tengboche monastery, who knew of
Shambhala — a place where, legend
states, the best of Western and Eastern
culture — science, literature, music,
art — is preserved for the future.

On a later visit, Bernbaum learned of
a secret valley in the Himalayas not far
from Mount Everest. It was said to have
everything a person would need to live as
well as spiritual treasures which would
lead to enlightenment. He led a climbing
expedition over snowy mountains, steep
passes, and glaciers to find it. It was the
Khembalung Valley. Carpeted with
rhododendrons, it had a beautiful river
which flowed through meadows and pine
forests.

Author of "The Way to Shambhala,"
Bernbaum is a graduate of Harvard
University where he was president of the
Mountaineering Club. He is currently
pursuing his doctorate in Asian Studies at
the University of California at Berkeley.

Admission to the lecture is $3.00 for
Members and $5.00 for nonmembers.
Additional information is available by
calling 322-8854.

Tengboche Monastery, where Edwin Bernbaum first learned of Shambhala.
Photo by Edivin Bernbaum.

.'27

\ ELIZABETH BEST DEIS

721 SIMPSON
1^ EVANSTON ILL 60201

February & March at Field Museum

February 16 through March 15

New Exhibits

"Maritime Peoples of the Arctic and Northwest Coast."
Opening April 24 in Hall 10. Plan now for the opening of this
spectacular new permanent exhibit, the biggest project of its
kind ever undertaken by Field Museum. The 15,000-square-
foot exhibit wll compare and contrast the life and culture of
the Northwest Coast Indians and the Eskimos. Many of the
2,500 articles to be displayed came from the original Colum-
bian Exposition of 1893, but the design concepts used by
Field Museum's Exhibition Department incorporate all the
newest techniques. The Learning Museum course beginning
in February and the Lecture Series in March have been
planned to deepen the visitor's appreciation of the exhibit.

Continuing Exhibits

"In the Shadow of the Pyramid." Stand inside the walls of
history in this new permanent exhibit area of the "Hall of
Ancient Egyptians." You may now enter tomb chapel rooms
built more than 4,000 years ago and a replica of the chapel of
Nakht on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. You
may also view exhibits detailing life in prehistoric and early
historic eras of Egypt and photomurals explaining how the
tomb chapels came to Field Museum. Hall J, Ground Floor.

New Programs

"Hidden Valleys of Tibetan Myth and Legend." Edwin
Bembaum tells of his search for the legendary Tibetan king-
dom of Shambhala in a lecture illustrated with authentic
slides and tapes on Sunday, Feb. 21, at 2 p.m. in James
Simpson Theatre. This kingdom is the mystical basis of
Tibetan religion and the inspiration for James Hilton's novel,
Losf Horizon. Bembaum, author of The Way to Shambhala,
takes us to a hidden valley high in the Himalayas that he
discovered through studying ancient texts and personal con-
tact with a Tibetan Lama. This perilous journey symbolizes
the search for the mythical kingdom of Shambhala as well as
a psychological search for the inner self. Members: $3.00.
Nonmembers: $5.00. For more information, call 322-8854.

NORTinvEST Coast Lecture Series. "A Culture Develops."
Four Friday evening lectures by authorities on native cultures
of the Northwest. Beginning at 8 p.m., these individually
complete lectures are designed to deepen the viewer's ap-
preciation of the new permanent exhibit, "Maritime Peoples
of the Arctic and Northwest Coast." Entrance for the 8 p.m.
lectures will be through the West Entrance. Members:
$3.00. Nonmembers: $4.00.

March 5: "First Peoples of the North Pacific," K.R. Flad-
mark, Simon Fraser University.

March 12: "Pre-historic Peoples: Conquest of the Region,"
Don E. Dumond, University of Oregon.

Edward E. Ayer Film Lecture Series. These popular travel
films narrated by the filmmakers are shown every Saturday
at 1:30 p.m. in James Simpson Theatre during March and
April. The first film of the spring series will be Tom Sterling's
"Newfoundland," on March 6. The second feature will be
"Switzerland" by Ric Dougherty, on March 13. For other films
in this series see p. 19. The 90-minute films are free. Admis-
sion is through the West Door. Members receive priority
seating.

Weekend Discovery Programs. Tours, craft projects, slide
presentations, and films which use Field Museum exhibits as
a springboard for new insights into natural history topics.
Check Weekend Sheet available Saturday and Sunday at
Museum entrances for programs and their locations. Feb-
ruary's programs highlight the cultures of the Himalayan
area in conjunction with the lecture "Hidden Valleys of Ti-
betan Myth and Legend." March's "Film Features" are about
mammals from around the world.

Feb. 20 1:00 p.m. Himalaya: Life on the Roof of the

World. A "Film Feature."
1:30 p.m. Tibetan Life and Religion. Slide lec-
ture and tour.
Feb. 27 1:00 p.m. Tibet and The Royal Dancers and

Musicians of the Kingdom of Bhutan . Two
"Film Features" shown consecutively.
2:00 p.m. Costumes for the Sorcerer's Dance.
Tour.
March 6 1:30 p.m. Mzima: Portrait of a Spring. "Film

Feature" about animal life around a spring in
Kenya.
March 13 1:30 p.m. IVo/ves a«d IVoZ^n. A "Film Fea-
ture."

Continuing Programs

Volunteer Opportunities. Persons with scientific interests
and backgrounds are needed to work in various Museum
departments. Contact the Volunteer Coordinator, 922-9410,
ext. 360.

February and March Hours. The Museum is open 9 a.m.-
4 p.m., Monday -Thursday (until 5 p.m., beginning March 1);
9 a.m. -9 p.m., Friday; and 9 a.m. -5 p.m. Saturday and
Sunday.

The Museum Library is open weekdays 9 a.m. -4 p.m. Obtain
a pass at the reception desk, main floor. Closed February 15
and March 15.

Museum Telephone: (312) 922-9410

Field Museum of Natural History Bulletin

March 1982

Field Museum
of Natural History
Bulletin

Published by

Field Museum of Natural History

Founded 1893

President: Willard L. Boyd
Director: Lorin I. Nevling, Jr.

Editor/ Designer: David M. Walsten
Production Liaison: Kathryn Laughlin
Calendar: Mary Cassai
Staff Photographer: Ron Testa

Board of Trustees

James J, O'Connor

chairman
Mrs. T. Stanton Armour
George R. Baker
Robert O. Bass
Gorden Bent
Bowen Blair
WiUard L. Boyd
Mrs. Robert Wells Carton
Stanton R. Cook
O.C. Davis

William R. Dickinson, Jr.
Thomas E. Donnelley II
Marshall Field
Richard M. Jones
Hugo J. Melvoin
Charles F. Murphy, Jr.
Lorin I. Nevling, Jr
James H, Ransom
John S. Runnells
William L. Searle
Edward ByrOn Smith
Robert H. Strotz
John W. Sullivan
William G. Swartchild, Jr.
Mrs. Theodore D. Tieken
E. Leland Webber
Julian B. Wilkins
Blaine J. Yarrington

Life Trustees

Harry O. Bercher
William McCormick Blair
Joseph N. Field
Paul W. Goodrich
Clifford C. Gregg
Samuel Insull, Jr.
WiHiam V. Kahler
William H. MitcheD
John M. Simpson
J. Howard Wood

CONTENTS

March 1982

Volume 53, Number 3

Field Museum as Architecture

By William Burger

Chairman, Department of Botany

Tours for Members

Northwest Coast Indian Housing

By Daniel J. Joyce, staff member of the Maritime

Peoples of the Northwest Coast Project 8

Altiska Native Culture Tour for Members IS

Arts of Tide and Tundra:

An Arctic and Northwest Cotist Perspective

By Robert S. Grumet, Northwest Coast specialist.

Department of Education; and Anthony Pfeiffer,

Project Coordinator 16

Edward E. Ayer Film Lecture Series for

March and April 20

Nihoa Island

An Archaeological Mysteiy in the Hawaiian Chain

By Thomas J. Riley 21

Volunteers Honored

Honor Roll of Donors

Our Environment

March and April at Field Museum

Calendar of Coming Events

COVER

The Muse of Geology, in all her 8 1/2 foot splendor, is framed
by arches at the south end of the second floor's west balcony.
The regal figure is one of four, at each corner of Stanley Field
Hall, and is the work of Henry Hering (1874-1949), a New York
sculptor who studied under the famed Augustus Saint-
Gaudens. Neg. 79869. For more on the architectural delights of
Field Museum see "Field Museum as Architecture," by William
Burger, p. 3.

Field Museum of Nalunl History Bulletin (USPS 898-940) is published monthly, except combined
July/ August issue, by Field Museum of Natural History, Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore Drive,
Chicago, n. 60605. Subscriptions: $6.00 annually, $3.00 for schools. Museum membership
includes Bulletin subscription. Opinions expressed by authors are their own and do not
necessarily reflect the policy of Field Museum. Unsolicited manuscripts are welcome. Museum
phone: (312) 922-9410. Postmaster: f^ease send from 3579 to Field Museimi of Natural History,
Roosevelt Road at Uke Shore Drive, Chicago, II. 60605, ISSN:C015-0703. Second class postage
paid at Ctiicago, U.

FIELD MUSEUM AS ARCHITECTURE

By William Burger
Chairman, Department of Botany

/have always felt a special fascination for
large or unusual buildings. The fact that I
grew up in New York City accounts for
some of this interest; but it was an introductory
college course in the history of architecture, fol-
lowed by a year and a half in Europe that really
got me hooked on the form and structure of
buUdings. So you can understand my delight in
working within the superb edifice that houses
the Field Museum of Natural History.

Ours is one of the world's largest museum
buildings, structurally completed in 1920 and
covering an area of some 700 by 440 feet; it is
also unusual in that it has not grown by the
accretion of new wings or additions — ours is a
single, unified structure. The colonnaded ex-
terior and well proportioned symmetry help to
unify the building's huge dimensions. The ele-
vated base, framed within a terrace, adds to the
building's stature in its parklike setting. While

Southward view along
east balcony, second
floor 3

Stanley Field Hall

through fish eye lens.

Photo by William

Burger

the exterior is impressive, the most dramatic as-
pect, for me, is within. Passing through the
large Ionic columns and bronze doors into Stan-
ley Field Hall is an awesome experience. The
great size of the central hall, its carefully propor-
tioned arcades and columns, the rich decoration
in low relief, and the multifaceted skylight
create a magnificent interior space.

There is something else 1 have found un-
usual about our building: a great many books on
the architecture of Chicago and the Midwest
make no mention of the building or its central
hall. Even a recently published encyclopedia-
like volume on architecture in the Midwest and
the South includes McCormick Place, the
Museum of Science and Industry, the Water
Filtration Plant, and other Chicago buildings,
but it fails to include Field Museum. Why is it
that Field Museum and Stanley Field Hall have
been so ignored?

The answer may be that our building has
the "wrong religion." It is a neoclassical struc-
ture in a city where new and indigenous archi-
tectural directions were forged. Chicago's new
buildings were part of an effort to break away
from the neoclassical style and to blaze new
trails. For most of this century, architects and
those writing about architecture have been so
deeply immersed in the esthetics of Chicago's
bold new architecture that our neoclassical
buildings have been all but ignored.

Our building is eminently functional.
Grand symmetrical stairways serve traffic flow
between the two major exhibit floors; eight
smaller stairwells (four in the corners and four
near the center) interconnect all four main
floors. The general exhibit halls conform to the
rectangular shape of the building in an easily
understood and symmetrical pattern, with the
largest halls at the east and west ends. The halls

range from 14 to 22 feet high, and the smaller
halls, of which there are 26, average 8,000
square feet in area. Skylights and lightwells
were part of the building's original design, but
since even indirect sunlight is damaging to
many materials, this light source is no longer
used for exhibits. This has permitted "filling"
the lightwells with as many as four floors for
additional specimen-storage and research
space. The great strength of the piers, in what is
essentially a masonry building, permitted the
additional load and in the past decade about
100,000 square feet of floor space were added to
the building's original 775,000. Thus, both our
public areas and the research/specimen-storage
areas can be measured in acres. So it is emi-
nently clear that our building is unusually large
as well as very functional; but do we have one
that merits more serious consideration as a
major architectural structure?

The exhibit halls on the first and second
floors are separated from the central hall by
broad walkways, delimited by Ionic columns on
the first floor and with arcades on the second.
These walkways prevent the exhibits from in-
truding into the central hall and, I believe, it is
this central space in particular that makes our
building something to brag about. The large
volume of the hall (70 feet wide, 75 feet high,
and 300 feet long), the white interior, and ample
skylights produce an almost luminous quality.

Much of the ornamentation in the hall is
quite subtle, providing a variety of textures
without intruding into the space. With the
elephants, totem poles, and dinosaur skeletons
set off to the side, the hall retains its open
spaciousness. (In older photographs of Stanley
Field Hall with the elephants placed centrally
and with a clutter of small exhibits the hall ap-
pears more confining.) The fountains add a
steady pleasant sound, masking minor noises
and helping visitors in adjacent exhibit halls to
orient themselves. These aesthetic features and
the grand scale are not the whole story; this is
functional architecture. Stanley Field Hall is the
geographic center of the main exhibit floors; it is
both the starting point and terminus for most
museum visits.

Occasionally, I like to look down from the
second floor balcony and watch the reactions of
apparent first-time visitors. Many of them stop
dead in their tracks shortly after entering our
central hall. Then their heads begin to turn
around like radar antennas, taking it all in. The
impact of a great room, like any work of art, can
be a deeply moving experience. One has a simi-
lar reaction in the Pantheon of Rome, the
Gothic cathedrals of France, and richly deco-
rated rococo churches of southern Germany.

When you enter a building with an exceptional
interior space, you know it. The size, luminos-
ity, and strong symmetry of Stanley Field Hall
together create the kind of impact that can be
experienced in few other buildings.

Some of the world's most famous architec-
tural landmarks have very little enclosed space
— the great mausoleums in particular, such as
the Taj Mahal and the Pyramids of Egypt. But
many famous buildings are noted primarily for
their internal spaces. If the creation of interior
space is one of the measures of a great building
— then we do indeed have a great building.
Now that there is greater interest in architec-
tural styles that have been long out of favor,
perhaps we can expect greater appreciation of
our building. The latest edition oi Chicago's Fa-
mous Buildings (edited by Ira J. Bach, 1980) not
only includes Field Museum for the first time
but also refers to Stanley Field Hall as "one of
the most impressive monumental interior
spaces in Chicago." I see no reason to be so
provincial. Why not call it what it is: one of the
finest large interior spaces in the world? D

Stately Ionic columns
at south end of Stanley
Field Hall

Field Museum Tours for Members

Young China welcomes you

The Ancient Capitals of China

June 6-28

The Unique Itinerary, rarely granted by
the Chinese authorities, includes the
most significant sites of early Imperial
China and will give an opportunity to
explore in depth the civilization which
characterized one of the oldest and
longest-lived societies on earth. We will
have the opportunity to observe the
emergence of this remarkable culture
and its development to a level which sur-
passed its contemporaries in the Western
World.

June 6: Departure from Chicago to San
Francisco in time for evening briefing.
June 7: Departure via Japan Airlines for
flight to Tokyo.

June 8: Afternoon arrival in Tokyo; over-
night at Nikko Narita Hotel.
June 9: Flight to Peking, where we will
spend 4 days, visiting Imperial Palace,
Temple of Heaven, Tien-an Square, and
the antique shop district; Ming emperor
tombs, the Great Wall, the Summer
Palace, and the National Museum.
June 13: Overnight train ride to
Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province,
where we'll spend 3 days; in addition to
sight-seeing, we can rise early to partici-
pate in tai chi exercise groups in the
6 People's Park.

Stafilon Cook, courtesy of Ch/cago Ttibune

June 16: A short train ride takes us east

to Kaifeng, where we'll spend 2 days. The

city is rarely visited by tourists; it's just

at the beginning of modernization, and

we'll get a wonderful feeling of Old

China.

June 18: Two days in Luoyang, one of the

oldest centers of Chinese culture.

June 20: A westward train ride takes us

to Xian, our home for 4 days. This is

where the fabulous clay horses and war-

riors of the "Great Bronze Age of China"
exhibit were discovered.
June 24: We'll travel by air to Shanghai
where we will spend four days, including
a one-day side trip to Souchou, silk-
manufacturing center
June 27: To Tokyo again, for a one-night
stay before flying back to the States.

At a small additional cost, you may
stay longer in Japan or in Hawaii, at
completion of the China tour.

Our tour leader is Mr. Phillip H. Wood-
ruff, Ph.D. candidate in Chinese history
at the University of Chicago. This is Mr.
Woodruff's third time as a Field Museum
China tour leader and his fourth visit to
that country in two years. Cost of the tour
is $3,850 (per person, double occupancy).

Coming Up...

Australia Tour

August 23-September 12
(details to be announced)

Coral Reef Biology and

Natural History Explorations

in the Western Caribbean

June22-Julyll

The Richness of Marine Life and the
beauty of the offshore reefs and islands of
Belize and Honduras are unsurpassed in
the Atlantic tropics. Field Museum's
20-day tour of this region offers a unique
opportunity to explore and study tropical
marine and terrestrial ecosystems and, if
desired, to earn university credit for
doing so. Leading the tour will be three
professional marine biologists, each with
considerable field work in the Gulf of
Honduras and well acquainted with the
local flora and fauna.

Included in the tour is a six-day stay
at Glovers Reef, 28 miles offshore from
Belize. Reef formations at Glovers are
among the Caribbean's most richly de-
veloped. Lectures and field-trips, includ-
ing snorkeling, will familiarize partici-
pants with the mammals, invertebrates.

Coming Up...
Kenya Tour

September 11-October 1

(details to be announced)

Left: Kenya lion captured by camera lens

of Audrey Faden, Kenya tour leaderl

lecturer

fishes, sea birds, and algae of this iso-
lated, untouched coral-reef. Daily scuba
diving is available. The 50-foot motor
sloop Christmas Bird will take us to and
from the reef, where we will stay at Lom-
ont's Glovers Reef Village resort

Our stay at Glovers will be followed
by a four-day indepth exploration of the
central Belize mainland, including rain
forests, the famed Blue Hole on the
Hummingbird Highway, a stay at the
Blancanaeux Lodge atop Mountain
Pine Ridge, a visit to Rio Frio Cave
and the Thousand Foot Falls, and explo-
ration of Mayan ruins at Xunantunich.
Aiding us for the four days will be Belize
resident Dora Weyer, internationally
known naturalist and expert on bird
identification.

We will then stay five days at Roatan,
one of the Bay Islands, where steep cliffs,
rocky shores, and sandy beaches and as-
sociated wildlife provide a sharp contrast
to the Glovers atoll environment. At An-
thony's Key Resort, our Roatan home,
first class accommodations, scuba fa-
cilities, fantastic sport fishing, tennis,
etc., and superlative surroundings will
add to our enjoyment. The tour will end
with a day at San Pedro Sula, on the
mainland, with sight-seeing and shop-
ping or a tour to Mayan ruins at Copan.

Leading the tour will be Dr. Robert
Karl Johnson, curator of fishes and
chairman of Field Museum's Department
of Zoology; Dr. David W. Greenfield, re-
search associate in the Museum's Divi-
sion of Fishes and professor of biological
sciences at Northern Illinois University
(NIU), and Dr. Norman A. Engstrom, as-
sociate professor of biological sciences at
Northern Illinois University. Three
semester hours of undergraduate or
graduate credit in biological sciences are
available from NIU to tour participants.
The tour will be limited to 10 partici-
pants. The price is $2,385, from New Or-
leans (per person, double occupancy).

Belize highlands

Grand Canyon Adventure

May 21-30

Many of us have beheld the Grand Can-
yon from the rim or while flying over-
head, and some of us have hiked partway
down to the Colorado River. But there is
another Grand Canyon that relatively
few have experienced: Field Museum is
offering you the opportunity to see and
experience the canyon from the river.

The 280-mile trip will be by two
motorized rubber rafts. We'll sleep on
sandy beaches under the stars and our
meals will be excellent. Along the way,
we'll hike to places of unusual geologic
and anthropologic interest, sometimes
through the most pleasant and enchant-
ing stream beds and valleys, at times
along waterfalls. We'll see and study
more geology in this one brief period than
can be seen anywhere else in comparable

time. Dr. Bertram Woodland, curator of
petrology, will be our tour leader.

The trip will begin on Friday, May 21,
with a flight to Las Vegas, where we will
remain overnight. The evening of our ar-
rival, we'll have a briefing about the river
trip and will receive our river equipment.
Saturday morning we'll leave by deluxe
bus for Lees Ferry, where we'll board the
rafts. The trip will end 9 days later, at
Pierce Ferry, near the head of Lake Mead.
We'll return to Chicago, via Las Vegas,
Sunday, May 30.

You needn't be a "rough rider" to join
this expedition — you needn't even know
how to swim. Persons of any age can enjoy
the river with equanimity, and come out
proud and happy to have experienced this
extraordinary adventure.

The cost of $1,500 per person covers all
expenses (including air fare, boat fees,
waterproof bags for gear, sleeping bags,
etc.), and all meals. The trip is limited to
25 participants.

If you wish additional de-
tails for any tour or would
like to be placed on a special
mailing list, please call
Dorothy Roder, Tours
manager, at 322-8862, or
write Field Museum Tours,
Roosevelt Road at Lake
Shore Drive, Chicago, IL
60605.

Shooting rapids of Grand Canyon's Colorado

<* ^.i.

^^■:m.

-- V

Kwakiutl village of

Xumtaspi-Nalm'itti,

Hope Island, B.C., 1884.

77if village location —

hehceen a beach and a

thick forest — reus typical.

Signs above the doors

read: 'CHEAP. The home

of the head chief of al

tribes in this country.

White man can get

information," and

■'BOStOX.Heishcad

chief of Saiceety

[SahiHtti]. He is true and

lionest. He don t give no

trouble to no white man."

Lone U.S. (?) saitor

stands in front of center

8 structure.

~r--

.#"=

-^^Sff^*^

COURTESY THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL USTO

HOUSES

Of The Maritime Peoples
Of The Northwest Coast

by Daniel J. Joyce

Staff Member of the Maritime Peoples
of the Arctic and Northwest Coast Project

New permanent exhibit "Maritime Peoples of the Arctic and Northwest Coast" opens to public in Hall 10 on April 24

When plans were made a few years ago for
a new permanent exhibit at Field
Museum on the Maritime Peoples of the
Arctic and Northwest Coast, it was clear that the
magnitude and comprehensiveness of the proj-
ected exhibit required the inclusion of a North-
west Coast house. (Such houses had been on view

nearly 90 years earlier at the World's Columbian
Exposition, but were now no longer available.)

Tonv Hunt, a well known Kwakiutl artist and
a resident of British Columbia, was commissioned
to build in Hall 10 the rear portions, in cutaway
fashion, of two Kwakiutl houses. They were to be
replicas of the type built by the Kwakiutls in the

Early view ofKwakiutI
house frame through
camera lens of Edward
S. Curtis. Side beams
are exceptionally large.

latter 1800s, and represent the same house as ar-
ranged during the secular and sacred seasons.
Calvin Hunt, Tony's cousin, and colleague John
Livingston, assisted Tony.

The two impressive structures (15 feet high,
22 feet wide, 11 V2 feet deep) are set against the east
wall of the hall. That on the left, representing the
interior during the secular season, is furnished
with conventional household articles of the
nineteenth-century Kwakiutl and is fronted with
glass somewhat in the fashion of a diorama. The
house to the right, designed as a walk-in exhibit,
shows an interior arranged and partially fur-
nished for ceremonial activities during the sacred
season. Here volunteers will talk with groups
about the culture of the Northwest Coast Indian.

Each house' features two house posts^ carved
with ravens, the principal crest of Tony Hunt's
family, and mythological sea grizzly bears holding
human figures. The ceremonial house has a
three-section wooden dance screen^ decorated
with a stylized sea monster and ravens.

The typical Northwest Coast dwelling, made
of cedar planks, housed a large extended family
and its possessions. In villages situated on
beaches, the houses were commonly arranged in
a single row, facing the water: canoes were

1. Cat. 264017, 264018

2. Cat. 264017A, B; 264018A, B

3. Cat. 264019A, B, C

Location of

major Northwest

Coast tribes

HAIDA

Alaska /

Niska
Gitksan
TSIMSHIAN
Coast Tsimshian
Haisia

British Columbia

BELLA COOLA /

/
/

CANADA

So Kwakiull

>COASTSALISH

chemakum

^ klatskanie-kwalhiokwa"

TILLAMOOK .. i .

/ CHINOOK U.S.A.

Washington

COURTESY THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

beached literally at the doorstep. The houses of
larger villages (populations ranged from 50 to
1,000) were often in two or three rows, the front
row for families of highest social ranking and the
back row for the lowest ranking. Sweat houses,
smoke houses, grave houses, and huts for women
during menses were also in the back row.

On the northern portion of the Northwest
Coast, houses averaged about 30 by 45 feet in
size; those further south were generally larger,
often measuring more than 60 by 90 feet.
Throughout the area, elaborately carved totem,
mortuary, and memorial poles were commonly
installed in front of the larger houses, with
carved house posts inside as well. Horizontal
beams within the house were adzed in decora-
tive linear designs.

The exterior front of the house was some-
times painted with the figure of that animal
(commonly a raven, bear, beaver, or whale) as-
sociated with its most prestigious member; in

Left and below, Northwest Coast Indian houses at 1893
exposition in Jackson Park, Chicago. Left: Dugout cedar
canoes beached on shore of what is today Jackson Park La-
goon. Below: House at left shoivs northern style ofHaida.
House at right, from village of Nahwitti, B.C., shows
Kwakiutl southern style, with both vertical and horizontal
planking. Totem pole third from left (noiv on view in Stanley
Field Hall) has opening that served as doorway when set
against house. Remaining totem poles ivill be seen in Hall 10,
opening in April.

COURTESY THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

■•^^

some cases the animal's mouth was an actual
opening that served as the house entrance. The
mouth of the lowest figure on a totem pole,
sometimes set flush to the house, was carved
through to the other side for the same purpose.
Since permanent paints were unknown to the
Indians before the arrival of the Europeans, it has
been suggested that painted house facades were
removable, and set up only for ceremonies; this
changed after more durable paints became
available.

Two basic types of house were constructed
throughout the coastal area, one type by the
TUngit, Haida, Tsimshian, and Haisla-speaking
Kwakiutl on the northern section of the coast,
and a second type in the southern portion by the
remaining Kwakiutl, Bella Coola, and Nootka.
The northern type was rectangular and gable-
roofed, with vertical planks for walls. These
northern houses often had mortised joints, form-
ing a highly stable, durable structure.

The vertical wall planks were set into slotted
horizontal planks at both the top and bottom.
The horizontal members were fastened to house
posts. A roof opening let light in and served as a
smoke hole. The floor was dug out, leaving a
wide bench to run along the inside walls. Cedar
plank rooms on top of the bench were like minia-
ture houses. The room of a less affluent family
was made of cedar bark matting on a pole frame
rather than of solid wood. The most prestigious
member's room was at the rear center of the
house, near the two house posts. Next to his, at
the rear and around the sides toward the door,
were those of members whose status was pro-
gressively lower; the quarters of slaves (captives
from other tribes) were at the front near the
entrance.

For ceremonial occasions, the interior was
greatly altered. Family partitions were taken
down, and a central hearth was made available
to all, instead of one hearth for each family. An

COURTESY THE AMERICAN MUSEUM
OF NATURAL HISTORY

Kwakiutl village on
Salmon River, B.C.,
1881. The incomplete
house second from
the left shows main
beam structure with
latticework partially
installed. Two houses
to right show both the
older horizontal and
the newer vertical
wall planking.

elaborately painted, wooden dance screen was
placed between the posts at the rear of the house.
The area behind the screen, where only the ini-
tiated could enter, was held as sacred. The danc-
ers entered and left through a round hole in the
screen. The entire setting was conducive to and
appropriate for elaborate ceremonies.

Houses on the northern and southern sec-
tions of the coast were similar to one another in
appearance, but differed in structure. In the
south, three or four heavy upright posts sup-
ported low-pitched gable roofs. Large posts
supported a heavy single or double ridgepole,
around which a latticework of smaller poles was
constructed. Wall and roof planks of cedar were
attached to these poles to form the outer sheath-
ing, but in such a manner that they could be
taken down when the time came for the family's
seasonal move.

The wall planks were lashed to upright pairs
of poles near the house corners. In the south,
northern-style vertical planking construction
eventually came to replace the horizontal style.
The vertical poles were then no longer necessary,
and often the top of the vertical planking was
nailed in place to a horizontal pole running along
the top.

With the waterways as their main avenues
of transport, many villages were located on inlets
or on rivers. Here they had protection from
ocean winds and better access to fresh water and
resources of the forest. Some coastal tribes had
summer villages on the coast and winter villages
farther up the rivers and inlets. When traveling
to exploit seasonal goods, they moved their
houses or built temporary shelters of mats.

When it was time for the seasonal move, the
house sheathing was often attached to two
canoes that were tied side by side, for transport
to the new homesite; the main post structure
remained in place to be used again in the future.

Still further south, the coastal Salish and
other groups in northwest Washington built
houses similar both in construction and appear-
ance to those of their neighbors immediately to
the north, but with a shed-style, or single-pitch,
roof. The outer sheathing was separate from the
heavy posts, and the entrance was on the long
side rather than at the narrow end of the house.
Benches were again built around the inside, but
the floor was not excavated; facades remained
unpainted. Light was admitted and smoke let
out through a hole that could be adjusted by
pushing roof boards back or forth with a pole.

Ceremonial house (cutaway) designed and built by KwakiutI
nrtisi Tony Hunt, with dance screen. Designed as a -walk-in
exhibit, the structure is nearly full-sized replica of 4-post,
vertical-planked dwelling of late 1890s. Next to it has been
built a similar cutaivay, fronted with glass, showing artifacts
of daily life.

Either end of the house could be extended by
simple, incremental additions. The remarkable
house of Chief Seattle (17867-1866), of the
Suquamish, was extended to a total length of 900
feet.

As Europeans settled on the Northwest

Coast, their influence was reflected in the style of
native houses. Windows, hinged doors, and
European-style furniture came into vogue. In
time, the traditional dwelling of the Northwest
Coast peoples gave way to the conventional
frame house of the White settler. D

i — 1

(p) (p)

A A A A

n n n n

CD} s 1

1 1

T-

South Coastal House: framework details.

Left, above: Top view of house, showing
4-post (P), main beam structure, with lat-
ticework (below) partly rendered. Left
below: Side view. Below: End view. In this
vart of the coast a latticework of small poles was
Duilt around the main beam framework to lend
added support to the walls and roof The lat-
ticework and the outer sheathinv of cedar
planks were removable. Drawings try the au-
thor.

A A

B *

1 1

' i- . 1

= III

^ill n II II II

HbII

c|rH L^^J— H : H H—

_i^ H-^

f
I

E E

.J i

J I

North coastal house
frame, showing
mortiseivork. North
coastal frameioork was
more technically
advanced and detailed
than that of south
coastal tribes. Drazcing
by the author.

Alaskan

NATIVE CULTURE TOUR FOR MEMBERS

June 18 -July 2

June 18: Fly from Chicago to Anchorage,
transfer to Sheraton Anchorage Hotel.
City tour, including Fine Arts Museum,
then dinner at historic Club 25. Over-
night Sheraton Anchorage Hotel.
June 19: Flight to Kotzebue, with day
tour and overnight first class hotel.
June 20: Depart for Nome; day tour of
Nome. Depart for Anchorage; overnight
Sheraton Anchorage Hotel.
June 21: Depart early morning by motor-
coach to Denali National Park (formerly
McKinley). Afternoon and evening free
for National Park Service slide shows
and demonstrations, overnight first class
hotel in park.

June 22: Early morning wildlife tour in
park; early afternoon motorcoach to
Fairbanks. Overnight Captain Bartlett
Hotel.

June 23: Special tour and lecture for Field
Museum by University of Alaska, on
ivory and totem carving, agriculture,
permafrost construction, oil develop-
ment, economic situation, etc. Overnight
Captain Bartlett Hotel.
June 24: Fly Fairbanks to Whitehorse.
Yukon River raft trip and outdoor BBQ
dinner. Overnight at Travelodge.
June 25: Day-long trip on narrow-guage

railway to Skagway. Free time to sight-
see, then to Klondike Hotel for overnight.
June 26: 5-hour boat curise to Juneau; to
Baranof Hotel for overnight, with stop at
Mendenhall Glacier enroute. Late after-
noon walking and van tour, including
historic district, gold mine, government
buildings; outdoor salmon bake dinner.
Overnight Baranof Hotel.
June 27: Morning tour of Alaska State
Museum. Afternoon program on Alaska
Native Land Claims Settlement Act and
current native economic conditions.
Board cruise shipM.V. Statendam in late
afternoon. Meals on board begin with
dinner Cruise ship departs 11:00 p.m.
(Statendam is 25,000-ton luxury liner.)
June 28: Day of cruising on Glacier Bay;
lecture room provided to the group.
June 29: Port of call: Sitka. Special tour of
Sheldon Jackson Museum, National
Park Service exhibits, totem collection,
Russian Orthodox church, Baranof Cas-
tle site.

June 30: Cruising off British Columbia
coast.

July 1: Arrive in Vancouver by Staten-
dam in morning. Special tour of Van-
couver, highlighting Northwest Coast
Indian art; overnight Bayshore Inn.
July 2: Fly from Vancouver to Chicago.
This tour is limited to 30 persons (dou-

ble occupancy), and includes for the tour
price of $3,700 (single supplement: $400)
a lecturer and escort; all lodging, sight-
seeing, and transportation; best hotels
available in each city; class D, E, and F
outside cabins on the cruise ship; meals
in the itinerary plus all breakfasts and
all meals on the Statendam; all ground
tours and transfers in exclusive vehicles
and specially done for the Field Museum
group with 30 participants. With 15-29
participants, tours will be done exclu-
sively, but transfers may be combined
with other travelers.

Our tour leader will be Dr. Margaret
B. Blackman, associate professor of
anthropology at SUNY-College at
Brockport, New York, an authority on
native cultures of the Northwest Coast
and Alaska.

LEARNING MUSEUM CONTINUES WITH

An Alaskan Eskimo
wooden mask from
Point Clarence,
Alaska. This carving
exemplifies the free-
dom of farm that
characterizes Eskimo
art. The Alaskan Es-
kimo frequently em-
ploy masks in
dances and other
ceremonies. Regarded
as repositories of spirit
power, masks were
often destroyed after
being used. Cat. 12938.

ARTS OF Tide and Tundra

An Arctic and Northu^est Coast Perspective

By Robert Steven Grumet

Northwest Coast Specialist

and

Anthony Pfeiffer

Project Coordinator
Made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, a federal agency

The land and the people of the far northern
shores of North America have moved as
one to the beat of wind and wave for
countless generations. Long summer days, even
longer winter nights, the ebb and flow of tide and
pack ice, snow and rain, the annual migrations of
caribou, salmon, seal and whale, have all set the
tempo of Eskimo* and Northwest Coast Indian
life. The people of these regions have always

swayed in harmony with the varied rhvthms of
their lands. Nowhere is the essence of this rela-
tionship between people and their environment

* The word "Eskimo" comes from the Algonkian "eaters
of raw flesh." The Canadian Arctic people prefer to call
themselves Innuit, which means "people" in their lan-
guage. Most Alaskan Arctic people continue to call them-
selves Eskimos .

more apparent than in the artistic traditions of
the people of the Arctic and North Pacific Coast.

Wide expanses of sheet ice, open water,
and barrenlands; dark arctic nights, and the pale
luminosity of the polar sun find expression in the
free flow of light and form in Eskimo art. Brightly
colored, highly abstract, and simply drawn images
stand out starkly against solid color backgrounds.
White is a highly favored background color, rem-
iniscent of snow. Scenes of everyday life, super-
natural visions, images of animals and physical
features are drawn with a sharpness that mirrors
the Eskimo experience of their land.

While we require a plane or horizon line,
linear perspective, and a vantage point from
which to measure distance, the Eskimo view the
world as a dynamic, highly changeable place.
Bright days suddenly plunge into darkness; clear
weather transforms into blizzards in an instant.
People sleeping beside an open water bay awaken
to an ice sheet. Sometimes blinded by fog and
snow, Eskimo people use other senses to navigate.
Wind blowing from over salt water smells differ-
ent from that blowing from over fresh water. The
direction of the wind at a particular season or
under particular conditions also reveals its source.
Touches of wind and the smells of ice or land
forms are Eskimo navigational aids.

The Eskimo spend much of their time on the
heaving surfaces of pack ice and open water and,
thus, do not orient themselves upon flat, stable
surfaces. Their art mirrors this perspective. Carv-
ings, for example, are not restrained by pedestals,
and drawings do not have fixed vantage points.
The objects seem to float in space. Most Eskimo
sculpture is not free standing and falls over when
placed upon a level surface. Thus, the meaning
and the aesthetic aspects of an object are defined
by its own physical form instead of by its relation-
ship to other objects.

The lush forests, snow-capped peaks, mild
climate, and teeming rivers of the Northwest
Coast contrast sharply with the Eskimo environ-
ment. The North Pacific coast is a complex and
abundant land. Mountains and forests fill the sky;
aquatic life fills the waters; and fog, rain, and
clouds fill the air. In former days, densely popu-
lated Indian villages and camps filled the shel-
tered beaches and river banks. A world rich in
resources and people is reflected in a lavish and
active art. Decorations cover all significant ob-
jects. Blankets, harpoons, houses, hooks, bowls,
and baskets are carved, painted, or embroi-
dered all over their surfaces. All space is
formally organized.

The art is full of power and tension, reflect-
ing the enormous energy of the environment and
its people. Wide-eyed, open-mouthed, and out-
stretched figures seem poised to leap from totem

The famous "Hole in the Sky" totem pole from the Gitksan
village ofKitwankool, in British Columbia. Presently free-
standing, this totem pole once adorned the front of a large
house. Visitors entered the house by climbing a ladder up to
the hole, whieh served as the house entrance. Remote Kit-
wankool is one of the few villages where totem poles and
other aspects of traditional Northwest Coast life survive in
their original locations.

Richly carved and dec-
orated frontlets are
worn by powerfid
Northwest Coast
chiefs. This J^imshian
example collectedjrom
the Skeena River is
richly inlaid with
abalone shell, sur-
rounded by 40 rows of
ermine skins, and
adorned on the top by
sea lion whiskers and
red and bUtckfeathers.
The carving of the
beaver is identified by
the conventional buck
teeth, hand-held
sticks, and cross-
hatched tail motifs.

poles and from paintings on the front of houses.
Figures intertwine with and transform into one
another. The salmon eye, a very popular motif, is
actually a representation of a salmon head with
its own smaller eye. This motif is often inserted
into the pupil of the eye of another larger figure,
which in turn may be a component of yet another
figure. This constant transformation of figures
within figures generates a dynamic sense charac-
teristic of Northwest Coast art.

The fruits of an abundant environment sup-
port a dense population requiring complex politi-
cal and social organization. Political and social
power are reflected in the art of Northwest Coast
peoples. All life is ranked from the greatest to the
least. Every aspect of the creation is assigned its
place and knows or keeps it. Great chiefs of noble
lineages lead the people. They serve as the patrons
of an art that validates their power. Much of
Northwest Coast art illustrates the heraldic crests
of important families. Most of the masks and cos-
tumes produced by Northwest Coast artists are
made for dances and ceremonials sponsored and
owned by powerful clans and leaders.

Spiritual power also plays an important part

in Northwest Coast art. An abundant land fosters,
many mysteries. Deep shadows are everywhere —
in the depths of clear waters, in the thick forests,
in dense banks of fog and rain, between boulders
and in cliffsides, and on the towering mountain
sides. The noises made by animals, rushing water,
and the wind sometimes evoke the howls and
screams of mythological creatures such as the
hairy female cannibal tsonoqua or the wdldman
bookwus. Spirituality suffuses all asjjects of life
and land. Stone, stem, and flesh are animated by
spirit power. Rules governing the depiction of
spirit beings are strict. For example. Crooked Beak
of Heaven, an important Kwakiutl spirit being,
can be represented only by a limited number of
forms and colors organized in a specific way.

Westerners have not always regarded the
work of Eskimo and Northwest Coast artists as
art. First collected as curios by the earliest Euro-
pean visitors to their shores, the arts of the Arctic
and North Pacific Coast soon achieved the status
of ethnographic artifacts and as such were avidly
collected by museums and private collectors. The
intensity of these efforts increased during the first
half of the twentieth century. Eskimo and North-
west Coast culture was thought to be in serious
and irreversible decline. Museum expeditions
combed Eskimo and Indian villages for artifacts to
rescue from the missionaries' torch, from the rot
and decay of age and abandonment, and from
other museums. Interestingly enough, the art of
the Eskimo and Northwest Coast Indian took its
place among the world's great art traditions dur-
ing the 1940s, just at the time it was felt that the
art and culture of this region had all but died out.

Reports of the demise of Eskimo and North-
west Coast art were premature. Eskimo and In-
dian artists and ceremonialists quietly carried
on their traditions despite missionary and gov-
ernmental suppression. Suppression changed to
support following World War II as a. large and
growing market for Eskimo and Indian art sprang
into existence. New art forms appeared. Eskimo
soapstone carvings and wooden sculpture from
the Northwest Coast were widely collected. The
limited edition silkscreen prints of Indian and
Eskimo artists have been in great demand.
The Canadian Eskimo have established several
cooperatives to produce and market their art.
Today we are witnessing an unprecedented
renaissance of traditional Eskimo and North-
west Coast culture. This renaissance is more than
the mere mimicry. It is rather an encouraging
example of the dvnamism and resilience of hu-
manity, another instance of people taking from
the past to create a lifestyle at once new and
within an ancient tradition.

Arts of Tide and Tundra: An Arctic and
Northwest Coast Perspective invites vou to sur-

Blankets were an im-
portant item of
wealth. This type,
known as a Chilkat
blanket, after the
Tlingit-speaking Chil-
kat Indians, is made of
mountain goat wool
dyed black, white, yel-
low, blue, and red.
Earlier blankets were
made of tanned skins.

vey both modern and historic masterworks.
Explore the intimate relationship between art and
its environment. Learn how objects, form, design,
and style mirror the dynamic interactions of rulers
and the ruled, of hunters and the hunted, and of
the material and spiritual realms. All lectures fea-

NEH Learning Museum at Field Museum

The NEH Learning Museum program is a three-
year sequence of learning opportunities focused on
the Museum's outstanding exhibits and collections
and designed to give participants an opportunity to
explore a subject in depth. Each unit of study con-
sists of one or more special events, a lecture course,
and a seminar for advanced work. Special events
are lectures by renowned authorities or interpretive
performances and demonstrations. Course mem-
bers receive an annotated bibliography, a specially
developed guide to pertinent Museum exhibits, and
study notes for related special events. In-depth,
small group seminars allow more direct contact
with faculty and with Museum collections.

ture the art and artifacts of the Museum's new
permanent exhibition — Maritime Peoples of the
Arctic and Northwest Coast. From imposing In-
dian totem poles to delicately carved Eskimo ivory,
North America's greatest artistic heritage is
explored. The course of study begins April 13, and
details are available in the Spring, 1982, Courses
for Adults brochure.

You are also invited to attend Tales from the
Smokehouse, a related special event. Presented
by the Theatre Sans Fils (the no-strings puppet
theatre), giant puppets act out two Canadian
Indian legends. A love story and a tale of tribal
power are combined with drama and spectacular
puppetry to make Ojibwa and Tsimshian lore
come alive for non-Indian audiences. Through the
stories, you are introduced to social mores, daily
routines, and sacred rites quite unfamiliar if not
totally unknown to most people. It is a remarkable
performance interweaving traditional symbolism
and contemporary theatre. Tales From the Smoke-
house is presented on Saturday and Sunday, June
26 and 27, at 2:00 p.m. Details of the perform-
ances are featured in the June Calendar of Events,
sent to members. D

Ayer Film Lectures

March and April

James Simpson Theatre
Saturdays, 1:30 pm

The Spring Edward E. Ayer Film Lectures are offered each
Saturday in March and April. Please take special notice of the
new, earlier starting time — 1:30 pm. These 90-minute travel
films are narrated by the filmmakers themselves, and are rec-
ommended for adults. Admission is free at the Museum's
barrier-free West Entrance, located on the ground floor. Handi-

Marche

"Footloose in Newfoundland,"
bv Tom Sterling

A visit to Newfoundland brings you the
wonders of nature — the great fiords,
bird colonies of gannets and kittywakes,
whales, moose, and tundra plant life.
Sterling also introduces you to the people
of Newfoundland — their families, "out-
ports," and daily life.

March 13

"Switzerland," by Ric Dougherty
Visit Chateau- D'Oex, a tiny hamlet
of Swiss chalets, ride up Mount Rigi,
and trek to the Malterhorn. Watch the
Reynaud family making Gruyere
cheese, and stay to welcome the cele-
brants from Vivev of The Feast of the
Wine Growers, Europe's greatest folk
festival.

March 20

"In the Footsteps of Richard Hallibur-
ton," bv William Stockdale
From London to Spain, to India and
Khvber Pass, we follow in the footsteps
of adventurer Halliburton (1900-1939).
He climbed the Matterhorn, swam the
Hellespont, and sailed a junk out of
Hong Kong, never to be heard from
again. Join Stockdale as he retraces
Halliburton's travels.

March 27

"China After Mao," by Jens Bjerre
This fascinating film invites you to sail
down the beautiful Likian River, explore
giant caverns, lour Peking, and take a
train ride through China to Kwangchow
(Canton). Bjerre also explores the many
changes in China since the death of Mao
— changes which have deeply affected
each individual with new freedom.

Aprils

"The Galapagos," by John Wilson
A devoted naturalist and cinema-
tographer, Wilson explore&the
Archipelago of Columbus — better
known as the Galapagos. Because these
islands are isolated, they are home to
some of the world's most remarkably
adapted wildlife. Scenes include the
courting of the albatross, a climb to the
top of Volcan Fernandina, and a trip to
Alcedo Crater — home of the Galapagos
Tortoise.

April 10

"Paris and the Seine,"
by Kathy Dusek

The film begins in the hills of Burgundy,
then on to the medieval city of Troyes.
See Paris at sunrise, the flower market,
and the Louvre. Visit Rouen and hear
the storv ofjoan of Arc. Finally we
arrive at Normandv and Le Havre —
totallv rebuilt since World War II.

April 17

"South and East Africa,"
bv Ted Bumiller

An exciting film safari to the great con-
tinent of Africa. Game preserves abound
with v\'ildlife — elephants, leopards, and
crocodiles. Watch fishermen catch the
200-pound Nile perch; climb Kiliman-
jaro, visit Nairobi, and meet Africa's
many peoples.

April 24

"Himalayan Odyssey,"
bv Frank Klicar

The Himala\'as are the meeting place
for Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam.
Pilgriins seek spiritual enlightenment
at Bhaktipur in Nepal, Rishikesh on
the Ganges, and at the Tibetan monas-
teryof Leh. Village activities center on
grain planting and harvesting, process-
ing tea, making rugs, raising livestock,
and paper-inaking.

NIHOA ISLAND

An Archaeological Mystery
In the Hawaiian Chain

By Thomas J. Riley

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR

Fluffy cirrocumulus clouds were being
herded west by gentle trade winds to be-
come part of another magnificent Hon-
olulu sunset as the 40-foDt sloop Ho 'o Holo
cleared the Alawai channel. Outside the last
channel buoy, our skipper headed her into the
wind as we set the main and genoa sails and
joined the clouds in their migration into the
reddening west. This was the first leg of a small
scientific expedition to the island of Nihoa in
the northwest part of the Hawaiian chain. If you
have never heard of Nihoa, you are not alone.
This little island and its neighbor, Necker, some
150 miles north of it, were unknown even to
Hawaiians at the time that Captain Cook landed
there in 1778. Few of the present-day inhabi-

tants of the state of Hawaii have ever seen either
of them.

Two of us aboard the Ho'o Holo were scien-
tists. Carl Christensen, a malacologist from the
Bernice P. Bishop museum in Honolulu, was
interested in collecting land snails from Nihoa,

Thomas ]. Riley is associate professor of anthropology at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He wishes "to
thank John Carroll, a man for all seasons, who made the trip
to Nihoa possible; Sheila Conant, a dedicated scientist who
welcomed a group of intruders to her research area in most
gracious fashion; Carl Christensen, malacologist; and the
crew of Ho'o Holo, Dan, Bill and John, without whom we
wouldn't have gotten there and back. A special thanks to
Barking Sands Missile Range radiomen and to the U.S.
Navy. "

In the first day's trek
we found only one ar-
tifact, a donut-shaped
ooject of pumice —
probably a net float. 21

A rectangular stone

platform in East Palm

Valley, possibly as-

soaated with the

marae (temple) just

helow it.

and I was interested in the numerous archaeo-
logical remains that had been noted there ear-
lier in the century. The expedition was purely
one of reconnaissance for me. No archaeo-
logical excavations would be undertaken in
the scant two days that we planned to spend
on the island and all the surface artifacts that I
found would have to remain in place, with only
maps to tell where they had been found. The
major goals of my visit were to describe the
condition of the archaeological sites there and to
collect some curious material known as volcanic
glass that ancient Polynesians living in the
Hawaiian Islands had used for making small
tools.

The archaeological sites in Nihoa island had
been studied once before, by Kenneth Emory of

I62«

24'

21'

the Bishop Museum, who had spent a short
time in 1924 completing a survey and excava-
tions at various sites on the island. A couple of
short visits in the 1970s, one by ethnobotanist
Douglas Yen, and another brief visit by a
National Park Service archaeologist, provide
us with the only other information that the
archaeological profession has of the sites that
are located on Nihoa. My own reconnaissance
was geared towards finding out how much de-
struction had occurred on the various sites on
the island so that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service could use the information in preparing
nominations for the National Register of His-
toric Places.

A second reason for my visit was to collect
fragments of volcanic glass that might be on the
surface of some of the sites on the island. Vol-
canic glass is similar to obsidian in that it is pro-
duced by vulcanism, but it differs in the amount
of silicon dioxide contained. Like obsidian,
though, the flakes produced from this glass
provide sharp cutting edges and the ancient
Polynesians of Hawaii used them extensively
for fine cutting tools. Both obsidian and volcanic
glass can be dated by hydration: the depth that
water has penetrated and altered the surface
from the time that the glass was chipped as a
tool. This weathering is fairly regular and can be
measured under a microscope. It was my hope
that on Nihoa would be some remains of this
material that had either been found there or
brought from the main Hawaiian group by the
inhabitants of the island. In this way it might be

I56»

Necker

Nihoa

Oahu

MOLOKAI

Lanai 'Ci ^P^
Kahoolawe

Maui

100 miles

Hawaii

24*

21*

162*

156°

NiHOA Island

Miller's
Plateau

Tanaser Peak (8S2')

Tunnel
Cave

Pinnacle-
Peak (626')i

Dog's Head
Peak oss')

1,000 Feet

I— I t-i i-i I—

100 Feet elevation
interval

possible to date the length of time that Nihoa
was visited by Polynesians and perhaps tie this
tiny island into the chronology that archae-
ologists are now developing for the main
Hawaiian Islands.

The expedition was organized with the
help of John Carroll, then a Hawaii state senator
and member of several committees concerned
with Hawaii's fisheries and natural resources.
There were plans to open fishing areas in the
northern islands and Senator Carroll was in-
terested in discovering the potential impacts of
such a political decision.

The sloop (owned by Carroll) made its way
slowly down the south coast of Oahu and across
the treacherous Kauai channel, so rough that it
protected Kauai from conquest by the chiefs
of the other Hawaiian Islands during ancient
times. Even the great chief Kamehameha I, who
conquered all the other islands during the late
eighteenth century, was prevented from making
war on Kamualii, chief of Kauai, by the mon-
strous seas here. Our passage was calm and
peaceful, however, and we put into Nawiliwili
harbor on Kauai to pick up Senator Carroll and
our navigator.

At about midnight we departed Kauai,
skirting its eastern shore and sailing north and
west around Hanalei and Ha'ena. Sailing west,
we eventually lost site of Kauai, the last main
island of the windward group, and with a fol-
lowing wind made the tiny islet of Nihoa just
before dawn the next day.

At the best of times Nihoa presents an eerie
prospect to the visitor. It is a small craggy vol-
canic remnant of some 156 acres (equal to about
36 average city blocks) surrounded by the deep
Pacific. Its inhabitants are chiefly the many
species of seabirds that abound in the northern
Pacific. The quiet of the island, with no signs of
human life on it, is interrupted only by their
varied calls and the crashing of the waves
against its cliffs. There are no protected beaches
here and the small size of the island prevents
the development of either a calm lee side or a
fringing coral reef. The little coral that manages
to survive around the island is deep below the
surface of the water where it is safe from the
massive ocean swells.

We arrived at night, shortly before dawn,
and heard the seas breaking along Nihoa's cliffs
before we saw the island itself. The only other
sounds were the screams of shearwaters night-
fishing in Ho 'o Holo's wake and the occasional
slapping of canvas as the swell caused a slight
luff in the jib. In the dark we could make out no
geographic features and we circled the island for
the next hour until a gradual reddening in the
east silhouetted the peaks at either end of it.

The two peaks. Miller's on the west and
Tanager to the east, bracket six small valleys,
hardly more than large gullies really, that make
up the bulk of the island. Between the valleys
are short ridges of land that are covered with
low green growth of native chenopods (the
spinach and beet family) and other plants. In

The author standing by
prehistoric stone tem-
ple terrace with stand-
ing slivers of basalt.
Trees in background are
Pritchardia remota, a
species found only on
this island.

^^''^^m

two of the valleys, West Palm and East Palm, are
stands of a rare tree, Pritchardia remota. This
genus of palm is noted elsewhere in the
Hawaiian chain, but the species is endemic to
Nihoa. It is endangered and even from the sloop
we could count every individual tree of that
species in the world.

After first light we found an anchorage of
sorts on what appeared to be the lee of the is-
land between Miller's Peak and a small crag
called Dog's Head. None of us were pleased
with the direction of the swell or the possibility
that if the sloop dragged anchor she would be
pounded against the 800-foot-high cliff that lay
less than 70 yards off her stern. The day seemed
calm enough, however, and we launched our
inflatable raft, fOled it with equipment and crew
and a crate of oranges, and took it along with
the boat's dinghy around to our landing place
on Adam's Bay on the south side of the island.
The oranges were a special treat for a young
ornithologist. Sheila Conant from the Univer-
sity of Hawaii, who was taking a bird census of
the island during its major breeding season.

Sheila had been on Nihoa for a month be-
fore we arrived, and was instructed by the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service to make certain that
we abided by our research permit. The condi-
tions of the permit included several important
caveats. First, no smoking or vegetable materi-
als that could possibly grow on the island could
be landed there. To guarantee this, each crew
member had to provide new clothes and
equipment for the expedition. What if a new
plant were introduced to the island? The results
could possibly be devastating to the fragile
ecological balance that exists on this little rock.
A fire started from a careless match could be just
as disastrous, and possibly destroy the habitat
of two of the endangered species there, the
Nihoa Finch and the Millerbird, both of them
endemic to this little plot of land, and found
nowhere in the world outside the leeward
Hawaiian Islands.

Another condition of our work was that we
stay well clear of the Hawaiian monk seal if any

happened to be around. It was unlikely that this
particular endangered species would be there.
We did, however run into three of these large
animals sunning themselves on the small sand
beach just below Middle Valley. These animals,
too, are an endangered species, and exist only
in the Hawaiian Islands. Their numbers are so
few that biologists fear that they won't last out
the century.

Our plans were to spend only two days on
the island, returning to our boat each night so
that we might not interfere either with Sheila's
research or with the animal and plant popula-
tions that Nihoa rightfully belongs to.

I am an anthropologist first and an archae-
ologist second, and I thought that I had a fair
idea of what intrusion on native populations
might imply. In situations where I am dealing
with a human community that hosts my work,
I attempt to be as circumspect as possible, keep-
ing within the strictures of local custom and
mores. I try to determine which parts of the
scientific enterprise are possible within the con-
fines of the society with which I am working,
and sometimes have to abandon particular areas
of research if they conflict with local political
problems or with other exigencies of a situation.
I have always managed tolerably in human situ-
ations, but on Nihoa I felt as if I were treading
on eggshells — which in fact I was during my
short stay.

Sheila pointed out to us all that the breed-
ing season of Bulwer's petrel was well under-
way at the time of our visit. This small bird nests
in burrows or on the ground. At each step
through the low scrub we had to take care not to
crush the nests of these animals and condemn
birds to a death by suffocation or starvation.
Every now and then we would destroy one of
their burrows and would have to stop to dig the
poor bird out and restore the burrow. Several
species of shearwater are ground breeders. In
these cases, we had to be certain not to stay for
any more than a few minutes in the vicinity of
the abandoned eggs after the frightened birds
had fled our presence. Any more than a few
minutes in the sun and the eggs would have
overheated and the chicks died.

If the numbers of birds had been less on
Nihoa, the problems that they presented for
our progress across the island would have
been negligible. We were' however, faced with
the prospect of several hundred thousand of the
creatures on a small rock of less than a quarter
mile in area. However careful we were, all of us
had the feeling that we were making an impact
on the bird populations purely by our presence
there.

Staying close to the trails that Sheila used.

we set out with her assistance to explore the
archaeological sites on the east side of the is-
land. It was our intention to relocate each of the
sites that had been reported in earlier work
there and then to assess as completely as possi-
ble the conditions of the sites as compared to
the time when they were originally reported by
Emory in the 1920s. Crossing from Middle Val-
ley to East Palm Valley we noted long irregular
lines of stone walls, clearly field boundaries,
that roughly contoured the talus slopes. It was
these field boundaries that served to convince
Emory that some of the early Polynesian people
who settled Nihoa were permanently living
there rather than visiting yearly from the island
of Kauai, 150 miles to the southwest. An occa-

single file of the type used in finishing fish
hooks. This last was made of coral.

The structures in East Palm Valley included
a number that, from the presence of basalt dike
slivers that had been placed upright in them,
could only be interpreted as temples. Emory
recognized that they were quite different from
most temples on the main islands of Hawaii,
and so designated themmarae, the Tahitian
word for temple, rather than the Hawaiian
name heiau.

In addition to the standing structures in
East Palm Valley, a small cave high in the side
of the valley, fronted by a terrace, was either a
shrine or dwelling place. A standing stone still
guards the entrance to this cave and within it

^_. il^iMK* -*>.^Bf» **■',. •«•

Rockshelter with con-
structed platform and
walls, at east end of
Nihoa. Sites such as
these served as dwell-
ing places for pre-
historic Polynesians
during their settlement
of the island.

sional rectangular stone-faced terrace jutting
from the slopes marked the foundation of a
domestic structure that had been constructed
centuries ago. These foundations are all that
remain of the works of man on Nihoa at the
present time.

In East Palm Valley, however, the num-
ber and complexity of stone remains is greater
than on the high areas between valleys. Nestled
in the center of the valley are a series of high
stone-faced terrace structures, exceedingly well
built and well preserved. Some were excavated
by Emory and his colleagues in the 1920s and
yielded stone bowls, adzes of hard basalt,
needles of bone, fragments of gourds used as
containers, a decayed wooden shuttle used in
the manufacture of fish and bird nets, and a

are several grinding stones. The place remains
today just as its residents left it hundreds of
years ago.

In East valley near the coast are a series of
rockshelters with wide terraces in front of them.
Some of these shelters have well made stone
walls partitioning them. The insides of many
shelters have been disturbed, not by man, but
by the burrowing activities of some of the birds
in nesting. They appear to be favorite places for
petrels as well as the red-tailed tropic bird. The
activities of these animals have done some
damage to the integrity of the archaeological
deposits within the rockshelters, and it is possi-
ble that stratigraphy in these sites has been
upset by bird burrows.

Emory recorded 66 archaeological sites on

the island in his survey in the 1920s. These ap-
peared to him to represent the entire range of
Polynesian sites, from domestic structures to
agricultural terracing to sacred shrines, and
suggested permanent settlement. In a series of
deductions he concluded that the 12 acres of ag-
ricultural terracing on the island could have
produced 48 tons of sweet potatoes, a crop
which Emory felt would have been best suited
to the area. He suggested that the 25 to 35 foun-
dations for domestic structures and the 15 rock-
shelters on the island could have supported a
population of about 170 to 220 persons, with 5
per house and 3 in each rockshelter. However,
the agricultural yield in sweet potatoes would
have been far too little (between about 400 and
600 lbs. per person per year) to support such a
population. Even if all the house foundations
and bluff shelters were not occupied at the
same time, the yields would have been a scant
diet supplement.

A population of 50 could have had only
1,900 lbs. of sweet potatoes per person during
the year, or a little over 5 lbs. per day. While this
is an adequate dietary supplement for Polyne-
sian populations, it could hardly have been the
staple. For this, we would have to look to the
bird population, and potentially a heavy re-
liance on marine resources as well. There is no
doubt that the hundreds of thousands of birds
on Nihoa would have been one of the prime
resources of the population there, and Polyne-
sians were avid bird hunters and egg gatherers.

There is one serious problem, however, for
sustaining a permanent settlement on the is-
land. This is the fact that it has little or no fresh
water. Three seep springs were known on the
island at the time that Emory completed his
survey, and no more have been found since
then. These springs are heavily contaminated
by bird guano, and the bitter ammonia-water
that drips from them appears to be almost un-
palatable. It is possible that there are under-
water springs issuing directly into the ocean
from a submerged dikeline, but so far none have
been noted on the island. The inhabitants must
have depended on rainfall for their fresh water
needs, and prolonged drought may account for
the abandonment of the Polynisian occupation
there.

All this assumes that the settlement at
Nihoa was a permanent one. At the present
time we have little evidence that it was either
permanent or that there was only one settle-
ment of the island. Emory suggested on the
basis of adze types and what appeared to him to
be two different types of marae on Nihoa, that
the island was actually inhabited twice. The first
time by a set of people from its neighbor island.

Necker, and later by seasonal bird hunters from
the main Hawaiian group, most notably Kauai,
the nearest of the large islands of the windward
Hawaiian chain. His evidence consisted for the
most part of the adzes found at most of the
sites. Adzes are extremely diagnostic in
Polynesia. The shapes that Polynesians gave to
these woodworking tools vary considerably
from one island group to another and over time
as well. The adzes on Nihoa were almost all
similar in form to the styles of adze that de-
veloped in the Hawaiian Islands fairly late in
time. The few that were different looked very
much like the enigmatic adzes from Necker is-
land some 180 miles to the northwest of Nihoa,
and fit with Emory's idea of an early stratum of
settlement from this small, bleak rock even
further removed from the main Hawaiian chain.

The later settlement, however, from the
main Hawaiian group, was quite different in
character. The lack of water on Nihoa and the
proliferation of temple sites all suggested to him
that the people who came here stayed only dur-
ing the birding season, probably during the
summer when the petrels, shearwaters, and the
other species of bird were most numerous on
the island. At the moment, the particulars of
the history of the island's settlement are still
shrouded in mystery.

I was hoping that an intensive search of the
surface of archaeological sites on Nihoa would
yield some evidence of volcanic glass. The ex-
tensive disturbance of the sites by birds had led
me to expect that some of this material, so im-
portant in dating many archaeological sites in
the Hawaiian Islands, might be gathered from
the dirt turned up by these animals' burrowing.
If some could be retrieved, then we would have
at least the minimal kinds of materials to put
this island into the chronological framework
that archaeologists have been developing for
the main Hawaiian islands.

At the present time the initial settlement of
the main Hawaiian islands is thought to have
been from the central Pacific, specifically the
area that includes the Samoan and Marquesan
groups. Radiocarbon dates and volcanic glass
agree on a settlement in the A.D. 400 range, with
subsequent population growth occurring in
Hawaii because the early human populations
there had no competition from other predators.

The earliest dates in the main chain are
from sites surrounding a coastal swamp on the
north side of the island of Oahu and from a little
valley called Halawa on the east end of the is-
land of Molokai. There is little doubt that the
whole Hawaiian chain, however, was populated
by the ninth century A.D. and some of my own
work at Ha'ena on Kauai has shown a well de-

veloped population there by the twelfth century
A.D. If we could recover some of the volcanic
glass from the sites of Nihoa it would not only
be possible to date the settlement, but it might
also be possible to identify the source of the
volcanic glass on the island of Kauai. Unfortu-
nately, in the first day's trek, when my assistant
and myself were recording the damage to ar-
chaeological sites and carefully searching their
surfaces, we found no signs of volcanic glass,
and only one artifact.

The artifact was a single donut-shaped ob-
ject of pumice, a porous volcanic substance that
floats. It was located in the rubble from a fallen
corner of the most complete Marae of East Palm
Valley, the site that Emory had called number
50. The artifact was probably a net float.

As we made our way back to the landing
place in the late afternoon, we travelled the high
trail of the island close to the cliff edges. It was a
sheer drop of 600 to 800 feet to the sea below,
and up there the moaning sounds of the shear-
waters drowned out the sounds of the crashing
waves. Both of us were disappointed, but we
were certain that we would have better luck as
we recorded the sites on the west end of the
island the next day.

We left Sheila on the island, and I left my
equipment and rucksack as well, though I took
my hastily sketched notes and camera with me
back to Ho'o Holo. That night we shared experi-
ences, since Christensen, along with John Car-
roll, had collected terrestrial snails on the west
end of the island as my assistant and myself
trekked the east valleys. Christensen was ex-
cited to have collected several species of which
very few examples existed, and I was excited by
the fact that comparatively little disturbance had
occurred to the archaeological sites. The preser-
vation was still comparatively good. Certain
that the next day would bring better fortune in
terms of recovering datable material, we all
turned in.

The "certainty" was an illusion. During the
night we felt Ho'o Holo shift at her anchorage as
the wind veered to the southeast, and then at
about four in the morning we heard a loud
crashing sound towards the stern and the boat
shuddered from sternsheets right through to
stem. We all turned to and immediately pre-
pared to make way. A check of the bilge showed
that Ho'o Holo had not been holed, but the stif-
fening southeasterly wind and the rising swell
made it necessary to leave our anchorage and
run ofs the island. At dawn we could see the
massive breakers battering themselves to spume
on the cliffs that were the only landing place on
the island. It was obvious that our second day of
reconnaissance on the island would have to be

abandoned. After radioing Sheila, we set sail for
Kauai in what became a heavy sea and wind.
Two days later, with a heavy sea still running
and the winds still blowing out of the southeast,
we made Port Allen on the south end of Kauai.

The weather around Nihoa is traditionally
fickle, and our problem of having to abandon
our second day on the island was only repeating
what other parties had experienced before. In
the 1820s the commander of the U.S.S. Dolphin ,
Captain "Mad Jack" Percival, had landed on the
island only to be trapped there with his boat's
crew for two and a half days. His boat was
smashed by waves on the island, and finally he
was dragged from the shore by a line brought in
to him by a sailor who braved the massive seas.

The recommendations that I made to the
Fish and Wildlife Service included the fact that
preservation of archaeological sites on the is-
land was quite good. The little destruction that
had occurred since Emory's visit consisted
mostly of natural erosion and the nesting efforts
of the birds. I remain disappointed that no ma-
terial suitable for dating was recovered from
Nihoa, but any archaeological research that
takes place on this island will have to be sched-
uled during a time of the year when there will
be minimal damage to the wildlife that inhabit
the place. This would mean the winter months,
when the seas are notoriously bad. It was in
January that "Mad Jack" and his boat crew were
stranded there. The risk of landing at this time
of year and of not being able to get off the island
when the work was finished, make the archaeo-
logical endeavor here a dangerous one.

Despite our own attempts, and those of ear-
lier researchers in Pacific archaeology, Nihoa
still holds to the secrets of its past. Where did
the residents of Nihoa come from? Were they
pilgrims from Kauai who built temples during
the birding season each year? Was there an ear-
lier settlement connected with the little rock
called Necker that is even more remote in the
Hawaiian chain? How long ago did Polynesian
settlement begin and when in prehistory did it
disappear? The answers are still locked up on
the silent stone remains of Nihoa, guarded over
by myriads of Pacific seabirds, and as yet un-
solved by modern archaeology.

As a final note, we discovered that the
crash that awoke us that night at anchor was not
due to the boat striking either rock or coral.
Senator Carroll informed me that when Ho'o
Holo was brought up on the ways for cleaning in
the winter of 1981 he discovered tooth marks
from a large shark on the rudder post. This
marine predator had apparently attacked the
boat that night, inadvertently alerting us to the
changing wind and water conditions. D

For Our Volunteers: A Special Valentine

1981 was yet another year of outstanding, dedicated per-
formance by Field Museum's battalion of Volunteers — 280
strong. Collectively, they contributed 42,756 hours of self-
less commitment — in virtually every facet of Museum
activity: collection maintenance, specimen preparation,
library work, photography, typing and other clerical tasks,
phone answering, editing, even assisting in scientific re-
search and conducting educational programs; and the list
goes on. Their contributions of time, talent, energy, and
enthusiasm have become essential to the functioning of
the Museum.

To honor these volunteers a reception was held on the
evening of February 17 in Stanley Field Hall. The
Museum's president, Willard L. Boyd, offered a special
welcome and words of appreciation to the evening's guests,
and Museum Director Lorin I. Nevling, Jr. pre-
sented awards to those two Volunteers with fifteen years of
continuous service to the Museum: Dorothy Karall, who
works in Zoology, Division of Invertebrates; and Ellen
Hyndman, volunteer instructor in the Museum's Depart-
ment of Education.

Dorothy Karall was recommended to Dr. Alan Solem
in 1966 by his illustrator, the late Margaret Anne Moran
McKibben. Having been told that Dorothy was an ex-
Marine, Solem was hardly prepared to meet the diminu-
tive lady with a beguiling South Carolina accent. With her
innate sense of order and art training, Dorothy has, in the
intervening years, mounted and labelled plates and fig-
ures for more than 50 of Dr. Solem's scientific papers. Week

Special Recognition

Over 500 Hours

Lorna Gonzales (1,003 hours); Zoology, Insects Division: recorded
locality data for taxonomic and biogeographic study; checked
localities on maps; entered computer data. Education: conducted
English and Spanish programs on geology and anthropology for
school groups.

Llois Stein (875 hours); Anthropology: researched and cata-
logued Pacific and Asian collections; assisted in Pacific store-
room reorganization.

Robbie Webber (720 hours); Anthropology: bibliographic
searches and research on recent geology, geomorphology and
tectonics of Peru; catalogued Amazonian artifacts.

James Swartchild (697 hours); Anthropology: photographed
specimens.

Frank Greene, Jr. (661 hours); Geology: collected Mazon Creek
specimens, recorded field distributions; cleaned specimens.

Connie Crane (648 hours); Anthropology: did research, editing,
filing and record keeping for Maritime Peoples of the Arctic and
Northwest Coast exhibit.

David Weiss (645 hours); Anthropology: Adminstrative assistant
in the Asian Division; responsible for overseeing loans; miscel-
laneous correspondence, special projects.

Rosanne Miezio (637 hours); Zoology, Mammals Division: scien-
tific illustration; assisted with maps and graphs; aided in design
28 and implementation of public exhibit on scientific illustration.

after week she walks into the Invertebrate office with her
cup of coffee and settles down to the task of trimming and
mounting scanning electron microscope photographs or
taking highly complex anatomical drawings and putting
the explanatory lettering on them, later mounting these
for publication in technical articles. In 1977 Dorothy was
appointed associate in Invertebrates.

Ellen Hyndman also joined the Museum as a volun-
teer in 1966, welcoming this opportunity to "do something
for herself" At that time the Tibetan exhibit was in its
preparation stage and Christine Danziger, the preparator,
found Ellen's assistance invaluable. Ellen researched and
labelled, sewed and mounted specimens. After the exhibit
opened, Ellen turned her talents to the Education De-
partment, becoming one of the first volunteers to serve as
instructor for school programs. Ellen has given, and con-
tinues to give, programs on animals, prehistoric life,
American Indians, cultures of Africa, China, and ancient
Egypt. She has worked on many of the special exhibits and
currently serves as liaison between the Women's Board
and the Museum's volunteer program.

Dr. Nevling also gave special recognition to the 14
volunteers who contributed 500 hours or more in 1981 and
personally presented them with gifts in appreciation for
their commitment. Volunteer Coordinator Joyce Matus-
zewich concluded the evening's program with remarks on
the impact volunteer work has had on the Museum's re-
search, education, and exhibition programs. The remain-
ing volunteers then received their gifts.

Sol Century (593 hours); Anthropology: accessioned and cata-
logued in general projects in Asian Division.

Gary Ossewaarde (590 hours); Education: conducted, researched
Weekend Discovery tours in anthropology and geology; assisted
in special events and children's workshops.

Jim Currey (564 hours); Zoology, Mammals Division: skinned,
fleshed and prepared skeletal specimens; regasketed cases;
record keeping.

James Burd (560 hours); Anthropology: accessioned and
catalogued in general departmental projects in Asian Division.

Margaret Martling (543 hours); Botany: processed picture lists,
organized Botany library, proofread papers, record keeping.

Carol Landow (525 hours); Education: instructed school groups
and Museum visitors in Place for Wonder

Over 400 hours

William Bentley (484 hours); Anthropology: photographed ar-
tifacts in Asian collections.

Anne Leonard (455 hours); Anthropology: worked on records and
photography file for tapa collections and for Patterns of Paradise
travelling exhibit.

Carolyn Moore (441 hours); Anthropology: special projects re-
searcher in Asian Division.

Louva Calhoun (439 hours); Anthropology: catalogued Acheu-
lian artifacts from prehistoric site in Tanzania; numbered,
measured, and made drawings of the specimens.

Over 300 Hours

Peter Gayford (385 hours); Anthropology: curatorial assistant for

Egyptian tomb project; researched in preparation for cataloguing

McCormick collection.

Dorothy Oliver (361 hours); Library: indexed Museum's annual

reports; assisted with interlibrary loan requests, filed new book

cards; special projects.

Lorain Stephens (358 hours); Zoology, Birds Division: prepared a

gazeteer of bird-collecting localities in Peru; started preparation

of a gazeteer of bird-collecting localities in the Guianas.

Robert Rosberg (353 hours); Anthropology: catalogued collec-
tions; pottery restorations; special projects.

Nathalie Alberts (349 hours); Anthropology: moved artifacts
into and out of storage for Maritime Peoples of the Arctic and
Northwest Coast exhibit.

Alice Wei (325 hours); Anthropology: research in Asian collec-
tions.

Julie Braun (320 hours); Anthropology: cleaned artifacts for
Maritime Peoples of the Arctic and Northwest Coast exhibit.

Sophie Ann Brunner (317 hours); Zoology, Reptiles Division: or-
ganized and maintained skeleton preparation program.

Louise Neuert (314 hours); Anthropology: constructed special
mannequins; cleaned and sewed textiles to mounts; dressed
mannequins for Maritime Peoples of the Arctic and Northwest
Coast exhibit.

Ernest Newton (314 hours); Anthropology: research in Chinese
coin collection.

James Skorcz (307 hours); Library; worked in Reading Room;
filled interlibrary loan requests, filed cards in card catalog, re-
trieved books for visitors; compiled statistics; special projects.

Cheryl Williams (306 hours); Geology: catalogued and reor-
ganized Quaternary collections of fossil invertebrates.
Dennis Bara (303 hours); Membership: weekend membership
representive.

Eric Frazer (303 hours); Anthropology: worked on preventive
conservation and storage of textile collections.

Halina Goldsmith (302 hours); Education: conducted programs
for school groups and visitors in Place for Wonder.

1981 VOLUNTEERS

Glenda Kowalski

Ila Nuccio

Neal Abarbanell
Nathalie Alberts
Carrie F. Anderson
Cleo M. Anderson
Dolores Arbanas
Jacqueline Arnold
Terry Asher
Beverly Baker
Gwen Barnett
Dennis M. Bara
Lucia Barba
Carol A. Basolo
Winifred Batson
John Bauer
Sanda Bauer
Dodie Baumgarten
Virginia Beatty
Marvin Benjamin
William C. Bentley
Patricia Bercher
Elaine K. Bernstein
Joan Biba
Riva Blechman
Cecilia Bodman
Sharon Boemmel
Marjorie Bohn
Sandra Boots
Idessie Bowens
Hermann Bowersox
Kristine Bradof
Steven Brady
Charles Braner
Kathryn Briggs
Carol Briscoe
Julie Braun
Karen Brock
Cassandra Brown
Louise Brown
Sophie Ann Brunner
Teddy Buddington
Mary Ann Bulanda
James E. Burd
Audrey Burns
Mary E. Burt
Joseph Cablk
Louva Calhoun

Sandra J. Cameron

Robert Cantu

Sol Century

Dan Chlipala

June Chomsky

Margaret Chung

Roger Cohn

Judith Cottle

Connie Crane

Howard L. Crystal

Jim Currey

Kathryn Daskal

Eleanor DeKoven

Jeannette DeLaney

Carol Deutsch

Steven Diamond

Marianne Diekman

Phyllis Dix

Benny Daniel Dombek April Hohol

Halina Goldsmith
Lorna Gonzales
Judy Gordon
Helen Gornstein
Evelyn (Jottlieb
Loretta Green
Frank A. Greene, Jr.
Henry Greenwald
Robert Gregor
Cecily Gregory
Ann B. Grimes
Dolores T. Gross
Karen Grupp
Sol Gurewitz*
Geraldine Guttenberg
Michael J. Hall
Shirley Hattis
Audrey Hiller
Vicki Hlavacek

Gerald Kuechner
Anita Landess
Carol Landow
Ellen Lark
Joan Lauf
Sui Min Lee
Marion Lehuta
Stephen LeMay
Anne Leonard
Virginia Leslie
Janet Leszcznski
Joseph F. Levin
Michelle Levin-Parker
Inese Liepins
Elizabeth Lizzio

Dorothy Oliver
Forman Onderdonk
Charles Oneyzia
Joan Opila
Gary M. Ossewaarde
China Oughton
Anita Padnos
Therese Palmer
Raymond Parker
Delores Patton
Frank M. Paulo
Tracy D. Pederson
Renee Peron

Jim Sipiora
James Skorcz
Beth Spencer
Irene Spensley
Steven Sroka
Charles Stanish
Eric Stein
Llois Stein
Lorain Stephens
Robyn Strauss
Deanna Stucky
Bea Swartchild
James Swartchild
Patricia Talbot

Lisa Dorn
John E. Dunn
Margaret Durbin
Stanley Dvorak
Milada Dybas
Lynn Dyer
Kathleen Early
Alice Eckley
Linda Egebrecht
Anne Ekman
Agatha Elmes
Nancy Evans
Martha Farwell
Dolores Fetes
Marie Fischl
Vaughn Fitzgerald
Gerda Frank
Patricia Franks
Eric Frazer
Arden Frederick
Martha Frey
Janine Fuerst
Peter Gayford
Helen Gayner
Donald Gemmel
Nancy Gerson

Harold L. Honor
Zelda Honor
Cathy Hosman
Scott Houtteman
Claxton Howard
Betty M. Hubbard
Nancy Hubbard
Adrienne Hurwitz
Ellen Hyndman
Darryl Isaacson
Judith M. Johnson
Karolyn Johnson
Mabel S. Johnson
Malcolm Jones
Daniel Joyce
Carol Kacin
Carole Kamber
Elizabeth Kaplan
Dorothy Karall
Dorothy Kathan
Barbara Keune
Shirley Kennedy
Joyce Kieffer
Marjorie King
Dennis Kinzig
Alida Klaud

Elizabeth Louise Girardi

Ralph Lowell
James Lowers
David Lynam
Edna MacQuilkin
Margaret Madel
Elizabeth Malott
Gabby Margo
Margaret Martling
Robert Mastey
Melba Mayo
Mark McCollam
Dorothea McGivney
Withrow Meeker
Beth Metz
Beverly Meyer
Rosanne Miezio
Alice S. Mills
Carolyn Moore
George Morse
Anne Murphy
Marlene Mussell
Charlita Nachtrab
Mary Naunton
Lee Neary
John Ben Nelson
Mary S. Nelson
Norman Nelson
Louise Neuert
Ernest Newton
Herta Newton
Doris Nitecki
Gretchen Norton

Mary Anne Peruchini Benjamin Taylor
Dorothea Phipps-Cruz Jane Thain

Steffi Postol
Elizabeth Rada
Sri Raj
Brad Randall
Lee Rapp
Ernest Reed
Sheila Reynolds
Elly Ripp
Mary Robertson
William Roder
William Rom
Barbara Roob
Robert Rosberg
Kathy Rose
Susan Rosenberg
Sarah Rosenbloom

Lorraine Thauland
Dana Treister
Mary Trybul
Rebecca Tuttle
Joan Ulrich
Karen Urnezis
Lillian Vanek
Paula-Ann Vasquez-

Wasserman
Barbara Vear
Britta Veth
Charles A. Vischulis
David Walker
Mary Ann Walkosz
Bertram C. Walton
Joyce Wash

Marie Louise Rosenthal Harold Waterman

Anne Ross
Susan Rowley
Ann Rubeck
Helen Ruch
Lenore Ruehr
Linda Sandberg
Marian Saska
Everett Schellpfeffer
Marianne Schenker
Sylvia Schueppert
Florence Seiko
Sheila Seybolt
Jessie Sherrod
Judith Sherry
Barbara Siekowski

Robbie Webber
Alice Wei
David Weiss
Penny Wheeler
Bessie Whitley
Cheryl A. Williams
Francis A. Willsey
Gerda Wohl
Reeva Wolfson
Katherine Wright
Zinette Yacker
Rashona Zimring
Theodore Zwier

'Deceased Sept. 26, 1981 29

Honor Roll of Donors for 1981

Major ConMbutore of Field Museum's Progi^ims
of Research, Education, £ind Exhibition

We wish to recognize those generous donors to sands of other donors. By way of recognition,

Field Museum who in 1981 helped to maintain a we place on the Honor Roll of Donors the follow-

balanced budget. The year ended with no debt ing who contributed $1,000 or more during the

or deficit financing, thanks to these and thou- period January 1 through December 31, 1981.

Individuals— $5,000 and over

Mr. and Mrs. T. Stanton Armour
Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Bent
Mr. and Mrs. Bowen Blair
Buchanan Family Fdn.

(Mr. and Mrs. DeWitt Buchanan, Jr.)
Mr. and Mrs. Walter L. Cherry
Mr. and N^rs. Charles S. DeLong
Mr. and Mrs. William R. Dickinson, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Gaylord Donnelley
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas E. Donnelley II
Mrs. Marjorie H. Elting
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph N. Field
Mr. and Mrs. William Freeman
Grainger Fdn.

(Mr. and Mrs. David W. Grainger)
Mr. Raymond H. Greer
Mrs. Corwith Hamill
Mr. Joseph B. Hawkes
Mr. and Mrs. Michael R. Hodous
Mr. Frederick K. Leisch
Leslie Fund, Inc.

(Mr. and Mrs. John H. Leslie)
The Oscar G. and Elsa S. Mayer

Charitable Trust
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Mitchell
Mr. Charles F. Murphy, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Mile Oliphant
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Potter
Pritzker Foundation

(Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Pritzker)
Rice Foundation

(Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Nolan, Jr.)
Mrs. T. Clifford Rodman
Mr. and Mrs. John S. Runnells
Arthur J. Schmitt Fdn.
Mr. and Mrs. William L. Searle
John M. Simpson Fund
Mr. and Mrs. Jack C. Staehle
Mrs. Gretchen M. Stewart
Mr. and Mrs. John W. Sullivan
Ruth and Vernon Taylor Fdn.

(Mr. and Mrs. Phelps Hoyt Svk'ift)

(Mr. William T. Bartholomay)

(Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Tieken, Jr.)
Estate of Chester D. Tripp

(Mrs. Chester Dudley Tripp)
Mr. and Mrs. Louis A. Wagner
Mr. and Mrs. Blaine Yarrington

Individuals— $1,000 to $4,999

Abra Prentice Anderson Charitable Trust
Alsdorf Fdn.

(Mr. and Mrs. James W. Alsdorf)
Anonymous (2)
Laurance H. Armour and

Margot B. Armour Family Fdn.

(Mrs. Lester Armour)
Mrs. Pamela K. Armour
Mrs. Edwin N. Asmann
Estate of Abby B. Babcock
Mr. and Mrs. Gary Bahr
Mr. and Mrs. George R. Baker
Mr. and Mrs. Robert O. Bass
Mr. and Mrs. Harry O. Bercher
The Bjorkman Fdn.

(Mr. Carl G. Bjorkman)
Mr. and Mrs. Bowen Blair
Mr. William McCormick Blair
Mr. Leigh B. Block
Mr. and Mrs. Willard L. Boyd
Svend and Elizabeth Bramsen Fdn.

(Mrs. Elizabeth K. Bramsen)
Mr. and Mrs. Henry A. Brown
Mr. and Mrs. Roger O. Brown
Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Buehler, Jr.
Dr. and Mrs. Robert Wells Carton
Mr. and Mrs. Jerry G. Chambers
Mrs. Leonore C. Clow
Collier-Swartchild Fdn.

(Mr. and Mrs. James Swartchild)
Mr. and Mrs. Stanton R. Cook
Mrs. Elizabeth S. Corbett
A. G. Cox Charity Trust
Mr. and Mrs. Mark Crane
Crawford Fdn.

(Mr. and Mrs. William Crawford)
D and R Fund

(Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Rosenthal)
Mr. and Mrs. O. C. Davis
Davee Fdn.

(Mr. and Mrs. Ken Davee)
Mr. and Mrs. Robert O. Delaney
Mr. Edward J. DeWitt
Elliott and Ann Donnelley Fdn.

(Mrs. Charles Hardy)
Mr. and Mrs. George H. Dovenmuehle
Mrs. Lyman M. Drake
Ms. Katherine Dunbaugh
Mr. and Mrs. R. Winfield Ellis
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. Eyerman
Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Field
Forest Fund

(Mrs. Glen A. Lloyd)

Mr. Clifford C. Gregg

Mr. and Mrs. Paul W. Goodrich

Mrs. Rose P. Grosse

Mr. and Mrs. Paul W. Guenzel

Mr. and Mrs. Robert P. Gwinn

Mrs. Burton W. Hales

Mrs. Mary E. Harland

Mr. and Mrs. Allen E. Harris

Mr. and Mrs. David J. Harris

Mrs. Betty R. Hartman

Mrs. William H. Hartz

Mrs. Patricia R. Healy

Mr. and Mrs. Ben Heineman

Mr. John J. Hoellen

Dr. Helen Holt

H. Earl Hoover Fdn.

Mr. and Mrs. Reinhardt Jahn

Mr. and Mrs. Harold B. James

Dr. Margaret Katzin

Mrs. Miriam H. Keare

Mr. George P. Kendall

Mr. Oscar Kottman, Jr.

Mrs. Louis B. Kuppenheimer

Mrs. Viola Laski

Mrs. Richard W. Leach

Otto W. Lehmann Fdn.

(Mr. Robert Lehmann)
Mr. and Mrs. Albert E. M. Louer
Mr. and Mrs. Franklin J. Lunding
Mrs. Lucy S. Lyon
Mrs. Marie Mahoney
Mr. and Mrs. James G. Maynard
Foster G. McGaw Fdn.
Mrs. Mary U. Meader
Mrs. Helen Mayer Medgysey
Mr. and Mrs. John C. Meeker
Mr. and Mrs. Hugo J. Melvoin
Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. Meyer
Mr. and Mrs. H. G. Mojonnier
Molner Fdn.

(Mr. and Mrs. Morton J. Barnard and

George H. Barnard)
Mr. Richard M. Morrow
Mrs. Mary Baker Moulding
Col. John B. Naser
Mr. and Mrs. Arthur C. Nielsen
Offield Family Fdn.

(Mr. Wrigley Offield)
Peterborough Fdn.

(Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Field)
Peroke Fdn.

(Mrs. Peter B. Foreman)
Mr. James H. Ransom
Mr. and Mrs. John Shedd Reed
Mrs. Helen M. Reeder

Miss Ruth Regenstein
Dr. and Mrs. Henry Rosett
Mr. and Mrs. Henry N. Rowley
Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Rubloff
Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Sahlins
Mr. and Mrs. Arthur W. Schultz
Seabury Fdn.

(Mr. John W. Seabury)
Sedoh Fdn.

(Mr. Scott Hodes)
Arch W. Shaw Fdn.

(Mr. John I. Shaw)
Bessie Shields Fdn.

(Dr. Thomas W. Shields)
Siragusa Fdn.

(Mr. Ross D. Siragusa)
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. Smith
Mr. and Mrs. Irving Solomon
Mr. and Mrs. George T Spensley
Donna Wolf Steigerwaldt Fdn.
Mrs. David B. Stern, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Robert D. Stuart, Jr.
Bolton Sullivart Fund

(Mr. Bolton Sullivan)
Sulzer Family Fdn.

(Mr John Hoellen)
Mr. and Mrs. William G. Swartchild, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. John W. Taylor
Mr. and Mrs. Edward R. Telling
Daniel J. Terra Fdn.
Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Thorne
Edmund B. Thornton Family Fdn.

(Mrs. George A. Thornton)
The Thorson Fdn.

(Mr. Reuben Thorson)
Mr. and Mrs. Melvin A. Traylor, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Howard J. Trienens
Mr. Roger Van Bolt
Mr. Glen Verber
Dr. and Mrs. Harold C. Voris
Mr. and Mrs. E. Leland Webber
Mrs. John Paul Welling
Howard J. Willett Foundation, Inc.

(Mr. Howard Willett, Jr.)
Dr. and Mrs. Philip C. Williams
Mrs. Lorraine E. White
W. R and H. E. White Fdn.
Woodruff and Edwards Fdn.

(Mr and Mrs. Robert C. Edwards)
Mrs. Claire B. Zeisler
Mr. Kenneth V. Zwiener

Corporations and Foundations
$5,000 and over

Abbott Laboratories

Allied Fdn.

Allstate Fdn.

Amoco Fdn.

Arthur Andersen & Co.

Barker Welfare Fdn.

Beatrice Foods Co.

Borg-Warner Foundation, Inc.

The Chicago Community Trust

Coleman Fdn.

Commonwealth Edison Co.

Consolidated Foods Corp.

Continental Illinois National Bank Fdn.

Dart & Kraft Inc.

DeSoto Fdn.

R. R. Donnelley & Sons Co.

Esmark, Incorporated Fdn.

FMC Fdn.

Marshall Field & Company Fdn.

Field Enterprises Charitable Corp.

First National Bank of Chicago Fdn.

Ford Motor Company Fund

General Mills Fdn.

Harris Bank Fdn.

Allen-Heath Memorial Corp.

Walter E. Heller Fdn.

Household International Corp.

IC Industries

Illinois Belt Telephone Co.

Inland Steel — Ryerson Fdn.

International Business Machines Corp.

International Minerals & Chemical Corp.

The Joyce Fdn.

John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fdn.

Robert R. McCormick Charitable Trust

McGraw Fdn.

McMaster-Carr Supply Co.

Nalco Fdn.

Northern Illinois Gas

Northern Trust Co.

Peat, Marwick Mitchell & Co.

Peoples Energy Corp.

The Albert Pick, Jr., Fund

Frederick Henry Prince Trusts

S & C Electric Co,

Sahara Coal Co.

Santa Fe Industries

Sears, Roebuck and Co.

Dr. Scholl Fdn.

Sterling Morton Charitable Trust

John S. Swift Company, Inc.

United Airlines Fdn.

United States Gypsum Foundation, Inc.

Walgreen Benefit Fund

A. Montgomery Ward Fdn.

Western Electric Fund

Arthur Young & Co.

Corporations and Foundahons
$1,000 to $4,999

A.G. Becker — Warburg Paribas

Becker Fdn.
AT&T Long Lines
Aetna Life and Casualty Insurance

Companies
Alcoa Fdn.

American Hospital Supply Corp.
American National Bank & Trust Company

of Chicago Fdn.
Amsted Industries Fdn.
BankAmerica Fdn.
Bliss & Laughlin Industries
Brunswick Foundation Inc.
Bunker-Ramo Foundation, Inc.
Leo Burnett Company Inc.
C-E Power Systems
CR Industries
Carson Pirie Scott Fdn.
Central Telephone & Utilities Corp.
ChemicalBank — Midwestern Region
Chicago & Northwestern

Transportation Co.
Chicago Bears Football Club
Chicago Bridge & Iron Fdn.
Chicago Title & Trust Co.
Chicago Tribune Fdn.
Clark Fdn.
Crane Packing Co.
Crum & Forster Fdn.
Helene Curtis Industries Inc.

Dana Corporation Fdn.

R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co.

Ehlco Fdn. (Hines Lumber)

Ernst & Whinney

FRC Investment Corp.

GATX Corp.

General Motors Corp.

General Tire Foundation Inc.

Geraldi-Norton Memorial Corp.

Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.

Gould Fdn.

Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Co.

HBBFdn.

Hart, Schaffner & Marx Charitable Fund

Walter E. Heller & Co.

Illinois Tool Works Fdn.

Interlake Fdn.

Intermatic Inc.

The James Companies

Jewel Fdn.

Johnson & Higgins of Illinois, Inc.

Kelso-Burnett Electric Co.

Kemper Educational & Charitable Fund

Kirkland & Ellis

Bertha Le Bus Charitable Trust Fdn.

Maremont Fdn.

Masonite Corp.

Oscar Mayer Fdn.

McGraw Edison Co.

McKinsey & Co.

William M. Mercer Inc.

John Mohr & Sons

Morton Norwich Products

Motorola Fdn.

L. E. Myers Co.

National Boulevard Bank Assoc.

National Can

New York Life Fdn.

Gust K. Newberg Construction Co.

North American Car Corp.

Northwest Industries Foundation, Inc.

Ogilvy & Mather Inc.

J. C. Penney Company, Inc.

George Pick & Co.

Power Systems Inc.

Price Waterhouse & Co.

Procter & Gamble Fund

Prudential Fdn.

Quaker Oats Fdn.

Reliable Electric Co.

Rockwell International

Rollins Burdick Hunter Co.

Sargent & Lundy

Schwarten Corp.

Scott, Foresman & Co.

Security Pacific Charitable Fdn.

Shell Companies Fdn.

Signode Fdn.

Sunbeam Corp.

Szabo Food Service

Talman Home Federal Savings &

Loan Assoc.
Texaco Inc.

Oakleigh L. Thome Fdn.
Touche Ross & Co.
UOP Fdn.

Union Oil Company of California
United Conveyor Fdn.
United States Steel Foundation Inc.
Urban Investment & Development Co.
Montgomery Ward Fdn.
Wheelabrator-Frye Incorporated Fdn.
E. W. Zimmerman, Inc. S"!

OUR ENVIRONMENT

Rare Black-Footed Ferret
Found in Wyoming

A rare black-footed ferret, the only posi-
tively known living member of its species,
was captured aUve in Wyoming last fall
and outfitted with a tiny radio transmitter
so that federal wildlife biologists can learn
more about the habits of these secretive,
nocturnal animals.

The ferret, captured October 29 by
wildlife biologists of the Interior Depart-
ment's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is
the first live black-footed ferret to be taken
in the wild since 1973, in spite of extensive
searches by federal and state biologists in a
number of western states.

"We are quite excited about finding
this extremely rare, endangered mammal
and having the opportunity to monitor its
movements," said Eugene Hester, deputy
director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-
vice. "By studying this animal, we hope to
obtain information that will help wildlife
biologists bring this species back to
healthy numbers."

The ferret, a male judged to be no
more than two years old and weighing
about two and one-quarter pounds, was
spotted in a prairie dog colony by wildlife
biologists who were looking for ferrets.
They followed it to a hole where they suc-
ceeded in capturing it in a live-trap when
it emerged several hours later. The
biologists attached a small radio-
transmitter to a collar placed around the
ferret's neck, observed the animal over-
night, and released it unharmed in the
morning. The transmitter is expected to
operate for four to six months, enabling
biologists to gather information about
such factors as the ferret's daily and sea-
sonal activity patterns, the amount of time
it spends in burrows, its feeding activity,
and whether it is nomadic. It is also hoped
that the radio-tagged ferret may lead the
biologists to other ferrets.

The exact location of the ferret's cap-
ture is being withheld to avoid distur-
bance to the landowners and to the scien-
tific work. All of the work involving the
ferret is being conducted under a federal
permit, which is required because the fer-
ret is protected under the Endangered
Species Act.

Considered by many wildlife
biologists to be the most severely en-
dangered mammal in the United States,
the black-footed ferret is a weasel-like
animal about 24 inches long with a black
mask over its eyes, black feet, and a black-
tipped tail.

In an attempt to increase the ferret's
32 numbers, several ferrets were taken out of

the wild between 1971 and 1973 for breed-
ing in captivity at the service's Patuxent
Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Mary-
land. Although young ferrets were bom,
none survived, and the adults were found
to have serious disease problems such as
cancerous tumors and diabetes. The last
captive ferret died in 1978.

In the meantime, efforts by federal
and state wildlife biologists using scent-
trained dogs and other methods had failed
to positively locate any additional live
black- footed ferrets in the wUd. The first
real break in the ferret search came Sep-
tember 25, when a dead black-footed fer-
ret was discovered in Wyoming.

Whooping Crane Update

Four whooping crane chicks were raised
in wild and captive flocks in 1981, a year
which may have suffered a slight popula-
tion decline despite intensive research to
propagate the endangered species.

The highlight of 1981 research was a
first-time effort by the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service and the Canadian
Wildlife Service to radio track the main
flock on their 2,600-mile fall migration
from Canada's Wood Buffalo National
Park to the Texas Gulf Coast. On October
12, trackers reported one of the chicks hit a
power line in northern Saskatchewan and
died several days later of apparent spinal
injuries.

While researchers expressed regret
over the loss of the young crane, they
emphasized that had the flock not been
tracked, the fate of the bird would proba-
bly have remained a mystery. Service sci-
entists stress that the more they learn
about mortalities, the better prepared

they are to prevent them. Previous colli-
sions with power lines have been
documented in the Grays Lake National
Wildlife Refuge flock. Power companies in
problem areas have cooperated with re-
searchers to solve the problem, sometimes
by attaching brightly colored markers to
the lines.

The Wood Buffalo flock produced
three chicks in 1981 during an exception-
ally dry nesting season that saw increased
egg losses to predatory animals. In
August, brush fires swept through the
forests and marshes, eventually destroy-
ing some 70 percent of the cranes' nesting
habitat. However, the chicks escaped the
ravaged area with their parents and the
rest of the flock.

All three chicks in the Wood Buffalo
flock were captured and fitted with radio
transmitters by U.S. -Canadian research-
ers several weeks before fire ignited the
habitat. Trackers followed the first two
chicks to leave Wood Buffalo; the first was
being tracked by a team of U.S. and Cana-
dian government biologists in a Canadian
airplane when it hit the px)wer line. In
southern Saskatchewan an American
plane carrying a Canadian biologist — the
only tracker to follow the entire route —
was standing by to pick up the trail, with a
ground research team also following the
flock. The same tracking procedures now
are being used to track the second chick,
last reported to be near Texas. Earlier,
trackers found that the tagged chick had
covered 470 miles in one day at altitudes of
up to 9,000 feet, leaving Montana, overfly-
ing North and South Dakota, and landing
in Nebraska.

As the international team began
monitoring the main flock, other re-
searchers recaptured a captive-reared
female whooper set free last spring at
Grays Lake National Wildlife Refuge in
Idaho. The female had been transported
to Idaho from the Patuxent Wildlife Re-
search Center near Washington, D.C., asa
possible mate for a lone male raised by
sandhill crane surrogate parents. How-
ever, scientists felt the two whoopers did
not establish a strong enough bond to
guarantee that the male would lead the
female on the 870-mile migration route to
Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Ref-
uge in New Mexico.

The Grays Lake foster flock was
started in 1975 to establish a second wild
flock of whooping cranes, to build the
birds' population, and to eventually en-
sure separate migratory flocks. This
would diminish the chance of a natural
disaster eradicating the sf>ecies in the
wild. The sandhill cranes in Idaho hatch

"spare" eggs taken from nests at Wood
Buffalo and from a captive breeding flock
at Patuxent. A recent shortage of suitable
female whoopers prompted scientists to
introduce the female raised at Patuxent
into the foster flock. Since the recaptured
Patuxent female made a good adjustment
to the wild, researchers will repeat the
experiment next year.

Despite the two surviving chicks
raised at Wood Buffalo Park and one
raised in captivity at Patuxent, scientists
say the whooping crane pwpulation has
not increased, as several mortalities are
known. But the bird that has become a
symbol of all endangered species has ac-
tually been making a gradual comeback:
In 1980, whoopers numbered nearly 100
in the wild and 24 in captivity, in contrast
to a dismal low of 15 in 1941, when many
considered the cranes' extinction to be
inevitable.

Tecopa Pupfish Declared Extinct
— Off Endangered List

The Tecopa pupfish has become the first
species to be removed from the en-
dangered list because it is extinct. The
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made the
announcement after no Tecopa pupfish
were found in spite of extensive searches
by federal, state and university biologists
in more than 40 localities near Tecopa,
California, where the fish could possibly
have existed.

The unique desert fish, native to
California's Death Valley system, was
known to have lived in only two outflow
springs of the Amaragosa River system. It
is thought to have disappeared because of
alteration of its habitat and possibly also as
a result of the introduction of competing,
non-native fish. One of 12 kinds of pup-
fishes in the U.S., the iVz-inch Tecopa
could tolerate highly saline waters and
temperatures up to 110°. In 1965, the two
hot spring outflows were rechanneled and
combined during construction of bath-
houses, resulting in a swifter channel
which carried even hotter water farther
downstream, a situation for which the
pupfish was not adapted.

Virtually eliminated by 1969, the
Tecopa pupfish was added to the en-
dangered species list in 1970. By 1972, it
was known to be gone from this local-
ity, although survival of the related
Amaragosa River pupfish in nearby pools
and springs indicated that the Tecopa
might continue to exist elsewhere in the
river system.

In 1978, the Fish and Wildlife Service
proposed the Tecopa pupfish for removal
from the list because it was believed to be
extinct; removal has been delayed until
additional surveys could be completed.

"It is always sad when a species be-
comes extinct because of human activi-
ties," noted Robert A. Jantzen, director of

the Fish and Wildlife Service. "But the
Tecopa pupfish was pxjssibly already ex-
tinct when the first recovery efforts were
made under the endangered species
laws. In this instance, the fact that this fish
has become extinct should not be taken
to mean that endangered species conser-
vation measures have failed. On the
contrary, recovery actions have bene-
fited a great number of endangered spe-
cies, such as the American alligator,
peregrine falcon, whooping crane, and
brown pelican."

Hazardous Waste Disposal
and the "Small" Producers

In its 1980 Resource Conservation and Re-
covery Act regulations, the Environmen-
tal Protection Agency announced that
generators of less than 1,000 kilograms
(kg) a month of hazardous wastes, includ-
ing certain discarded commercial chemical
products, who do not accumulate more
than 1,000 kg on site at one time, could be
excluded from rules that apply to larger
generators of these wastes. Among the
discarded chemical products listed are
formaldehyde, wood alcohol, benzene,
and several other components of plastics.

The exclusion of these smaller
generators created controversy. At issue
are wastes considered hazardous,
excluded from rules that strictly regulate
generation, transport, storage, and dispo-
sal of such materials. Critics have pointed
out that hazardous wastes are no less
hazardous because they exist in smaller
quantities.

EPA's decision to exclude small man-
ufacturers or processors from initial regu-
latory framework was based on its belief
that the overall level of environmental
protection would be greater if it concen-
trated its resources on larger generators.
The agency also considered resources of
the states, which are to play an increasing
role in implementing RCRA.

To regulate all generators of hazard-
ous waste would bring 760,000 people into
the regulatory system. By setting the ex-
clusion limit for most hazardous wastes at
1,000 kg a month, 99 percent of the total
wastes would still be covered — and
695,000 people could be kept out of the
system.

Generators of even small amounts of
hazardous waste still must ensure that
their wastes go to state-approved facilities
and that wastes be disposed of properly.

In addition, RCRA provides that cer-
tain commercial chemicals, considered to
be acutely hazardous, are subject to much
lower exclusion limits if they are to be dis-
carded. That is, certain substances includ-
ing a large number of pesticides, must be
fully regulated if a generator produces and
processes as little as 1 kilogram a month of
the waste.

Fiberglass Carapace for Mud Turtle

A 13-inch-long mud turtle, its shell col-
lapsed in eight pieces after being hit twice
by cars, was rushed to a Florida animal
hospital to be put out of its misery.

Instead, the veterinarian built a new
shell with the help of an auto body shop,
and the turtle recovered.

"There was so much damage I didn't
know if we could fix it. But I figured we'd
try," veterinarian Mary Leisnersaid. "Bas-
ically, he was a very healthy turtle. What
looked bad was the shell. The whole top
was caved in like a crater. But the body
wasn't damaged.

"The turtle was good through all of
this," she said. "We stabilized him and
medically treated him, and he didn't seem
to mind. The only thing he didn't like was
when we vacuumed him to get the slivers
and chips out. He put his feet out and tried
to run away."

The unorthodox treatment was at-
tempted after Jean Nygren, a director of
Tampa's Animal Protection League, ar-
rived at the Lutz Animal Hospital with the
turtle. She had seen another car hit it, and
then struck it with her own car.

'It was bleeding so badly and the
shell was a mess. I thought it didn't have a
chance and wanted to see it put to sleep
humanely," she recalled.

Leisner examined the turtle with a
household drill and delicate bone instru-
ments, lifting depressed pieces of the
rock-hard shell. She found nearly half of it
had been destroyed.

The veterinarian filed and fit the
edges and, with some fiberglass and direc-
tions from an auto body shop operator
whose wife works at the animal clinic,
built a new shell. A dangling three-inch
tail section was reattached with super-
strength glue.

After a trip to the body shop, where
the rough fiberglass was sanded smooth,
the reptile, estimated to be about 12 years
old, was cared for at the animal hospital
for five days. It was then given a clean bill
of health and released into a swampy
preserve. ^»-

i fl

OUR ENVIRONMENT

Homes Needed for Excess
Wild Horses and Burros

The Bureau of Land Management (blm),
an agency of the U.S. Department of the
Interior, is looking for people who would
like to give a wild horse or burro a good
home. Qualified applicants can adopt a
wild horse or burro for less than it costs to
buy one commercially. The horses can be
trained to work, ride or to be pets.

These are no ordinary horses and
burros. These are living symbols of the
history and the pioneer spirit of Ameri-
ca's West. Some are descendants of ani-
mals that escaped Indian attacks on
wagon trains, cavalry attacks on Indians,
or Indian-cavalry battles. Others are de-
scendants of stock released by the cavalry
when U.S. Army outposts were closed, of
animals abandoned or lost by early pros-
pectors, and of horses and burros turned
loose by farmers during the Dust Bowl
conditions of the 1930s. Some are possibly
descended from mustangs introduced by
Spanish conquistadors in the 16th cen-
tury.

"The wild horse and burro adoption
program," says blm Director Robert L.
Burford, "is a partial solution to the prob-
lem of overpopulation among wild horse
and burro herds on western public range-
lands. These herds have expanded in
most areas since approval of the Wild
Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act in
1971. They compete for very limited for-
age and water with both native wildlife
and domestic livestock that graze the
public rangelands. In order to maintain a
proper ecological balance BLM rounds up
excess wild horses and burros and makes
them available for adoption."

Burford adds that approximately

32,000 wild horses and burros have been

34 adopted since the national Adopt-A-

TfymWr f W

— I

i
E
3

Horse Program began in 1976. Adopted
horses and burros are now found in every
state except Hawaii and Delaware.

What sort of people adopt wild
horses and burros? Just about anyone
with an interest and affection for the ani-
mals, Burford says. "Most of our adop-
ters want to see wild horses and burros
protected, not just as a reminder of our
nation's western heritage, but as animals
worth owning and enjoying."

BLM screens potential adopters for
proper facilities and experience to care for
the animals, which are unbroken when
adopters pick them up. For the first 12
months following adoption, wild horses
and burros remain the property of the
U.S. government. Adopters may apply
for title after providing proper care and
treatment for that period.

Since 1979, blm has operated a wild
horse and burro distribution center in
Cross Plains, Tennessee — about 30 miles
north of Nashville. "The Tennessee cen-
ter has been a huge success," Burford
says, "primarily by making it easier than
ever before for people in the states east of
the Mississippi River to pick up adopted
animals."

"Based on that success — nearly 3,000
adoptions in two years — BLM opened a
midwestem distribution center last sum-
mer near Omaha, Nebraska, and plans to
open another eastern distribution center
next April. We've chosen the Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania, area for the next center
primarily for its proximity to so many po-
tential adopters in the Northeast and its
accessibility via the interstate highway
system."

Members of the public who would
like more information about the adoption
program should write to Adopt- A-Horse,
Dept. 618-K, Consumer Information Cen-
ter, Pueblo, Colorado 81009. Along with a
brochure on the adoption program, the
writer receives an application form to be
completed and returned to the Bureau of
Land Management. The applicant is

**-■

asked to specify on the form the age and
sex of the horse or burro desired, and to
describe the kind of facilities available for
the animal's care. An individual can
apply for up to four animals a year.

Once BLM approves an application,
the name of the potential adopter is
placed on a register. As horses and burros
become available, the approved applicant
is notified where and when to select and
pick up the animal. How long an appli-
cant has to wait for an animal after appli-
cation has been accepted depends upon
the number of animals available and the
number of prior applicants who want
the same sex, color, or age animal. The
most requested animals are three-to-
five-year-old mares and jennies (female
burros).

Currently, there is no charge for
these wild horses and burros. An adopter
pays only a veterinarian's fee, the cost of
transporting the animal from the state in
which it was captured to the distribution
pickup point, and a portion of the adop-
tion center's handling charge. Since
January 2, 1982, there is a fee of $200 per
horse and $75 per burro, plus transporta-
tion costs. The veterinary cost is included
in the adoption fee.

Burford explained that the adoption
fee is necessary to help partially reim-
burse the U.S. Government for what it
spends to remove the animals from the
rangelands, process adoption applica-
tions, provide medical examinations and
vaccinations, and feed and handle the
wild horses and burros during the adop-
tion process. Adopters are advised of the
exact costs when animals become avail-
able.

BLM estimates there are currently
over 70,000 wild horses and burros on
public rangelands in 10 western states,
with more than half concentrated in
Nevada and Wyoming. According to BLM
range specialists, the optimum number
the ranges will support for good man-
agement is approximately 25,000.

Wildlife Successes in 1981

A happy ending for a "widowed" bald
eagle, a promising beginning for young
sea turtles, and a successful journey for
some endangered geese are just a few of
the "good news" stories that happened to
fish and wildlife in 1981, according to the
Interior Deparment's U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service.

A rare black-footed ferret, the na-
tion's most endangered mammal, was
discovered in Wyoming, and service re-
searchers studying it have since observed
two more ferrets in the same vicinity. The
ferrets are the first to be positively located
in the wild since the early 1970s. (Seep. 32.)

A female bald eagle in New York
whose mate was shot la^t year got a new
family, with some help from wildlife
biologists. First she found a new mate — a
male eagle that had been transplanted
from Minnesota and released at Mon-
tezuma National Wildlife Refuge in 1977.
Then, because the female was too con-
taminated with pesticide residues to pro-
duce her own young, wildlife biologists
put two eagle chicks into the new pair's
nest. The chicks were reared successfully
and will help to increase bald eagle num-
bers in New York State.

For the first time ever, two injured
manatees were successfully released to
the wild in Florida after being rehabili-
tated in captivity. One of the large, docile
"sea cows" was injured when she became
entangled in a crab trap line, which
wrapped tightly around her flippers. She
was treated at Sea World and released
with her calf, which was uninjured but
had remained with its mother throughout
the ordeal. Another female manatee that
apparently had been struck by a boat was
rehabilitated by two other private groups,
Marineland and Homosassa Springs. The
oceanaria and park groups rescue injured
manatees, an endangered species, under

an arrangement with the Fish and Wildlife
Service.

On the Hawaiian island of Kauai, a
wildlife biologist turned air traffic control-
ler in a research experiment to prevent
young night-flying seabirds from crashing
into brightly lighted areas. By putting
shields on outdoor lights that were con-
fusing the birds — a threatened species
called the Newell's Manx shearwater — he
succeeded in reducing the number of
crashes by 28 percent. And at aid stations
established to collect downed birds,
members of the public turned in hundreds
of the shearwaters, most of which were
saved and released to fly another day.

About 2,000 endangered Kemp's Rid-
ley sea turtle eggs were moved by the Fish
and Wildlife Service and the Mexican
Fisheries Department from a Mexican
nesting beach to Padre Island National
Seashore, where biologists are trying to
establish a second, protected nesting
beach. So that the little turtles would be-
come "imprinted" on Padre Island, they
were allowed to hatch and make their way
to the ocean before they were captured
again and transported to a National
Marine Fisheries Service facility in Galves-
ton, Texas. They will be raised in captivity
until they are about one year old, when
they will be large enough to have a good
chance of surviving in the wild. The sea
turtles will then be released in Gulf wa-
ters, and it is hoped they will return even-
tually to Padre Island to nest.

Scores of endangered Aleutian
Canada geese that were raised in captivity
in the lower 48 states were transplanted to
Alaska's Aleutian Islands and are now mi-
grating successfully with wild birds to
wintering grounds in California. In all,
more than 2,600 Aleutian Canada geese
have been counted on their wintering
grounds, up from a low of 800 in 1975.

A record 530 Atlantic salmon re-
turned to the Connecticut River to spawn.

The young from the 1.2 million eggs pro-
duced by these highly prized game fish
will be reared at state and federal fish
hatcheries and released into the river to
help rebuild the fishery. Salmon disap-
peared from the Connecticut 100 years ago
after dams blocked the migration of adult
salmon to their spawning areas. The effort
to restore the salmon in the North-
eastern United States began in 1967 and
involves the Fish and Wildlife Service, the
states of Connecticut, Massachusetts,
New Hampshire, and Vermont, the
Commerce Department's National Marine
Fisheries Service, and two private power
companies.

As a result of recovery efforts for the
severely endangered Puerto Rican parrot,
a record number of nine parrot chicks
were produced and survived in the wild
this year. Two more chicks were produced
in captivity, one of which was placed in a
nest and survived to join the wild flock.
This brings the total number of Puerto
Rican parrots to 29 in the wild and 15 in
captivity.

Service research biologists reported
that eggshell thickness and reproduction
are improving in eagles, osprey, and
brown pelicans, and that the numbers of
sharp-shinned hawks and Cooper's
hawks are increasing dramatically. Re-
searchers now agree that DDE, a persistent
breakdown product of DDT, was responsi-
ble for eggshell thinning, reproductive
failure, and population declines in the
bird populations.

American shad spawned naturally in
the Susquehanna River for the first time in
150 years. The spawning followed the re-
lease of 1,165 adult shad in the river in May
1981 by the Pennsylvania Fish Commis-
sion and the Fish and Wildlife Service.
The two agencies are collaborating with
other state and federal agencies and five
power companies to restore the Sus-
quehanna's historic shad fishery.

March & April at Field Museum

March 16 through April 15

New Exhibits

"Maritime Peoples of the Arctic and Northwest Coast." Open-
ing April 24. Members' Preview 1 to 9 p.m., April 22 and 23. This
sf)ectacular exhibit compares and contrasts the life and culture
of the Northwest Coast Indians and the Eskimos. The five gal-
leries of the exhibit deal with environment and history, hunting
and collecting, the village and society, the spiritual world, and
art. Within each of these galleries are dioramas, colorful artifact
displays, study areas, and video presentations. Hall 10.

Continuing Exhibits

Hall of African Mammals. Discover the surprising variety of
African mammals, from the huge bongo or forest hog to the
dainty klipspringer, in preparation for the lecture, "Predators

and Their Prey: The Serengeti." Two of Field Museum's best
known dioramas are here: the Man-Eating Lions of Tsavo and
the African Waterhole. The African Waterhole, the Museum's
largest habitat group, includes the giraffe, gazelle, zebra, and
rhinoceros.

Hall of Ancient Egyptl^ns. Field Museum's Egyptian exhibit,
one of the country's best, has been improved by the addition of a
new exhibit area, "In the Shadow of the Pyramid." You may now
enter tomb chapel rooms built over 4,000 years ago and a replica
of the chapel of Nakht, on loan from the Metropolitan Museum
of Art. Other exhibits detail life in prehistoric and early historic
eras of Egypt. Photomurals explain how the tomb chapels came
to Field Museum. Among the most compelling objects in the
older area are the human and animal mummies. Hall J. 35

Continued on back cover

EDITH FLEMING

916 PLEASANT

OAK PARK ILL 60302

March & April at Field Museum

March 16 through April 15
Continued from inside back cover

New Programs

Ray a. Kroc Environmental Lecture. "Predators and Their
Prey: The Serengeti." Sunday, March 28, 2 p.m. Award-winning
photographer and author Baron Hugo van Lawick describes the
incredible variety of animal life which includes more than 100
species of mammals and 500 of birds, inhabiting Serengeti Na-
tional Park, in Tanzania, Africa. As a Serengeti area resident
for 14 years, he has been able to capture the circle of life and
death among the animals with vivid language and beautiful
photographs. Members: $3. Nonmembers: $5.

Edward E. Ayer Film Lecture Series. The Spring 1982 series of
these popular adult-oriented travel films is beginning at a new
time — 1:30 p.m. Admission is free through the West Entrance.
Doors open at 12:45 p.m.
March 20: "In the Footsteps of Richard Halliburton," wath

William Stockdale
March 27: "China After Mao," with Jens Bjerre
April 3: "The Galapagos," with John Wilson
April 10: "Paris and the Seine," with Kathy Dusek

Weekend Discovery Programs. Tours, craft projects, slide pre-
sentations, and films which use Field Museum exhibits as a
springboard for new insights into natural history projects are
featured on Saturdays and Sundays. March's "Film Feature"
subject is mammals from around the world.
March 20 1:30 p.m. Saga of the Sea Otter, a "Film Feature."
March 21 1:30 p.m. "Egypt's Middle Kingdom: Tombs, Art,

and Literature," slide lecture.
March 27 1:30 p.m. Baobab: Portrait of a Tree,

"Film Feature."
March 28 1:30 p.m. "Ibtankhamun: Discovery and Treasures

of the Tomb," slide lecture.
April 3 12:30 p.m. "Public and Private Life in 18th Dynasty

Egypt." slide program.

2 p.m. "American Indian Dress," tour.
April 10 "Ancient Egypt," tour.

Spring Journey "A Touch of Field Museum." This self-guid-
ing tour covers such touchable exhibits as bones, meteorites,
and polar bears. Tree Journey pamphlets available at Museum
entrances.

"Maritime Peoples of the Arctic and Nortiiwest Coast"

Special Programs

Northwest Coast Lecture Series. "A Culture Develops." The
concluding two lectures in this series are designed to enhance
the visitor's appreciation of Field Museum's newest permanent
exhibit, "Maritime Peoples of the Arctic and Northwest Coast,"
which opens April 24. Each lecture is individually complete
and given by a leading authority on native cultures of the
Northwest. Entrance for these 8 p.m. lectures is through the
West door. Members: $3. Nonmembers: $4.
March 19 "Adaptations: Cultural Variations," by Wavne Sut-

tles, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon.
March 26 "Cosmology, Role of the Shaman," by George Mac-
Donald, University of British Columbia, Museum of
Anthropology, Vancouver, British Columbia.

Learning Museum Course. "Arts of Tide and Tbndra: An Arctic
and Northwest Coast Perspective." Dr. Robert Grumet, visiting
lecturer and anthropologist, compares and contrasts the tra-
ditional art forms of the Northwest Coast Indians with those
of the Eskimos through striking slide presentations, the use of
authentic artifacts and traditional music. The course meets for
six consecutive Thesday evenings at 7 p.m. beginning April 13.
Advance registration now being accepted. For more informa-
tion, call 322-8854. Members: $40. Nonmembers: $45.

Contemporary Arts Symposium. "Echoes of the Past, Tides of
Change." Five noted Northwest Coast Indian and Eskimo ar-
tists discuss modern trends influencing their art. Together the
artists speak authoritatively about the state of North America's
richest and most famous artistic heritage. A related Learning
Museum event. Sunday, April 18, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Members:
$6. Nonmembers: $8.

Continuing Programs

March and April Hours. The Museum is open every day, 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m. except Fridays. On Fridays the Museum is op)en 9
a.m. to 9 p.m. throughout the year.

The Museum Library is open weekdays 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is
closed March 15 and Good Friday, April 9. Obtain a pass at the
reception desk, main floor.

Museum Telephone: (312) 922-9410

FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY BULLETIN

Ai)iil i;)H2

'^^

-d^k

<!s$>-

S^, ^'

Field Museum
of Natural History
Bulletin

Published by

Field Museum of Natural History

Founded 1893

President: Willard L. Boyd
Director: Lorin I. Nevling, Jr.

Editor/ Designer: David M. Walsten
Production Liaison: Kathryn Laughlin
Calendar: Mary Cassai
Staff Photographer: Ron Testa

Board of Trustees

James]. O'Connor

cliairman
Mrs. T. Stanton Armour
George R. Baker
Robert O. Bass
Gorden Bent
Bowen Blair
Willard L, Boyd
Mrs. Robert Wells Carton
Stanton R. Cook
O.C. Davis

William R, Dickinson, Jr.
Thomas E. Donnelley II
Marshall Field
Richard M. Jones
Hugo J. Meivoin
Charles F. Murphy, Jr.
Lorin I. Nevling, Jr.
James H. Ransom
John S. Runnells
William L. Searle
Edward Byron Smith
Robert H. Strotz
John W. Sullivan
William G. Swartchild, Jr.
Mrs. Theodore D. Tieken
E. Leiand Webber
Julian B. Wilkins
Blaine J. Yarrington

Life Trustees

Harry O. Bercher
William McCormick Blair
Joseph N. Field
Paul W. Goodrich
Clifford C. Gregg
Samuel InsuU, Jr.
William V. Kahler
WUliam H. Mitchell
John M. Simpson
J. Howard Wood

CONTENTS

April 1982

Volume 53, Number 4

The Northwest Coast Collections: Legacry of
a Living Culture

by Peter L. Macnair

Diagram of Hall 10

"Maritime Peoples of the Arctic and

Northwest Coast" 13-16

Alaskan Native Culture Jburfor Members 19

Maritime Peoples of the Arctic and Northwest Coast

by Carolyn Blackmon, chairman of the Department of

Education, and Ronald L. Weber, visiting assistant

curator of anthropology 20

April and May at Field Museum

Calendar of Coming Events

COVER

Northwest Coast masks on view in Gallery FV, "Spiritual
World," in the exhibit "Maritime Peoples of the Arctic and
Northwest Coast," opening April 24 in Hall 10. (Members'
preview April 22, 23.) Exhibit case shown on front cover
contains Kwakiutl masks; that on the back cover contains
masks of the Tlingit, Haida, and T^imshian. Photo by Ron
Tksta.

Field Museum of Natural History Bulletin (USPS 898-940) U publistied monthly, except combined
July/ August issue, by Field Museum of Natural History, Roosevelt Road at L^ke Shore Drive,
Chicago, n. 60605. Subscriptions: $6.00 annually, $3,00 for schools. Museum membership
includes Bulletin subscription. Opinions expressed by authors are their own and do not
necessarily reflect the policy of Field Museum. Unsolicited manuscripts are welcome. Museum
phone: (312) 922-9410. Postmaster: Please send from 3579 to Field Museum of Natural History,
Roosevelt Road at Uke Shore Drive, Chicago, II. 60605. ISSN:0015-0703.

THE NORTHWEST COAST COLLECTIONS

LEGACY OF A LIVING CULTURE

by Peter L. Macnair

Increasingly, museums are being scrutinized for
the way in which they present and interpret ethno-
graphic material, and rightly so, for the attitudes
of the past often reflect a cultural imperialism that
is generally not acceptable today. Examination of
the records of anv museum established in the

Peter L. Macnair is curator of ethnology at the British
Columbia Provincial Museum, Victoria, B.C. At the open-
ing of Field Museum's new exhibit, "Maritime Peoples of
the Arctic and Northwest Coast," Mr Macnair will serve
as the official representative of the Province of British
Columbia. He will lecture on "Kwakiutl Winter Cere-
monies" on Friday, Ma}' 14, at eight o'clock.

nineteent h century demonstrates clearly an attempt
to amass a large, comprehensiye collection of a way
of life that was rapidly passing. Where collecting
had a scientific basis and was guided by qualified
personnel, the results were gratifvang and provide
helpful information for toda/s student of material
culture. Regrettably, other institutions sought to
impress by sheer numbers alone and such collec-
tions and the display of them remain little more
than cabinets of curiosities.

The discipline of anthropology' was still very
much in its infancy at the end of the nineteenth
century, but pioneers like Franz Boas were leading
the study into a respectable social science. Material

Early photo of
diorama of Hdmatsa,
or cannibal dance, of
the Kwakiutl, as it
appeared when first
installed in 1904. The
diorama may be seen
again today in Gallery
IV, Hall 10. Neg. 16242.
(Color detail shown on
p. 18.) 3

Hdmatsa dress worn

by Bob Harris (left)

and Charles Nowell

(ri^tj, both Kwakiutl

Indians, at 1904 St.

Louis Exposition.

13583

culture was a legitimate interest within anthropol-
ogy and the systematic approach to identifying ma-
terials from which the objects were made, describ-
ing their use, and recording their social context, was
an appropriate curatorial activity. Such documenta-
tion justified the need to preserve apparently dying
arts and customs for future generations.

Inspired by the material culture of Indian and
Eskimo peoples who visited Chicago to demonstrate
their exotic lifeways at the World's Columbian Ex-
position of 1893, Boas helped establish the collection
that forms the core of the Field Museum's holdings.
In many respects his information about the material
of the Northwest Coast Indians is unequalled, and
for this the active participation of native people in
collecting and identifying it must be recognized.
Boas' primary native associate was George Hunt,
from the northern Vancouver Island Kwakiutl vil-
lage of Fort Rupert. Rigorously trained to record

13581

myths, legends, technology, and ceremonial events
in both English and his native language, Hunt pro-
vided a legacy of information that will continue to
overwhelm those seeking to use his contributions.

The Boas-Hunt tradition at the Field Museum
was continued in the first decade of the twentieth
century by a British Columbia-based medical doc-
tor, Charles F. Newcombe, and his Kwakiutl collab-
orator, Charlie Nowell. In 1901, Newcombe was
engaged to add to the Northwest Coast collection
and to plan and prepare exhibits that would feature
the culture of the people of this area. In 1902 he col-
lected mainly Haida material and later added ob-
jects from other tribal groups.

Great expositions continued to hold immense
public interest at this time and Newcombe took
several Kwakiutl and Nootkan Indians to the St.
Louis World's Fair in 1904. He and Charlie Nowell
stopped offin Chicago on their return to the Pacific

Northwest to plan collecting strategy, identify cer-
tain objects, and to discuss the displays that New-
combe was to design for the Field Museum.

Not all the objects Newcombe required could
be obtained from the field. As a result, Nowell and
his Denaktok village associate, Bob Harris, created
certain objects for the displays. The Newcombe cor-
respondence reveals how Charlie was asked to make
a (recentiv constructed) cradle "look old-fashioned"
by eliminating the "whiteman's paint" used to deco-
rate the piece.

Men such as Charlie Nowell had a vast sense of
humour and a flair for the theatrical, and they must
have greatly entertained those midwesterners
whom they came to know through the museum
project. And while performing and working for the
whiteman, they retained a conviction that what
they were offering was part of a real, living, and
viable tradition.

Perhaps the incident of cannibalism at St. Louis
is an indication of the sfxintaneous creativity and yet
serious intent of these roguish early associates
of the Field Museum. Among the many peoples
brought to the fair were a group of pygmies. Bob
Harris, the carver, was fascinated by them and be-
friended one by supplying him with extra food.
The Kwakiutl, assisted by their Nootkan associates,
staged a hamatsa, or cannibal dance for fairgoers.
In this most prestigious of Kwakiutl performances,
the dancer is said to be inspired by the spirit of a
ferocious man-eating njonster, who, at the begin-
ning of time stole humans from a village and took
them to his mountain fastness at the north end of
the world to eat. Inflamed by this awesome spirit-
power, the hamatsa dancer circles the floor of the
ceremonial house and appears to bite the arms of
certain members of the audience.

In time he is subdued by healing songs and the
actions of attendants and is returned to a state of
normalcy. As an alternative to the biting sequence,
the dancer may enter holding a corpse in his arms
and appear to eat it. Yet all of this was simply highly
staged theatre.

But back to the troujje in St. Louis. Bob Harris
was performing as hamatsa when the singers made
a mistake in the song. This angered him and Charlie
Nowell announced this fact to the sizable audience
viewing the performance. Attendants sought to re-
strain the enraged dancer, but he escaped their
grasp and rushed to a point on the stage where their
pygmy friend sat. Harris seized the diminutive fel-
low and rushed behind a painted screen. Then he
reemerged, handling his victim so roughly that the
pygmy screeched in terror. The hamatsa then placed
his captive on the floor and bit his neck so furiously
that blood spurted over the stage. The Kwakiutl
ended the presentation by cutting strips of flesh off
the corpse and eating them.

By all reports the crowd was outraged. Consta-

Haida totem pole
model carved by
Charles Ederishaw, c.
1900. Cat. 79696.

Northwest Coast
whistles. Gallery IV.

bles had to restrain the unfortunate victim's people
from attacking with sjjears. If Nowell is to be be-
lieved, a distraught Newcombe muttered that it was
murder and Harris would be hanged for certain.
Ever the orator, Charlie Nowell announced that his
people had done a great thing and had acted accord-
ing to the dictates of the winter dance.

Somewhat later the group proceeded to their
on-site dance house which quickly filled with fair
officials and curious onlookers. Harris danced
around the fire, shaking his rattle and singing. Then
he moved towards the remains of the unfortunate,
at this point covered by a mat , and sang an incanta-
tion over the body. As he sang, Nowell transla.ted the
words, indicating successively, "that fiesh was now
back on the bones; that the body was entire; and

that the body was finally quite warm." The cover-
ing was suddenly flung aside and the victim sat
up stiffly and slowly began to unlimber his body.
Charlie rose before the audience and addressed
them as follows: "I am very glad to learn that our
friend here, Bob Harris, done this great thing. You all
saw him when he ate the flesh of this little man that
is standing by his side. This is the same man that
was dead, and his flesh was all eaten up. Now he has
his flesh and his life back, and now he is alive. And I
am glad that there will be no law that will come
against us." (From "Smoke from Their Fires, The Life
of a KwakiutI Chief," by Clellan S. Ford, Yale Univer-
sity Press, Inc., 1941.) Sensing the drama of the
situation, Newcombe stood up and delivered a
lengthy speech in which he detailed the elaborate
theatrical achievements and other considerable
accomplishments of the Northwest Coast peoples.

Bob Harris was obviously a master of the theat-
rical prop. Even today his carving skills are remem-
bered. One informant claims his talent was so con-
siderable that when he completed a carving of a
grizzly bear, it transformed into a living animal.
Harris died shortly after this incident. He was a man
who had explored his stagecraft to the point where
people believed it became real, foreshadowing his
demise.

Happily, Nowell reveals the secret of their
amazing performance. Over several days Harris
carefulh' observed the pygmy and created a like
mannequin; he carved a head from wood and
modeled a body by scrupulously dissecting and rear-
ticulating a sheep's carcass, the "body" was then
smoked as a finishing touch. He simulated the
victim's cr\' with a whistle manufactured of wood
and reed and filled a bladder with animal blood for
the final effect.

Bob Harris and Charlie Nowell are but a few of
the great Northwest Coast Indian artists, singers,
orators, and chiefs of the recent past who are still
remembered today. In part, they are recalled
through archival records and anthropological pub-
lications but they also survive in the memories of
those still living who had the good fortune to know
the leading men and women of two or three genera-
tions past. There were many who successfully
bridged two worlds and made both all the richer
for it.

What of the forebears of those native people
who strove to help provide us with a written record
of their magic world? As far back as earliest Euro-
american contact with the northwest coast of North
America, certain jjersonalities emerged to be iden-
tified and described. The majority were chiefs who
quickly sought to control all communication with
the strangers and their novel trade goods. When
Captain James Cook landed on Vancouver Island's
west coast in 1778, he came to know the Moachat
Nootkan Chief named Maquinna. Cook entered ob-

.^jmm Northwest Coast
yM potlatch (detail),
Wl Gallery III.

servations about him and his people in his journals;
his staffartist, a man named John Webber, sketched
various village scapes, house interiors and portraits,
leaving an invaluable record. Some two decades
later an English-born ship's armorer sailing aboard
an American vessel was captured and enslaved bv
the same Maquinna for a period of two years. The
enslaved John Jewitt was eventually rescued and
survived to publish his memoirs, which have since
proved useful in attempts to reconstruct the history
of the early contact period in Maquinna's territory.

Other Euroamericans followed, some like Cap-
tain George Vancouver to assiduously chart the
North Pacific Coast of the continent. Others came to
exploit the sea otter trade, finding they could sell the
lustrous f)elts in China for huge profit. In time, this
source of income was slaughtered to a point of near
extinction and the maritime fur trade collapsed.
However, it was quickly replaced by a more perma-
nent land-based fur trade. This saw the advent of
the Hudson's Bay Company in 1820, and fortified

trading posts soon dotted the coast, continuing to
offer a wide variety of manufactured goods.

All this while the Indians remained in ascen-
dency, manipulating trade to their own advantage
and always outnumbering the whites. Then in 1862
tragedy struck. A ship from San Francisco reached
Fort Victoria with a passenger aboard suffering
from smallpox. Indians from along the entire length
of the coast were visiting Victoria and most con-
tracted the dread disease. As they made their way
northward, often ill and disspirited, they were
attacked by other groups who became unwitting
victims themselves. Unscrupulous traders entered
villages filled with decaying corpses, stripped blan-
kets from bodies and moved on to the next healthy
village to repeat the cycle. This unhappy chapter in
British Columbia's history was quickly over for want
of victims to work upon. Within two years, more
than one third of the native population of what is
now British Columbia died. The ravages of gun-
power, alcohol, mumps, measles, chickenpox.

tuberculosis and other infectious diseases also took
their toll, so that by 1929 the province s native popu-
lation reached an all-time low. This figure of 22,600
was down from a precontact estimate of 85,000.
The Haida living on the Queen Charlotte Islands
suffered most dramatically; they were reduced from
a probable 8,000 to 588 souls in 1915. Given these
figures, recoverv or retention of traditional culture
seemed impossible. Yet, people have tenaciously
held on, maintaining as much as possible despite
the onslaught of disease, and religious and civil
suppression so that today rebirth becomes
significant.

While common aspects of culture and envi-
ronment link the people living on the coast of north-
ern California to southeastern Alaska, major dis-
tinctions exist. Unifying factors include the tracta-
ble, versatile red cedar tree, which provides most of
life's needs: bark for clothing and rope; branches
and roots for withe and basketry; and the sturdy
trunk for houseplanks, canoes, boxes, totem poles,
utensils, and ceremonial objects.

The other constant in this distinct cultural and
ecological area is the salmon. Five species of this
anadramous fish spawn in rivers and streams, the
larger of which penetrate the Coast Range and p)er-
mit access as far as the Rocky Mountains. Additional
fauna and flora contribute importantly to life on
the Northwest Coast although salmon and cedar
prevail.

Yet even in the epicenter of this natural prov-
ince vast discrepancies occur. Certain gulf islands in
Puget Sound and Georgia Strait receive so little rain-
fall that a species of cactus actually flourishes in
isolated rocky areas. At about the time the cactus is
blooming some of the northernmost straits are
choked with flotillas of icebergs, calved off from
glaciers at the head of ^ords.

While it is easy to create the impression of
a moderate climate and an abundance of food,
hunger and even starvation were not unknown to
the coastal peoples. The farther north one travels,
the more rigorous becomes the food quest. The
range in climate between the northern and southern
borders is significant; on the Fraser and Columbia
Rivers, summer-caught salmon can be preserved by
drying in the hot canyon air. lb the north, the much
more labor-intensive method of smoking fish is
required, as the flesh will not cure in the cooler,
moister atmosphere of an Alaskan summer.

Within the vast area are fieoples whose lin-
guistic origins cover at least six language families.
Anthropologists prefer to describe these gross
categories as linguistic groups and from north to
south they include Tlingit, Haida, Tfeimshian,
Kwakiutl, Bella Coola, Nootkan, Coast Salish, and
Chinook. But we are dealing with such a time depth
here that mutually unintelligible languages have
developed within these general categories. For

example, there are actually nine separate languages
among the Coast Salish group although all are ulti-
mately derived from a common tongue.

Given the differences in environment and cul-
ture there is at least one universal denominator and
that is the sea. Its moods range from raging surf
flung by a winter's storm onto the jagged rocks of the
exposed outer coast to protected inland waterways
in summer as still as the sun at noon. Myriad islands
add miles of coastline offering both harbor and
succor. Through these passages Indian people ven-
tured, travelling hundreds of miles to trade, inter-
marry, or make war.

The summer's activities of gathering and fish-
ing saw people disbursed throughout the territory
often functioning independently as small famUy
groups in their pursuit of food. But as winter ap-
proached and gales mixed sea spume and rain as
one, people drew back to the permanent winter
villages and began an intense, introspective life
dominated bv the presence of ancient spirits that
left their mountain, heavenly and mythical retreats
to surround the villages during the sacred wdnter
season.

At this time people assume a new order, intro-
ducing personal names that are used only in the
ceremonial season. Society is ranked in a manner
that often differs from that of the secular summer
months. The mythic encounters of ancestors ac-
quired through descent, marriage, or warfare are
reenacted according to rigid privilege and if disputes
of ownership occur, intensely competitive gift-giving
may result in an attempt to gain supremacy over a
rival.

While the majority of dance dramas relate to
the time when the world was young and animals
could turn at will into human form and back again,
others,which on one level appear to be myths, relate
to actual events.

One lineage of Nishga people living on the Nass
River have a mask that when manipulated causes
the nose to extend almost two feet. The nose is a
telescoping device, controlled by strings. Its use re-
calls a legend that saw a monster step from a cave
and by extending its nose across a river valley, save a
village from a threatening lava flow. The lava beds
are very much in evidence today and geologists indi-
cate the eruption occurred no more than 300 years
ago. Such cataclysmic events demand explanation
and in time they become vested in myth.

When a family intends to display, assume, or
transfer jealously guarded prerogatives, they invite
witnesses to view the event. The presentation of a
series of dances could continue for several weeks
during which time guests must be fed and housed
by the host group. Displays might take place inside
a cedar plank house designed to accommodate as
many as 500 people. Here, at night, illusion was
enhanced by the flicker of firelight. Interplay of light

and shadow was created by the fire which aUer-
nately highlighted and obscured the magnificent
sculptural planes of carved masks and other stage
properties. Actors fell into the fire, were horribly
burned and then miraculously made whole. Women
were beheaded and then recreated. Sea monsters
festooned with kelp came trumpeting out of the sea
while small birds flew through the dance house
calling to one another.

Once the dance privileges were shown, the host
was required to distribute food and wealth goods to
his guests. By accepting the gifts, which were pre-
sented according to rank, the guests acknowledged
their host's claim to his entitlements. Thus, the
host's status was validated by the public witness of
his guests.

The apparent orgy of gift-giving horrified civil
and religious authorities, who petitioned the Cana-
dian government to ban the institution known as
the potlatch. Legislation was first attempted in 1884

but it was not until the earlv twentieth centurv that
individuals were successfully charged and jailed for
participating in events that encompassed all aspects
of society: ceremonial, religious, ritual, economic, -
and social.

1>emendous moral and legal pressure was put
up)on Indian jjeople to give up their old ways. The
fires of the human heart grew dim, yet many per-
sisted and were able to carry over important knowl-
edge oflanguage, culture, and tradition to the pres-
ent day. In 1951 the Canadian Indian Act was rewrit-
ten and the repressive sections against the potlatch
were simply deleted. Descendents of the determined
few are again standing where Charlie Nowell and
Bob Harris once stood. As did their forebears, they
have contributed substantially to the creation of a
magnificent new exhibit and have demonstrated
that the cooperation with native peoples established
as a precedent more than 75 years ago continues to
be a hallmark of the Field Museum. D

Carved argillite dish
Haida.Diam. 13~li
inches; 1894 gift of
J. L. Gould. Cat.
17952. Neg. 102063.

Field Museum Store

GALLERY 9

Museum Members and the general public are invited to a new
exhibition selling of the finest art works by top artists and
craftsmen of the Arctic and Pacific Northwest. The gallery
opening coincides with the opening of Hall 1 0.
Artists represented include:

Primrose Adams
Larry Avakana
Steve Brown
Joe David
Robert Davidson
Dorothy Grant
Calvin Hunt
Henry Hunt
Tony Hunt
Tony Hunt, Jr
Nathan Jackson
Jo^n Livingston

Melvin Olanna
Duane Pasco
Katie Pasco
Selina Peratrovich
Bill Reid
Cheryl Samuel
Jim Schoppert
Joe Senengetuck
Ron Senengetuck
Norman Tait
Art Thompson

All from British Columbia, Alaska, and Washington,
their works here assembled present a stunning array
of talent never before seen in Chicago. Included are
wood carvings, masks, jewelry totems, baskets,
weavings, serigraphs, and button blankets.

Gallery 9 Hours: 1 1-5 or by special appointment.

Museum Store Remodeled

The Museum Store, newly remodeled, is again open. A new
section, featunng choice items related to special exhibitions,
currently features a wide vanety of merchandise from the
Arctic and the Pacifc Northwest or related to the cultures
of those regions.

25 8«n. Poll aarortca. AlaV>a

Gallery III, "Village and Society. " Portion of exhibit showing personal adornment and clothing of Eskimos. Ron Testa photo.

Gallery III, "Village and Society." Portion of exhibit featuring ceremonial dress of Northwest Coast peoples is shown. Robe
in center belonged to Kasawak (Edwin Scott), a Haida chief. Behind the robe, on the wall, is a Haida button blanket. Ron
Testa photo.

Maritime Peoi

FISHING,HUNTING
and GATHERING

HALL 3

HALL 4

I Peoples of the Northwest Coast
Eskimo Peoples
Eskimo and Northwest Coast Peoples

£s OF THE Arctic & Nori

Hall 10

VILLAGE and SOCIETY

SPIRITUAL WORLI

ATION
ESS

KWAKIUTL HOUSE
everyday life

EMENT
ERNS

ERS
ARE

DOLLS and TOYS

KWAKIUTL HOUSE
ceremonial life

"^y-^y^

PERSONAL
ADORNMENT

HOUSE
^TYPES

CEREMONIAL
DRESS --^

PIPES
GAMES

HOUSEHOLD EQUIP-
MENT and TOYS

POTLATCH
('■gift-giving')

SALISH SPIRIT
CANOE CEREMONY

RATTLES WHISTLES
THEATRICS/

CHARMS KWAKIUTL

WINTER CEREMONY

SHAMAN'S
/ EQUIPMENT

bench audiovisual

unit

DE
kan

SETTLEMENT
PATTERNS

PERSONAL ADORNMENT
and CLOTHING

SKIN-WORKING

ESKIMO HOUSE

N(
No

DEATH and BURIAL

SHAMANISM
5HAMAN TRAINING

SHAMAN

DRUMS

HAMATSA

Tlingit, I
Tsims

bench) ^^'

bench

SHAMAN'S
EQUIPMENT

CEREMONIES
and FESTIVALS

bench

SHAMAN MA

HALLS

HALL 6

HALL 7

HWEST Coast

ART

KWAKIUTL
sITER CEREMONIAL

FKAN WINTER

^EMONIALS

an, Salish,

linook

'.SKS—

Bella
Coola

\SKS
■akiutlX

TWO-DIMENSIONAL ART
I SCULPTURE

BOXES

BOWLS

.VISUAL PLAY

SPOONS and LADLES-

PAINTING
BEAR in ART

BOX- and CANOE'
I MAKING

I V

BASKETS

MATS

BASKETWEAVING
MATERIALS

WOODWORKING

HORN-WORKING BASKET- and MAT-
WEAVING

ICONOGRAPHY

la, OTHER CEREMONIAL
T EOUIPMENT

/isual

lit

TOTEM
(Tlingit)

ENGRAVING

tr®

ee®

TOTEMS
akiuti and Hai

ART of
CHARLES EDENSHAW

GOLD and SILVER

ARGILLITE

PRINTS and
SCULPTURES

SERI-
GRAPHS

TOTEMS
(Nootkan)

audiovisual
unit

e ®

® ®

TOTEMS TOTEMS
(Bella Coola) (Salish)

bench

BLANKET-WEAVING SKIN-WORKING

bench

BLANKETS

HALLS

HALL 9

Gallery IV, "Spiritual World. " Life-size representation of Eskimo shaman dancing. Ron Testa photo.

Gallery IV, "Spiritual World." Diorama of Hdmatsa Society ceremony (Kwakiutl). The diorama was constructed in 1904, its
seven mannequins reproduced from life casts made on Vancouver Island, B.C., in 1899. Ron Testa photo.

June 18 -July 2

June 22: Early morning wildlife tour in
park; early afternoon motorcoach to
Fairbanks. Overnight Captain Bartlett
Hotel.

railway to Skagway. Free time to sight-
see, then to Klondike Hotel for overnight.
June 26: 5-hour boat curise to Juneau; to
Baranof Hotel for overnight, with stop at
Mendenhall Glacier enroute. Late after-
noon walking and van tour, including
historic district, gold mine, government
buildings; .outdoor salmon bake dinner.
Overnight Baranof Hotel.
June 27: Morning tour of Alaska State
Museum. Afternoon program on Alaska
Native Land Claims Settlement Act and
current native economic conditions.
Board cruise shipM.V. Statendam in late
afternoon. Meals on board begin with
dinner Cruise ship departs 11:00 p.m.
(Statendam is 25,000-ton luxury liner.)
June 28: Day of cruising on Glacier Bay;
lecture room provided to the group.
June29: Portofcall: Sitka. Special tour of
Sheldon Jackson Museum, National
Park Service exhibits, totem collection,
Russian Orthodox church, Baranof Cas-
tle site.

June 30: Cruising off British Columbia
coast.

Our tour leader will be Dr. Margaret
B. Blackman, associate professor of
anthropology at SUNY-College at
Brockport, New York, an authority on
native cultures of the Northwest Coast
and Alaska.

Maritime peoples of the arctic and northwest coast

A New Permanent Exhibit in Hall 10

by Carolyn Blackmon and Ronald L. Weber

Gau-erv ///. Cutaway

replica ofKwakiutl

house, with daily-life

20 fiimishings.

Maritime Peoples of the Arctic and Northwest Coast
marks a new era for Field Museum. It is the first
major permanent collection to be reinstalled in
over forty years, and it signifies the beginning of
a new exhibit renovation program.

The Northwest Coast Indian and Eskimo
collections are of high importance for their
richness and diversity in materials, design,
craftsmanship, and regional variation. Collected
primarily for the World's Columbian Exposition of
1893, the artifacts represent these cultures between
1850 and 1920.

The five galleries within the exhibit follow a
structured approach to man in his several cultural
modes: people live within a space — their environ-
ment; they use their environment to obtain food by
fishing, hunting, and gathering; they devise shelter,
live in villages, and form a structured society; they
deal with the spiritual world and explain their
existence on the basis of religious belief; tools are

Carolyn Blackmon is chairman of the Department of
Education, Ronald L. Weber is visiting assistant curator.
Department of Anthropology'.

made and decorated, and works of art are created.
The Museum has used an innovative efTort in
combining the artifacts with appropriate infor-
mation. The challenge was to determine types
of visitor use and needs across the spectrum of
organized school groups to the casual visitor.
A strategy was devised to present three levels
of information that support the main themes.
Level I is reflected in the individual gallery titles
and large dynamic exhibits that present a major
concept or idea. Level II exhibits, surrounding
the central theme, are concerned with the
many separate stories that support the main
idea. These exhibits contain labels that often
call out special interest items. Level III provides
peripheral study areas that display similar

objects which were used for a specific purpose.
The exhibit floor plan (center spread, pp.
14-16) provides an overview of the strategy.

Assigning appropriate names for tribal and
other cultural groups within the context of the
exhibit, was not a routine matter. Some Canadian
Eskimos prefer to be know^n as Inuit, meaning
"real people" in their language. The Algonkian
-word Eskimo , meaning "raw flesh eaters," is
the only term that properly designates all of the
native inhabitants of the arctic area from Alas-
ka to Greenland. So Eskimo has been used in
the exhibit for all people of this region. The
misconception that all Eskimos share a close,
common identity derives from an external
vievi^oint; there is no single expression used

Gallery II. Alaskan
Eskimo fishing
equipment. 21

Gallery V. Northwest
Coast basketry.

bv Eskimos that lumps all of them together
in such a convenient fashion.

The same linguistic problem prevailed in
finding suitable cultural tags for peoples of the
Northwest Coast area. Today, those who speak
the Nootkan language prefer to be known as

"West Coast People" (west coast of Vancouver
Island). The word nootka has no meaning in
their language. But because the designation

"West Coast People" may be too easily confused
with "Northwest Coast People," the name
Nootkan — meaning Nootka speakers — has
been used throughout the exhibit.

•fS

Introduction

In the first two miniature dioramas, dealing solely
with the natural environment of the Arctic and
Northwest Coast, man is absent. However, the
resources which man depended upon are included
in detail. In "Prehistory," man is introduced into
both the Arctic and Northwest Coast areas. "His-
tory of Peoples" shows the history of European con-
tacts with Arctic and Northwest Coast peoples,
from a European as well as an Indian perspective,
and "History of Collections" considers how the
collection -originated. A short film about the
peoples of Alaska and the Northwest Coast as
thev live today completes the Introduction.

Fishing, Hunting, and Gathering

The two central dioramas present the chief
subsistence activities of the Eskimo, (sea hunt-

Gallery II. Model of
Nootkan salmon trap.

Gallery IV. Alaskan
Eskimo shaman
masks.

Gallery V. Alaskan
Eskimo walrus tusk
I engraving. Two lower
I pieces are carved as
'ttt' a cribbage boards.

ing) and of Northwest Coast peoples (salmon
fishing). Level II cases show fishing technology,
food gathering, and transportation, among
others. A 16-foot Nootkan style salmon fishing
canoe is on view, complete with paddles, boxes,
and hooks. The boat was built specially for the
new exhibit by Lance Wilkie, a Makah Indian
of Neah Bay, Washington; baskets and mats
made by Margaret Irving, also a Makah, of Neah
Bay, have been placed in the canoe.

Level III study areas contain halibut hooks,
trap sticks, and clubs for use on seals and fish.
The Eskimo side of the gallery contains materials
concerned with land hunting, whaling, fishing,
transportation, and the hunting and utilization
of the seal. This gallery joins Hall 4, where one
may find general information on Pre-Columbian
American Indian food gathering patterns.

Village and Society

The replicas of Eskimo and Kwakiutl houses are
constructed in cutaway fashion. On the Northwest
Coast side are the two side-by-side Kwakiutl house

Gallery IV.

Accoutrements of

Kwakiutl winter

ceremony.

replicas, identical in structure; the first contains
the materials of daily life, the second is arranged
for ceremonial activities. In the daily-life replica,
fronted with glass, a woman in calico tends a fire
as she prepares to roast mussels. In the house's
sleeping room, left rear, two men are passing the
time at gambling. A mixture of traditional and
European goods are to be seen about the house.
The houseposts have the raven crest on top.

The ceremonial house is a walk-in exhibit,
furnished only with an elaborately designed,
portable, three-sectioned ceremonial dance screen
that features the raven crest. A large, circular hole
in the screen's center reveals a number of masks
behind it. The houses were constructed on site for
the exhibit by Kwakiutl Indians Tony and Calvin
Hunt, and John Livingston; the masks were made
by Doug Cranmer and Richard Hunt, also
Kwakiutls.

On the west wall we find a cutaway replica
of a subterranean Eskimo house. The Village and

Society gallery enters directly into Hall 5, which
contains the Museum's renowned Pawnee earth
lodge. Thus, three distinct North American house
types, all within close proximity to one another,
may be readily compared. Settlement patterns,
house types, trade, warfare, clothing, personal
adornment, toys, games, and pipes are also here.
An exhibit of the potlatch (gift-giving) prepares
the visitor for the next gallery, the Spiritual World.

Spiritual World

To the right we see a representation of an Eskimo
shaman dancing. A few steps beyond, and to the
left, we are confronted by the arresting figure of a
Kwakiutl Hamatsa initiate and dancer emerging
from a dance screen. This diorama, with seven
life-size mannequins, was completed in 1904. The
figures were modeled from life casts made on
Vancouver Island in 1899. Nearby cases provide

90P*%

information on shamanism, curing, and the winter
ceremony. Beyond the Hamatsa diorama we come
upon an awesome collection of spectacular masks,
arranged by region of origin.

Art

Twenty-three towering totem poles and houseposts
carved by Tlingit, Haida, Bella Coola, Kwakiutl,
Salish, and Nootkan artists dominate the area.
Exhibits include animal crests, two- and three-
dimensional art forms, transformation themes
in art, and the working of wood, horn, skin, argil-
lite, and metals. The division of labor between
men and women is treated in sections on mat-
making, basketry, and blanket-weaving. An exhibit
of serigraphs, hand-silk-screened prints, features
the current renaissance of Northwest Coast art.
A case devoted to the artist as an individual pre-
sents works by John Robson, Charles Edenshaw,
and his descendant the contemporarv Robert
Davidson. The gallery also contains works by John

Cross, Doug Cranmer, Joe Daxdd, Stan Green, Bill
Reid, Roy Vickers,Johnny-Kit-Elswa, and Xa'niyus
(Bob Harris), in addition to many fine pieces by
unknown artists.

Level III study areas containing boxes,
bowls, spoons, baskets, mats, and blankets display
superb pieces of artistry and craftsmanship. Since
Eskimo artists generally work on a small scale,
ivory engraving and stone-carving, the section
dealing with their creations is on a correspond-
ingly small scale. Among the contemporary
Eskimo artists represented are Kingmeata,
Kakulu, and Joseph Senungetuk.

Major funding for "Maritime Peoples of the
Arctic and Northwest Coast" has been provided
by grants from the National Endowment for the
Humanities, with additional funding from the
National Endowment for the Arts, Chicago Park
District, the Barker Welfare Foundation, the Robert
R. McCormick Charitable Trust, and the Frederick
Henr\' Prince Testamentary Trust. D

Gallery I. Diorama of
Northwest Coast
environment.

April & May at Field Museum

Apnl 16 to May 15

Neiv Exhibits

"Maritime Peoples of the Arctic and Northwest
Coast." Hall 10. A dramatic new, permanent exhibit
opens April 24! This innovative exhibit compares and
contrasts the theatrically ornate cultures from the
North Pacific Coast with the austere but individu-
alistic Eskimo societies. Situated along the 5,000-
mile coast of the Northern Pacific and Arctic
oceans, these two distinct cultures have adapted
to differing environments by using similar tech-
niques to harvest the riches of the rivers and oceans.

Enter the Introductory Gallery (I) from Hall 3
on the northeast corner of Stanley Field Hall. Here
the lush forested Northern Pacific area is compared
to the barren tundra of the Arctic. The Northwest
Coast Indians and the Eskimos both lived by hunting
and fishing; they never depended on agriculture.
How they hunted, fished, and gathered from the
land and sea is explained in Gallery II. Full-sized
house replicas of each group are featured in the
Village and Society Galleiy (III). The Spiritual World
Gallery (IV) defines the inter-relationships of the
human, animal, and spiritual world. In the final
gallery (V) the stunning art of the Northwest Coast
Natives and Eskimos is dramatically presented.
The towering totem poles and tiny scrimshawlike
engravings exemplify the rich artistic heritage
of these groups.

Here is an exhibit you'll enjoy at a leisurely pace,
but will want to return to again and again.

Gallery Nine. Special exhibit area in front of Hall 9.
An art gallery for viewing and purchasing. The work
of the 21 modern Northwest Coast and Eskimo art-
ists on display represents an exciting renaissance in
their art. From April 24 to May 25.

Museum Bookstore. Look for the newly remodeled
Museum gift and book shop facilities when visiting
the Maritime Peoples exhibit.

"Maritime Peoples of the Arctic

and Northivest Coast"

S{)ecial Programs

Contemporary Arts Symposium. "Echoes of the Past,
Tides of Change." Five noted Northwest Coast Indian
and Eskimo artists speak authoritatively about the
state of North America's richest and most famous
artistic heritage. A related Learning Museum event.
Sunday, April 18, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Members: $6.
Nonmembers: $8.

Northwest Coast Lecture Series. "Strategies of So-
ciety: Social Organization." The second lecture series

concentrates on the social structures of Northwest
coast tribes and how their art is integrated into those
societies. You may attend the whole series or any
individual lecture. Each lecture is given by a leading
authority on native cultures of the Northwest. En-
trance for these 8 p.m. lectures is through the West
door. The series is $9 for Members and $12 for non-
members. Single lecture is $3; $4 for nonmembers.
May 14: "Kwakiutl Winter Ceremonies," bv Peter
Macnair, Curator of Anthropology, British Columbia
Provincial Museum, Victoria, British Columbia.

Opening Festivities

Member's Preview. Hall 10. April 22 and 23, from
1 p.m. to 9 p.m. Hilary Stewart, consultant for the
exhibit's labels will be on hand to discuss the exhibit.
The West Coast Singers and Dancers from British
Columbia will perform on Thursday only (April 22)
from 4 to 5 p.m.

Pole Raising. Outside Museum's North entrance at
1 p.m. In honor of this new exhibit, Field Museum
will erect its first outdoor artifact — a 55-foot totem
pole named "Big Beaver," carved by Nishga artist
Norman Tait. The pole-raising will be accomplished
with traditional native ceremonies. April 24 at 1 p.m.

Ceremonl^l D.-\nces. Stanley Field Hall. A group
of Nishga dancers will perform dances like those
which commemorate important events in tribal life,
to dramatize the totem pole raising. April 24 and
25 at 3 p.m.

Kwakiutl Dances. Stanley Field Hall. See a Museum
exhibit come to life! Kwakiutl winter ceremony
dances will be performed just as they are pictured
in the exhibit. April 25 at 11 a.m.

Craft Demonstrations. Stanley Field Hall. Some of
the Kwakiutl and Nishga dancers are also excellent
artists. They will demonstrate in a variety of media
using regional materials such as wood, bone, and
grasses. April 25 at noon.

New Programs

Dinosaur Scavenger Hunt— A Weekend Family
Program. Participants can go on a "dig" in Field
Museum's Dinosaur Hall (Hall 38) by using a spe-
cially prepared self-guided tour. Volunteers and
staff will be on hand to help families discover
more about these fascinating creatures. Tour

Lifesize mannequin of
Kwakiutl Hdmatsa Soci-
ety initiate, in Hall 10,
Gallery IV ("Spiritual
World"). Initiates, clothed
just in hemlock boughs,
were inducted only dur-
ing the society's winter
ceremonials.

begins at the head of the Apatosaurus, the largest
dinosaur, in Hall 38. April 17 and 18 from 1 to 3 p.m.

Edward E. AyerFilm Lecture Series. The Spring
1982 series of these popular adult-oriented travel
films is beginning at a new time — 1:30 p.m. Admis-
sion is free through the West Door. Members receive
priority seating.
April 17: "South and East Africa" with

Ted Bumiller.
April 24: "Himalayan Odyssey" with

Frank Klicar.

Spring Journey. "A Touch of Field Museum." This
self-guiding tour covers such touchable exhibits as
bones, meteorites, and polar bears. Free Journey
pamphlets available at Museum entrances.

Weekend Discovery Programs. Tours, craft proj-
ects, slide presentations, and films which use Field
Museum exhibits as a springboard for new insights
into natural history projects are featured on Satur-
days and Sundays. Check Weekend Sheet available at
Museum entrances for added programs.

1 p.m. "Malvina Hoffman." Film and
slide lecture concentrates on Portraits
of Mankind collection commissioned
by Field Museum.

1 p.m. "The World of Dinosaurs." Tour
of dinosaur collection covers basic facts
and some speculations.

1 p.m. "Dragons." Tour compares the
dragons of Tibet and China with those
from the West.

2 p.m. "Tibetan Life and Rehgion." Slide
lecture contrasts Tibet today with tra-
ditional life. Tour of Museum's Tibetan
collection will follow lecture.

11:30 a.m. "Ancient Egypt." Tour explores
everyday life from myths to mummies.

1 p.m. "The Brontosaurus Story." Slide
program surveys dinosaurs and other
prehistoric animals.

2 p.m. "Malvina Hoffman." Film and
slide lecture.

May 15 3 p.m. "Life in Ancient Egypt." Tour
introduces newly installed exhibit and
describes practices of Nile Valley inhab-
itants such as mummification.

Continuing Programs

Volunteer Opportunities. Individuals with scien-
tific interests and backgrounds are needed to work in
various Museum departments. Contact the Volun-
teer Coordinator, 922-9410, ext. 360.

April and May Hours. In April, the Museum is open
daily 9a.m. toSp.m., except Fridays. During May,
the Museum is open every day 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.,
except Fridays. On Fridays, throughout the year, the
Museum is open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The Museum Library is open weekdays 9 a.m. to 4
p.m. Obtain a pass at the reception desk, main floor.

Museum Telephone.- (312) 922-9410

.r\

Field Museum of Natural History Bulletin

May 1982

W-

Field Museum
of Natural History
Bulletin

Published by

Field Museum of Natural History

Founded 1893

Presidetit: Willard L. Boyd
Director: Lorin I. Nevling, Jr.

Editor/Designer: David M. Walsten
Production Liaison: Kathryn Laughlin
Calendar: Mary Cassai
Staff PJwtographer: Ron Testa

Board of Trustees

James J. O'Connor

chairmaji
Mrs. T. Stanton Armour
George R. Baker
Robert O. Bass
Gorden Bent
Bowen Blair
Willard L. Boyd
Mrs. Robert Wells Carton
Stanton R. Cook
O.C. Davis

William R. Dickinson, Jr.
Thomas E. Donnelley II
MarshaU Field
Richard M. Jones
Hugo J. Melvoin
Charles F. Murphy, Jr.
Lorin I, Nevling, Jr.
James H. Ransom
John S. Runnells
William L. Searle
Edward Byron Smith
Robert H. Strotz
John W. Sullivan
William G. Swartchild, Jr.
Mrs. Theodore D. Tieken
E. Leland Webber
Julian B. WiUdns
Blaine J. Yarrington

Life Trustees

Harry O. Bercher
Joseph N. Field
Paul W. Goodrich
Clifford C. Gregg
Samuel Insull, Jr.
WilUam V. Kahler
William H. Mitchell
John M. Simpson
). Howard Wood

CONTENTS

May 1982

Volume 53, Number 5

Charles Darwin: A Tribute from the Standpoint
of Modem Evolutionary Theory

by Bruce D. Patterson, assistant curator.
Division of Mammals

Thinking Scientifically

by John Tirrell, associate curator.
Department of Anthropology

Alaska Tburfor Members

8
13

Philippine Emergerwe

Learning Museum Program

by Bennett Bronson, associate curator. Department

of Anthropology and Anthony Pfeiffer,

project coordinator

Theatre Sans Fil

Giant Puppet Show Comes to Field Museum
June 26, 27

Field Museum Tour to Australia

18
19

Sorrte Responses to Early Contact
on the Pacific Northwest Coast

by Marlene Mussell

Our Environment

20
25

Field Museum Tburs to Kenya and
to the Baraboo Range

May andjune at Field Museum

Calendar of Coming Events

COVER

Hollow bronze representation of the ancient E^ptian god
Horns inform of a falcon. The bird wears the sacred cobra,
or uraeus, emblematic of sovereignty, and the double crown
of united E^pt. Eyes are overlaid with gold. About actual
size. On view in case 17, HallJ. Gift of Stanley Field andEmest
R. Graham. Cat. no. 173231.

PHOTO CREDITS. Cover: NP148; p. 3, 4, 9: courtesy Bettmann Archive lnc.^_10
Historical Pictures Service, Chicago; p 11- Bettmann A'ch^ Inc. P.l^ ^44375,
p. 15: N21450; p. 16: N23491; p. 17 (top): N22067; p. ^^ (bottom). N23248^18
Thpatre Sans FiT D 19 Qantas; p. 20: National Mantime Museum, p 21 N10t3b/J
^11 N1^66 p'^23 N108468; p. 26 (top): Edward Olsen; p 26 (bottom): Audrey
Faden.

Field Musfum of Natunl History Butlriin (USPS 89S-940) is putjtished monthly, except combined
July/ August issue, by Field Museum of Natural History, Roosevelt Road at Uke Shore Drive,
Chicago, n 60605 Subscriptions: $6.00 annually »3.00 for schools. Museum membership
indudes Bullelm subscription Opmions expressed by authors are their own and do not
necessarily reflect the policy of Field Museum. UnsoUcited manuscripts are welcome Museum
phone (312) 922-9410. Postmaster: Please send from 3579 to Field Museum of Natural History,
Roosevelt Road at Uke Shore Drive, Chicago, II. 60605 lSSN:001S-0703. Second class postage
paid at Chicago, n.

Charles Darwin: A Tribute

from the Standpoint

of Modern Evolutionary Theory

by Bruce D. Patterson
Assistant Curator, Division of Mammals

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On April 19, 1882, Charles Darwin died; he was
in the 74th year of his life. Plagued by infirmities
for much of his adult life, Darwin had led a life
of quiet reflection at his family home in Down,
England. Darwin's thinking was to produce a
revolution in the way in which we view nature
and ourselves. Perhaps no other scientist in
history has so radically reordered human aware-
ness. The centennial of Darwin's death presents
an occasion for the celebration of human achieve-
ment and genius.

Darwin's insights into evolutionary phe-
nomena were nothing short of remarkable. His

Bruce Patterson, who joined the Field Museum staff in 1981,
IS the recent recipient of the James H. Davis Prize, awarded
by the Graduate School of New Mexico State University, Las
Cruces, for his doctoral dissertation.

Charles Darwin,
age 61

theory of evolution via natural selection was
simplicity itself: 1) All biological populations are
variable in myriad characteristics relevant to
survival and reproduction; this variability is in
part heritable. 2) Each biological population
produces vastly greater numbers of offspring
than are necessary for the replacement of the
parental population (Darwin calculated that the
descendants of a single pair of slow-breeding
elephants would number more than 19 million
after as little as 750 years, were each to survive
and reproduce). Thus, 3) there must be a con-
stant "struggle for existence" in which favored
variations come to predominate in populations
via differential survival and reproduction. While
the two tenets of evolution via natural selection
were well established prior to Darwin, it took

Alfred Russel Wallace

(1823-1913),

co-discoverer of the

theory of evolution by

natural selection.

Darwin's genius to combine them in such a way
as to conclude that living organisms should be
embroiled in unceasing evolutionary change.

The inherent plausibility of evolution by
natural selection was, however, not sufficient to
sway a skeptical scientific and public audience.
Darwin opened his first notebook on facts in
relation to the origin of species in July, 1837,
shortly after returning from the now-famous
voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle. He was to spend
much of the following two decades amassing
evidence for his ideas on the mutability of spe-
cies. During this period of incubation, Darwin
wrote numerous scholarly works, on such dis-
parate topics as the formation of coral reefs, the
nature of earthquakes, the actions of earth-
worms, and the systematics of barnacles.

Darwin's theory on the origin of species
was presented to the scientific community in
abstract form in the company of a nearly identi-
cal, but independently derived, version written
by Alfred Russel Wallace. The two papers on

natural selection were published simultaneously
in the fournal of the Proceedings of the Linnean
Society in 1858. Much later, Darwin was to write
that "our joint publications excited very little
attention.... This shows how necessary it is that
any new view should be explained at considera-
ble length in order to arouse public attention."

The Origin of Species, the single most influ-
ential work of Darwin's career, was pubhshed
the following year, in November, 1859. The first
edihon of 1,250 copies sold out on the day of
publication, and a second edition of 3,000 copies
soon afterwards. By 1876, 16,000 copies of the
book had been sold in England, and translations
of the book had appeared in most European
languages. In his personal letters, Darwin re-
ferred to this work as an "abstract" of a longer,
more definitive work on the same subject —
perhaps the Origin can be seen as an abstract of
all his scientific work, the theme about which
his various studies were drawn.

The 1860s saw the publication of four other
books by Darwin. These were followed in Feb-
ruary, 1871, by the publication of the Descent of
Man. In the introduction to that work, Darwin
stated: "During many years I collected notes on
the origin or descent of man, without any inten-
tion of publishing on the subject, but rather
with the determination not to publish, as I
thought that I should thus only add to the prej-
udices against my views. It seemed to me suffi-
cient to indicate, in the first edition of my 'Origin
of Species,' that by this work 'light would be
thrown on the origin of man and his history';
and this implies that man must be included
with other organic beings in any general conclu-
sion respecting his manner of appearance on
this earth." Emboldened by the general acclaim
given the Origin by contemporary scientists,
Darwin published the application of this general
theory to human evolution.

The Descent of Man produced a radical
change in human perception of the natural order,
overthrowing the concept of man's sovereignty
over nature that had prevailed in philosophy
since the dawn of civilization. By affirming our
kinship with nature, our place amid countless
other species of organisms in a system of ever-
branching genealogy, Darwin stole our domin-
ion but bequeathed us an extended family. More
than a century later, we still feel the profound
impact of this philosophical revolution.

We at Field Museum are especially indebted
to Charles Darwin. His theory of evolution
makes intelligible a vast body of scientific obser-
vations: it defines the way in which we view the
interrelationships of organisms, and even the
way that specimens are arranged in our research
collections (scienhsts use genealogy as an order-

Darwin spent eight years (1846-54) studyingyarious species of barnacles, and pub-
lished two large monographs on the subject. Those shown here are from an 1851 edi-
tion. In his autobiography he noted that "The Cirripedes form a highly varying and
difficult group of species to class; and my work zvas of considerable use to me, when I
had to discuss in the Origin of Species the principles of a natural classification."

ing principle much as librarians use the Library
of Congress classification system). Many of the
questions Darwin raised in the nineteenth cen-
tury still persist as the most fundamental and
challenging questions in biology. These ques-
tions serve as focuses of scientific debate, and
comprise the basis for much of the research
conducted by curators at the Field Museum.
Among them are:

• What is the tempo of evolutionary change?
Does evolution proceed by gradual, incremental,
and continous changes, or is change a sudden
phenomenon followed by extended periods of
evolutionary tranquility?

• Why are there gaps in the fossil record, where
we look for evolutionary intermediates? Are
these attributable to imperfections of the fossil
record or to the mechanism of evolution?

Darwin's view of the

formation of barrier

reefs and atolls in

consequence of the

subsidence of islands

was first published in

1842; an initial stage

in this geological

process, shown here,

is from that study.

Darwin later wrote

"No other work of

mine was begun in so

deductive a spirit as

this, for the whole

theory was thought out

on the west coast of

South America, before

I had seen a true coral

reef. I had therefore

only to verify and

extend my views by a

careful examination of

living reefs"

• What is the basis for major evolutionary
novelties (such as the power of flight or image-
forming eyes)? Do these result from a steady
accumulation of minor genetic changes or from
the single occurrence of a "macromutation?"

• How much of evolutionary change can be
attributed to adaptation, and how much must
be ceded to historical artifacts, structural cor-
relations, and genetic drift?

• Is there a tendency toward greater complex-
ity of organization or perfection in evolutionary
sequences? Are evolutionary survivors more
adapted than extinct forms, or were they luckier
in avoiding randomly occurring extinctions?

• What are the units of selection? While natural
selection clearly operates among individuals of
a population, can it also operate at the level of
genes, chromosomes, populations, and species?

• How closely should biological classifications
reflect relationships based on descent ("clad-
ism") versus relationships based on similarity
("gradism")?

• What is "altruism" in an evolutionary sense?
Do units of selection ever behave in such a way
as to endanger their own prospects of genetic

representation in subsequent generations?

• What is the role of competition in ecological
communities? Is competition an on-going pro-
cess or do competitive problems demand evolu-
tionary solutions?

• What is the basis for species abundance?
Why are some species rare and others greatly
abundant?

In 1979 and 1980, the research staff at Field
Museum published more than 120 books and
articles on natural history. (To give some notion
of scale to this production, the 21 papers pub-
lished in Fieldiana — the Museum's continuing
monograph series — totalled almost 3,400 pages!)
Virtually all of these works have bearing on
evolutionary theory, serving to further develop
and refine Darwin's vision of life. The enormous
research efforts directed towards evolutionary
theory by scientists at Field Museum and else-
where serve as testaments to Darwin's genius
and understanding.

Darwin closed his Origin of Species on a
philosophical note that has become the basis for
biophilosophy, or the philosophy of life: "There
is grandeur in this view of life, with its several
powers, having been originally breathed by the
Creator into a few forms or into one; and that,
whilst this planet has gone cycling on according
to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a
beginning endless forms most beautiful and
most wonderful have been, and are being
evolved ."D

J^13®e

Darwin clearly perceived the underlying similarity between nature's selection of favorable variations and that vracticed by
farmers and ranchers everywhere; this analogy was central to his theory. "Variation under domestication" was the title of the
first chapter of the Origin of Species as well as the subject of a book published in 1868, from which this illustration is taken .The
science of genetics, which would subsequently prove fully complementary to Darwin's theory, was also an outgrowth of the
study of domesticated varieties.

Field Museum Library Holdings of the
Works of Charles Darwin

BOOKS

The Zoology of the Voyage of the H. M.S. 'Beagle,' Underthe
Command of Captain Fitzroy, R.N., during the Years 1832
to 1836. London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1939-1943.
Geological Observations on the Volcanic Islands and Parts
of South America Visited during the Voyage of H. M.S.
'Beagle.' Srd. ed. New York: D. AppletonandCo., 1891.
Journal of Researches into the Natural History and Geology
of the Countries Visited during the Voyages Round the
World of H.M.S. 'Beagle.' 2nd ed. London: John
Murray, 1890.

The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs. 3rd ed. New
York: D. Appleton and Co., 1889.
The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. 3rd.
ed. London: John Murray, 1861.

On the Various Contrivances by which Orchids are Fertilized
by Insects. 2nd ed., rev. New York: D. Appleton and
Co., 1892.

The Movements and Habits of Climbing Plants. 2nd ed.
New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1893.
The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication.
Isted., 1st issue. London: John Murray, 1868.
The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex. 1st
American ed. New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1871.
The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, (n.i.).
New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1894.
Insectivorous Plants. 1st American ed. New York:
D. Appleton and Co., 1875.

The Effects of Cross' and Self-fertilization in the Vegetable
Kingdom, (n.i.). New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1892.
The Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same Spe-
cies, (n.i.). New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1893.
The Formation of Vegetable Mould, through the Action of
Worms, with Observations on their Habits. 1st ed. Lon-
don: John Murray, 1881.

MONOGRAPHS

"A Monograph on the Fossil Lepadidae or Peduncu-
lated Cirripedes of Great Britain." Paleontographical Soci-
ety, 1851.

"A Monograph on the Sub-class Cirripedia, with Fig-
ures of all the Species." Ray Society, 1851-1854.
"A Monograph on the Fossil Balanidae and Verrucidae
of Great Britain." Paleontographical Society, 1854.

NOTEBOOKS and LETTERS

Charles Darwin's Diary of the Voyage of H.M.S. 'Beagle.'
Edited by Nora Barlow. Cambridge University Press,
1934.

Darwin's Ornithological Notes. British Museum (Natural
History) Hist. Ser. 2. British Museum (Natural Histo-
ry), 1963.

The Foundations of the "Origin of Species"; Two Essays
Written in 1842 and 1844 by Charles Darwin. Edited by
Francis Darwin. Cambridge University Press, 1909.
Notebooks on the Transmutations of Species. Edited by
G. de Beer. British Museum (Natural History), 1960-
1961.

Charles Darwin on the Routes of Male Humble Bees.
British Museum (Natural History) Hist. Ser. 3. British
Museum (Natural History), 1968.
Charles Darwin's Queries about Expression. British Muse-
um (Natural History) Hist. Ser. 3. British Museum
(Natural History), 1972.

The Autobiography of Charles Darwin, 1809-1882. Lon-
don: Collins, 1958.

The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin. Edited by Francis
Darwin. London: John Murray, 1887.
More Letters of Charles Darwin. Edited by Francis Dar-
win. London: John Murray, 1903.
The Collected Papers of Charles Darwin. Edited by Paul
Barrett. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1972.
Extracts from Letters Addressed to Professor Henslow by
C. Danvin, Esq. Cambridge Philosophical Society, 1960.
Letters between Charles Darwin and Illinois Natural-
ist Benjamin D. Walsh. Original copies, (see Bulletin of
Field Museum of Natural History 45(1):8-15)
plus a number of technical journals in which Darwin
published his shorter works {e.g. Journal of the Proceed-
ings of the Linnean Society, Geological Society Proceedings,
etc.)

plus dozens of biographical and semibiographical
works covering Darwin's role in the development of
modern biological science

If several copies of a work are to be found in the Museum
Library, the earliest edition is given here. Holdings are gen-
erally arranged by date of original publication. The notation
"(n.i.)" indicates no additional publishing information is
available.

Thinking Scientifically

The modem battle between evolution and creation science
reveals that many people do not understand how science works

by John Terrell

Associate Curator of Oceanic Archaeology and Ethnology

"About thirty years ago there was much talk
that geologists ought only to observe and not
theorise; and I well remember some one saying
that at this rate a man might as well go into a
gravel-pit and count the pebbles and describe
the colours. How odd it is that anyone should
not see that all observation must be for or against
some view if it is to be of any service!" This
comment by Charles Darwin shows what the
zoologist Michael Ghiselin has argued was the
secret of Darwin's success: he was a man who
thought. He reasoned imaginatively and
carefully. He criticized his own ideas.

This quotation comes from a letter Darwin
wrote in 1861 to Henry Fawcett, a radical
Cambridge economist and follower of John
Stuart Mill, the philosopher and logician. The
letter dates from a time little more than three
years after Darwin first made public his own
controversial, some said radical, theory about
the origin of new species of plants and animals
by means of natural selechon. The most
important point in his comment is perhaps this
one: all observation must be for or against some
view if it is to be of any service. The philosophy of
science implied by this statement — that facts,
however diligently gathered, do not alone prove
anything — was as controversial in the mid-nine-
teenth century as Darwin's views on the origin
of species. Nowadays, of course, everybody
knows that theories, hypotheses, and specu-
lation are as basic to science as the most solidly
established facts. Or do they?

For nine days last December Judge William
Overton heard scienhsts and lawyers challenge
Arkansas' new "creation science" law. Act 590.
The law said creationism, based on the Bible,
merited equal treatment with the teaching of
Darwinian evolution in primary and secondary
schools. Judge Overton ruled against the law: in
his opinion, creation science was not science at
all, nor did it fit general descriptions of "what
scientists think" and "what scientists do."

Defenders of the law had argued that both
creationism and Darwinian evolution are equally
valid, alternative scientific models. Echoing
Darwin's critics of more than a hundred years
earlier, they noted that evolutionary theory

could not be proved with certainty. Hence, they
said, evolution — like creationism — is not a true
scientific theory. Such an argument, however
well-intentioned, reveals that people even today
do not understand how science works.

Darwin respected the need for theories and
hypotheses in scientific work, regardless how
contrary to established thought and traditional
common sense they might be. He was always
on the lookout for facts. But once he had
established a fact by what he thought was
reasonable observation, he would at once begin
to ask questions suggested by that fact to see if
he could construct some tentative hypothesis
which could explain not only that singular fact
but might also be applicable to other cases. He
would then proceed to see if his hypothesis did
work in those other situations. As Darwin
described his method of research: "my general
line of argument" is one of "inventing a theory
and seeing how many classes of facts the theory
would explain."

Sometimes he rebuked himself for "my
common error of being too speculative." But he
knew better. As he wrote in 1857 to Alfred Russel
Wallace, the co-discoverer of the theory of evo-
lution by natural selection: "I am extremely glad
to hear that you are attending to distribution in
accordance with theoretical ideas. I am a firm
believer that wdthout speculation there is no
good and original observation. Few travellers
have attended to such points as you are now at
work on; and, indeed, the whole subject of
distribution of animals is dreadfully behind that
of plants. You say that you have been somewhat
surprised at no notice having been taken of
your paper in the Annals. 1 cannot say that I am,
for so very few naturalists care for anything
beyond the mere description of species."

This last remark — that few naturalists care
for anything beyond the mere description of
species — sounds perhaps extreme. However, it
may reveal Darwin's self-consciousness about
the degree to which his research, and Wallace's,
departed from accepted methods of inductive
science.

The inductive approach in science is com-
monly traced back to the Elizabethan philoso-

Thomas Nast cartoon
of Charles Darwin
(rt.) and the founder
of the Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals. Caption
reads: "The defrauded
gorilla: 'That man
wants to claim my
pedigree. He says he is
one of my descendants. '
Mr. Bergh: 'Now, Mr.
Darwin, how could
you insult him?"

pher and statesman Francis Bacon, who railed
against speculation, insufficiently founded on
fact, in his book The New Organon, published in
1620. Simply described, the "new principles"
set down by Bacon show how you can build an
ideal argument from particular cases to arrive at
true, scientific laws.

The historian David Hull reports that scien-
tists and philosophers in the mid-nineteenth
century were fully aware of the shortcomings of
Bacon's logical approach. Science had not and
could not progress solely according to his meth-
ods of true induction. Even so, during the last
century someone who reasoned instead the
way Darwin did, using the less formal but far
more realistic logical process of give-and-take
between fact and theory, was apt to be imme-
diately suspect — especially if the ideas being
put forward were as heretical as those of organic
evolution. To a great extent. Bacon had set the
tone for so rigid a view of proper scientific logic
when he wrote: "Those, however, who aspire
not to guess and divine, but to discover and
know, who propose not to devise mimic and
fabulous worlds of their own, but to examine
and dissect the nature of this very world itself,
must go to the facts themselves for everything."

Given this intellectual heritage, it hardly
seems surprising that Darwin at times tried to
impress his readers that his theory of evolution
had grown more out of facts than clever specu-
lation. He claimed in his Autobiography that he
began his investigations on the evolution of
new species in 1837 by working "on true Baconi-
an principles, and without any theory collected
facts on a wholesale scale." Only after fifteen

months had passed in this way and after he
happened to read for amusement Thomas Mal-
thus's Essay on population did the idea of natural
selection due to the struggle for existence finally
occur to him, so that "I had at last got a theory
by which to work."

This account does make it appear that Dar-
win discovered natural selection by gathering
facts and letting them speak for themselves. But
from all his writings, including his Autobiography,
it is clear enough that the basic concepts of evo-
lution had, in fact, already begun to form in his
mind during his voyage on the Beagle to the
South Pacific in 1831-1836. More than that, from
his notebooks written in 1837 and 1838 it is known
that he had struck on the idea of natural selection
before reading Malthus.

After the publication of the Origin of Species
in 1859 Darwin was genuinely disturbed by the
harsh criticism he received. He had expected
people to be abusive about what he had to say
for he knew he was challenging fundamental
beliefs about Creation and humankind's place in
nature. But he was not prepared for the attacks
against his methods. Some of the most respected
scientists and philosophers of his day dismissed
his ideas by saying his book was little more than
pure conjecture and that he had proved nothing.
There is little need to wonder why Darwin later
warned his young friend John Scott, a gardener
and self-taught botanist, to be "very sparing in
introducing theory in your papers (I formerly
erred much in Geology in that way): let theory
guide your observations, but till your reputation is
well established be sparing in publishing theory.
It makes persons doubt your observations."

Samuel "Soapy Sam"

Wilberforce, (1805-73),

who defended Anglican

Christianity against

the Darwinian heresy.

Both the success of Darwin's scientific work
and the bitter criticism leveled against his ap-
proach and his person point to a disturbing
conclusion. The late biochemist and Nobel lau-
reate Jacques Monod observed that the world of
science can be divided into two camps: those for
whom truth resides in solid objects, actually
and fully present, and those who look beyond
particular things for the ideal forms they repre-
sent. "There are but two kinds of scholars,"
concluded Monod, "those who love ideas and
those who loathe them."

This judgment is unjust. The world of
science and scholarship cannot be divided neatly
into extreme opposing camps. But we should
take a note of warning from Monod's observa-
tion. Evidently some people even within science
become suspicious if they believe you are going
beyond the facts. It may be too facile to say such
persons "loathe ideas." But how then do facts
and theories fit together in science?

A scientist's approach to the world is marked
by three characteristics. First, science is based
on observation. Regardless how skillfully you
phrase your research questions or how clever
your speculative ideas, if you cannot find a way
to answer your questions or test your ideas by
making observations, then you cannot properly
be said to be "doing science." In short, while

perhaps some scientists may loathe ideas, no
scientist can embrace the option of loathing
facts of observation.

While science is based on observation, it is
generally understood that science is more than
a collection of diligently gathered facts. As the
mathematician Henri Poincare wrote: "Science
is built up of facts, as a house is built of stones;
but an accumulation of facts is no more a science
than a heap of stones is a house." Thus, another
characteristic of science is wanting something
more than isolated facts. That is, the aim of
science is to generalize about people and nature.

If you think about it, this aim is paradoxical,
because these first two characteristics of science
— observation and generalization — are con-
tradictory; namely, scientists rely on their pow-
ers of observation to make generalizations about
the world that can never be observed, because
the conclusions of science are always about
things in general, not things in particular!

This paradox is one that bothers many peo-
ple. It does mean that even the simplest gener-
alization is at least one step "beyond the facts."
This is the reason for the great importance
universally placed on a third characteristic of
science. In the words of Poincare again: "Every
generalisation is a hypothesis."

What this means is that the process of mak-
ing observations and forming generalizations
never stops. Every scientific generalization is
only provisionally "true," because you can never
be absolutely sure that the next observation you
make — which perhaps by all rights ought to be
precisely like the ones you have been making
— may not surprise you after all and turn out to
be quite different, instead.

The importance of all three of these charac-
teristics of science — observation, generalization,
and hypothesis — is not always seen. For exam-
ple, one of the supposed villians in the history
of science is Bishop Samuel "Soapy Sam" Wil-
berforce. His role in defending Anglican Chris-
tianity against the Darwinian heresy is often
cast as that of an ignorant, outmoded divine
who fought and lost a hopeless rear-guard action
against the superior forces of enlightened scien-
tific truth. As Richard Wrangham of Cambridge
University observed several years ago, however.
Soapy Sam's protests actually show he believed
natural selection to be a more powerful force
than Darwin himself allowed. "To the Bishop
natural selection maintained adaptation, and
perfect adaptation reflected God's perfection.
It was the imperfection of Darwinian natural
selection, rather than its overwhelming power
to affect species, which worried him."

Wilberforce wrote a lengthy review of Dar-
win's book for the Quarterly Revieiv of July 1860

which Darwin declared "picks out with skill all
the most conjectural parts, and brings forward
well all the difficulties." In some respects modem
creationists sound no different from Wilberforce,
for he, too, claimed Darwin's theory was based
on "the merest hypothesis, supported by the
most unfounded assumptions."

Even if the Bishop's arguments against the
Origin did on occasion find their mark, the lesson
for us remains the same. Wilberforce believed
that the complicated patterns of the organic
world reveal Truth and the Power of God. Dar-
win, on the other hand, knew that all scientific
generalizations, including those in the Origin,
are only hypotheses ever in need of experiment
and conhnual testing. Unlike the Bishop, he
was content with something less than absolute
truth. "My book has been well abused, praised,
and splendidly quizzed by the Bishop of Oxford;
but from what 1 see of its influence on really
good workers in science, 1 feel confident that, in
the main, I am on the right road."

We have now come to another quandary
over which philosophers of logic and science
have spent a great deal of time in argument and
writing. Let us accept that the truth of a scientific
idea is something that must be judged by seeing
how well it organizes observations that have
already been made and how well it sets us on
the road to making new observations that ought
to fall into line in some predicted way if we are
at all on the right track. Then what are we to say
about ideas that lead us to observations that we
cannot make, either because we have not yet
found the evidence needed to make them, or
because we have not invented the tool that
would let us see things in quite the manner
required?

The biologist C.H. Waddington in his book
Tools for Thought wrote that to use the scientific
method effechvely, you need to know how to
ask important questions and then how to devise
experiments that will give you clear-cut answers
one way or the other. But as he observed, a
clear, well-phrased question in itself is of possi-
bly little use if there is no way of answering it.
"It was no use asking perfectly clear and definite
questions about the consistency of the moon's
surface until there was some way of sending
either a man or a probe up there to obtain an
answer Similarly, there are many questions
about history and evolution which can be very
defirutely stated, but which will probably always
remain unanswerable."

Waddington is a little misleading. There is
no way you can be absolutely sure beforehand
whether a question is answerable until you
have asked it. Familiarity with a scientific subject
and the sorts of questions that others have asked

Henri Poincare (1854-
1912), French mathe-
matician, who wrote,
"Science is built up
of facts, as a house is
built of stones; but an
accumulation of facts
is no more a science
than a heap of stones
is a house!

may equip you to ask useful questions that are
probably answerable, too. But such a cautious
pursuit of ideas is not likely to lead to truly star-
tling discoveries.

Waddington's own conclusion, therefore,
about the qualities of the talented scientist is
hardly a useful instruction: "It is the ability to
formulate clear-cut questions which invite yes-
and-no answers, where a technique exists, or
can be invented, to obtain these answers, which
separates the successful scientist from the merely
competent professional." This statement begs
the issue, particularly when he adds: "or can be
invented." An ironic illustration that this is so
comes from Darwin's own career.

A month after the Origin was published, no
less an old friend than the Rev. Adam Sedgwick,
Darwin's former teacher of geology at Cam-
bridge, wrote to him in complete dismay. "If I
did not think you a good-tempered and truth-
loving man, I should not tell you that ... I have
read your book with more pain than pleasure.
Parts of it I admired greatly, parts I laughed at
till my sides were almost sore; other parts 1 read
with absolute sorrow, because I think them
utterly false and grievously mischievous. You
have deserted — after a start in that tram-road of
all solid physical truth — the true method of
induction, and started us in a machinery as
wild, I think, as Bishop Wilkins's locomotive
that was to sail with us to the moon."

One of Darwin's biographers. Sir Gavin de
Beer, has remarked that Sedgwick attacked Dar-
win's methods because he could not successfully
impugn his seemingly irrreligious views by
refuting his facts. Seen in hindsight, however,
the Rev. Sedgwick could not have made a more
unfortunate choice of analogy with which to
damn Darwin's ideas than what he called Bishop
Wilkins's "locomotive."

John Wilkins, theologian and preacher,
scientific experimenter. Warden of Wadham
College, Oxford, and ultimately Lord Bishop of
Chester, was the single most influential organ-
izer and popularizer of science — notably the
new Copernican astronomy — in seventeenth
century England. He was a founder of the Royal
Society. And as author of The Discovery Of A
World In The Moone, which first appeared in
1638, and several later works on science, Wilkins
was the most important thinker of his century
on manned flight as a scientific problem. It was
he who forecast the invention of the aircraft —
what Sedgwick called Bishop Wilkins's locomo-
tive — and the development of space travel.

This incident from the life of Charles Dar-
win — with its ironic twist of fate that the person
Sedgwick held up to Darwin as similarly misdi-
rected is now seen as astonishingly foresighted
— points to yet another feature of scientific think-
ing that is as significant as the others we have
previously mentioned. Contrary to what Wad-
dington seems to have been saying when he
wrote that a clearly defined question is of no
use if there is no available way of answering it,
scientists cannot afford to limit their inquiries
solely to those questions for which they expect
or hope to find decisive answers that will settle
matters once and for all.

For example, the fact that scientists had
been trying to devise a single, unified theory
of light since the seventeenth century without
success — until the work of Planck and Einstein
at the start of the present century — in no way
lessens the significance of the research accom-
plished or the questions asked. Like it or not,
scientists must face the fact of life that knowledge
is rarely adequate enough to rule out all but one
of the possible theories that could explain the
same phenomena in different ways.

In short, one of the certainties of science is
that most of the really interesting questions that
we want to ask have more than one plausible
answer. Indeed, as the history of thought bearing
on the nature of light shows, we ought to be
especially watchful when it looks as if competing
theories can at last be reduced to one. After
all, the rival "wave" and "corpuscular" theories
of light waxed and waned in complementary
fashion for two hundred years, only to be com-

bined — paradoxically — into the ruling quantum
theory of the present day. Need it be added that
even the quantum theory of light is now subject
to doubt and challenge?

Thus, to the three characteristics of a scien-
tific approach to the world — observation, gen-
eralization, and hypothesis — we have now
added two more. These are, first, the scientist's
acceptance of his or her fate that one can never
be 100 percent right on any question of real
complexity and excitement; and second, the
scientist's recognition that knowledge is rarely
complete enough to rule out all but one of the
plausible ways of answering even the clearest,
most carefully defined question about the world
and human events. On the contrary, the history
of science cautions us to be wary if we seem to
be arriving at only one explanation to some
problem. In such a situation, there is a good
chance nature is only fooling us. Or perhaps
more likely, we are only fooling ourselves.

Nothing we have discussed here should be
taken to imply that scientists and philosophers
of science are today in full agreement about
how science works, about how scientists think,
or about how science differs, say, from art,
ethics, or religion. Nothing could be farther
from the truth. And in a way, that is precisely
the point. Science may not, and perhaps cannot,
lead to absolute certainty or ultimate truth. The
test of good science is instead whether you are
traveling, in the main, on the right road, for sci-
ence is how you travel, not a final destination. D

Further reading

de Beer, Gavin, Charles Darwin. London: Thomas
Nelson and Sons, 1963

Hull, David, Darwin and His Critics. Cambridge, Mass.:
Harvard University Press, 1973

Monod, Jacques, Chance and Necessity. New York:
Vintage Books, 1972

Ospovat, Dov, "Darwin after Malthas," Journal of the
History of Biology, Vol. 12, no. 2 (1979), pages 211-30

Poincare, Henri, Science and Hypothesis, New York:
Dover Publications, 1952.

Ruse, Michael, The Darwinian Revolution. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1979

Shapiro, Barbara, John Wilkins, 1614-1672. Berkeley,
Cal.: University of California Press, 1969

Waddington, Conrad, Tools for Thought. London:
Paladin, 1977

Wrangham, Richard, "The Bishop of Oxford: not so
soapy," New Scientist, Vol. 83, no. 1167 (9 August 1979),
pages 450-51

Alaskan

. NATfVE CULTUEE TOUR FOR MEMBERS

June 18 -July 2

June 22: Early morning wildlife tour in
park; early afternoon motorcoach to
Fairbanks. Overnight Captain Bartlett
Hotel.

June 23: Special tour and lecture for Field
Museum by University of Alaska, on
ivory and totem carving, agriculture,
permafrost construction, oil develop-
ment, economic situation, etc. Overnight
Captain Bartlett Hotel.
June 24: Fly Fairbanks to Whitehorse.
Yukon River raft trip and outdoor BBQ
dinner Overnight at Travelodge.
June 25: Day-long trip on narrow-guage

railway to Skagway. Free time to sight-
see, then to Klondike Hotel for overnight.
June 26: 5-hour boat curise to Juneau; to
Baranof Hotel for overnight, with stop at
Mendenhall Glacier enroute. Late after-
noon walking and van tour, including
historic district, gold mine, government
buildings; .outdoor salmon bake dinner.
Overnight Baranof Hotel.
June 27: Morning tour of Alaska State
Museum. Afternoon program on Alaska
Native Land Claims Settlement Act and
current native economic conditions.
Board cruise shipM.y. Statendam in late
afternoon. Meals on board begin with
dinner. Cruise ship departs 11:00 p.m.
{Statendam is 25,000-ton luxury liner.)
June 28: Day of cruising on Glacier Bay;
lecture room provided to the group.
June 29: Port of call: Sitka. Special tour of
Sheldon Jackson Museum, National
Park Service exhibits, totem collection,
Russian Orthodox church, Baranof Cas-
tle site.

June 30: Cruising off British Columbia
coast.

Our tour leader will be Dr Margaret
B. Blackman, associate professor of
anthropology at SUNY-College at
Brockport, New York, an authority on
native cultures of the Northwest Coast
and Alaska.

TTii's solid gold, 4'/2-lb.

statue, acquired by

Field Museum in

1922, is the single

most spectacular find

yet made in Philippine

archaeology (according

to H. Otley Beyer,

who for decades has

been the dean of

archaeologists in the

area). The Buddhist

goddess was made ca.

AD. 1100-1300 and

demonstrates an Asian

influence on Philippine

culture dating back to

A.D. 1000 at the latest.

LEARNING MUSEUM CONTINUES WITH

Philippine Emergence

By Anthony Pfeiffer, Project Coordinator
and Bennet Bronson, Associate Curator of Asiatic Archaeology and Ethnology

Just southeast of China, forming a barrier
between the South China Sea and the Pacific
Ocean, seven thousand islands stretch in a chain
a thousand miles long. The chain is anchored

by large islands at either end: Luzon to the north
and Mindanao to the south. Now known as the
Republic of the Philippines, this archipelago
holds a striking variety of cultures. They are at

once a tribute to the overwhelming force of
colonial occupation and a testament to the fierce
endurance of native traditions.

People first settled the archipelago hun-
dreds of thousands of years ago when sea levels
were low and one could walk between the
Philippines and neighboring islands. Eventually
the immigrants became sailors and farmers.
Early Filipinos and their Malayo-Polynesian kin
sailed to Africa and far into the Pacific. The
farming peoples of the northern Philippines
built colossal stone-walled terraces for their rice
fields, terraces which became one of the wonders
of the world. The peoples of the south were
traders, warriors, artists, and weavers of some
of the world's finest and least known textiles.
There was arfistic accomplishment in the central
Philippines as well, but we know little about it.
About 400 years ago most aspects of the origi-
nal Central Filipino culture were altered so
completely as to obliterate everything that had
gone before.

The agents of this extraordinary change
were a handful of overdressed foreigners who
appeared as explorers in 1521 at the thriving
port of Cebu, just north of Mindanao. They
stayed for a few months, then left hurriedly
after their leader, Ferdinand Magellan, was
killed in a fight on a neighboring island. They
left one object behind: a miniature statue of the
child Jesus, a gift to the Cebu queen. She could
not have imagined that this figure would come
to be worshipped by 30 million Filipinos or that
it would transform her land more completely
than any other part of Asia.

Christianity came again to the central areas
in 1565, borne not by explorers but by conquerors.
By 1600 the soldiers and missionaries of Spain
ruled half the Philippine land area and three
quarters of its people. Shrines and idols were
destroyed. The old leaders were Christianized
and Hispanicized or replaced. Palaces for the
new leaders sprang up, along with churches,
monasteries, universities, and cities. The ancient
arts disappeared as did much else, except for
the local languages and certain foods and
attitudes. The creativity of the Filipino people
was inexorably channeled into Spanish ways.

Many Filipino traditions, such as reverence
for the dead, thanksgiving after harvest, and
fear of evil, were easily incorporated or reinter-
preted in the light of Christianity. A heritage
of craftsmanship was turned to new themes.
Instead of flnztos, or guardian figurines, for exam-
ple, Filipinos began to make ornate statues of
the Virgin Mary, some with realistic and deli-
cately carved hands of ivory. Philippine-made
ivory saints became the state of the art and were
exported to churches in Spain and Mexico.

Mindanao chief (Bago-
bo tribe). The ornate
textiles he wears are
legacy of pre-Hispanic
southern Philippines.

^.\y>

Only in the extreme north and south of the
Philippines did the old ways survive. Warlike
peoples — the "pagans" of the northern moun-
tains and southern jungles and the Moros or
Muslims of the coastal lands of eastern Minda-
nao and Sulu — fought the Spanish to a stand-
still. They were incessant raiders who sought
slaves, loot, and — those who were headhunters
— heads. They fought skillful defensive wars
against Spanish pacifying expeditions.

The real stars of the resistance were the
Moros, possessors of a brilliant artistic culture,
talented weaponsmiths and shipbuilders, and
masters of amphibious and trench warfare tac-
tics. For more than three centuries they kept the
Spanish at bay. In the early 1900s they fought
fiercely against the Americans. They have con-
tinued to resist the government of the Philip-

Sultan's grandson

poses in typical Mow

style: with hand poised

on sword. Standing

boys are his servants.

pines since its independence from the United
States in 1946. Few peoples in history have
fought for their freedom so effectively and long.

The effect of centuries of Spanish occupation
in cultural terms was to divide the Philippines
into four parts: the unconverted areas of north-
ern Luzon, the non-Muslim and non-Christian
interior of Mindanao, the Muslim coastal areas
of the southern islands, and the Catholic central
part of the country. The last of these is the one
that now dominates. More than ninety percent
of Filipinos form part of the initially Hispanicized
and then Americanized national culture, which
most Americans (and Filipino-Americans) think
of when they use the word "Filipino."

Yet the minority cultures are uniquely fas-
cinating. They are a study in contrasts. The iso-
lated Bilaan of Mindanao live in poor, plain
shacks, but their clothing and textile arts are
among the most splendid in Asia. Ifugao peoples
of Luzon are exheadhunters, talented sculptors,
and — with their great rice terraces built of
stone — landscape architects on a truly titanic
scale. For centuries the Moro Tausug of Sulu in
the far south withstood the war fleets of the
Spanish Empire in cannon-armed canoes. Al-
though seeming like backward savages, the
Hanunoo of Mindoro know agriculture as well
as any Illinois farmer; their own alphabet, devel-
oped in prehistoric times, was used not for re-
cord-keeping but for writing poetry.

These minority cultures are important

because they closely represent what all of the
Philippines was like before the Spanish came.
To Filipino- Americans, almost all of whom come
from majority culture backgrounds, the "other"
Philippines provide a key to their heritage. Is
the Philippines just an extension of the West,
mysteriously transplanted on Southeast Asian
soil? Or are the Spanish-style food, the fine
American-style education system, and fervent
Catholic faith just thin veneers on an essentially
Asian land? Such questions can be answered
only by studying non- Westernized minorities
and pre-Spanish history.

Philippine Emergence affords the oppor-
tunity to explore Philippine roots from their
deepest prehistoric origins to their most recent

The Learning Museum at Field Museum

The Learning Museum Program began at Field Muse-
um in 1979 with a grant from the National Endow-
ment for the Humanities (NEW, a federal agency.
The NEH grant allowed the Museum to present a
three-year sequence of learning opportunities focused
on its outstanding exhibits and collections. Courses
were designed to give participants an opportunity to
explore a subject in depth. Field Museum is pleased to
announce that the Learning Museum program con-
tinues as a featured offering in Course for Adults
brochures. The program emphasizes special Museum
activities and strengths as it did under NEH funding.

controversial moments. The lecture course con-
siders the pre-Spanish phase of Philippine his-
tory, the Spanish period, the living or recently
vanished minority cultures of the far North and
South, and the role of the Philippines in world
affairs today. Philippine Emergence is offered in
conjunction with "The Art and People of the
Philippines," an exhibition opening at Field
Museum on July 17. Details of the course are
announced in the summer 1982 Courses for Adults
brochure.

Watch also for the announcement of Filipino
Afternoon in the July/August Calendar of Events.
You are invited to celebrate the traditions of the

Entire mountains such
as those seen here were
spectacularly trans-
formed into rice ter-
races by the farmers of
the Cordillera Central,
Luzon.

Philippines. Dances from the Philippines, pre-
sented by Lakambini of the Urban Gateways
Folk Arts Program, are among the day's featured
activities. Lakambini is a troupe of young artists
who are dedicated to their Filipino cultural her-
itage. Their dances reflect the Indo-Malaysian,
Muslim, and Spanish influences found through-
out the islands. Lakambini dances to the Kulin-
tang orchestra, traditional music made on a set
of graduated gongs. A narrator provides back-
ground information on the culture and arts of
the Philippines and Filipino- Americans. Filipino
Afternoon is held on Sunday, July 18 from 1 to
4 p.m. and is free with Museum admission. D

Moro sailboat of the
type often used in
raids against the
Spanish and for pirat-
ical expeditions. 17

PUPPETS EXTRAORDINAIRE:

Theatre Sans Fil

(The No Strings Puppet Theatre)

James Simp)son Theatre

June 26, 27

2:00 p.m.

Members: $3.00; Nonmembers: $4.00

This unique theatre medium of gigantic puppets (6 to
12 feet tall) makes its first apjjearance at Field Museum
on June 26 and 27 with two American Indian legends,
"Blue Sky Takes a Wife" and "The White Raven? The
entire fascinating production is entitled "Tales fixjm
the Smokehouse?

Adults and children alike marvel at the striking
visual and musical eflFects employed in the enactment
of these ancient tales, in which more than 40 enormous
puppets apjjear. Reviewers have termed the production
"cm absolutely elegant pupjjet show that brings a my-
thic experience to life in rapturous detail? The program,
a Learning Museum event, is made pwssible by a grant
from the National Endo\vment for the Humanities.

The only Canadian company to work with giant
puppets, the Theatre Sans FU has develojjed new tech-
niques for their fabrication and manipulation. The
Theatre Sans FUs was founded in 1971 and now has
nine productions to its credit. The comjjany's reputation
has grown steadily over the years and it was chosen to
represent Canada at the International Pupjiet Festival
in Washington, D.C. in 1980.

For ticket information, please call (312) 322-8854.
Tickets will also be available at the West Door box
office one hour before curtain time.

Field Museum Tours for Members

Australia Tour

August 23-Sqytember 12
Tour Price: $4,998 (double occupancy)

Leader of this extraordinary tour is Dr. Alan Solem, curator and
head. Division of Invertebrates, who has made nine trips to Aus-
tralia in connection with his study of land snails. The tour will fea-
ture the glory of the Western Australia spring, the greatest display
of wildflowers in the world, the charm of an English countryside in
South Australian vineyards, a face-to-face meeting with eastern
Australian wildlife in Victoria, and the awesome expanses and
spectacular mountains of central Australia.

The tour will arrive in Sydney on August 25, then take a 75-
minute flight to Melbourne. The two days in Melbourne will in-
clude visits to a local wildlife sanctuary as well as to various sites of
cultural interest.

A 40-minute flight on August 27 will take the group to Ade-
laide, followed by visits to local vineyards. A 90-minute flight that
evening will terminate at Alice Springs, the group's base of opera-
tions for six days. Highlights here include sight-seeing into the
outback, bush barbecues, and a visit to spectacular Ayers Rock.

September 3 will be spent in and around Perth. Rides by

hydrofoil and river boat will be optional. September 4 will be spent
traveling by motorcoach to Augusta while viewing some of Aus-
tralia's most delightful scenery.

September 5: A trip to Walpole-Normalup National Park, see-
ing 200-foot-high stands of red tingle trees, September 6: Colorful
Albany, an old whaling port. September 7; A day trip to the Poron-
gorup and Stirling mountain ranges.

September 8: Return to Perth via the Albany Highway, with
views of the Darling Range. September 9; Perth, with time for
shopping and sight-seeing. September 10: In Sydney for a day of
leisure for shopping, sightseeing, or day tours.

September 11: Depart from Sydney for U.S. Having lost a day
by crossing the International Date Line, we overnight at San Fran-
cisco's Sheraton Airport Hotel.

September 12: Arrival in Chicago.

For additional information on this tour, please write or call
Dorothy Roder, Tours Manager, at Field Museum, 322-8862.

...- 19

Some Responses to
Early Contact on the
Pacific Northwest Coast

by Marlene Mussell

rost early documentation of European contact
Lwith the Northwest Coast peoples amply
records the reactions of the explorers, their
arrogance, curiosity, fear, amusement, and
admiration; but such reports largely fail to re-
count the natives' response to such contacts. By
using European documentation as well as native
oral traditions, we may arrive at an enlightening
and somehmes amusing view of two cultures
trying to understand and categorize one another.
This may also yield a more balanced viewpoint,
and a clearer picture of the groups' mutual reac-
tion emerges.

The discoveries of these early explorers
validated the existence of what Europeans had
termed the "New World," although the popula-
tions of this continent had emigrated here from
Siberia some 20,000 to 40,000 years earlier. A
tradition which was to evolve into the historic
Northwest Coast culture had emerged by at
least 1,000 B.C., and by 500 B.C. there is evidence
of an antecedent Northwest Coast art style.
Captain James Cook's Thus, a complex and highly evolved society
ships in Nootka Sound, ^^g ^^ ^^^^ t^ witness its own discovery by
B.C. Drawing by i-,,,!

John Webber (1778), Europeans m 1741.
20 expedition artist. The first contact occurred in that year

between Vitus Bering, a Dane in the employ of
the Russians, and the Tlingit, near Cross Sound,
Alaska. This meeting was followed three years
later by that of the Spaniard Juan Josef Perez
Hernandez, who encountered a Haida group
on Graham Island, B.C. In 1778 Captain James
Cook, of England, made contact with the
Nootkan of Nootka Sound, B.C., and in 1786,
the French admiral La Perouse traded with the
Tlingit in Lituya Bay, B.C. Other expeditions
also occurred during this period, but these four
highlight the internationalism of the discovery
of the Northwest Coast, involving as it did Rus-
sian, Spanish, English, and French explorers.
In their accounts, many of the explorers
tended to emphasize only what they felt was
the Indians' awe and fear upon first seeing the
white man and his great ships. While these
reacHons were most natural, such descriptions
seem to contradict the explorers' reports of the
Indians' occasional aggressiveness, and their
willingness not only to approach the European
ships, but to climb aboard and barter for trinkets
and pieces of iron. European reports also often
failed to acknowledge the Indians' contributions
to the discoveries of the European. By using
Indian oral traditions, another view of such
discoveries emerges. Thus, Captain Cook's
"discovery" of Vancouver Island is given a less
familiar and perhaps more down-to-earth
approach in this contemporary Nootkan oral
account: "They were led into a shelter, these ships.
They got stuck. They were anchored out in the
open Pacific and a bunch of Indian people. . .

Marlene Mussell is a volunteer for the project "Maritime
Peoples of the Arctic and the Northwest Coast."

directed these ships that couldn't get in, 'cause
they didn't know, and they were told to come
around that point."'

A more balanced and probably more realis-
tic report of early encounters concerns the first
meeting between the Tlingit and members of
the 1789 Malaspina expedition: "The first view,
when they were near was one of great astonish-
ment, both for the Indians and for us; for the
Indians because they did not cease looking at
the ships, ... for us because such strange and
marvelous subjects presented themselves to our
sight'.'^ Each side captured these early meetings
through their art; the Europeans by painting
scenes of their ships "on location," and the
Indians by carving petroglyphs.

Both groups tended to focus on aspects of
the other's culture and appearance to which
they could relate in terms of their own back-
grounds. One of Cook's men, for example,
compared the Nootkan to the Scottish in
appearance.^ William Beresford, a member
of Captain George Dixon's 1789 expedition,
described a woman whose "countenance had
all the cheerful glow of an English milkmaid; . . .
she was what could be reckoned handsome
even in England.'"* The Indians seemed hard
put to classify the Europeans, but the visitors'
strange appearance was soon explained in cul-
tural terms.

To the Tlingit, the members of La Perouse's
expedition looked like small black birds rising in
the body of a great black raven. As the Tlingits'
creator, Yehlh, often assumed the form of a
raven, they thought that Yehlh had now
returned to earth in this guise. As the sails were
folded and the sailors climbed the rigging, it
appeared to the Tlingit as if great birds were
folding their wings, and from them, flocks of
small black messengers were rising and flying
about. ^ The Nootkan reasoned that since the
Europeans lived on a floating thing — the ship
— then the visitors must be fish, a notion con-
firmed by the appearance of two expedition
members in particular: a man with a large
hooked nose who was surely a dog salmon, and
a hunchback who must have been the humpback
salmon transformed. Even today a Nootkan
word for "Europeans" is mamal'ni: literally,
"people who live on the water and float around,
having no land."*

Finally satisfied that these strangers were
indeed human, the Indians were willing to trade;
but before this could get under way, a welcoming
ceremony was performed from the canoes. In
1778, James King, lieutenant on Cook's ship, the
Resolution, describes such a welcoming cere-
mony: "the figure and actions of one of these
(Indians) were truly frightful, he worked himself
into the highest frenzy, uttering something

^^^-J^

miif^:^^'Wem»m-r0'

Petroglyph on Wed-
ding Rocks, Cave
Alava, B.C., snowing
explorers' ships. -i

Man of Nootka

Sound. Portrait by

John Webber, 1778.

between a howl and a song, . . . this was followed
by a violent way of talking, seemingly with vast
difficulty in uttering the Harshest and rudest
words." King concludes however: "yet we did
not attribute this incantation to threatening or
any ill will towards us; on the contrary they
seem'd quite pleased with us. . ."^ La Perouse
similarly describes such a reception, concluding
that these songs were by no means disagreeable,
"greatly resembling the plain chaunt of our
churches."® David Sam well, surgeon's first mate
on the Resolution, also writes about the Indians'
singing in terms easily accessible to an English-
man of those times: "they all sung in concert in
a wild Manner, which some of our sailors com-
pared to that of a Brother Tar on board who it
seems in his time had cryed Potatoes about
London."'

Most of the early discoverers noted how
much Northwest Coast Indians enjoyed singing,
and Samwell described what must have been an
intereshng cultural exchange between two
groups who finally found a medium that they

could enjoy and share together. After a Nootkan
"sang in concert in no disagreeable Stile," the
ship's crew reciprocated, giving "them in return
a few tunes on two french Horns after their
song was ended, to these they were very atten-
tive, not a word to be heard among them during
the time of playing; this situation was returned
by another Song from the Indians, after which
we gave them a Tune on the Drum and Fife to
which they paid the same attention as they had
done to the Horns. These Canoes staid by the
Ship most of the Night seemingly with no
other View but that of gratifying their Curios-
ity."^° It is interesting here to note the Indians'
attentiveness; for they observed the Europeans'
performance with a cultural curiosity similar
to that of the many explorers. The so-called
observers had become the observed.

At times, both groups obviously regarded
the other with a certain contempt, possibly
because each felt superior. The Indians' con-
tempt found expression in stealing whatever
they could lay their hands on. De Laguna writes
that the Tlingit seized what they desired only
from inferiors.^' Because the Europeans also
often failed to reciprocate courtesies, especially
with respect to the chiefs, the natives may have
decided that the visitors were fair game for cheat-
ing and theft. This sense of their own superiority
is underscored by the fact that when caught
stealing, the nahves behaved as though it were
just a joke. Samwell records that when a native
was apprehended stealing Captain Cook's
watch, he "gave it up quietly and laughed in his
(captor's) face."^^ Samwell also notes that "they
considered it as a piece of Dexterity (even sport)
that did them credit ra(ther) than any dishon-
our."'^ La Perouse, for one, angrily denounced
these "deceitful and malicious savages" who
took every opportunity to rob whenever no one
was looking.'*

While the early explorers have left us
thorough accounts of the natives' exotic apparel,
utensils, and material culture in general, we
have little information on how the Indians
viewed or responded to the material culture of
the Europeans. In part, this is because members
of nonliterate societies are dependent on their
oral tradition as the medium for documenting
historical events and their own responses to
them. The importance of this oral tradition as
an historical resource has not always been fully
realized, though it has been shown that native
history can be passed down orally, through
generations, with minimal modification of fac-
tual content. Such an oral tradition among the
Northwest Coast peoples records their attempts
to come to terms with and understand European
goods.

■^.

I, I ', \ \ I ! ' W

rtiT

mvmm^m^mmiummmA

While Europeans puzzled over the meaning
of the potlatch gift-giving ceremony, carved
totem poles, masks, and other items, the Indians
tried to cope with such everyday European
goods as pilot biscuits, syrup, and hatchets.
One Nootkan recounts that, bewildered by gifts
of pilot biscuits, the Indians simply stored them
away as good luck charms. Another relates how
the biscuits were regarded as lovely pieces of
wood to be kept as souvenirs. A European
hatchet was worn by a chief as a necklace; instead
of being eaten, syrup was tried as a crack sealant

for canoes in the way that Indians normally
used hot seal oil. ^^

Again we see the natives attempting to categ-
orize a cultural curiosity so they could more
readily comprehend it. Lieutenant King wrote
— and his words could refer just as eas-
ily to the native response to the European: "It
will require the assistance of ones imagination
to have an adequate Idea of the . . .Actions of
these first Visitors."'"' One should add that the
use of both oral and written traditions is also
required, n

House interior, Nootka
Sound. Drawing by
John Webber, 1778.

Notes

1. Efrat, Barbara and W.J. Langlois, "The Contact
Period as Recorded by Indian Oral Tradition" in Nu.
tka. Captain Cook and The Spanish Explorers on the Coast.
Sound Heritage, Vol. VII, No. 1: 54-62, 1978. p. 55

2. De Laguna, Frederica. Under Mount Saint Elias:
The History and Cultureofthe Yakutat Tlingit, Part I and II.
Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. 1972.
Part I., p. 141.

3. Beaglehole, J.C. The Journals of Captain James Cook
on his Voyages of Discovery: The Voyage of the Resolution
and Discovery 1776-1780, Vol. Ill, Part I and II. Cam-
bridge published for the Hakluyt Society at the Uni-
versity Press, 1967. Part I, p. 311.

4. Dixon, Captain George. A Voyage Round The
World; hut more particularly to the North-West Coast of
America: performed in 1785, 1786, 1787 and 1788. George
Goulding, London, 1789. p. 171.

5. Emmons, G.T "Native Accounts of the meeting
between La Perouse and the Tlingit," American Anthro-
pology. Vol. 13: 294-298, 1911. p.297.

6. Sound Heritage. Ibid., p. 60.

7. Beaglehole, Ibid., part II., p. 1,394.

8. La Perouse, Jean Francoise de Gallup, Comte de.
A Voyage round the World, performed in the years 1785,
1786, 1787 and 1788. Vol. I. A. Hamilton, London, 1799.
p. 370.

9. Beaglehole, Ibid., p. 1,088.
Ibid.

10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.

De Laguna, Ibid., Part II., p. 355.

Beaglehole, Ibid., p. 1,096.

Ibid., p.LlOO.

La Perouse, p. 398.

Sound Heritage, p. 58.

Beaglehole, p. 1,392.

Field Museum Store

GALLERY NINE

Primrose Adams
Larry Avakana
Steve Brown
Joe David
Robert Davidson
Dorothy Grant
Calvin Hunt
Henry Hunt
Tony Hunt
Tony Hunt, Jr
Nathan ]ackson
John Livingston

Melvin Olanna
Duane Pasco
Katie Pasco
Selina Peratrovich
Bill Reid
Cheryl Samuel
Jim Schoppert
Joe Senengetuck
Ron Senengetuck
Norman Tait
Art Thompson

Gallery Nine Hours: 1 1-5 or by special appointment.

Museum Store Remodeled

The Museum Store, newly remodeled, is again open. A new
section, featuring choice items related to special exhibitions,
currently features a wide vanety of merchandise from the
Arctic and the Pacific Northwest or related to the cultures
of those regions.

OUR ENVIRONMENT

Ten Years Later: Bird Populations
Rise as DDT Falls

Ten years after the official ban on the use
of DDT, the news from the wild is good:
Bald eagles, brown pelicans, and other
bird species once decimated by the pesti-
cide are repopulating former habitats as
chemical residues fade.

The pesticide was banned in 1972 in
the face of scientific evidence that it was
causing serious environmental problems,
including reproductive failure in suscepti-
ble bird species. For the past decade, hu-
man efforts have combined with natural
forces to restore species that experienced
sudden, sharp declines in the 1950s and
1960s. While specialists have teamed up to
put intensive recovery programs into ac-
tion, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service re-
searchers have completed studies that
have proven DDE, a breakdown product of
DDT, to be specifically responsible for egg-
shell thinning — the main reason some
birds could no longer reproduce. Service
scientists also learned which species were
sensitive to the pesticide, as well as which
ones suffered the heaviest exposures.

Scientists at the service's Patuxent
Wildlife Research Center near Washing-
ton, D.C. began to study the impact of DDT
on wildlife shortly after World War II. In
their investigations, service scientists
compared field observation with special-
ized laboratory research on surrogate spe-
cies. They verified that sensitive species
most seriously affected by ddt build-ups
were those which preyed on fish and oth-
er small animals that had been exposed to
DDT. Scientists learned that the higher a
species and its food source were on the
"food chain," the more severe the impact.

The bald eagle was highly vulnerable
since it fed heavily on fish in which DDT re-
sidues had accumulated. By the late 1960s
breeding populations had been practically
lost in the Great Lakes region and on the
East Coast, with just one known breeding
pair each in New Jersey and New York
State. Recently, however, bald eagles
have returned to nest in formerly contami-
nated wetlands. Florida's population,
which dropped 90 percent in the 1950s has
made a complete comeback, and the ea-
gle's return to such regions as the Great
Lakes may signal a turning point for
America's national symbol.

The peregrine falcon — an efficient
hunter which can strike its prey at 200
mph in mid-air — occupies a position in
the food chain similar to that of the bald
eagle and suffered a similar decline. By the
late 1960s there were no peregrines
known to nest east of the Mississippi Riv-
er, where several hundred pairs had exist-
ed formerly. Since there were no birds left
to repopulate former habitats, the falcon's
recovery has been aided in the last decade
by re-introduction of captive-reared birds
to promising areas, including cihes where
prey such as starlings and pigeons
abounds.

While bald eagles and peregrine fal-
cons were contaminated by DDT through
high concentrations in their diets, re-
search has shown that they are less than
half as sensitive to the pesticide as the en-
dangered brown pelican. Most pelican
populations on the Atlantic and Gulf
coasts were hard hit in the 1960s. In South
Carolina, for instance, there were about
6,000 breeding pairs before ddt washed
into Atlantic estuaries. In 1969 — a low
point for pelicans and other contaminated
species — only 1,100 to 1,200 pairs were left
and reproduction was nil. Now the peli-
cans number some 5,000 pairs, their rapid
comeback mostly due to their principal
food source, the menhaden fish, not hav-
ing retained much ddt residue. Service
scientists say that while pelican popula-
tions are not yet completely restored, their
reproductive rate in most of the U.S. has
returned to near normal.

The osprey (fish hawk) also staged a
rapid comeback after being nearly eradi-
cated in parts of the East. From New York
to Boston the osprey population fell from
1,000 to 100 breeding pairs in the 1960s.
But the species has been on the rise since
the mid-1970s, with normal reproduction.
Biologists hope ospreys will reach their
pre-DDT populaHon level by the end of the
century.

Scientists have not completely an-
swered why species with similar habitats
vary in their sensitivity to ddt. The black

duck, for instance, is more sensitive to ddt
than the mallard. Terns and skimmers that
shared coastal habitats and fish diets with
pelicans apparently were not affected by
the pesticide. Herring gulls consumed
heavy amounts with little adverse reac-
tion.

Although DDT has been banned in the
U.S. for a decade and residues in most
areas are slowly fading, some bird popula-
tions are still affected. In Los Angeles, for
instance, high residues in sediments that
are taking years to break down continue to
contaminate pelicans. Also, some West-
em migratory bird populations, including
peregrine falcons and black-crowned
night herons, are absorbing DDT in Latin
American countries where the pesticide is
still used.

The service's research with ddt and
other chemicals has demonstrated that
different species react very differently to
each compound and industrial chemical.
For example, evidence thus far indicates
that polychlorinated biphenyls (pcb's)
have little if any effect on reproduction in
some wild birds at levels normally found
in today's environment. In contrast, some
mammals are sensitive to minute amounts
of pcb's in their habitats.

California Condor Pair
Lays and Loses Egg

Condor Research Center biologists have
become the first persons ever to witness
the laying of a California condor egg and
its loss 12 days later over a cliff edge dur-
ing a complicated series of disputes be-
tween the pair members.

Remarkably, the female laid her egg
from a standing position. It fell from a
height of nearly a foot to the floor of a cliff
cave, apparently without suffering any
damage. Whether such egg laying is typi-
cal for the species is not known. ~^~

OUR ENVIRONMENT

According to Noel Snyder, the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service team leader at
the Condor Research Center in Ventura,
the biologist observed the event through a
telescope at a distance of one-third of a
mile in a mountainous region northwest
of Los Angeles. The egg was laid at exactly
2:06 p.m., February 14; the female began
incubating the egg just six minutes later.

Incubation proceeded smoothly, with
both birds taking several-day turns sitting
on the egg until February 24, when the fe-
male returned from foraging and her mate
refused to let her take over the incubation.
She attempted to get to the egg for two
days, only to be repeatedly rebuffed by

the male. Finally, on February 26, she
managed to work the egg out from under
her mate, but it rolled out of the nest cave
onto a ledge in the process. The birds at-
tempted to roll the egg back into the cave
but were unable to get it up the incline. Ul-
hmately, the egg rolled off the cliff during
further disputes over which bird would sit
on it.

Only about 30 California condors re-
main in the wild, all in southern Califor-
nia. "With so few birds left," Snyder said,
"the success of every nesting attempt is
important and every loss is a great disap-
pointment." He added that there is still a
"reasonably good chance" the pair may
lay a second egg, since they lost the first
one so early in the breeding season. In
fact, the pair was seen courting and check-
ing nestholes again within two days of los-
ing the egg. Normally, California condors

lay only one egg every two years, but they
have been known to re-lay within a year if
they lose an egg early.

The condor pair is believed to be the
same pair that successfully fledged a chick
two years ago from a nest cave close to the
one used this year. There were arguments
between the pair in 1980 as well, accord-
ing to Snyder, but the disputes did not
develop so early and caused no apparent
harm to the breeding effort.

Only four other active pairs of con-
dors have been located by the research
team. One of these produced a fledgling
last year and is not expected to breed this
year as they are still caring for this young-
ster. None of the other three pairs has laid
as yet, with two months to go in the egg-
laying season. The research team is keep-
ing track of all these pairs from a safe
distance.

Field Museum Tours for Members

Kenya

with optional extension to the Seychelles

September 11-October 1

price to be announced

There Is Now as there always has been, an aura or mystery
surrounding Africa — Tropical islands and the coast, endless
palm-fringed beaches, snow-capped mountains on the equator,
jungle primeval, sun-baked plains. They are all a part of East
Africa. The wildlife. . . the stately processions of elephant and
giraffe, prides of lion, the beautiful and rare leopard, the elegant
cheetah, the magnificent migration of the wildebeest and zebra.
Only here in East Africa is there still such diversity.

The itinerary includes a daytime stopover in London, over-
nights at the Nairobi Hilton, Mt. Lodge Tree Hotel, Samburu
Game Lodge, Mount Kenya Safari Club, Lake Hotel (at Lake
Naivasha), Governor's Camp (Masai Mara Game Reserve), and
other first class accommodations. An overnight stay in London
will conclude the trip. A three-day extension to the Seychelles
Islands is available as an ophon.

Tour lecturer will be Audrey Faden, a native Kenyan, who
formerly served as Officer in Charge of EducaHon at the National
Museum of Kenya, Nairobi.

Jcwellikt: Devil's Lake

For tour information, please write or call the Tours Office, 322-8862

Wisconsin's Baraboo Range

May 22-23
$125.00

Dr Edward Olsen, curator of mineralogy, will lead tour members
through the Baraboo Range and along the shores and hinterland
of beautiful Devil's Lake, 150 miles northwest of Chicago. The
Baraboo Range is of special interest as a monadnock — what is left
of an ancient mountain range and which now stands out above
the younger rocks and sediments. The range consists of quart-
zite — more than one billion years old — which, although com-
pressed in places into vertical folds, retains the original sedimen-
tary structures. The mountains were further modified by glaciers,
forming the lake and the picturesque glens, and changing the
course of rivers.

Overnight accommodations and meals will be at a nearby
motel. Hiking clothes are strongly recommended for the sched-
uled hikes. The trip is not suitable for children, but younger
people interested in natural history are welcome. For further
details please call or write the Tours office.

Beach scene, Seychelles

May & June at Field Museum

May 16 through June 15

New Exhibits

"Maritime Peoples of the Arctic and Northwest
Coast." Hall 10. This dramatic new, permanent
exhibit opened April 24. It is an innovative exhibit
which compares and contrasts the theatrically
ornate cultures from the North Pacific Coast with
the austere but individualistic Eskimo societies.
Situated along the coasts of the Northern Pacific
and Arctic oceans, these two distinct cultures
have adapted to difl^ering environments by using
similar techniques to harvest the riches of the
rivers and oceans.

Enter the Introductory Gallery (I) from Hall 3
on the northeast comer of Stanley Field Hall. Here
the lush forested Northern Pacific area is com-
pared to the barren tundra of the Arctic. The
Northwest Coast Indians and the Eskimos both
lived by hunting and fishing; they never depended
on agriculture. How they hunted, fished, and
gathered from the land and sea is explained in
Gallery II. Full-sized house replicas of each group
are featured in the Village and Society Gallery (III).
The Spiritual World Gallery (IV) defines the inter-
relationships of the human, animal, and Spiritual
world. In the final Gallery (V) the stunning art of
the Northwest Coast Natives and Eskimos is
dramatically presented. The towering totem poles
and tiny scrimshawlike engravings exemplify the
rich artistic heritage of these groups.

Here is an exhibit you'll enjoy at a leisurely
pace, but will want to return to again and again.

• Gallery Nine. Special exhibit area in Hall 9. An
art gallery for viewing and purchasing. One may
select from the work of more than 20 of the finest
contemporary Northwest Coast and Eskimo art-
ists. From April 24 to May 25.

• Museum Store. Look for the newly remodeled
Museum gift and book shop facilities when vis-
iting the Maritime Peoples exhibit.

• Totem Pole. Field Museum's first outdoor arti-
fact, a 55-foot totem pole was raised to herald
the April 24 opening of "Maritime Peoples of the
Arctic and Northwest Coast."

"Maritime Peoples of the Arctic

and Northwest Coast"

Special Programs

Northwest Coast Lecture Series. "Strategies of
Society: Social Organization." The second lecture

series concentrates on the social structures of
Northwest Coast tribes and how their art is inte-
grated into those societies. You may attend the
whole series or any individual lecture. Each lec-
ture is given by a leading authority on native cul-
tures of the Northwest. Entrance for these 8 p.m.
lectures is through the West door. The series is $9
for Members and $12 for nonmembers. Single lec-
ture is $3; $4 for nonmembers.
n May 14 "Kwakiutl Winter Ceremonies," by

Peter Macnair, curator of anthropol-
ogy, British Columbia Provincial Mu-
seum, Victoria, British Columbia.
D May 21 "THngit Property Law," by RositaWorl,
Department of Anthropology, Uni-
versity of Alaska, Anchorage, Alaska.
n May 28 "Heraldic Symbolism," by Joan

Vastokas, Department of Anthropol-
ogy, Ti'ent University, Petersborough,
Ontario.
n June 4 "Historical Perspectives: Form and
Ti^adition in Regional Art," by Bill
Holm, curator of Northwest Coast
art, Burke Museum, University of
Washington, Seattle, Washington.

The Gie Sun Dancers. Tlingit Indians Irom Juneau,
Alaska, will perform in Stanley Field Hall. Each
Tlingit dance and its song is considered a family
property to be performed on public occasions
with the proper costumes and carvings. May 22
and 23 at 1 and 3 p.m.

Craft Demonstrations. The Tlingit and Haida
craftspeople, who are active in the revitalization
of Northwest Coast art forms, demonstrate their
skills. They use such regional materials as wood,
bone, argillite (a slate-like stone), grasses, and
wool. The three renowned Haida basket weavers
who will show basketry techniques are: Primrose
Adams, Selina Peratrovich and Delores Churchill.
May 22 and 23 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Northwest Coast Film Series: "People of the Tide
and Tlindra." A film series for deepening museum-
goers' appreciation of the new permanent exhibit,
"Maritime Peoples of the Arctic and Northwest
Coast." Free vvdth Museum admission. Saturdays

Continued on back cover

EDITH FLEMING

94 6 PLEASAMT

OAK PARK ILL 60302

May & June at Field Museum

Continued from

and Sundays in May, 1:30 p.m. in Lecture Hall L

May 15, 16 Eskimo Artist: Kenojuak. The life and
work of an Eskimo woman artist.
The Legend of the Magic Knives. A
Kwakiutl legend is told through
totem pole carvings.

May 22, 23 Wooden Box Made by Steaming and
Bending. The traditional methods of
making cedar boxes is shown.
Nathan Jackson: Tlingit Artist. A con-
temporary artist shares his insight
into the nature of Tlingit art.

May 29, 30 People of the Seal: Eskimo Summer.
The summertime activities of Netsilik
Eskimos is portrayed.
The Crooked Beak of Heaven. A pot-
latch and other traditional ceremo-
nies of Northwest Coast Indians are
documented.

New Programs

Kites on the Wing. A Weekend Family Program.
Make your own kite in the shape of a bird and
fly it (weather permitting) . Members of the Chicago-
land Skyliners, a kite-flying club, will be on hand to
assist. Compare the behavior and habitats of dif-
ferent birds and view the special display of kites.
Bring your own #20 brown paper bag and at
least 50 feet of kite string. May 16 from 1 to 3 p.m.

International Museum Day screening of the film
"Museum" offers an inside look at how a museum
functions and who the people are who work in
them. May 16 at 1 p.m. and at 3 p.m. Free with
Museum admission.

Gamelan Concert. The Gamelan Repertoire
Ensemble, now in its fifth year of performing, and
the three-year-old Gamelan Performance Ensem-
ble will both play during this concert in James
Simpson Theatre. June 13 at 2 p.m.

Weekend Discovery Programs. Tours, craft projects,
slide presentations, and films which use Field

inside back cover

Museum exhibits as a springboard for new in-
sights into natural history projects are featured
on Saturdays and Sundays. Check Weekend Sheet
available at Museum entrances for added
programs.

May 15, 3 p.m. "Life in Ancient Egypt," tour.

May 16, 1:30 p.m. "Hitankhamun: Discovery and

TY^asures of the Tomb," slide

program.
May 23, 1:30 p.m. "Tibetan Life and Religion,"

slide program.
May 29, 2 p.m. "Chinese Ceramic Tl'aditions,"

tour.
June 5, 1:30 p.m. "Malvina Hoffman," slide

program.
June 6, 1:30 p.m. "Egypt in 1923: A Nile Journey,"

film.
June 12, 1 p.m. "Tibet Today," slide program.
June 12, 2 p.m. "Tibet," film.

The Nature Conservancy is a national conservation
organization committed to preserving natural
diversity by protecting lands with the best exam-
ples of all components of our natural world. Slide
lecture presents examples of preserves retained
by the Conservancy and managed by volunteer
land stewards. June 5 at 2 p.m.

Continuing Programs

Volunteer Opportunities. Individuals with scien-
tific interests and backgrounds are needed to
work in various Museum departments. Contact
the Volunteer Coordinator, 922-9410, ext. 360.

May AND June Hours. The Museum is open daily
9 a.m. to 6 p.m. except Fridays. On Fridays, the
Museum is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. throughout
the year.

The Museum Library is open weekdays 9 a.m. to
4 p.m. Closed Memorial Day, May 31. Obtain a pass
at the reception desk, main floor.

Museum Telephone: (312) 922-9410

Field Museum of Natural History Bulletin

June 1982

Field Museum
of Natural History
Bulletin

Published by

Field Museum of Natural History

Founded 1893

President: Willard L. Boyd
Director: Lorin I. Nevling, Jr.

Editor/Designer: David M. Walsten
Production Liaison: Kathryn Laughlin
Calendar: Mary Cassai
Staff Photographer: Ron Testa

Board OF Trustees

James J. O'Connor

chainnati
Mrs. T. Stanton Armour
George R. Baker
Robert O. Bass
Gorden Bent
Bowen Blair
Willard L. Boyd
Stanton R. Cook
O.C. Davis

William R. Dickinson, Jr.
Thomas E. Donnelley II
Marshall Field
Richard M, Jones
Hugo). Melvoin
Charles F. Murphy, Jr.
Lorin I. Nevling, Jr.
James H. Ransom
John S. Runnells
William L. Searle
Edward Byron Smith
Robert H.'Strotz
John W. Sullivan
William G. Swartchild, Jr.
Mrs. Theodore D. Tieken
E. Leiand Webber
Julian B. Wilkins
Blaine J. Yarrington

Life Trustees

Harry O. Bercher
Joseph N Field
Paul W.Goodrich
Clifford C'. Gregg
Sarauel InsuU, Jr.
WiJliam V Kahler
William H. MitcheU
JohnM. Simpson
J. Howard Wood

CONTENTS

June 1982

Volume 53, Number 6

Big Beaver Comes to Chicago

New Totem Pole Installed

Theatre Sans Fil

Giant Puppet Show Comes to Field Museum
June 26, 27

Field Briefs

Records from Stone

Mammoth Publication Project Completed
bv Alice K. Schneider

Probing the Roots of the Lincoln Park
Totem Pole

by Virginia A. Leslie

Field Museum's Tour to Australia

Reindeer Transport in Alaska

bv James W. VanStone

Curator of North American Archaeology

and Ethnology

Arctic Housing — Eskimo Style

bv Daniel J. Jovce, staff member of the Maritime
Peoples of the Northwest Coast Project

Field Museum's Tour to Kenya

Our Environment

28
32
33

June O'July at Field Museum

Calendar of Coming Events

Fieldiana: 1981 Titles

FRONT COVER

Detail of Big Beaver totem pole, installed in front of Field
Museum April 24, 1982. Shown here is head of grandson of
Beaver Chief; he holds beaver tail. Photo by Tom Hocker.

BACK COVER

Detail of Big Beaver totem pole: head of Beaver Chief Photo
bvRon Testa.

FMd Museum of Natural History BuUetin (USPS 898-940) is published monthly, except combmed
July/ August issue, by Field Museum of Natural History, Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore Unve,
Chicago, D. 60605. Subscriptions: $6,00 annually $3.00 for schools. Museum membership
includes Bullelm subscription Opinions expressed by authors are their own and do not
necessarUy reflect the policy of Field Museum Unsolicited manuscripts are welcome. Museum
phone: (312) 922-9410. Postmaster: Please send from 3579 to Field Museum of Natural History,
Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, II. 60605. ISSN:0015-0703. Second dass postage
paid at Chicago, II.

Big Beaver Conies to Field Museum

April 24, 1982, is a day to remember in the
history of Field Museum and of the City of
Chicago. For on that sunny, windswept Saturday,
the Big Beaver totem pole, the 55-foot creation of
Norman Tait, was raised and dedicated in front of
the Museum — the first artifact to be on permanent
exhibit outside the Museum in its 89-year history.

For the City of Chicago, the pole was now to
be counted among the city's great outdoor works of
art, taking its rightful place among a Picasso, a
Miro, a Calder, an Oldenburg, and a Chagall, among
others.

The pole was carved in Vancouver, B.C., by
Nishga artist Norman Tkit, of the Tbimshian group
of Northwest Coast Indians. Tait was commissioned
by the Museum to carve the pole for the celebration
of the opening of the new permanent exhibit, "Mari-
time Peoples of the Arctic and Northwest Coast" in
Hall 10.

Tait began his task by going into the forest to
select the perfect tree. With the help of the British
Columbia Council of Forest Industries, a 65-foot
cedar tree was cut and transported to the ware-

house, where he and his apprentices set to work.
They began their carving after Tait retold the Beaver
Legend to the group of workers.

It is the story of how a family of Indians (Tait's
ancestors) came to learn of the beaver's wa)?s and
adopted the beaver figure as its clan symbol. To
the Northwest Coast Indian carver, the pole is the
medium for the telling of an age-old story — one
held dear to the family of the carver and only
allowed to be told by that family.

When totem poles were first observed by
European explorers they were thought to be objects
of worship. Further contact revealed that the poles
were simply a way to publicly tell a story and at the
same time bring honor and status to the owner of
the pole. In the complex societies of the Northwest
Coast, honor and status were as important as
material wealth.

Free-standing poles, like the one Tait has carved

Big Beaver totem pole, detail of human face. Photo by Tbm
Hacker.

Opposite: Detail of

pole shomng figures

of four brothers who

adopted the Big

Beaver storv. Photo

by Tom Hocker.

Top: Big Beaver

arrives in Chicago

April 9 via CPRail/Soo

Line at Edward Mines

Lumber Company.

Middle: In front of

Field Museum on

April 22; Museum

staff members shift

the pole so that

can'ers may complete

final details. Bottom:

April 23— staff

members carry the

pole into final position

before raising. Photos

bv Ron Testa.

for Field Museum, are outgrowths of carved house-
posts or support beams used inside Indian houses.
Woodcarvers without peer in the Americas, the
Northwest Coast Indians decorated these large
wooden beams with intricate designs, using a
unique tool, the hand adze, with precision and
delicacy.

The pole was raised at its lakefront setting in
the traditional manner, using six ropes to pull it
upright. Thousands assembled for the pole raising
ceremony and over 200 actually assisted in raising
it. Among those present was Her Honor Jane Byrne,
mayor of the City of Chicago.

Before the pole-raising, carver Norman Tait

delivered a brief address:

To the people of Chicago, and especially to Her
Honor Mayor Bvme, I would like to welcome you to
witness the birth of the Big Beaver. It has been in
labor pains for the last six months. Where we take
nine months, the totem pole takes six months, so I
would like to invite the people of Chicago to come
forward and help with the umbilical cord of this
great person, the Big Beaver. I'd like you to also wit-
ness the first time that the family of Rufus Watts will
have dahced and raised thepoleat thesame time in
about 80 years. This group is very new as compared
to the very rich peoples of the Northwest Coast. I
would like to thank you all for coming. Thank you.

Jm^f^' .b.-

The Big Beaver Legend

The "Big Beaver" pole which Norman Tait carved for Field
Museum depicts the figures involved in the Beaver legend
and part of his famil/s history. The story was told to him
by his maternal grandfather, Rufus Watts, and has been
passed on from generation to generation. It describes the
adoption of Beaver songs, dances, and images by the Eagle
tribe; it is part of the Nishga heritage and is seen as the
truth by the Nishga people.

The story is about a family of five brothers. They were
about to give a feast, and, to do so, had the responsibility
to earn a lot of money. In those days money was measured
in beaver pelts so the five brothers set off on a beaver hunt
in the lake areas where there were known to be many
beaver dams. The youngest brother was taken along to
look after the pelts once they had been skinned. He was to
count, record, and pack them.

Not long after they had set out, the brothers came
across a family of beavers and the hunt began. Soon they
had collected numerous pelts. In the process of the kill, the
beavers scattered in panic in an effort to escape. Although
many did not escape, two small beavers did manage to get
away from the hunters. The younger brother, sitting on
top of the hill, noticed these two small animals running
away. He felt sorry for the struggling beavers and went
down the hill to help them get away. He encouraged them
to keep on running and also gave them assistance in get-
ting over the larger dams that were in their paths. The
younger brother showed the little beavers great sympathy
and gentleness.

Eventually the two beavers disappeared into a bigger
pond at the other end of the creek which held a very large
beaver lodge. The younger brother noticed a smoke-hole
in the roof of the lodge, which was used to let out smoke
and let in light. He was puzzled. This was most unusual
for the beaver dams. The ones he knew did not have
smoke-holes. He peered down the smoke-hole just in time
to see the two small beavers undressing! They were taking
off their beaver clothing and the young man was surprised
to see that the two little beavers were actually human be-
ings. He continued to watch as they sat on the lap of the
Beaver Chief and told him all about the slaughter in which
their uncles and grandfathers were being killed at the
other end of the creek.

The great Beaver Chief, dressed in beaver clothes and
beaver headdress, began to sing the Mourning Song and
dance the Mourning Dance. He also sang a Cold Song
which called for a freeze over the lake to protect the re-
maining beavers that had managed to stay alive.

The younger brother heard the songs and saw the dance
and felt saddened by the extent of the hunt. He decided to
adopt the songs and the dance. As he watched he noticed a
large Totem Pole standing beside the Beaver Chief which
consisted of many carved beavers and was called the "Big
Beaver" pole. The young man decided to adopt this pole as
his family crest. He went back to his brothers to share his
discoveries. He showed them the dance that the beavers
had performed. He sang the Mourn/n^Son^ and the Cold
Song. The four brothers were also feeling remorseful that
they had killed so many beavers. To show their feelings
and in respect for the dead they decided to accept the
younger brother's suggestion and adopted the songs and
the dance of the beaver people. D

Above: Procession on

April 23, preceding

mming the pole.

Right: Norman Tait

addresses audience on

Museum 's north steps

on April 24 prior to

pole-raising. Chicago

Mavorjane Bxrne is

seated at left. Photos

bv Ron Testa.

Above: Rufus Watts
(left), the Elder, grand-
father of Norman
Tait, wears Eagle Clan
helmet. Norman Tait
(right) wears Beaver
Clan helmet. Left: The
pole is about to be
raised. Photos by Tom
Hocker (above) and
Ron Testa.

April 24, 1982:
"Big Beaver" is raised.
Photo by Tom Hocker.

PUPPETS EXTRAORDINAIRE:

Theatre Sans Kl

(The No Strings Puppet Theatre)

James Simpson Theatre

June 26, 27

2:00 p.m.

Members: $3.00; Nonmembers: $4.00

Adults and children alike marvel at the striking
visual and musical effects employed in the enactment
of these ancient tales, in which more than 40 enormous
pupf)ets appear. Reviewers have termed the production
"an absolutely elegant puppet show that brings a my-
thic exjjerience to Ufe in rapturous detail? The program,
a Learning Museum event, is made possible by a grant
from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The only Canadian company to work with giant
pupjjets, the Theatre Sans FU has develojied new tech-
niques for their fabrication and manipulation. The
Theatre Sans Fils was founded in 1971 and now has
nine productions to its credit. The company's reputation
has groivn steadily over the years and it was chosen to
represent Canada at the International Puppet Festival
in Washington, D.C. in 1980.

For ticket information, please call (312) 322-8854.
Tickets will also be available at the West Door box
office one hour before curtain time. '

FIELD BRIEFS

Philippine Exhibit Opens July 17

The largest special exhibit of traditional
Filipino art to be held anywhere since
1905, "The People and Art of the Philip-
pines'/ will be on view in Hall 26 from July
17 through December 31. (Members' pre-
view Friday, July 16, 1 to 9 p.m.)

The exhibit includes loans from 16 mu-
seums and 14 private collections in the
U.S., Europe, and the Philippines. The
400 objects in the show are selected to give
a comprehensive view of the culture of
this former Spanish and then American
colony, now a major Southeast Asian
nation. Special emphasis is given to the
ceramics and gold of the prehistoric peri-
od, the Catholic arts of Spanish colonial
times, the noted wood sculpture of the
northern Philippines, and the extraordi-
nary but almost unknown textiles of the
southern Philippines.

"A Philippine Afternoon" will be held
on Sunday, July 18, from 1 to 4 p.m., offer-
ing a variety of programs in connection
with the new exhibit. There will be music,
dance, and craft demonstrations. Indige-
nous PhUippine dishes, reflecting the
impact of Indonesian, Asian, and Spanish
cultures may be sampled.

Commitment to Distinction Program

Field Museum's Corporate and Founda-
tion Division Commitment to Distinction
Program for 1982 and 1983 is under way.
This program seeks financial support from
the corporate and foundation community,
and involves leading corporation execu-
tives in development efforts on behalf of
Field Museum.

George R. Baker, executive vice presi-
dent. Continental Illinois Corporation and
Field Museum trustee, chairs the 1982-83
committee involving 10 section chairmen
and more than 50 committeemen. Recent-
ly, section chairmen gathered at the Muse-
um for an orientation meeting. This
meeting provided valuable insights con-
cerning the activities being conducted in
the Museum's areas of scientific research,
exhibition, and education.

Section chairmen for the 1982-83 pro-
gram include: Daniel Calibraro, vice presi-
dent. Corporate Communications, WGN
Continental Broadcasting; Wade Fetzer,
vice president. Investment Banking Ser-
vices, Goldman, Sachs and Company;
Thomas Hague, assistant to the chairman,
Borg-Wamer Corporation; Robert Jagel,

vice president. Planning and Administra-
tion, Amoco Chemical Corporation; John
Jones, senior vice president and treasurer,
Chicago Bridge and Iron Company;
Adrian Kruse, partner in banking, Ernst
& Whinney; Donald Petkus, vice presi-
dent. Commonwealth Edison Company;
Stephen White, senior vice president,
banking. Northern Trust Company; W.
Denis Wright, senior vice president.
Continental Illinois National Bank and Jay
D. Proops, vice president and treasurer,
Esmark, Inc.

Past support for Field Museum by the
corporate and foundation community has
been very generous and with the out-
standing committee of corporate leaders
currently lending their assistance. Field
Museum's 1982-83 Corporate and Foun-
dation Division will achieve the continued
and increased support of the business
sector.

Advisory Committee Named to
Museum's Planned Giving Program

An Advisory Committee to the Museum's
Planned Giving Program has been named,
and recently held its initial, orientation

Members' Nights October 7, 8

The special evenings that all Members
have been waiting for — Members' Nights
— will take place this year on Thursday,
October 7, and Friday, October 8, from 6 to
10 p.m. As in the past, the festive two-
night open house will feature behind-the-
scenes visits for all Members to curatorial
areas, laboratories, preparators' work-
shops, and other facilities that are not
ordinarily accessible to the public. Cura-
tors and other staff will be on hand to dis-
cuss their research and the collections
with visitors. Live music will be featured
in Stanley Field Hall and, of course, re-
freshments wi]\ be served.

New Hours Schedule

As of May 1, a new schedule of visiting
hours to Field Museum went into effect.
The new daily hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00
p.m., year-round. The day of the week
during which no admission fee is required
of nonmembers has been changed to
Thursday (from Friday). In addition to
these changes, the Museum will in the
future be closed on Thanksgiving Day
(beginning this year), as well as on
10 Christmas and New Year's Day.

Fossil Loan to Smithsonian. Fossils of six South American vertebrates and one cast were recently
loaned to the United States National Museum (part of the Smithsonian Institution) for a special
exhibit being mounted there. Jessica Harrison (right), research associate, and Dan Chaney (left),
preparator, both of the Department of Paleobiology, USNM, are shown in Field Museum's fossil
preparator's lab with some of the specimens to be loaned. With them are Field Museum's Larry Mar-
shall (2nd from left), assistant curator of fossil mammals, and William F. Simpson, Field Museum's
preparator of fossil vertebrates. Dr. Harrison stands by the carapace of a glyptodont; to the left is a
mastodont skull; the large skeleton on the table is that of a giant ground sloth. Behind Harrison's
hand is a cast of the smaller skull of a scxalled "terror bird," or Andalgalomis.

meeting. The committee will advise staff,
participate in clinics and seminars, and
generally make known the Museum's
programs to professional associates and
to others.

The committeemen, who will serve
two-year terms, will work with two trus-
tees of the Museum. William R. Dickin-
son, Jr., of Wilson & Mcllvain, serves as
chairman, and Hugo J. Melvoin, C.P.,
serves as vice-chairman.

The committeemen are: John P. Crilly,
vice president and division head. Personal
Banking and Trust, First National Bank of
Chicago; Millard J. Grauer, CLU, Owens,
Grauer, Dotterer and Dewyer; Addis E.
Hull III, partner, Jenner & Block, and
head. Estate Planning and Probate Divi-
sion; Samuel W. Hunt, senior vice presi-
dent and head. Trust Personal Services,
Continental Illinois National Bank & Trust
Company; Thomas F. Jones, Jr., senior
vice president. Personal Trust Group,
Harris Trust & Savings; Reinald McCrum,
vice president. Trust Personal Financial
Planning, the Northern Trust Bank; and
Martin H. Rosenberg, executive director,
Illinois CPA Society.

Women's Board presidents, past and present. ShownattheMay 5, 1982, Women's Board An-
nual Meeting are (L. to r.) Mrs. T. Stanton Armour (newly elected president), Mrs. Robert Wells
Carton (president 1980-82), Mrs. Edward F. Swift (1978-80), Mrs. O. Macrae Patterson (1974-76),
Mrs. B. Edward Bensinger (1972-74), and Mrs. Edward Byron Smith (1970-72). Not shown is Mrs.
Joseph E. Rich (1976-78). The Women's Board was founded by the late Mrs. Hermon Dunlap Smith,
who served as first president, 1966-70.

New Women's Board Officers

The new president of Field Museum's
Women's Board is Mrs. T. Stanton
Armour, elected at the board's annual
meeting. May 5. Mrs. Armour succeeds
Mrs. Robert Wells Carton, elected in 1980.
Other new officers elected at the meeting
were Mrs. John W. Madigan, vice presi-
dent; Mrs. Evan G. Moore, vice president;
Mrs. George Barr McCutcheon II, record-
ing secretary; Mrs. Philip D. Block III, cor-
responding secretary; Mrs. Angelo R.
Arena, board member-at-large; and Mrs.
Hammond E. Chaffetz, board member-
at-large.

Continuing in their respective offices
are Mrs. John C. Meeker, vice president;
Mrs. Newton N. Minow, treasurer; and
Mrs. Ben W. Heineman, board member-
at-large.

Public Relations Manager Honored

Mary A. Cassai, Field Museum's public
relations manager, has received a 1982
Merit Award from the Publicity Club of
Chicago for individual management of a
publicity campaign in the "Institutional
Programs" classification. The award was
given for the planning and coordination of
a print-television-radio program on Field
Museum produced by the advertising firm
of D' Arcy-MacManus & Masius, Inc.

The award is given to the top ten per-
cent of advertising and public relations
professionals in the Midwest. Last year
Cassai was also honored by the Publicity
Club of Chicago for outstanding promo-
tion of the "Great Bronze Age of China"
exhibit.

Mr. Hisazo Nagatani, center, is presented a certificate by Field Museum President Willard L.
Boyd at a dinner in Nagatani's honor, March 30. The certificate named Nagatani, donor of many
fine works of Chinese and Japanese art, as a benefactor of the Museum. Seated at right is Dr. Lau-
rence Sickman, distinguished sinologist and former director of the Nelson Gallery, Kansas City, Mo.

IMPIRIAL ROIES

"Azure Dragon," from
stone coffin of Wang
Hui, Szechuan, Han

dynasty, 56 x 122 cm,
#233583.

Records from Stone

faj Alice K. Schneider
Associate, Department of Anthropology

The first time I exchanged appreciations with
an elderly Chinese scholar on his country's art,
he inquired, "Are you familiar with Chinese
robins?"

I gazed at his open, smiling face for clues to
his meaning, but could only lamely reply, "No,
I didn't know there was a separate species."

Last summer I was to give a slide-show talk
on Chinese rubbings, a subject I had been closely
involved with for more than 15 years — ever
since the "robins" were straightened out. The
talk was to be for a senior citizens' study group,
and on the morning of the presentation I over-
heard a lady tell her husband that she wouldn't
be able to join him for their customary afternoon
stroll because she planned to attend a session
on "Chinese massage."

So what are these elusive objects, these
Chinese rubbings? They are simply prints, mis-
named "rubbings" because in English we do
not have a close equivalent for that art form:
impressions made by tamping indelible ink on
mulberry paper that has been placed over an
incised surface, usually stone or wood. This is
called the "wet" method, as distinguished from
the "dry."

In the latter, paper is truly rubbed with
charcoal or crayon. Because dry, or "English
rubbings" (so-called because most were made
from inscribed tablets in English churches), are

more familiar to us, we borrow the term "rub-
bings." The wet technique far outlasts the dry (I
have seen a rubbing fragment from the seventh
century). But for some reason, the wet method
continues to be used almost exclusively in the
Orient, notably in China and Korea.

Still less familiar to the western world are
the engraved stones themselves and what they
represent: more than 2,000 years of cultural
history. They include not only important com-
memorations comparable to those found in the
ruins of other ancient civilizations, but a variety
of documents as well as religious works. This
information is rarely found in books published
in the West on China, possibly because there
has never been a comprehensive study of this
remarkable phenomenon in either East or West.
But 80 years ago the exciting potential of this
material came to the attention of a young sinol-
ogist, Berthold Laufer.

In 1901, Laufer, a recent emigrant from
Cologne to the United States, was sent to China
to obtain artifacts for New York's American

Catalogue of Chinese Rubbings from Field Museum
(1981), 746 pp., was researched by Hoshein Tchen and
Kenneth M. Starr, prepared by Alice K. Schneider,
photographed by Herta Newton and Field Museum
Division of Photography, and edited by Hartmut Wal-
ravens. Fieldiana Anthropology New Series Number
3; $67.50.

Museum. While there, he was advised by
Chinese scholars that for research purposes he
must have rubbings made from the engraved
stones which were to be found in temples, im-
perial buildings, and their courtyards. The easily
transportable rubbings would provide an inex-
pensive permanent library of research tools
from original sources that he could always use
in the convenience of his own study.

Ultimately, Laufer acquired some 4,000
rubbings in China, shipping them back to the
American Museum for safekeeping. In time, the
collection was to be one of the largest and most
comprehensive in the world. But for many years,
because of Laufer's involvement in so many
other research activities, he had little opportu-
nity to use these rubbings. In 1907, Laufer joined
the curatorial staff of Field Museum, and in
1923, upon his request, the American Museum
presented the entire collection to him.

In 1929 Laufer sought funds to finally re-
search and catalog the collection. He proposed
the establishment of an "Oriental Research

Institute" in Washington, D.C., which would
underwrite his "project of a corpus inscriptio-
num Sinicarum," as he called it. Over a period
of 15 years, the rubbings were to be cataloged
into 15 volumes. The projected cost: $150,000.
But in October, 1929, the American economy
collapsed, and the ambitious project never ma-
terialized. A catalog of only the non-Chinese
portion of the collection was published in his
lifetime. Laufer died in 1936, leaving a body of
published and unpublished work that was as
remarkable for its intellectual amplitude as for
its size. Included in his will was a bequest to the
Field Museum of his entire library of rubbings.

It was fitting that the cataloging of the rub-
bings collection was finalized by another scholar
equally dedicated to achieving a bridge between
the cultures of the East and West: Dr Hoshien
Tchen, a refugee from China who came to Field
Museum in 1954; he remained until 1973, serving
as consultant for the East Asian collection.

A collector of Chinese art as well as former
legal adviser to the Palace collection in Peking,

^i. f

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"Prancing Deer/Horse
and Rider" tomb brick
relief from Szechuan,
mid-2nd century; 43 x
44 cm: #233533. 13

"Landscape, Pine Tree, Cranes," from Confucius Temple,
Hsi-an; 189 x 79 cm, #244810.

Tchen was curious to view the Field Museum's
holdings in Chinese art and artifacts. What was
not then known, not even to Dr. Kenneth Starr,
the East Asia curator, was the importance of the
contents of some 30 boxes from the American
Museum that had remained in storage for more
than a quarter century. Dr. Tchen has spoken
often of opening these boxes as "a tremendous,
exciting discovery," describing their contents as
"the best part of the Chinese collection."

In 1961 Starr and Tchen began to curate the
rubbings collection, Tchen doing the research,
largely with the aid of Chinese sources, and
Starr doing the editing — a responsibility I grad-
ually took over after coming to the Museum
as a volunteer in 1965.

Cataloging collections is a large part of mu-
seum work. Usually it involves identification of
the specimen, determination of its age and pro-
venience, when and where it was obtained by
the Museum (not always identical with pro-
venience), physical characteristics, by whom it
was made, etc. A photo, ideally, rounds out the
catalog entry — all of this posted on a 3 x 5 index
card for the curator's file and duplicated in a set
of ledgers, kept in the department office. Today,
in Field Museum's Department of Anthropology,
most of this information has been stored in a
Computer as well. (See "Cannibals, Catalogs and
Computers," September 1977 Bulletin, p. 10.) In
the late 1950s, Starr designed an 8 x 11-inch card
that would accommodate more information
about the rubbing or engraving it documented.

Fortunately, for those of us interested in
Chinese antiquities, cataloging in that country
is an ancient, highly respected tradition, and
among the Chinese literati there is also a cher-
ished tradition of collecting objects of historic or
aesthetic value. So in addition to information
available in public archives, were those orderly
notebooks kept by private collectors; some col-
lectors even published memoranda on their art
works or antiquities. And then there were the
ti-pos — colophons written on the mountings of
valuable rubbings, sometimes even engraved
into the stones.

However, from the mid-Ming dynasty
{ca. 1500) on, the Chinese did not consider their
contemporary engravings important enough to
record. By then, many engravings were recuts,
copies of older stones which time had worn
away or which had entirely disappeared, leaving
only rubbings to trace from. Therefore, for those
rubbings not described in any publication, Tchen
had to glean his data from the rubbings them-
selves — no simple task. This required the ability
to read classical Chinese (a skill roughly com-
parable to that of a present-day Englishman
reading Chaucer), for many inscriptions were

written in this antique style. It also required a
familiarity with the Chinese classics and their
writers, with collections of rubbings and their
collectors, artists, calligraphy and writing styles
of various periods, and an eye for recognizing a
recut stone. Few young people in China today
can do any of this.

This ability to distinguish between originals
and recuts was perhaps the most recondite of
the skills involved. Recuts were made at least as
early as the Sung dynasty (960-1279), and in
some instances there were even forgeries of
famous calligraphers. A recut was made from a
fresh stone slab on which a rubbing of the origi-
nal stone had been imposed as a pattern. Recut
engravings, therefore, contained all the original
information, including dates, signatures, and
even seals of the original. Recut stones were
also made from copies of earlier copies of pos-
sibly a freehand copy of an original painting.

The condition of a rubbing is not necessarily
an indication of its age; the condition depends
on how well the paper has been preserved. I
have seen beautiful rubbings from the Sung
dynasty which had been carefully preserved in
private collections; I have also seen twentieth-
century rubbings that were already victims of
neglect.

Laufer's meticulous field notes were of
particular help to Tchen — except for his data on
proveniences. For the last millennium, inscribed
stones of historic significance had been removed
from their outdoor settings to pagodas, temples,
and other structures that offered some protection
from the elements; but in being moved, infor-
mation about the original site was not always
recorded. For this reason, the provenience given
for a large number of rubbings in our collection
may be a particular temple, though that temple
was in fact merely a repository.

An early catalog, based upon Laufer's field
notes, had been prepared by C. Y. Hu and Rose
G. Miller, who worked at Field Museum between
1939 and 1944. In his research, Tchen frequently
referred to the Hu-Miller catalog; but mistakes
and omissions had to be corrected. And Hu-
Miller covered only the acquisitions made by
Laufer, not later additions to the collection.

Rubbings acquired from other people, such
as some 300 fascinahng prints made from Han
(206 B.C. -AD. 220) tomb tiles and stones in Sze-
chuan by D.C. Graham in the 1930s, required
sources of information other than Hu-Miller.
These various sources were not always in
agreement. In contrast, a well known private
collection of old rubbings mounted in book
form and purchased by the Museum in the 1960s
was thoroughly documented. Tchen often
referred to our work as "very delicate" because

it was so easy for errors to be committed.

In early 1972 it looked as though we were
actually going to finish researching this vast
collechon. Our completed 8 x 11 catalog cards
could have made a stack nine feet high. The
rubbings — some as large as 4 x 7 feet — were
all returned to their enormous storage cabinets.
One final question remained: What was to
happen now?

Was all this work to remain buried in stor-
age, the final resting place of so much research,
or should it be made available to scholars hungry
for research tools? Few scholars knew of this
collection, even fewer that information about
each item in the collection was now readily
accessible. A modest catalog list would do; but
how does such a list reach its intended readers?
Dr. James VanStone, editor of Fieldiana, the Mu-
seum's continuing monograph series, proposed
that a comprehensive compendium be prepared.
I blithely agreed to spend one more year on this
work. It was to take nine.

Approval for publication in Fieldiana was
dependent upon several conditions: first, con-
firmation by a recognized scholar in at least a
closely related field that the results of our
research were worth publication. This posed
something of a problem since there was no
authority in this country on Chinese rubbings.
Funding for the project was also required. In
addition, compiling a book required an editor
with a thorough knowledge of Chinese. Dr.
Tchen would no longer be available. Reaching
the respectable age of 80, he was to retire in
1973.

Fortunately, none of these problems proved
insurmountable. Professor T. H. Tsien, director
of the University of Chicago's East Asian Library,
and an eminent authority on the development
of writing in China, heartily approved the idea

Catalogue of
Chinese Rubbings
from Field Museum

of the proposed work. He based his endorse-
ment on recognition of the importance of the
collection and on his respect for the scholarship
of Dr. Tchen. Funding for the project was ob-
tained from the National Endowment for the
Arts. And from Laufer's home town of Cologne,
in 1974, came another young graduate in Chinese
studies and one of the world's three experts in
the Manchu language. Dr. Hartmut Walravens.
He had come to examine manuscripts of Laufer's
for a bibliography he was preparing, and he
remained, in his words, "to act as midwife" for
the rubbings collection catalog.

Walraven's contributions went far beyond
the duties of editing. He compiled an extremely
useful bibliography from Tchen's sources — a
task that would have been an impossibility for
me, since most of these sources were in Chinese.
He did further research in areas of his expertise
such as Manchu, Mongolian, and on rubbbings
from two Christian cemeteries in China, which
were of particular interest to him. He also helped
to design and execute the extremely complicated
indices and other sections of the book. He did
the editing in Cologne and later Hamburg, over
a period of years, for it had been agreed that we
would work by mail. I was to send him dupli-
cates of manuscript copy in installments of about
100 sheets each to minimize difficulties in the
event of loss. And indeed one packet was lost
with neither of us being aw^re of it at the time.
The Post Office had placed its stamp over

my envelope number. By the time we realized
that a packet was missing, a complete numerical
order of catalog entries had been worked out.
As a consequence of the loss the numbering
had to be redone — a task of several months.
This was just the beginning of many problems
exacerbated by thousands of miles between us.
Because of a long delay in receiving an antici-
pated introduction, both of us — independent of
the other — solicited another. After four years
we had three!

A specialist in Arabic was needed. Wal-
ravens found one in Germany; 1 found one here.
And the opinions of the two on certain texts
differed. Duplicates of file cards, prepared
because there were duplicate rubbings in the
collection, were endlessly turning up; so the
duplicate entries they generated in the book
had to be weeded out. Even some new rubbings
materialized, overlooked by Tchen and myself
in our research. And finally, two boxes of rub-
bings sent to us by the American Museum in
1970 turned out to be ours; they, too, had to be
included. Unaccountably, these Laufer rubbings
had remained at the American Museum all these
years. The appendices grew.

It was at this point that reconstruction of
rooms in the Department of Anthropology
began. The incessant drilling of pneumatic
hammers and flying dust made work there so
difficult that I bought an electric typewriter
and continued the project at home.

One of 16 illustrations
of steps in processing

cotton, from stone sl(W

in the Imperial Palace,
Peking: 1765 or later;

26x26 cm, #118293.

16 (Cropped at top)

In May, 1977, five years later, the finished
manuscript was submitted to the Fieldiana editor
for final processing before being typeset. What
had we accomplished? A behemoth catalog of
2,014 printed rubbing entries with titles in
English and Chinese characters, plus translit-
erations. Some titles, where called for,
were done in transliterations of Manchu,
Mongolian, Tibetan, etc. Individual indices of
titles, personal names, temples, proveniences,
and so forth, as well as the usual subject index
ran to 148 printed pages. The indices alone had
involved three years of cross-checking, shaping,
and refining by several dedicated volunteers as
well as by Walravens and me. The illustrations
filled 137 full pages.

Again, a dedicated volunteer, Herta New-
ton, a former professional photographer, and I,
working three days a week at the Museum,
"finished" the photography for the book in two
years. Not that the selection of photographs
was by any means then completed; it was most

difficult to represent pictorially a collection of
such enormous proportions and variety. In the
case of very large rubbings of calligraphy, only
details were photographed, because it would
have been impossible to see anything adequately
in a small photograph.

Still ahead were four years of editing and
proofreading by the Fieldiana editor and several
of us, paid and unpaid, associated with the
project.

Why do we do these things?

Fortunately, we cling to ideas, beliefs, and
morsels of encouragement. I had absorbed Dr.
Tchen's conviction that we were compiling the
first catalog of its kind anywhere in the world,
important not only because its subject was rub-
bings, but for its extraordinary breadth and
scope. The final product, I am satisfied, is a
valuable, unique research tool — "Project of a
Corpus Inscriptionum Sinicarum," even though
I had known nothing of Laufer's ambitious
attempt until after the book was finished. D

Map of China during
general Sung period
and places visited by
the legendary Emperor
Yii, from Confucius
Temple, Hsi-an, dated
1137: 79 X 78 cm:
#245523. This has
been described by schol-
ars as the most remark-
able cartographic work
of its age in any culture.

Probing the Roots of

The Lhteoln Park Totem Pole

br Virginia A. Leslie

The City of Chicago can boast of two monu-
mental family trees: carved cedar totem
poles from the Pacific Northwest Coast. One
was acquired by the city more than half a century
ago; the other went on view outside Field
Museum on April 24 of this year.

The former is a 40-foot pole located in
Lincoln Park at Lake Shore Drive and Addison
Street. It was given to the Chicago Park District
in 1929 by James L. Kraft, founder of Kraft Foods,
Inc. (now Kraft, Inc.), and dedicated to the
schoolchildren of Chicago. It is the remarkable
story of the Lincoln Park pole that concerns us.

Mr. Kraft, an accomplished lapidary and
collector of jade, made trips to Alaska and the
Pacific Northwest in his search for jade and
other rare minerals; while on these trips the
unique art and culture of the Northwest Coast
Indians attracted him. In 1926, after several

Lincoln Park totem pole

as it apyeared at Alert

Bay, B.C., about 1910.

Courtesy American

Museum of Natural

18 History.

years' negotiation, he purchased through inter-
mediaries two totem poles (including that in
Lincoln Park) and a 15-foot-long feast dish; the
three huge carvings were shipped to Chicago
from British Columbia on railroad flatcars.

In 1927 the feast dish was given to the Wis-
consin State Historical Society, in Madison, and
in 1952 the society loaned the dish to the Thomas
Burke Memorial Washington State Museum at
the University of Washington in Seattle, where
it remains on exhibit.

One of the totem poles now stands on pri-
vate property, "Kraftwood Gardens," of the
Kraft family in northeastern Wisconsin. The
other pole lay on the Chicago River dock of a
Kraft plant for three years. Finally, in 1929, James
Kraft gave the pole to the City of Chicago. It
was erected in Lincoln Park and officially dedi-
cated in June of that year.

Preparations at Field Museum for the new
maritime peoples exhibit in Hall 10 (which fea-
tures 24 totem poles) stimulated renewed inter-
est in the Lincoln Park pole. Dr. Ronald L. Weber,
visiting assistant curator for the Northwest Coast
Project, was skeptical of information on the
pole's bronze plaque, which attributes the pole
to the Haida of the Queen Charlotte Islands,
British Columbia. For a number of reasons,
including stylistic features and motifs in the
pole's design, he concluded that it was actually
the work of the Kwakiutl of Vancouver Island,
rather than of the Haida. His doubts led to my
investigations.

Kwakiutl poles are often dramatic and col-
orful, as is the Lincoln Park pole. Kwakiutl pole
figures are frequently painted in several colors,
notably white and green, and the proportion of
head to body of carved figures is relatively real-
istic; thunderbirds and eagles are embellished
with outstretched wings and other appendages
for heightened effect. Haida poles are greater in
diameter than the Kwakiutl. Carving is deep in
Haida poles, but the cylindrical form of the log
is retained; large and small creatures are inter-
twined, prominent heads are half the full length
of figures, and detail work in Haida poles is

Virginia A. Leslie was a volunteer for the Northwest Coast
Project.

more apt to be carved than painted; red and
black are used, but sparingly.

Several Northwest Coast symbols are miss-
ing from the Lincoln Park pole or are incorrectly
placed. Plumes characteristically found on the
thunderbird's head are missing, but those of a
seesioohl (mythological serpent) are between
the whale's tail and the thunderbird's claws; the
whale has large, outspread wings, though
winged whales are not to be found on any other
known Northwest Coast pole or even in the
mythology of the region.

The probable explanation for these oddities
is that before the two poles were shipped to
Chicago, the wings and plumes were detached
to prevent damage. When reassembled, the
thunderbird's wings were correctly attached to
the Lincoln Park pole, but both the thunderbird's
wings and the seesioohl plumes of the Wisconsin
pole were reattached by mistake to the Lincoln
Park pole. A rudimentary set of wings unlike
any to be found on Northwest Coast poles were
added to the Wisconsin pole; apparently these
were carved in Wisconsin.

Close inspection of photos taken at Alert
Bay between 1903 and 1910 leaves no doubt that
the two poles once stood in that village and are
of Kwakiutl, not Haida, origin. There are also
paintings by well known Canadian artist Emily
Carr of these poles as they stood at Alert Bay

in 1912. According to information in the Kraft
archives, the two poles are so old that no one
knows when they were carved, but Alert Bay
was settled in the 1870s, and 1898 photos of the
village fail to show them.

Further evidence that the Lincoln Park pole
is Kwakiutl rather than Haida is to be found in
records about the pole held by Kraft: "It was
not carved by human hands," says a recorded
legend, "but came floating down the Nimpkish
River in prehistoric times to the steelheaded
man, . . . founder of the tribe, as a symbol of pro-
tection from the Great Spirit." The Nimpkish
River flows into Johnstone Strait, across from
Alert Bay (home of the Kwakiutl). This is some
200 miles south of the Queen Charlotte Islands
(home of the Haida).

The bronze plaque in front of the Lincoln
Park pole names that pole "Kwa Ma Rolas,"
which, says Bill Holm (curator at Thomas Burke
Museum), is a corruption of "Gwa mo las," or
"K'wamaxalas" — the name of the Alert Bay
owner of the Wisconsin pole. Kraft's interme-
diaries, probably not well informed about North-
west Coast art, were apparently confused about
the poles' identities and legends. "The Kraft
version of the myths," says Holm, "includes
many correct names and recognizable snatches
of the stories, but it has all been garbled."

The pole that once stood before Chief

Lincoln Park totem pole
about 1967 (left) and
during 1929 dedication
ceremony (right). Note
differences, particular-
ly in painted design.
Photos courtesy
Kraft, Inc. 19

Waxawidi's house, in Alert Bay, is described by
Holm as having "a thunderbird at the top, next
a baleen whale (Gwa' yam) with a man on the
back and at the bottom a sea monster. The baleen
whale has a small dorsal fin, very long pectoral
fins, and a row of white spots on each side."
This description of the whale accurately de-
scribes that on the Lincoln Park pole. "By com-
parison, the killer whale on the Kraftwood
Gardens pole has a very long dorsal fin, short
wide pectoral fins, no spots, and a differently
shaped head." The idea of the Haida origin and
antiquity of the two poles, he concludes, "is
preposterous."

Gloria Cranmer Webster, curator of U'Mista
Cultural Society at Alert Bay and granddaughter
of Chief Gwa mo las, reports that in 1978 her
brother Doug Cranmer designed a new version
of the Gwa mo las pole in honor of their father.
The pole bears a striking resemblance to the
Kraftwood Gardens pole.

So we have every reason to believe that the
two poles (as well as the feast dish now in Seattle)
were carved by the Kwakiutl of Alert Bay in the
early 1900s. Perhaps the mistake of attribution

of these three pieces is partly because a number
of small Haida argillite (dark carbonaceous slate)
sculptures were also shipped in 1926 to Kraft
from the Queen Charlotte Islands.

Conservation of the Lincoln Park Pole

The victim of carpenter ants, vandals, and the
normal processes of weathering and decay, the
Lincoln Park pole has undergone more than a
dozen modifications since 1929. All of this res-
toration has been done under the direction of
Kraft, since it was arranged at the time of pre-
sentation that the company would continue to
assume the task of maintenance.

In 1958 the arm positions of the pole's hu-
man figure were changed because rotting had
occurred in the arm sockets; one hand was
moved so that it covered the figure's eyes. (A
visitor observed that the figure no longer had to
watch the spectacle of rush hour traffic which
passed before it.) In 1966 the pole was drastically
renovated: the sea monster at the base, the
thunderbird at the top, and the human figure

Bronze plaque at

Lincoln Park totem

pole. Corrected, it

should read:

"Waxawidi, historic

Kwakiutl Indian totem

pole from Alert Bay,

Vancouver Island,

B.C., carved from a

single red cedar The

figures from top to base

represent the Kulos,

member of the

thunderbird family, the

baleen whale with a

20 man on its back"

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The Kraftwood Gardens (Wisconsin) totem pole as it appeared in Alert Bay, B.C., about 1910 (left pole in left photo), and in
Kraftwood Gardens, about 1950. Left photo courtesy Vancouver Museums and Planetarium Association — the Vancouver
Museum; right photo courtesy Edith Dahlberg.

were recarved by skilled Kraft workers. Their
work appears to be a faithful attempt at restora-
tion, but the painted symbols were inaccurately
reproduced. The significance of features in the
original painting, which had been more elabo-
rate, could never have been appreciated by a
restorer unacquainted with Northwest Coast
art. A Kraft supervisor of the restoration has
suggested that Kraft workers trying to copy the
intricate symbols perhaps didn't realize how
important it was to duplicate features with great
accuracy. The original painted symbols on the
pole have almost totally disappeared.

Kraft has tried conscientiously to hold back
and to repair the onslaughts of time as well as

acts of vandalism against the pole. This historic
monument should be restored to its original
form by a skilled Kwakiutl craftsman. D

Of particular help to the author in researching this article were
Ronald L. Weber, visiting assistant curator in Anthropology,
Field Museum; Bill Holm, curator of Northwest Coast Indian
art at the Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State
Museum at the University of Washington in Seattle; Peter
Macnair, curator of anthropology at the British Columbia
Provincial Museum, Victoria, B.C.; Everett Kuhn, Sarah
M. Mauro, John X. Thomas, and Albert F. Schuber — all of
Kraft, Inc.; and Edith Dahlberg (daughter of James Kraft),
who loaned photographs and other material. Additional
information was found in the Chicago Historical Society
Library and in archives of the Chicago Park District.

Field Museum Tours for Members

Australia Tour

August 23-September 12
Tour Price: $4,998 (double occupancy)

A 40-minute flight on August 27 will take the group to Ade-
laide, followed by visits to local vineyards. A 90-minute flight that
evening will terminate at Alice Springs, the group's base of opera-
Hons for six days. Highlights here include sight-seeing into the
outback, bush barbecues, and a visit to spectacular Ayers Rock.

September 3 will be spent in and around Perth. Rides by

hydrofoil and river boat will be optional. September 4 will be spent
traveling by motorcoach to Augusta while viewing some of Aus-
tralia's most delightful scenery.

September 5: A trip to Walpole-Normalup National Park, see-
ing 200-foot-high stands of red tingle trees, September 6: Colorful
Albany, an old whaling port. September 7: A day trip to the Poron-
gorup and Stirling mountain ranges.

September 8: Return to Perth via the Albany Highway, with
views of the Darling Range. September 9: Perth, with time for
shopping and sight-seeing. September 10: In Sydney for a day of
leisure for shopping, sightseeing, or day tours.

September 11: Depart from Sydney for U.S. Having lost a day
by crossing the International Date Line, we overnight at San Fran-
cisco's Sheraton Airport Hotel.

September 12: Arrival in Chicago.

For additional information on this tour, please write or call
Dorothy Roder, Tours Manager, at Field Museum, 322-8862.

Reindeer Transport in Alaska

by James W. VanStone
Curator of North American Archaeology and Ethnology

In 1892 domestic reindeer were brought from
northeastern Siberia to the southern Seward
Peninsula region of western Alaska through the
joint efforts of the Reverend Sheldon Jackson,
Presbyterian missionary and first general agent
of education in Alaska, and Captain Michael A.
Healy of the U.S. Revenue Marine Service.

This relocation program, supported by the
U.S. Bureau of Education, was intended to pro-
vide Alaskan Eskimos with a new source of food
that would offset a recent decline in sea mam-
mals; during the second half of the nineteenth
century, commercial interests had indulged in
unrestricted killing of whales, walrus, and seals.
There also appeared to be a small market for the
meat and skins of the reindeer, and it was hoped
that Eskimos could derive a cash income from
their sale.

The first deer were landed by the U.S.
Revenue Cutter Bear in July 1982 on the north
shore of Port Clarence at a place that the Rever-
end Jackson had named the Teller Reindeer Sta-
tion (after John M. Teller, a United States senator
who had helped steer appropriations for the pro-
ject through Congress). Chukchi herders were
brought from Siberia to teach Eskimos the tech-

niques of herding and the proper methods of car-
ing for the animals. Between 1892 and 1902 more
than 1,200 reindeer were landed at Teller and, as
herders were trained, the deer were eventually
dispersed to Eskimo communities.

At the opening of the station. Miner W.
Bruce, a former Nebraska journalist, was ap-
pointed superintendent. He and one assistant
had charge of four Chukchi herders, an equal
number of Eskimo apprentices, and approxi-
mately 175 reindeer. Bruce served as superin-
tendent for only one year, then became a trader
to widely scattered areas of Alaska, where a size-
able portion of his business was the collecting of
Eskimo manufactures for resale. It was during
this period that he negotiated sales of important
collections of Eskimo material culture to Field
Columbian Museum (later named Field Museum
of Natural History); these were acquired by the
Museum in 1894 and 1896.

The Reverend Jackson, who traveled exten-
sively in Alaska every summer between 1886 and
1906, also obtained Eskimo artifacts, and his col-
lection of approximately 270 undocumented
specimens from western and northwestern Alas-
ka was acquired for the World's Columbian

Eskimo herders with
reindeer at Port
Clarence, Seward
Peninsula, Alaska.
Note small stature of
reindeer. N17013

The Reverend Sheldon

Jackson, Presbyterian

missionary who helped

introduce reindeer into

Alaska. NW8676

100km

-v ^«J^-°'-

Exposition and accessioned by Field Columbian
Museum in October 1893 (accession 126). This
collection contains a number of interesting speci-
mens associated with the reindeer project and
related to the use of these creatures as draft
animals.

Although the Chukchi herders who were
brought from Siberia proved to be unsatisfactory
and were soon replaced by Norwegian Lapland-
ers, the Siberians were responsible for the intro-
duction of certain items of material culture
associated with reindeer transport that had been
previously unknown in mainland Alaska. In
Alaska, dogs had been the only animals used by
Eskimos to pull sleds, and although the intro-
duced reindeer had originally been perceived as
a food source, it was only natural that the Chuk-
chi would stress the value of these animals for
transport, since this type of use was important to
them in their Siberian homeland.

The collection of Eskimo material culture
made by Jackson contains two Siberian-style
sleds, a reindeer collar, and three whips specif-
ically associated with reindeer transport. It is
possible that Jackson obtained these articles in
Siberia himself or that they were brought from
there by Chukchi herders; but it is more likely
that the items were made in Alaska by Eskimos
who modeled them after Siberian prototypes. In
any event, they closely resemble reindeer equip-
ment used by Eskimos on St. Lawrence Island in
Bering Strait and by Eskimos and Chukchi on the
adjacent Siberian coast.

The first sled (cat. no. 13122), top photo, op-
posite, is about 6y2 feet long, 17 inches wide, and
weighs slightly over 20 pounds. The wooden
runners, curving up toward the front, are fas-
tened to narrower strips which curve over and
are spliced to short sections; these, in turn, are
lashed to parallel pieces forming the sides of the
bed. The bed itself is formed by two long pieces
of wood which run parallel to the side pieces and
five short crosspieces lashed at right angles to
them at approximately one-foot intervals. Under
each crosspiece is a curved antler stanchion
lashed to the bed and the runners. Further sup-
port is provided on each side by slanting pieces
which extend from the second stanchion (from
the front) to the runners between the third and
fourth stanchions. The bed is about half the
length of the sled Vertical wooden stanchions
are on each side between the first and second
antler stanchions. For additional support, lash-
ings extend from this point to the runners both in
front and behind . At the rear of the sled, a curved
piece of wood arches from one side of the back
stanchion to the same place on the opposite side.
On the left side a curved support piece — actually
two pieces spliced — extends from the runner be-

Siberian-style Alaskan
Eskimo sleds (above
#13122, below
#13123). m08462,
m08460

Re inclccx. (/(fltA^n_h.>

Late 19th-century
drawing by unknown
Bering Strait Eskimo.
Courtesy Smithsonian
Instituti