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FOR THE PEOPLE
FOR EDVCATION
FOR SCIENCE
LIBRARY
OF
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM
OF
NATURAL HISTORY
ASSINIBOINE WARRIOR.
(After Maximilian.)
NORTH AMERICAN
INDIANS OF THE PLAINS
By CLARK WISSLER
CURATOR OF ANTHROPOLOGY
PAN DEOOK SERIES NO. 1
NEW YORK
AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
1912
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DAKOTA OSAGE PAWNEE
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‘ PLAINS
ASSINIBOINE Cerne HIDATSA
PLAN OF THE PLAINS INDIAN HALL.
The Museum exhibits for the various tribes are arranged in approxi-
mate geographical order, beginning with the Plains-Cree of the north
and proceeding with the typical nomadic tribes (p. 17). In the north-
_ western part of the hall are the Shoshone, Ute, and Nez Percé, whose
culture is intermediate between that of the Plains and Plateau Area.
In the northeastern section are the Mandan, Hidatsa, and other village
tribes, also manifesting an intermediate culture between the Plains
and that of the Woodlands to the east.
The Woodland hall to the east and the Southwest hall to the north,
are so arranged as to bring the intermediate tribes of each region near
the entrance to the Plains Indian hall. Thus, from case to case, one
may follow changes in culture from the Atlantic Coast to the Colorado
River and the Gulf of California.
In addition to the specimens, the greater part of the famous Mills
collection of Catlin paintings will be found in this hall. The pictures
were painted by George Catlin who in 1832-40 visited most of the
tribes of this area.
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PREFACE.
Tuts little book is not merely a guide to museum
collections from the Plains Indians, but a summary of
the facts and interpretations making up the anthro-
pology of those Indians. The specimens in _ this
Museum were, for the most part, systematically col-
lected by members of the scientific staff while sojourning
among the several tribes. They were selected to
illustrate various points in tribal life and customs, or
culture. The exhibits in the Plains Hall contain, as
far as space permits, most of the typical objects for
each tribe; yet, it has been physically impossible to
show everything the Museum possesses. So the most
characteristic objects for each tribe have been selected
and care taken to have the other objects common to
many tribes appear at least once in some part of the
hall. The ideal way would be to get every variety of
every object used by each subdivision of a tribe and
exhibit all of them in their entirety; but few collections
can be made so complete, and even if they could, space
in the building could not be found for them. The
exhibits, then, should be taken as material indices, or
marks, of tribal cultures and not as complete exposi-
tions of them. This handbook, on the other hand,
deals with the main points in the anthropology of the
6 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
Plains Indians many of which (as marriage, social and
political organization, language, etc.) cannot be de-
monstrated by collections. The statements in the
text are made upon the authority of the many special
students of these Indians in whose writings will be
found far more complete accounts. Citations to the
more important works will be given in the bibliography.
The illustrations are chiefly from the anthropological
publications of the Museum and for the most part
represent specimens on exhibition in the Plains Hall.
For a mere general view of the subject, the legends to
the maps, the introduction, and the concluding chapter
are recommended. The intervening topics may then
be taken up as guides to the study of collections or the
perusal of the special literature.
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
PREFACE Se 8 ee a as 5
INTRODUCTION EE ie! a ee ye lh Gb cae e (Ae we 15
CHAPTER I.
TRETOUTEE 8c ke ek, wet ce tat we eye 19
Food; Buffalo Hunting, Hunting Implements, Pemmican,
and Agriculture. Transportation. Shelter; The Tipi, and
Earth Lodge. Dress. Industrial Arts; Fire-Making, Tex-
tiles and Skins, Tailoring, The Use of Rawhide, The Par-
fleche, Rawhide Bags, Soft Bags, Household Utensils, Tools,
Digging Stick, Pipes, Weapons, and Games.
CHAPTER II.
SR CUS AUIMATUON. es Sie is) BS ke ON TW 82
The Camp Circle. Marriage. Government. Soldier
Bands or Societies. Social Distinction.
CHAPTER III.
Mimeron AND CEREMONIES . . «0. «ss. e « 1h 8 97
Mythology. Religious Concepts. A Supernatural Helper.
Medicine Bundles. Tribal Ceremonies; The Sun Dance,
Ghost Dance Ceremonies, Peyote Worship, Dancing Asso-
ciations, War and Scalp Dances. Ceremonial Procedure.
CHAPTER IV.
PueoestTivy® AND Reiicgious ART . . . . . « « «s/s 120
CHAPTER V.
UIE Se CR ee te ela ee i a 127
CHAPTER VI.
SOPRA AM ee TENUNON en se Ma aA Sy Aah aa “8a bya fm bad 135
CHAPTER VII.
SORE ee ine ee i 2 inet See 138
CEA net ee oe we BN ee a! lh) a LS 143
ee Mee ok ee en eee ae CE Lil, ol,” ) WEN Le oN
Assiniboine Dog Travois . . . weer sk
Crossing the Missouri in a Bull- Bo: * ste sda, at oa rr
Setting up a Crow Tipi sims ct Swi |p ee ee
Hidatea Village in 1868.0 2 “29 rh a
One-piece Moccasin Pattern ne Po) Ae Oe ew
Two-piece Moccasm Pattern «..: . 1 © 4 ~» t's 4 Se
Man’s Shirt. Blackfoot . . . , £2829). 9 ee Se
Costumed Figure of a Dakota Wo oman OM. a yee
Woman’s Dress of Titssalem ~ 202094) Pe ee
Firednill. Northern Shoshone... “°°. o Ws" 2 = Son eee
Scraping a Hide. Blood ea RD Oe Be ee Oe ee er
Hide Scrapers’ o>. iyetaiaeael, le) es
Bleshing Toole 3M pe Ge ke Se Ee
Parfieche Pattern '..) .°)5 xe. Ree eae ee
A Parfleche .. Rh feta Sau aie Bia tole > 2 ee re
Bag made of Rawhide” 1 haan Oeste Lerwick len 2a agi
Oy. aiehs -, ae 70
foot : ee .
Buffalo Horn fae: ve ee ere esr
Bone Knife eee
A Buffalo Hide Shield Reciar ihe Ns hihi Blackfoot 50 )4, (4
CONTENTS.
The Cheyenne Camp Circle
Dog Society Dancer. Arapaho
Headdress of Buffalo Skin, Arapaho Women’s Baik iety
A Blackfoot War Record
Medicine-pipe and Bundle
A Bundle and Contents. Arapaho
Arapaho Sun Dance, Model in the Museum .
Digging Stick and Case for Blackfoot Sun Dance Sandie
Sun Dance Headdress. Blackfoot
Peyote Button
Types of Designs on Ribesasis
Design Elements, Bead and Quill Pnleoidery
Arapaho Moccasin with Symbolic Decoration
Painted Designs on a Woman’s Robe. Dakota
Blanket Band in Quills. Blackfoot
Teton-Dakota and Crow Types
Cheyenne and Pawnee Types
Blackfoot and Wind River Shoshone Tepes
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Map SHOWING THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE BUFFALO ABOUT 1800.
The larger area defines the limits of the buffalo range in 1800 as
determined by Dr. J. A. Allen. The smaller area indicates the range
of the Plains Indians. While the bison area is somewhat larger than
the culture area, the largest herds were found within the bounds of
the latter. On the other hand, the cultures of tribes along the borders
of the area are often intermediate in character. Hence, we find a
rather close correlation between the distribution of the bison and
culture traits, the nine typical tribes living where the herds were thick-
est.
13
Tue DIsTRIBUTION OF FoRESTS IN WESTERN UNITED STATES.
The shaded portions of this map mark the areas originally covered
with trees. The true plains extend from north to south along the east-
ern border of the Rocky Mountains. On the west, trees are found on
the sides of mountains; on the east, they stretch out into the plains
along the margins of the streams. Reference to the tribal map shows
how the typical group ranges in the open plains while the eastern agri-
cultural village group lives in the partially forested belt. On the west
the plateau group appears to range in the open stretches among the
mountains.
14
INTRODUCTION.
Tue North American Indians may be classified in
three ways: first, as to language; second, as to customs
and habits (culture); third, as to anatomical characters
(physical type). It is, however, usual to consider them
as composed of small more or less distinct political or
social groups, or tribes, and it is under such group names
that the objects in museum collections are arranged.
The cultures of many tribes are quite similar and since
such resemblances are nearly always found among
neighbors and not among widely scattered tribes, it is
convenient and proper to group them in geographical
or culture areas. Most anthropologists classify the
cultures of North American tribes approximately as
shown on the accompanying map.
In the region of the great plains and prairies were
many tribes of Plains Indians, who have held the first
place in the literature and art of our time. Being
rather war-like and strong in numbers, many of them
are intimately associated with the history of our
western states and every school boy knows how the
Dakota (Sioux) rode down Custer’s command. The
names of Sitting-bull, Red-cloud, and Chief Joseph are
also quite familiar.
The culture of these Plains tribes is most strikingly
associated with the buffalo, or bison, which not so very
‘long ago roamed over their entire area. Turning to
16 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
the map one may see how closely the distributions of
this culture type and that for the buffalo coincide.
This animal supplied them with one of their chief foods,
in accessible and almost never-failing abundance. For
a part of the year at least, all Plains tribes used the
conical skin tent, or tipi. In early times the dog was
used to transport baggage and supplies, but later,
horses became very abundant and it is not far wrong to
speak of all Plains tribes as horsemen. When on the
hunt or moving in a large body most of these tribes
were controlled by a band of “soldiers,” or police, who
drove in stragglers and repressed those too eager to
advance and who also policed the camp and maintained
order and system in the tribal hunt. All Indians are
quite religious. Most of the Plains tribes had a grand
annual gathering known in literature as the sun dance.
In general, these few main cultural characteristics may
be taken to designate the type — the use of the buffalo,
the tipi, the horse, the soldier-band, and the sun dance.
Many of the tribes living near the Mississippi and along
the Missouri, practised agriculture in a small way and
- during a part of the year lived in earth-covered or bark
houses. Furthermore, there are many other tribal
differences, so that it becomes admissible to subdivide
the Plains Indians. The following seems the most
consistent grouping.
INTRODUCTION. 17
i. “rhe Northern Tribes
* Assiniboine Plains-Cree
*Blackfoot Plains-Ojibway
*Crow Sarsl
*Gros Ventre *Teton-Dakota
2. The Southern Tribes
* Arapaho *Comanche
*Cheyenne *Kiowa
Kiowa-Apache
3. The Village, or Eastern Tribes
Arikara Omaha
Hidatsa Osage
Iowa Oto
Kansas Pawnee
Mandan Ponca
Missouri Santee-Dakota
Wichita
4. The Plateau, or Western Tribes
Bannock Northern Shoshone
Nez Percé Ute
Wind River Shoshone
Cultural characteristics change gradually as we go
from one tribe to another; hence, on the edges of the
Plains area we may expect many doubtful cases.
Among such may be enumerated the Flathead and
18 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
Pend D’Oreille of the northwest, the Illinois and
Winnebago of the east, and some Apache of the south.
On the southeast, in Texas and Arkansas, were the
Caddoan tribes (Kichai, Waco, Tawakoni, etc., rela-
tives of the Wichita) having a culture believed to be
intermediate between the Plains and that of the
Southeastern area. Yet, in spite of these and other
doubtful cases, it is usual to exclude all not enumerated
in the above lists as belonging more distinctly with
other culture areas. As this grouping is rather for
convenience than otherwise, and the culture of each
tribe is determined by its own data, the exact placing
of these border tribes is of no great moment. However,
the most typical Plains tribes are the Assiniboine,
Blackfoot, Gros Ventre, Crow, Teton-Dakota, Arapaho,
Cheyenne, Comanche, and Kiowa, indicated in the
preceding list by an asterisk (*). Reference to the
map shows how peculiarly this typical group stretches
from north to south, almost in a straight line, with the
intermediate Plateau group on one side and the Village
group on the other. Again, the forestry map shows
that the range of this typical nomadic group coincides
with the area in which trees are least in evidence. It
embraces the true tipi-dwelling, horse, and non-agri-
cultural tribes. It is primarily the cultural traits of
this nomadic group that are discussed in this book,
though the important exceptions among the two
marginal groups are noted.
CHAPTER I.
MATERIAL CULTURE.
SINCE this is a discussion of the general characteristics
of Plains Indians, we shall not take them up by tribes,
as is usual, but by topics. Anthropologists are ac-
customed to group the facts of primitive life under the
following main heads: material culture (food, trans-
portation, shelter, dress, manufactures, weapons, etc.),
social organization, religion and ceremonies, art,
language, and physical type.
Foon.
The flesh of the buffalo was the great staple of the
Plains Indians, though elk, antelope, bear and smaller
game were not infrequently used. On the other hand,
vegetable foods were always a considerable portion of
their diet, many of the eastern groups cultivating corn
(maize) and gathering wild rice, the others making
extensive use of wild roots, seeds, and fruits. All the
tribes living on the edges of the buffalo area, even those
on the western border of the Woodlands, seem to have
made regular hunting excursions out into the open
19
20) INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
country. Thus Nicolas Perrot writing in 1680-1718
(p. 119) says of the Indians in Illinois : —
“The savages set out in the autumn, after they have gathered the
harvest, to go hunting; and they do not return to their villages until
the month of March, in order to plant the grain on their lands. As
soon as this is done, they go hunting again, and do not return until
the month of July.”
Early explorers in the Plateaus to the west of the
Plains tell us that the Nez Percé and Flathead of Idaho
and even the inhabitants of the Rio Grande pueblo of
Taos, New Mexico, made periodical hunting excursions
to the plains.
To most of the Plains tribes, the introduction of the
European horse was a great boon. Unfortunately,
we have no definite information as to when and how
the herse was spread over the plains but it was so early
that its presence is noted by some of the earliest ex-
plorers. It is generally assumed that by trade and by
the capture of horses escaping from the settlements,
the various tribes quickly acquired their stock, first
from Mexico and the southern United States, whence
the Apache, Comanche, Kiowa, and Pawnee obtained:
them, and they in turn passed them on to the north.
The Shoshone and other tribes of the Plateau area were
also pioneers in their use. Even as early as 1754 they
are reported in great numbers among the Blackfoot,
one of the extreme northern plains groups. Hence,
we have no detailed information as to the mode of life
among these tribes before the horse was introduced,
except what is gleaned from their tribal traditions.
MATERIAL CULTURE. 21
That the use of the horse made a great change in cul-
ture is quite probable. It must have stimulated
roving and the pursuit of the buffalo and discouraged
tendencies toward fixed abodes and agriculture.
Buffalo Hunting. All Plains tribes seem to have
practised codperative hunting in an organized military-
like manner. This usually took the form of a surround
in which a large body of Indians on swift horses and
under the direction of skilled leaders rode round and
round a herd bunching them up and shooting down the
animals one by one. Stirring accounts of such hunts
have been left us by such eye-witnesses as Catlin,
James, and Grinnell. All tribes seem to have used this
method in summer and it was almost the only one
followed by the southern plains tribes.
In winter, however, when the northern half of the
plains was often covered with snow, this method was
not practised. Alexander Henry, Maximilian, and
others, have described a favorite winter method of
impounding, or driving the herd into an enclosure.
Early accounts indicate that the Plains-Cree and
Assiniboine were the most adept in driving into these
‘enclosures and may perhaps have introduced the method
among the Plains tribes. The Plains-Cree are but a
small outlying part of a very widely distributed group
of Cree, the culture of whose main body seems quite
uniform. Now, even the Cree east of Hudson Bay,
Canada, use a similar method for deer, and since there
is every reason to believe that the Plains-Cree are but
a colony of the larger body to the east, it seems fair to
22 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
assume that the method of impounding buffalo origi-
nated with them. However that may be, some form
of it was practised by the Blackfoot, Gros Ventre,
Hidatsa, Mandan, Teton-Dakota, Arapaho, Cheyenne,
and perhaps others.
We have some early accounts of another method
used in the prairies of Illinois and Iowa. Thus, in
Perrot (121) we read: —
‘When the village has a large number of young men able to bear
arms they divide these into three bodies: one takes its route to the
right, another that to the left, and half of the third party is divided
between the two former ones. One of these latter parties goes away
[from its main column] a league or thereabout to the right, and the
other remains on the left, both parties forming, each on its own side,
a long file; then they set out, in single file, and continue their march
until they judge that their line of men is sufficiently long for them to
advance into the depths [of the forest]. As they begin their march at
midnight, one of the parties waits until dawn, while the others pursue
their way; and after they have marched a league or more another
party waits again for daylight; the rest march [until] after another
half-league has been covered, and likewise wait. When the day has
at last begun, this third party which had separated to the right and the
left with the two others pushes its way farther; and as soon as the
rising sun has dried off the dew on the ground, the parties on the right
and the left, being in sight of each other, come together in [one] file,
and close up the end of the circuit which they intend to surround.
“They commence at once by setting fire to the dried herbage which is
abundant in those prairies; those who occupy the flanks do the same;
and at that moment the entire village breaks camp, with all the old men
and young boys — who divide themselves equally on both sides, move
away to a distance, and keep the hunting parties in sight so that they
can act with the latter, so that the fires can be lighted on all four sides
at once and gradually communicate the flames from one to another.
That produces the same effect to the sight as four ranks of palisades,
in which the buffaloes are enclosed. When the savages see that the
animals are trying to get outside of it, in order to escape the fires which
surround them on all sides (and this is the one thing in the world which
they most fear), they run at them and compel them to reenter the
MATERIAL CULTURE. 23
enclosure; and they avail themselves of this method to kill all the beasts.
It is asserted that there are some villages which have secured as many
as fifteen hundred buffaloes, and others more or fewer, according to the
number of men in each and the size of the enclosure which they make
in their hunting.”
The natural inference seems to be that the grass
firing and impounding methods of taking buffalo were
developed before the introduction of the horse and are
therefore the most primitive. The individual hunting
of buffalo as well as in small parties was, of course,
practised. Swift horses were used to bring the rider
in range when he shot down the fleeing beasts. Before
horses were known the codperative method must have
prevailed.
Hunting Implements. The implements used _ for
killing buffalo were not readily displaced by guns.
Bows and arrows were used long after guns were com-
mon. In fact, pioneers maintain that at close range
the rapidity and precession of the bow was only to be
excelled by the repeating rifle, a weapon developed in
the 70’s. Even so, the bow was not entirely discarded
until the buffalo became extinct. The bows were of
two general types: the plain wooden bow, and the
sinew-backed, or compound bow. It is generally held
that the tribes east of the Mississippi River used the
simple wooden bow while those on the Pacific Coast
used the sinew-backed type. It is quite natural there-
fore, that among the Plains tribes, we should find both
types in general use and that the sinew-backed was
more common among the Shoshone and other Plateau
tribes.
24 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
Some curious bows were made from mountain sheep
horn backed with sinew, a fine example of which is to
be seen in the Nez Percé collection (Fig. 1). The
Crow, Hidatsa, and Mandan sometimes used a bow
Fig. 1. Sinew-backed Bow and Quiver from the Blackfoot and a
Compound Bow of Mountain Sheep Horn from the Nez Percé.
bo
2) |
MATERIAL CULTURE.
of elkhorn, probably one of the finest examples of
Indian workmanship: ‘‘They take a large horn or
prong, and saw a slice off each side of it; these slices
are then filed or rubbed down until the flat sides fit
nicely together, when they are glued and wrapped at
the ends. Four slices make a bow, it being jointed.
Another piece of horn is laid on the center of the bow
at the grasp, where it is glued fast. The whole is then
filed down until it is perfectly proportioned, when the
white bone is ornamented, carved, and painted. Noth-
Fig. 2. Lance with Obsidian Point. Nez Percé.
ing can exceed the beauty of these bows, and it takes
an Indian about three months to make one.’ (Belden,
112.) All these compound bows are sinew-backed,
it being the sinew that gives them efficiency. Some
fine old wooden bows may be seen in the Museum’s
Dakota collection.
A lance was frequently used for buffalo: in the hands
of a powerful horseman, this is said to have been quite
effective. There is a stone-pointed lance in the Nez
Percé collection which may be of the type formerly
used, Fig. 2. Wounded animals and those in the
26 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
enclosure of the pound were often brought down by
knocking on the head with stone-headed clubs and
mauls.
Pemmican. As buffalo could not be killed every day,
some method of preserving their flesh in an eatable
condition was necessary to the well-being of the Plains
Indian. The usual method was by drying in the sun.
Steaks were cut broad and thin, and slashed by short
Fig. 3. Meat Drying Rack. Blackfoot.
cuts which gaped open when the pieces were suspended,
giving the appearance of holes. These steaks were
often placed in boiling water for a few moments and
then hung upon poles or racks out of reach of dogs.
In the course of a few days, if kept free from moisture,
the meat became hard and dry. It could then be
bo
“J
MATERIAL CULTURE,
stored in bags for future use. Fat, or meat, could be
dried if slightly boiled.
Dried meat of the buffalo and sometimes of the elk
was often pounded fine, making what was known as
pemmican. While some form of pemmican was used
in many parts of North America, the most characteristic
kind among the Plains Indians was the berry pemmican.
To make this, the best cuts of the buffalo were dried
Fig. 4. Stone-headed Pounders.
in the usual manner. During the berry season wild
cherries (Prunus demissa) were gathered and crushed
with stones, pulverizing the pits, and reducing the
whole to a thick paste which was partially dried in the
sun. Then the dried meat was softened by holding
over a fire, after which it was pounded fine with a stone
or stone-headed maul. In the Dakota collection may
be seen some interesting rawhide mortars for this
28 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
purpose. This pulverized meat was mixed with melted
fat and marrow, to which was added the dried but
sticky cherry paste. The whole mass was then packed
in a long, flat rawhide bag, called a parfleche. With
proper care, such pemmican would keep for years.
In pioneer days, it was greatly prized by white trappers
and _ soldiers.
Agriculture. Almost without exception, the village
group of tribes made at least some attempts to cultivate
maize. Of the northern tribes, none have been credited
with this practice, except perhaps the Teton-Dakota.
Yet, the earlier observers usually distinguish the Teton
from the Santee-Dakota by their non-agricultural
habits. Of the southern tribes, we cannot be so sure.
The Cheyenne, who seem to have abandoned a forest
home for the plains just before the historic period have
traditions of maize culture but seem to have discon-
tinued it soon after going into the buffalo country.
The Arapaho are thought by some anthropologists to
have preceded the Cheyenne. Yet while many writers
are disposed to admit that all of the southern group
may have made some attempts at maize growing, they
insist that these were feeble in comparison with the
village tribes. When, however, we turn to the Plateau
area, there are no traces of maize growing. In asso-
ciation with maize it was usual to raise some varieties
of squash and beans.
Thus, in a general way, the practice of agiicdlaal
seems to gradually dwindle out as we leave the more
fertile river bottoms of the east and south, suggesting
MATERIAL CULTURE. 29
that its positive absence among the extreme western
and northern tribes is due to unfavorable soil and climate
rather than to any mental or social differences in the
tribes concerned. This is consistent with the wide
distribution of tobacco raising. The Blackfoot, Crow,
Hidatsa, Mandan, Arikara, Pawnee, and Santee-
Dakota are known to have cultivated it for ceremonial
purposes. So far as known this plant was Nicotiana
multivalvis, said to be a native of Oregon and to have
been cultivated by tribes in the Columbia River valley.
The fact that the Blackfoot and Crow did not attempt
any other agriculture except the raising of this tobacco
rather strengthens the previous opinion that maize
was not produced because of the unfavorable conditions.
Among the tribes of the Plateau area, wild seeds and
grains were gathered and so took the place of maize
in the east. On the other hand, the northern and
southern groups depended mostly upon dried berries
and edible roots which however, were a relatively
small part of their diet, buffalo flesh being the impor-
tant food. This was particularly true of the nine
typical tribes. With these tribes, the buffalo was not
only food: but his by-products, such as skin, bones,
hair, horns, and sinew, were the chief materials for
costume, tents, and utensils of all kinds.
TRANSPORTATION.
Before the introduction of the horse, the Plains
Indians traveled on foot. The tribes living along the
—— —"
30 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
Mississippi made some use of canoes, according to
Fig. 5. Blackfoot Travois.
early accounts, while those of the Missouri and inland,
used only crude tub-like affairs for ferry purposes.
MATERIAL CULTURE. 3l
When first discovered, the Mandan, Hidatsa, and
Arikara had villages on the Missouri, in what is now
North Dakota, but they have never been credited with
canoes. For crossing the river, they used the bull-
boat, a tub-shaped affair made by stretching buffalo
skins over a wooden frame; but journeys up and down
gegen ge
(pee ae pain
Fig. 6. Assiniboine Dog Travois.
the bank were made on foot. Many of the Santee-
Dakota used small canoes in gathering wild rice in the
small lakes of Minnesota, though the Teton-Dakota
have not been credited with the practice. It seems
probable that the ease of travel in the open plains and
the fact that the buffalo were often to be found inland,
made the use of canoes impractical, whereas along the
i ee te
——— en ee i i ttt tn —_—— .
32 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
great lakes the broad expanse of water offered every
advantage to their use. Since almost every Plains
tribe used some form of the bull-boat for ferrying, and
many of them came in contact with canoe-using
Indians, the failure of those living along the Missouri
to develop the canoe can scarcely be attributed to
ignorance.
When on the march, baggage was carried on the
human back and also by dogs, the only aboriginal
domestic animals. Most tribes used a peculiar A-
shaped contrivance, known as a dog travois, upon which
packs were placed. All the northern tribes, save the
Crow, are credited with the dog travois. Many of
the village tribes also used it, as did also some of the
southern group. With the introduction of the horse,
a larger but similar travois was used. This, however,
did not entirely displace the dog travois as Catlin’s
sketches show Indians on the march with both horses
and dogs harnessed to travois. The travois of the
northern tribes were of two types: rectangular cross-
frames and oval netted frames, Fig. 5. The Blackfoot,
Sarsi and Gros Ventre inclined toward the former; the
Assiniboine, Dakota, Hidatsa, and Mandan toward the
latter, though both types were often used simultane-
ously. On the other hand, the southern tribes seem
to have inclined toward an improvised travois formed
by binding tipi poles to the sides of the saddle and
slinging the pack across behind. As previously noted,
the Crow seem not to have used the travois and the
same may be said of the tribes in the Plateau area.
.
MATERIAL CULTURE. 33
These tribes, however, formerly used the dog as a
pack animal.
, The use of a sled on the ice or snow has not been
Fig. 7. Crossing the Missouri in a Bull-Boat.
(Wilson photo.)
credited to any except some of the Santee-Dakota
and the Mandan and among them it is quite probable
that it was introduced by white traders.
34 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
The riding gear and horse trappings that always ~
form an interesting part of collections, naturally came
in with the horse and followed European models. The
native bridle was a simple rope or thong looped around
the jaw. Saddles were of two types, pads, and frames.
The latter were made of wood or elkhorn securely
bound with fresh buffalo hide which shrunk as it dried.
The Mills Catlin collection contains a sketch showing
how one of the saddles is staked down to the ground
while the wet rawhide sets in place. Women’s saddles
had very high pommels and were often gaily ornamented.
Stirrups were also made of wood bound with rawhide.
Some tribes, the Dakota for example, used highly
decorated saddle blankets, or skins; while others
(Crow, Blackfoot, etc.) used elaborate cruppers. Quirts
with short handles of elkhorn or wood were common.
In fact, there was little difference in the form of riding
gear among all the Plains tribes.
The nine typical tribes were more or less always on
the move. All their possessions were especially de-
signed for ready transport. Nearly all receptacles
and most utensils were made of rawhide, while the tipi,
or tent, was easily rolled up and placed upon a travois.
When the chief gave out the order to break camp it
took but a few minutes for the women to have every-
thing loaded on travois and ready for the march. Even
the village group used tipis and horses when on the
buffalo hunt (p. 17). The smaller baggage was often
loaded upon dog travois. We have no accurate data
as to how the camp was moved before horses came into
MATERIAL CULTURE. 30
the country, but it was certainly more laborious and
the marches shorter.
SHELTER.
The Tipi. One of the most characteristic features
of Plains Indian culture was the tipi. All the tribes
of the area, almost without exception, used it for a
part of the year at least. Primarily, the tipi was a
conical tent covered with dressed buffalo skins. A
carefully mounted and equipped tipi from the Black-
foot Indians stands in the center of the Plains exhibit.
Everywhere the tipi was made, cared for, and set up
by the women. First, a conical framework of long
slender poles was erected and the cover raised into
place. Then the edges of the cover were staked down
and the poles supporting the ‘ears’ put in place.
The “‘ears”’ are wings, or flies, to keep the wind out of
the smoke hole at the top; they were moved about by
the outside poles. The fire was built near the center
and the beds spread upon the ground around the sides.
The head of the family usually sat near the rear, or
facing the door.
While in essential features the tipis of all Plains
tribes were the same, there were nevertheless some
important differences. Thus, when setting up a tipi,
the Blackfoot, Crow, Sarsi, Hidatsa, Omaha, and
Comanche first tie four poles as a support to the others;
while the Teton-Dakota, Assiniboine, Cheyenne, Gros
Ventre, Arapaho, Kiowa, Plains-Cree, Mandan, and
Pawnee use three, or a tripod foundation. For the
36 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
remaining tribes, we lack data, but it seems safe to
assume that they follow one or the other of these
methods. The three-pole foundation gives the pro-
jecting tops of the poles a spiral appearance while the
four-pole beginning tends to group them on the sides.
Thus, to a practised eye, the difference is plain. The
covers, ears, doors, ete., are quite similar throughout.
The shapes of tipis, however, show some differences.
Thus, the Cheyenne prefer a wide base in proportion
to the height while the Arapaho prefer a narrow base.
Again, the Crow use very long poles, the ends pro-
jecting out above like a great funnel.
It is important to note that the use of the tipi is not
confined to the plains. The Ojibway along the Lakes
used it, but covered it with birchbark as did also many
of the Cree and tribes formerly established in eastern
Canada and New England. Even the Santee-Dakota
in early days used birchbark for tipi covers. A tipi-like
skin-covered tent was in general use among the Indians
of Labrador and westward throughout the entire
Mackenzie area of Canada. To the west, the Plains
tipi was found among the Nez Percé, Flathead, Cayuse,
and Umatilla; to the southwest, among the Apache.
It is well nigh impossible to determine what tribes first
originated this type of shelter, though a comparison
of the details of structure might give some definite
clues. Yet, one thing is clear; viz: that it was espe-
cially adapted to the roving life of the Plains tribes
when pursuing the buffalo. 3
Earth Lodges. Before going further, we must needs
Fig. 8. Setting up a Crow Tipi.
(Petzold photo.)
S76
38 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
recall that the tipi was not the only type of shelter used
by these Indians. The Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara
lived in more or less permanent villages of curious
earth-covered lodges. The following description of a
Hidatsa house may serve as a type: —
“On the site of a proposed lodge, they often dig down a foot or more
in order to find earth compact enough to form a good floor; so, in some
lodges, the floors are lower than the general surface of the ground on
which the village stands. The floor is of earth, and has in its center a
circular depression, for a fire-place, about a foot deep, and three or four
feet wide, with an edging of flat rocks. These dwellings, being from
thirty to forty feet in diameter, from ten to fifteen feet high in the
center, and from five to seven feet high at the eaves, are quite com-
modious.
“The frame of a lodge is thus made:— A number of stout posts, from
ten to fifteen, according to the size of the lodge, and rising to the height
of about five feet above the surface of the earth, are set about ten feet
apart in a circle. On the tops of these posts, solid beams are laid, ex-
tending from one to another. Then, toward the center of the lodge,
four more posts are erected, of much greater diameter than the outer
posts, and rising to the height of ten or more feet above the ground.
These four posts stand in the corners of a square of about fifteen feet,
and their tops are connected with four heavy logs or beams laid hori-
zontally. From the four central beams to the smaller external beams,
long poles, as rafters, are stretched at an angle of about 30° with the
horizon; and from the outer beams to the earth a number of shorter
poles are laid at an angle of about 45°. Finally a number of saplings
or rails are laid horizontally to cover the space between the four central
beams, leaving only a hole for the combined skylight and chimney.
This frame is then covered with willows, hay, and ‘earth, as before men-
tioned; the covering being of equal depth over all parts of the frame.
(Matthews, 4-5).
Houses of approximately the same type were used
by the Pawnee, Omaha, Ponca, Kansas, Missouri, and
Oto. The Osage, on the other hand, are credited with
the use of dome-shaped houses covered with mats and
MATERIAL CULTURE. 39
bark, like the Ojibway and other Woodland _ tribes.
The Hidatsa type of lodge is, unlike the tipi, definitely
localized along the Missouri and the Platte, giving one
the impression that it must have originated within this
territory. The Omaha claim to have originally used
Fig. 9. Hidatsa Village in 1868.
(Morrow photo reproduced by F. N. Wilson.)
tipis and to have learned the use of earth lodges from
the Arikara; likewise the Skidi-Pawnee claim the tipi
as formerly their only dwelling. However, all these
tribes used tipis when on summer and winter trips after
buffalo (p. 20).
40 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
Some of the Santee-Dakota lived for a part of the
year in rectangular cabins of bark and poles as did some
of the Woodland tribes. On the west, an oval or
conical brush or grass shelter seems to have preceded
the tipi. The Comanche were seen using both this
western type of brush lodge and the tipi in 1853. The
Northern Shoshone have also been observed with
brush lodges and tipis in the same camp. ‘These
instances are probably examples of a transition in
culture. Thus, we see how even among the less civilized
peoples all are prone to be influenced by the culture of
their neighbors and that in consequence, cultures grade
into one another according to geographical relations.
Another curious thing is that all the tribes raising
maize used earth or bark houses, but as a rule lived in
them only while planting, tending, and harvesting the
crop. At other times, they took to tipis. Even in
mid-winter the Omaha and Santee-Dakota lived in
tipis.
A unique and exceptional type of shelter was used
by the Wichita and the related Caddoan tribes of the
Southeastern culture area. This is known as a grass
lodge. It consists of a dome-shaped structure of poles
thatched over with grass and given an ornamental
appearance by the regular spacing of extra bunches of
thatch. Formerly, each house had four doors, east,
west, north, and south, and four poles projected from
' the roof in the respective directions.
MATERIAL CULTURE, 41
DREss.
The men of the Plains were not elaborately clothed.
At home, they usually went about in breech cloth and
moccasins. The former was a broad strip of cloth
drawn up between the legs and passed under the belt
both behind and before. There is some reason for
believing that even this was introduced by white
traders, the more primitive form being a small apron
of dressed skin. At all seasons a man kept at hand a
soft tanned buffalo robe in which he tastefully swathed
his person when appearing in public. This was uni-
versally true of all except those of the Plateau area
and possibly some of the southern tribes. In the Pla-
teaus, the most common for winter were robes of ante-
lope, elk, and mountain sheep, while in summer
elkskins without the hair were worn. Beaver skins
and those of other small animals were sometimes
pieced together. According to Grinnell, the Blackfoot,
east of the Rocky Mountains also used these various
forms of robes. The Plateau tribes sometimes used a
curious woven blanket of strips of rabbitskin also
widely used in Canada and the Southwest. So far this
type of blanket has not been reported for the Plains
tribes east of the mountains.
Everywhere, we find no differences between the robes
of men and women except in their decorations. The
buffalo robes were usually the entire skins with the tail.
Among most tribes, the robe was worn horizontally
with the tail on the right hand side. Light, durable,
42 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
and gaily colored blankets were later introduced by
traders and are even now in general use.
Moccasins were worn by all, the sandals of the
Southwest and Mexico not being credited to these
Indians. The two general structural types of mocca-
sins in North America are the one-piece, or soft-soled
moccasin, and the two-piece, or hard-soled. The
t.
wom ewte
ee ee
ee ee 2
=.
Fig. 10. One-piece Moccasin Pattern. That part of the pattern
marked a forms the upper side of the moccasin; 6, the sole; e, the
tongue; f, the trailer. The leather is folded lengthwise, along the
dotted line, the points c and d are brought together and the edges sewed
along to the point g, which makes a seam the whole length of the foot
and around the toes. The vertical heel seam is formed by sewing
c and d now joined to h, f projecting. The strips c and d are each, half
the width of that marked h, consequently the side seam at the heel is
half way between the top of the moccasin and the sole, but reaches the
level at the toes. As the sides of this moccasin are not high enough for
the wearer’s comfort, an extension or ankle flap is sewed on, varying
from two to six inches in width, cut long enough to overlap in front and
held in place by means of the usual draw string or lacing around the
ankle.
MATERIAL CULTURE. 43
latter prevails among these Indians, while the former
is general among forest Indians. A Blackfoot moccasin
of a simple two-piece pattern is shown in the figure.
The upper is made of soft tanned skin and after finish-
ing and decorating is sewed to a rawhide sole cut to fit
the foot: of the wearer. A top, or vamp, may be added.
A a
Y
Yi \\"
ew
ey |
A I uv by \\e
I \ eH {
“Yy \
Y/
I Fi
|
|
Fig. 11. Two-piece Moccasin Pattern. This type prevails in the
Plains. The soles are of stiff rawhide. They conform generally to the
outlines of the foot. The uppers are cut as shown in the pattern,
though sometimes the tongue is separate. An ankle flap is added.
The pattern for a Blackfoot one-piece moccasin is
shown in Figure 10. Our collections show that this
type occurs occasionally among the Sarsi, Blackfoot,
Plains-Cree, Assiniboine, Gros Ventre, Northern Sho-
shone, Omaha,:Pawnee, and Santee-Dakota. So far,
it has not been reported for any of the southern tribes.
Among many of the foregoing, this form seems to have
a
44 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
been preferred for winter wear, using buffalo skin with
the hair inside. Again, since all the tribes to the north
and east of these Indians used the one-piece moccasin
all the year round, its presence in this part of the Plains
is quite natural.
To the south, we find a combined stiff-soled moccasin
and legging to be seen among the Arapaho, Ute, and
Comanche. This again seems to be related to a boot
type of moccasin found in parts of the Southwest.
So, in general, the hard-soled moccasin is the type
for these Indians. Old frontiersmen claim that from
the tracks of a war party, the tribe could be determined;
this is in a measure true, for each had some distinguish-
ing secondary feature, such as heel fringes, toe forms,
ete., that left their marks in the dust of the trail.
Ornaments and decoration will, however, be discussed
under another head.
Almost everywhere the men wore long leggings tied
to the belt. Women’s leggings were short, extending
from the ankle to the knee and supported by garters.
Some of the most conspicuous objects in the collec-
tions are the so-called war, or scalp shirts, Fig. 12.
One of the oldest was obtained by Col. Sword in 1838
and seems to be Dakota (Sioux). It is of mountain
sheep skin. Some fine modern examples are credited
to the Teton-Dakota, Crow, and Blackfoot, though
almost every tribe had them in late years. This type,
however, should not be taken as a regular costume.
Though in quite recent years it has become a kind of
tuxedo, it was formerly the more or less exclusive
MATERIAL CULTURE. 45
uniform of important functionaries. On the other
hand, the shirt itself, stripped of its ornaments and
accessories seems to be of the precise pattern once worn
AN
NS
a!
LZ
oy,
Ye
‘4
Fig. 12. Man’s Shirt. Blackfoot.
in daily routine. Yet, the indications are that as a
regular costume, the shirt was by no means in general
use. The Cree, Déné, and other tribes of central
Canada wore leather shirts, no doubt because of the
46 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
severe winters. We also have positive knowledge of
their early use by the Blackfoot, Assiniboine, Crow,
Dakota, Plains-Cree, Nez Percé, Northern Shoshone,
Gros Ventre, and on the other hand of their absence
among the Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Pawnee, Osage,
Kiowa, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Comanche. Thus,
the common shirt was after all not typical of the Plains
Indians: it is only recently that the special decorated
form so characteristic of the Assiniboine, Crow, Black-
foot, and Dakota has come into general use. Several
interesting points may be noted in the detailed struc-
ture of these shirts, but we must pass on.
For the head there was no special covering. Yet in
winter the Blackfoot, Plains-Cree, and perhaps others
in the north, often wore fur caps. In the south and in
the Plateaus, the eyes were sometimes protected by
simple shades of rawhide. So, in general, both sexes
in the Plains went bare-headed, though the robe was
often pulled up forming a kind of temporary hood.
Mittens and gloves seem to have been introduced by
the whites, though they appear to have been native in
other parts of the continent.
The women of all tribes wore more clothing than the
men. The most typical garment was the sleeveless
dress, a one-piece garment, an excellent example of
which is to be seen in the Audubon collection, Fig. 14.
This type was used by the Hidatsa, Mandan, Crow,
Dakota, Arapaho, Ute, Kiowa, Comanche, Sarsi,
Gros Ventre, Assiniboine, and perhaps others. A slight.
variant is reported for the Nez Percé, Northern Sho-
Costumed Figure of a Dakota Woman.
Fig. 13.
7
a
48 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
shone, and Plains-Cree in that the extensions of the
cape are formed into a tight-fitting sleeve. Some
writers claim that in early days the Assiniboine and
ANNA 2 = GT
A
“
‘
? Ae ee
ie
) lea
/ Millet
!
Wes
uy
Vy
FF
‘hy
Lp tC POOTU WA Lg 0 4n
YO" Vit zz
Vif
a b Li,
9 By & //////,
Fig. 14. Woman’s Dress of Elkskin. Audubon.
Blackfoot women also used this form. Formerly, the
Cheyenne, Osage, and Pawnee women wore a two-
plece garment consisting of a skirt and a cape, a form
typical of the Woodland Indians of the east.
MATERIAL CULTURE. 49
The manner of dressing the hair is often a conspicuous
conventional feature. Many of the Plains tribes wore
it uncropped. Among the northern tribes the men
frequently gathered the hair in two braids but in the
Plateau area and among some of the southern tribes,
both sexes usually wore it loose on the shoulders and
back. The Crow men sometimes cropped the fore-lock
and trained it to stand erect; the Blackfoot, Assini-
boine, Yankton-Dakota, Hidatsa, Mandan, Arikara,
and Kiowa trained a fore-lock to hang down over the
nose. Early writers report a general practice of arti-
ficially lengthening men’s hair by gumming on extra
strands until it sometimes dragged on the ground.
The hair of women throughout the Plains was usually
worn in the two-braid fashion with the median part
from the forehead to the neck. Old women frequently
allowed the hair to hang down at the sides or confined
it by a simple head band.
Again, we find exceptions in that the Oto, Osage,
Pawnee, and Omaha closely cropped the sides of the
head, leaving a ridge or tuft across the crown and down
behind. It is almost certain that the Ponca once
followed the same style and there is a tradition among
the Oglala division of the Teton-Dakota that they also
shaved the sides of the head. (See also History of the
Expedition of Lewis and Clark, Reprinted, New York,
1902, Vol. 1, p. 185.) We may say then that the love
of long heavy tresses was a typical trait of the Plains.
By the public every Indian is expected to have his
hair thickly decked with feathers. The striking
a
50 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
feather bonnets with long tails usually seen in pictures
were exceptional and formerly permitted only to a few
distinguished men. They are most characteristic of
the Dakota. Even a common eagle feather in the hair
of a Dakota had some military significance according
to its form and position. On the other hand, objects
tied in a Blackfoot’s hair were almost certain to have a
charm value. So far as we know, among all tribes,
objects placed in the hair of men usually had more than
a mere aesthetic significance.
Beads for the neck, ear ornaments, necklaces of claws,
scarfs of otter and other fur, etc., were in general use.
The face and exposed parts of the body were usually
painted and sometimes the hair also. Women were
fond of tracing the part line with vermilion. There
was little tattooing and noses were seldom pierced.
The ears, on the other hand, were usually perforated
and adorned with pendants which among Dakota
women were often long strings of shells reaching the
waist line.
Instead of combs, brushes made from the tails of
percupines were used in dressing the hair. The most
common form was made by stretching the porcupine
tail over a stick of wood. The hair of the face and
other parts of the body was pulled out by small tweezers.
INDUSTRIAL ARTS.
Under this head the reader may be reminded that
among most American tribes each family produces and
MATERIAL CULTURE. 51
manufactures for itself. There is a more or less definite
division between the work of men and women, but
beyond that there is little specialization. The indi-
Fig. 15. Firedrill.
ern Shoshone.
North-
known in the Plains.
among the first articles introduced by white traders.
viduals are not of equal skill,
but still each practises practi-
cally the whole gamut of in-
dustrial arts peculiar to his
sex. This fact greatly in-
creases the importance of such
arts when considered as cul-
tural traits.
Fire-making. The methods
of making fire are often of
great cultural interest. So far
as our data go, the method in
this area was by the simple
firedrill as shown in the Sho-
shone collections, Fig. 15.
Some of the Woodland tribes
used the bowdrill but so far,
this has not been reported for
the Plains. It may be well to
note that to strike fire with
flint one must have some form
of iron and while pyrites was
used by some Eskimo and
other tribes of the far north,
it seems to have been un-
Naturally, flint and steel were
ene tie
52 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
Textiles and Skins. While in a general way, it is
true that the Plains Indians used skins instead of cloth
and basketry, it cannot be said that they were entirely
unfamiliar with the latter. Of true cloth, we have no
trace. Blankets woven with strips of rabbit fur have
been noted (p. 41) and on certain Osage war bundles, we
find covers of thick strands of buffalo hair; these are
about the only traces of true weaving. On the other
hand, baskets were more in evidence. The Shoshone
and Ute were rather skillful, making and using many
varieties of baskets. The Nez Percé made a fine soft
bag like their western neighbors. ‘The Hidatsa, Man-
dan, and Arikara made a peculiar carrying basket of
checker weave, and are also credited with small crude
coiled baskets used in gambling games. It is believed
by some students that the last were occasionally made
by the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Kiowa, and Dakota. The
Osage have some twined bags, or soft baskets, in which
ceremonial bundles are kept, but otherwise were not
given to basketry. The Omaha formerly wove scarfs
and belts. On the south, the Comanche are believed
to have made a few crude baskets. Woven mats were
almost unknown, except the simple willow backrests
used by the Blackfoot, Mandan, Cheyenne, Gros
Ventre, and others. These are, after all, but citations
of exceptions most pronounced among the marginal
tribes, the fact being that the area as a whole is singu-
larly weak in the textile arts.
Since skins everywhere took the place of cloth, the
dressing of pelts was an important industry. It was
i)
MATERIAL CULTURE. 53
not only woman’s work but her worth and virtue were
estimated by her output. Soles of moccasins, parfleche,
and other similar bags were made of stiff rawhide, the
product of one of the simplest and perhaps the most
primitive methods of treating skins. The uppers of
moccasins, soft bags, thongs, etc., were of pliable
texture, produced by a more elaborate and laborious
process.
For the rawhide finish the treatment is as follows: —
Shortly after the removal of a hide, it is stretched out
on the ground near the tipi, hair side down, and held
in place by wooden stakes or pins such as are used in
staking down the covers of tipis. Clinging to the
upturned flesh side of the hide are many fragments
of muscular tissue, fat, and strands of connective
tissue, variously blackened by coagulated blood. The
first treatment is that of cleaning or fleshing. Shortly
after the staking out, the surface is gone over with a
fleshing tool by which the adhering flesh, etc., is raked
and hacked away. This is an unpleasant and laborious
process requiring more brute strength than skill.
Should the hide become too dry and stiff to work well,
the surface is treated with warm water. After fleshing,
the hide is left to cure and bleach in the sun for some
days, though it may be occasionally saturated by
pouring warm water over its surface. The next thing
is to work the skin down to an even thickness by
scraping with an adze-like tool. The stakes are usually
pulled up and the hard stiff hide laid down under a
sun-shade or other shelter. Standing on the hide,
54 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
the woman leans over and with a sidewise movement
removes the surface in chips or shavings, the action
of the tool resembling that of a hand plane. After the
flesh side has received this treatment, the hide is
turned and the hair scraped away in the same manner.
This completes the rawhide process and the subse-
quent treatment is determined by the use to be made
of it.
The soft-tan finish as given to buffalo and deer hides
for robes, soft bags, ete., is the same in its initial stages
as the preceding. After fleshing and scraping, the
rawhide is laid upon the ground and the surface rubbed
over with an oily compound composed of brains and
fat often mixed with liver. This is usually rubbed on
with the hands. Any kind of fat may be used for
this purpose though the preferred substance is as
stated above. The writer observed several instances
in which mixtures of packing house lard, baking flour,
and warm water were rubbed over the rawhide as a
substitute. The rawhide is placed in the sun, after
the fatty compound has been thoroughly worked into
the texture by rubbing with a smooth stone that the
heat may aid in its further distribution. When quite
dry, the hide is saturated with warm water and for a
time kept rolled up in a bundle. In this state, it
usually shrinks and requires a great deal of stretching
to get it back to its approximate former size. This
is accomplished by pulling with the hands and feet,
two persons being required to handle a large skin.
After this, come the rubbing and drying processes.
MATERIAL CULTURE. DVI
The surface is vigorously rubbed with a rough edged
stone until it presents a clean-grained appearance.
The skin is further dried and whitened by sawing back
and forth through a loop of twisted sinew or thong
tied to the under side of an inclined tipi pole. This
— eon
eas:
os
Fig. 16. Scraping a Hide. Blood.
friction develops considerable heat, thereby drying
and softening the texture. As this and the preceding
rubbing are parts of the same process their chronological
relation is not absolute, but the order, was usually as
given above. The skin is then ready for use.
56 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
Skins with the hair on, are treated in the same manner
as above, except that the adze-tool is not applied to the
hair side. A large buffalo robe was no light object
and was handled with some difficulty, especially in the
stretching, in consequence of which they were some-
times split down the middle and afterwards sewed
together again. :
Among some of the village tribes, it seems to have
been customary to stretch the skin on a four-sided frame
and place it upright as shown in the group for Plateau
culture (south side of the Woodland Hall). The exact
distribution of this trait is not known but it has been
credited to the Santee-Dakota, Hidatsa, and Mandan.
The Blackfoot sometimes used it in winter, but laid
flat upon the ground.
Buckskin was prepared in the same manner as among
the forest tribes. The tribes of the Plateau area were
especially skillful in coloring the finished skin by smok-
ing. There were many slight variations in all the
above processes.
The adze-like scraper was in general use throughout
the Plains and occurs elsewhere only among bordering
tribes. Hence, it is peculiar to the buffalo hunting
tribes. The handle was of antler, though occasionally
of wood, and the blade of iron. Information from some
Blackfoot and Dakota Indians indicates that in former
times the blades were of chipped stone, but the chipped
scraper found in archaeological collections from the
Plains area cannot be fastened to the handle in the
same manner as the iron blades, the latter being placed
MATERIAL CULTURE, 57
on the inner, or under side, while the shape of the
chipped stone blade seems to indicate that it was placed
on the outside. Hence, the former use of stone blades
for these scrapers must be considered doubtful. The
iron blades are bound to the wedge-shaped haft, which
each downward blow, when the tool is in use, forces
tightly into the binding. When the pressure is re-
moved the blade and binding may slip off. To prevent
this, some tools are provided with a cord running from
Fig. 17. Hide Scrapers.
the end of the handle once or twice around its middle
and thence to the binding of the blade. Again a
curved iron blade is used, one end of which is bound
near the middle of the handle. These types (Fig. 17)
are widely distributed throughout the Plains, but the
curved iron blade seems to be most frequent among
the Arapaho and Cheyenne, and wooden handles
among the Comanche.
On the other hand, fleshing tools, chisel-shaped with
5S INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
notched edges, were used throughout Canada east of
the Rocky Mountains, and in many parts of the United
States. Hence, they cannot be taken as peculiar to
the Plains. The older type of flesher is apparently the
one made entirely of bone, while the later ones were
made entirely of iron. Sometimes an intermediate
form is found in which a small metal blade is fastened
to the end of a bone shaft (Fig. 18). The shaft of the
flesher is usually covered with rawhide and to its end
is attached a loop for the wrist. The iron flesher seems
to be the only type peculiar to the Indians of the Plains.
The distribution of the bone flesher is such that its
most probable origin may be assigned to the Algonkin
tribes of the Great Lakes and northward.
Beaming tools are identified with the dressing of
deerskins and in this respect stand distinct from the
adze tool used in dressing buffalo skins. They seem
to be used wherever the dressing of deer skins is prev-
alent and are best known under the following types: —
a split leg bones; b combined tibia and fibula of deer
or similar animal; c rib bone; d wooden stick with
metal blade in middle, stick usually curved.
From the collections in this Museum it seems that
the split leg bone type is not found in the Plains.
Should further inquiry show this to be the case, it
would be a matter of some interest since the split bone
type is found in archaeological collections from British
Columbia, Ohio, and New York. The general aspect
of the foregoing is, that some form of beaming tool is a
concomitant of deer skin dressing from Point Barrow
MATERIAL CULTURE. 59
and California (the Hupa) to Labrador, and Pennsyl-
vania.
The rubbing with a rough stone is the usual treat-
ment accorded deerskins, and cannot be considered
peculiar to the Indians of the Plains.
Fig. 18. Fleshing Tools.
Tailoring. The garments of the Indians of the
Plains were simple in construction, and the cutting of
the garment was characterized by an effort to make the
60 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
natural shape of the tanned skin fit into the desired
garment, with as little waste as possible. We do not
know how skins were cut before the introduction of
metal knives by white traders. Needles were not
used by the women among the Plains Indians, but the
thread was pushed through holes made with bodkins
or awls. In former times these awls were made of
bone; the sewing was with sinew thread made by
shredding out the long tendons from the leg of the
buffalo and deer. When sewing, Blackfoot women
had at hand a piece of dried tendon from which they
pulled the shreds with their teeth, softened them in
their mouths and then twisted them into a thread by
rolling between the palms of their hands. The moisten-
ing of the sinew in the mouth not only enabled the
women to twist the thread tightly, but also caused the
sinew to expand so that when it dried in the stitch it
shrank and drew the stitches tight. The ordinary
woman’s sewing outfit was carried in a soft bag of
buffalo skin and consisted of bodkins, a piece of sinew,
and a knife. Bodkins were sometimes carried in small
beaded cases as shown in the exhibit.
The Use of Rawhide. In the use of rawhide for
binding and hafting, the Plains tribes seem almost.
unique. When making mauls and stone-headed clubs
a piece of green or wet hide is firmly sewed on and as
this dries its natural shrinkage sets the parts firmly.
This is nicely illustrated in saddles. Thus, rawhide
here takes the place of nails, twine, cement, etc., in other
cultures.
MATERIAL CULTURE.
Fig. 20. A Parfleche.
61
62 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
The Parfleche. A number of characteristic bags were
made of rawhide. ‘The most conspicuous being the par-
fleche. Its simplicity of construction is inspiring and
its usefulness scarcely to be over-estimated. The ap-
proximate form for a parfleche is shown in Fig. 19,
and its completed form in Fig. 20. The side outlines
as in Fig. 19 are irregular and show great variations,
none of which can be taken as certainly characteristic.
To fill the parfleche, it is opened out as in Fig. 19, and
the contents arranged in the middle. The large flap
is then brought over and held by lacing a’, a’. The
ends are then turned over and laced b’, b’”’. The
closed parfleche may then be secured by both or either
of the looped thongs at ec’, ¢”’.
Primarily, parfleche were used for holding pemmican
(p. 26) though dried meat, dried berries, tallow, etc.,
found their way into them when convenient. In
recent years, they seem to have more of a decorative
than a practical value; or rather, according to our
impression, they are cherished as mementos of buffalo
days, the great good old time of Indian memory,
always appropriate and acceptable as gifts. The usual
fate of a gift parfleche is to be cut into moccasin soles.
With the possible exception of the Osage, the parfleche
was common among all these tribes but seldom en-
countered elsewhere. |
Rawhide Bags. A rectangular bag (Fig. 21) was
also common and quite uniform even to the modes of
binding. They were used by women rather than by
men. The larger ones may contain skin-dressing tools,
MATERIAL CULTURE. 63
the smaller ones, sewing or other small implements,
etc. Sometimes, they were used in gathering berries
and other vegetable foods.
Se oS ngencebhnen
= Po eT ——_ as
Fig. 38. Sun Dance Headdress. Blackfoot.
Til
LLL ALLELE ELLA SL i it a i Tat ee. eat _ = a
142 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
ceremonies is the so-called sun dance. The name as
used in literature is probably derived from the Dakota
who speak of one phase of the ceremony as sun-gaze-
dancing: 1. e., the worshiper gazes steadily at the sun
while dancing. To a greater or less extent, this is
one of the objective features of the ceremony wherever
performed and is associated with a torture feature in
which skewers are thrust through the skin of the breast
and back and the devotee suspended or required to
dance until the skin gives way, all the time supplicating
the sun for divine guidance.
Another feature is that in the center of the ceremonial
place is set up a tree, or sun pole, which is scouted for,
counted coup upon, and felled, as if it were an enemy.
Upon this, offerings of cloth are made to the sun. In
the fork at the top is usually a bunch of twigs, in some
cases called the nest of the thunder bird.
The time of the sun dance is in midsummer. It is
usually initiated by the vow of a man or woman to make
it as a sacrifice in return for some heeded prayer in
time of great danger. The soldier societies, the
women’s society, and other organizations, generally
take turns dancing at the sun pole after the above
named rites have been concluded. The ceremony is
decidedly a Plains characteristic. As a rule all who
perform important functions in the sun dance are
required to spend several days in fasting and other
purification ceremonies.
The sun dance has been reported for all the tribes
of this area except the Comanche, Omaha, Iowa, Kan-
‘
d
|
i
|
RELIGION AND CEREMONIES. 118
sas, Missouri, Osage, Oto, Wichita, Bannock, and Nez
Percé: that even some of these formerly practised it,
is probable. Like soldier societies (p. 89), the sun
dance presents several features variously combined
and distributed. These are the torture, the circular
shelter of poles, the use of a sacred bundle, the erection
of a sun pole, and the dancing ceremonies. The form
of shelter shown in the Arapaho model has been ob-
served among the Arapaho, Gros Ventre, Kiowa,
Cheyenne, Blackfoot, Sarsi, Plains-Cree, and Hidatsa.
With the possible exception of the Plains-Cree all used
a sacred bundle of some form. (For examples see the
Blackfoot and Crow collections.) The Crow used a
bundle containing an image, but a different form of
shelter. The Assiniboine, Ponea, and Dakota used
no bundles but a shelter of another type from that
shown in the model. The torture, dancing, and the
sun pole were common to all.
Among the Mandan we note an unusual form of
sun dance, known as the Okipa, fully described by
George Catlin who visited that tribe in 1832. (See
sketches in the Catlin collection.)
Ghost Dance Ceremonies. Even within historic times,
there have been several interesting religious develop-
ments among the Plains Indians. The most noted of
these was the ghost dance. This was a religious cere-
mony founded upon the belief in the coming of a
Messiah, which seems to have originated among the
Paviotso Indians in Nevada (Plateau Area) about 1888
and which spread rapidly among the Indians of the
114 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
Plains. The prophet of the religion was a young Paiute
Indian (Plateau Area) who claimed to have had a
revelation while in a delirious condition caused by an
attack of fever. The Teton-Dakota seem to have first
heard of the new religion in 1889 and in a council held
by Red-cloud, appointed a committee to visit the
prophet and investigate. On this committee were
Short-bull and Kicking-bear, who returned very enthu-
silastic converts and began preaching the new religion
among the Dakota. The principal belief was that an
Indian Messiah was about to appear to destroy the
white race, and restore the buffalo with all former
customs. As in all Indian ceremonies, dancing played
a large part, but in this case the dancers usually fell
into a hypnotic trance and upon recovering recounted
their visions and supernatural experiences. All partici-
pants were provided with decorated cloth garments
bearing symbolic designs which were believed to have
such relation with the coming Messiah that all who
wore them would be protected from all harm. Among
white people these garments were generally known as
“bullet proof shirts”? (see Dakota collections).
The enthusiasm over the new ghost dance religion
spread over the several Dakota Indian reservations,
resulting in the attempted arrest and killing of the
famous Sitting-bull by the Indian police and hostile
demonstrations on the Pine Ridge Reservation, under
the leadership of Short-bull and Kicking-bear. In
consequence, United States troops were concentrated
on the Pine Ridge Reservation under the command of
RELIGION AND CEREMONIES. 115
General Nelson A. Miles. The hostility of the Indians
increased until December 29, 1890, when there was an
engagement between Big-foot’s band and the com-
mand of Colonel Forsyth on Wounded Knee Creek, in
which thirty-one soldiers and one hundred twenty-eight
Indians were killed. In a short time after this decisive
engagement, practically all the Indians laid down their
arms and abandoned the ghost dance religion. It is
probable, however, that some of the ceremonies con-
nected with the vhost dance religion are performed even
to this day, since several of the leaders are still living.
Fig. 39. Peyote Button.
Practically all of the typical tribes (p. 18) took up
the new beliefs about the same time but no where else
did the excitement lead to violence. Among the
Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Gros Ventre, the ceremonies
still exist in a modified form, apparently combined with
the Omaha or grass dance (p. 116).
Peyote Worship. There are curious ceremonies con-
nected with the eating or administering of the dried
fruit of a small cactus (Anhalonium or Laphophora),
native of the lower Rio Grande and Mexico. The name
|
116 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
“mescal’’ is wrongly applied to this fruit by many
white observers. Long ago, these ceremonies seem to
have been known to the Kiowa and Comanche of the
Plains and widely distributed in the Southwest and
Mexico. The rites begin in the evening and continue
until the following dawn, and are restricted to men.
There is a definite ritual, a small drum and rattle of
special form being essential. Within the last few years,
this worship has become general among the Arapaho,
Cheyenne, Omaha, Dakota, and Kiowa and threatens
to supplant all other native ceremonies. It is even
found among the Winnebago, Sauk and Fox, and
Menomini of the Woodlands. This diffusion in his-
toric times, makes it one of the most suggestive phe-
nomena for students of Indian life, since it affords
an indisputable example of culture diffusion.
Dancing Associations. There are a number of semi-
religious festivals or ceremonies in which a large num-
ber of individuals participate and which seem to have
been handed on from one tribe to another. The best
known example of this is the Omaha or Grass dance
which has been reported for the Arapaho, Pawnee,
Omaha, Dakota, Crow, Gros Ventre, Assiniboine, and
Blackfoot. The various tribes agree in their belief
that this dance, and its regalia originated with the
Pawnee. The Dakota claim to have obtained it
directly from the Pawnee about 1870. The Arapaho
and Gros Ventre claim to have learned it from the
Dakota. The Gros Ventre taught it to the Blackfoot
about 1883. Though these statements of the Indians
.
t
-
Ne ee en ee ee ee ee ~ “
on, REN kD >
RELIGION AND CEREMONIES. 117
are not to be taken as absolutely correct, they indicate
that this dance is a modern innovation. Recently,
the Blackfoot have carried the dance to the Flathead
and Kootenai tribes to the west.
The meetings are held at night in large circular
wooden buildings erected for that purpose. Some of
the dancers wear large feather bustles, called crow belts,
and peculiar roached headdresses of hair’
‘ee 4] ‘ ‘ \ =e op =
SS Yin i aN x = \ \ =
™. gy! a < f - - 4
\\ }
} 4 ; {
‘ i M
A | KN
9)
ry,
4
Fig. 44. Blanket Band in Quills. Blackfoot.
CHAPTER V.
LANGUAGE.
As stated at the outset, it is customary to classify
peoples according to their languages. The main groups
are what are called stock languages, or families. Under
such heads are placed all languages that seem to have
had a common origin regardless of whether they are
mutually intelligible or not. Thus English and German
are distinct forms of speech, yet they are considered
as belonging to the same stock, or family. In North
America, there are more than fifty such families, of
which seven have representatives in the plains. Only
one, however, the Kiowa, is entirely confined to the
area, though the Siouan and Caddoan are chiefly
found within its bounds. The others (Algonkin,
Shoshonean, Athapascan, and Shahaptian) have much
larger representation elsewhere, which naturally leads
us to infer that they must have migrated into the
Plains. Though this is quite probable, it cannot be
proven from the data at hand, except possibly for the
Algonkin-speaking Plains-Cree, Plains-Ojibway, and
Cheyenne, of whose recent movement out into the
Plains, we have historic evidence. These tribes are
of special interest to students, since in a comparatively
short period of time, they put away most of their
native culture and took on that of their neighbors in
the Plains.
127
INDIANS OF THE PLAINS, ACCORDING TO LANGUAGE.
Siouan Language.
Assiniboine Mandan
Crow Missouri
Dakota Omaha
Hidatsa Osage
lowa Oto
Kansas Ponca
Algonkin Language.
Arapaho Gros Ventre
Blackfoot Plains-Cree
Cheyenne Plains-Ojibway
Caddoan Language.
Arikara Pawnee
Wichita
Kiowan Language.
Kiowa
Shoshonean Language.
Bannock Northern Shoshone
Comanche Ute
Wind River Shoshone.
Athapascan Language.
Kiowa-Apache Sarsl
Shahaptian Language.
Nez Percé
128
LANGUAGE. 129
The Athapascan-speaking Kiowa-Apache and Sarsi
are also worthy of notice because the family to which
they belong has representatives in five of the eight
great culture areas into which North American cul-
tures are localized, affording us the unique example
of five distinct cultures with languages of the same
family, or stock.
Returning to our classification of Plains tribes under
linguistic families, it may be well to note that while
it is absolutely true that these families have nothing
in common, the differences between the various tribes
under the same stock are by no means equal. Thus
while a Dakota and an Assiniboine can make them-
selves partially understood, Dakota and Crow are so
different that only philologists are able to discover them
to be of the same family. On the other hand, a Crow
and a Hidatsa could get on fairly well in ordinary
conversation. Again, in the Algonkin group, the Ara-
paho and Gros Ventre are conscious of having related
languages, while the Blackfoot lived on neighborly
terms with the latter for many years as did the Chey-
enne with the Arapaho, not once, so far as we know,
discovering any definite relation between their lan-
guages. It is well to remember, therefore, that the term
linguistic stock does not denote the language or speech
of a particular tribe, but is a designation of the philol-
ogists to define observed relationships in structure
and form, and that the speech of these Indians differs
in varying degree as one passes from one group to the
other. Thus, the seven tribes of the Dakota form at
130 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
least three dialectic groups: the Santee say Dakota
and the Teton, Lakota, one always using d for the
other’s 1; the Santee hda (go home), the Teton, gla
and the Yankton kda. Even within the different
communities of the Teton small differences are said to
exist. Hence, the differences in speech are after all
gradations of variable magnitude from the study of
which philologists are able to discover relationship
and descent, all believed to have originated from one
now extinct mother tongue being classed under one
family, or stock name. In short, there are no language
characters peculiar to the Plains tribes, as is the case
with other cultural characters.
The foregoing remarks apply entirely to oral lan-
guage. We must not overlook the extensive use of a
sign language which seems to have served all the pur-
poses of an international or inter-tribal language. The
signs were made with the hands and fingers, but were
not in any sense the spelling out of a spoken language.
The language was based upon ideas alone. Had it
been otherwise, it could not have been understood
outside of the tribe. Though some traces of such a
language have been met with outside of the Plains, it is
only within the area that we find a system so well
developed that inter-tribal visitors could be entertained
with sign-talk on all subjects. The Crow, Kiowa,
Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Blackfoot are generally re-
garded as having been most proficient and the Omaha,
Osage, Kansas and Ute, as least skillful in its use. It
may not be amiss to add that in most tribes could be
LANGUAGE. 131
found individuals priding themselves in speaking one
or more languages. Jn former times, many Nez Percé,
Blackfoot, Gros Ventre, Dakota, and Mandan are said
to have known some of the Crow language which was in
consequence often used by traders. This, if true, was
no doubt due to the peculiar geographical position of
the Crow. The sign language, however, could be
used among all tribes familiar with it and must, there-
fore, be considered one of the striking peculiar traits of
the Plains and an important factor in the diffusion of
culture.
2
o
9
TETON-DAKOTA.
“‘TANMV
d
“ANNG
AGH
133
Cojoyd AZopouy a nvoing)
‘AUNOHSOHY UWAANT ANIM
CaqiL poor)
‘LOOAMOV IG,
134
CHAPTER VI.
PUA SICAL: TYPE.
No eareful study of the physical types for the Plains
has been made. Our general impression of the tribal
appearance is largely influenced by hair dress, costume,
and posture, and it is difficult to disassociate these
externals from somatic features. Yet, a brief scrutiny
of casts of faces or photographs usually reveals tribal
resemblances like those we see in families among our-
selves. As the Indians of the Plains are but a sub-
division of the same race this is about the only difference
that should be expected. The color tone of the skin
(a reddish chocolate) seems about the same throughout
the area, though perhaps lighter with occasional leanings
toward the yellow among some Blackfoot of the north;
yet to be exact, no color studies worthy of the name
have been made. The hair is, like that of all Indians,
uniformly black and straight. As to stature, they
appear rather tall. The following average measure-
ments have been reported.
Millimeters Inches.
Cheyenne 1745 68.7
Crow 1732 68.1
Arapaho 1728 68.03
135
136 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
Millimeters Inches.
Dakota 1726 67.09
Plains-Ojibway 1723 67.8
Blackfoot 1715 67.5
Kiowa 1709 67.2
Comanche 1678 66.06
These are from the typical nomadic group of tribes
as previously defined and with the exception of the
Comanche are quite tall. As the figures above are
averages, we must expect among the Cheyenne some
very tall individuals. (Twenty per cent of those
measured, exceeded 1820 mm.)
On the west, the statures are less:
Millimeters Inches
Nez Percé 1697 66.8
Ute 1661 65.4
Among the village group we note:
Millimeters Inches
Omaha 1732 68.1
Pawnee 1713 67.4
Arikara 1690 66.5
again a tendency toward tall statures.
Looking at the faces of the various tribes, some
general differences appear. ‘Those of the Blackfoot,
Plains-Cree, and Assiniboine seem rather rounded and
delicate while those of the Dakota are longer and clear
cut with strong lines, an eagle nose and more prominent
cheek bones. The Pawnee again have large heavy or
PHYSICAL TYPE. 137
massive faces. On none of these points, however, have
investigations been made and it is an open question
whether anything would be accomplished thereby other
than the definition of minute differences. In historical
times, at least, there was a great deal of intermarriage
and visiting between these tribes which must have
tended to level down somatic differences and which
makes the successful determination of genetic relation-
ship quite improbable. As to head form, we find an
index of about 80 for the Ute, Cree, Dakota, Blackfoot,
Cheyenne, Arapaho, Pawnee, and a considerably higher
value for the Comanche, Osage, Omaha, Wichita, and
Kiowa.
The children of the Oglala division of the Teton-
Dakota have been measured from year to year by Dr.
J. R. Walker and a comparison of their averages and
rates of growth made with white children. In general,
there seemed to be no important differences, though the
Olgala children were uniformly taller than white
children as measured.
On the whole, it cannot be said that the Indians of
this culture area are anatomically distinct from those
occupying some other parts of the continent. A map
showing the distribution of physical types in North
America would bear little resemblance either to the.
linguistic or cultural map. On the other hand, there
seems to be a tendency toward uniformity throughout
the Plains but due more to the fact that these tribes
are for the most part a portion of a much larger somatic
group.
CHAPTER VII.
ORIGINS.
Tuis brief sketch of the anthropology of the Plains
naturally raises a few quite fundamental questions:
How did these tribes come to be here? How long have
they been here? What was the origin of their cultures?
While no satisfactory answers can be given for these,
some progress toward their solution has been made.
We have seen that no definite correlation seems to
exist between language, culture, and physical type,
since the distribution maps for each have little in
common. Taking the cultural classification as our
point of view, we see that Plains Indians are not
peculiar in stature or head form, but seem to fall into
two unequal groups with many representatives in other
parts of the continent. The shorter western tribes
ranging from 165 to 170 em. fall into a large group of
low statures including most of the Californian, Plateau,
North Pacific Coast, and Southeastern Areas. The
Comanche who speak a language of Shoshonean stock
widely distributed over the Plateau area are also
relatively short. The greater part of the typical and
village tribes, however, range from 170 to 175 em.,
138
ORIGINS. 139
including the Yuma, Mohave, and Pima of the South-
west, the Iroquois and most Algonkin of the Woodland
Area. As to head form, the moderately long head of
the Plains does not hold for the Osage and Wichita of
the south and the Nez Percé of the northwest, but
extends over into the Plateau area on the west and into
the Woodland area of the east. Hence, in a general
way, the tall, somewhat long-headed tribes seem to
extend eastward into the Woodlands through Indiana,
Ohio, and New York. Possibly this represents the
influence of some older parent group whose _ blood
gradually worked its way along through many lan-
guages and several varieties of culture. On the other
hand, the shorter, less long-headed tribes were massed
around the Plains in the Southwest, the Plateaus, and
part of the Woodlands almost engulfing the taller
eroup. Now, while it seems clear that migrations of
blood are in evidence, there is, as yet, no satisfactory
means of determining the point of origin and the
direction of movement for these types. Turning from
physical type to language, we have several large masses
impinging upon the Plains and while it seems most
likely that the parent speech for each stock arose
somewhere outside the Plains, we are not yet clear as
to the impossibility of their arising in the Plains and
spreading to other cultures. It does not seem probable
that all of them would arise within this small area, but,
on the other hand, it is impossible to give satisfactory
proof for any particular tribe. Thus, language gives
us but a presumption in favor of migrations into the
140 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
Plains of the Siouan, Caddoan, and Shoshonean speak-
ing tribes. It is true that many tribes have migration
legends some of which are consistent with a few details
of culture; but as these nearly always take the forms
of other myths, they cannot be given much historical
weight. The plain fact is that the moment we get
beyond the period of exploration in the Plains, historical
data fail us. We know where the tribes were when
discovered and most of their movements since that
date, but beyond that we must proceed by inference
and the interpretation of anthropological data.
Not being able to discover how the various tribes
came to be in the Plains, we can scarcely expect to tell
how long they have been there. The archaeological
method may be brought into play here; but as yet we
lack data. Mounds and earthworks have been dis-
covered in the Dakotas and southward along the Mis-
sourl, apparently the fringe of the great mound area
in the Woodlands to the east. In the open Plains, we
have so far neither evidence of long occupation nor
of states of culture differing from those we have just
described. This is, however, by no means a final
statement of the case for future archaeological research
will doubtless clear up this point.
Turning back to culture, we find that so many of the
traits enumerated in these pages are almost entirely
peculiar to the area that we are constrained to conclude
that they developed within it. This is strengthened
by the peculiar adaptation of many of these traits to
the geographical conditions, suggesting that they were
invented or discovered by a Plains people. It seems,
ORIGINS. 141
therefore, that while the origin of the blood and lan-
guages of the Plains cannot be determined, its cultural
problem is in a fair way to be solved. Among the most
distinctive traits are the sun dance, a camp circle band
system, the soldier societies, highly developed ritualistic
bundles, a peculiar geometric decorative art, the use of
the horse and travois, the skin-covered tipi, the earth
lodge, and economic dependence upon the buffalo.
Some of these are absolutely confined to the area and
though others are found elsewhere they occur as second-
ary rather than as primary traits. We may safely
conclude, therefore, that the tribes of the Plains at
least developed these traits to their present form, if
they did not actually invent them.
Perhaps the most interesting phase of Plains an-
thropology is the general diffusion of traits among the
many political and linguistic units found therein.
Miss Semple favors the theory that a Plains region is
the most favorable environment for the diffusion of
cultural traits. Whatever may be the fate of this
hypothesis, it is clear that among the Indians of the
Plains there has been sufficient diffusion to carry many
traits over the greater part of the area. That diffusion
rather than independent development or convergent
evolution is the most satisfactory explanation of this
case, may be seen from noting that the various tribes
were acquainted with many of their neighbors, that in
the sign language they had a ready means of inter-
communication and that since their discovery the actual
diffusion of several traits has been observed by anthro-
pologists.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY.
The following is not offered as a complete bibliog-
raphy of the subject but as a list of books likely to
meet the needs of the general reader. For a mere view
of Indian life on the Plains, the books of Catlin, Grin-
nell, Maximilian, and McClintock are recommended.
Annual Reports, Bureau of American Ethnology, 3rd, 11th, 13th, 14th,
17th, 22nd, 27th.
Anthropological Papers, American Museum of Natural History, Vols.
1, 2, 4, 5, and 7.
Anthropological Series, Field Museum of Natural History, Vols. 4 and 9.
Bulletin, American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 18.
Catlin, George. Illustrations of the Manners, Customs, and Conditions
of the North American Indians. London,
1848.
Clark, W. P. The Indian Sign Language. Philadelphia, 1885.
Farrand, Livingston. Basis of American History, 1500-1900. The
American Nation: a History, Vol. 2. New
York, 1904.
Grinnell, George Bird. Blackfoot Lodge Tales. New York, 1904.
Pawnee Hero Stories and Folk-Tales, New
York, 1893.
The Story of the Indian. New York, 1904.
Handbook of American Indians. Washington, 1907, 1910.
Henry and Thompson. New Light on the Early History of the Great
Northwest. Edited by Elliott Coues. New
York, 1897.
Lewis and Clark. Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedi-
tion. (Thwaites Edition). New York,
1904.
143
144 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.
Lewis and Clark. History of the Expedition under the command of
Captains Lewis and Clark to the Sources of
the Missouri, across the Rocky Mountains,
down the Columbia River to the Pacifie in
1804-6. Three volumes. New York, 1902.
Mason, Otis T. The Origins of Inventions: a Study of Industry among
Primitive Peoples. London, 1895.
Maximilian, Prince of Wied. Travels in the Interior of North America.
Translated by H. Evans Lloyd. London,
1843.
McClintock, Walter. The Old North Trail. London, 1910.
Mooney, James. The Cheyenne Indians. (Memoirs, American
Anthropological Association, Vol. 1, Part 6,
pp. 357-642. Lancaster, Pa., 1907.)
Papers of the Peabody Museum, Harvard Unviersity. Vol. 3, No. 4.
Perrot, Nicolas. The Indian Tribes of the Upper Mississippi Valley
and Region of the Great Lakes. Translated,
edited, annotated, and with bibliography and
index by Emma Helen Blair. Two volumes.
Cleveland, 1911.
remedial
INDEX.
Adolescence, special ceremonies for,
87.
Age-societies, 92.
Agriculture, 16, 28-29; implements
used in, 76.
Algonkin language, 128, 129.
Altars, 118.
Amulets, 105.
Animal tales, 99-100.
Armor, 77.
Art, decorative and religious, 120—
126.
Arrows, poisoned, 78.
Athapascan language, 128-129.
Awls, 60.
Axes, 74.
Backrests, 52.
Bags, 63-69.
Bands, 84; in the camp circle, 86.
Basketry, 52, 69.
Beaming tools, 58, 59.
Blankets, of rabbitskins, 41, 52.
Bodkins, 60.
Bowdrill, 52.
Bowls, of wood, 72.
Bows, 23-25.
Breech cloth, 41.
Buffalo, calf pipe, 105; ceremony
for calling the, 79, 109; distri-
bution of, 14; hunting, 21-23.
Bull-boat, 31, 35.
Burial, methods of, 88.
Caddoan language, 128.
Calumet, 107.
Camp circle, 85, 86, 91.
Catlin, paintings, 3, 34.
Ceremonies, religious,
103; tribal, 109-118.
Ceremonial procedure, 118-119.
Charms, received in visions, 103.
Children, care and rearing of, 87;
growth of, 137.
Clans, 84.
Clubs, stone-headed, 26, 60.
Combs, 50.
Cooking, methods of, 71.
Costumed figure, of a Dakota
woman, 47.
Coup, counting of, 95-96, 112.
Cree dance, 117.
Cradles, 87.
Cruppers, 34.
Culture, areas, 11; diffusion of,
116, 141; heroes, mythical, 98-
99.
Cultural characteristics, 16, 95, 140.
origin of,
Dancing, associations, 116-117; at
sun pole, 112.
Death, 88.
Decorations, on robes, 41.
Deluge myth, 97.
Designs, on moccasins,
on woman’s robe, 124.
Digging stick, 75-76; in sun dance
bundle, 110.
Doctors, 87-88.
Dog, as a pack animal, 33; society,
90, 91.
Dress, 41-50.
120-123;
145
146
Karrings, 50.
Earth lodges, 36-39.
Karthworks, 140.
Facial characteristics, 136-137.
Feathers, worn in the hair, 50.
Fire-making, 51.
Fleshing tools, 57, 58, 59.
Food, 19-21; boiling in a skin, 69-
rak
Forests, distribution of, 13.
Four movements, 118.
Games, 78-80.
Gentes, 84.
Geometric art, 125-126.
Ghost dance, 79; ceremonies, 113-
11s:
Government, 88-89.
Grass lodge, 41.
Green corn dance, 109.
Hair, manner of dressing, 49.
Hand game, 80.
Headdress, 49-50; for sun dance,
Lid.
Head form, of Plains Indians, 139.
Headgear, 46.
Head men, of a band, 88.
Heraldry, 96, 125.
Horned serpent, 100.
Horse, introduction of, 20.
Hunting, 19, 20; implements used
in, 23-26.
Individual medicines, 105.
Industrial arts, 51-81.
Implements, of copper,
hunting, 23-26.
to; for
Knives, 72, 73; bone, 74, 75.
Kissing dance, 117.
Kiowan language, 128,
INDEX.
Lance, 25, 26.
Language, 127-131, 139.
Leggings, 44.
Linguistic stock, defined, 129.
Lodges, types of, 40.
Mad (or foolish) society, 91.
Maize, cultivation of, 28.
Marriage, 86-87.
Masks, use of in ceremonies, 119.
Material culture, 19-81.
Mauls, stone, 60, 74.
Medicine arrows, 105.
Medicine bundles, 105-109; trans-
fer of, 107.
Medicine-pipe, 76, 104, 107.
Migration legends, 100.
Mittens, 46.
Moccasins, designs on, 120, 121-123;
types of, 42-44.
Mounds, 140.
Musical instruments, in ceremonies,
119..
Mythology, 97—100.
Names, manner of giving, 87.
Navel cord, preservation of, 87.
Night chants, 109.
Omaha dance, 115, 116-117.
Okipa, 113; drums, 105.
Origins, 138-141.
Paint bags, 67-68.
Painting, of the body, 50; for cere-
monies, 119; on parfleche, 121.
Parfleche, 61-62.
Pemmican, 26-28, 62.
Peyote worship, 115-116.
Physical type, 132-137.
Pictographie art, 126.
Picture writing, 96,
INDEX.
Pipe bags, 65.
Pipes, 76; use in ceremonies, 119.
Plains Indian Hall, plan of, 3.
Plains tribes, political divisions of,
83; range of, 18; typical, 17,
18, 29.
Plateau tribes, 17.
Polygamy, 86-87.
Pottery, 69.
Pounders, stone-headed, 27.
Quill embroidery, 121.
Quirts, 34.
Rack, for drying meat, 26. -
Rawhide, use of, 34, 60.
Regalia, used by various societies,
93.
Religious concepts, 100-102.
Riding gear, 34.
Robes, made of skins, 41.
Saddle bags, 68.
Saddles, 34, 60.
Sand paintings, 118.
Scalp dance, 117.
Scrapers, for dressing skins, 56, 57,
74.
Sewing, 60.
Shahaptian language, 128.
Shelter, 35-41; for sun dance, 113.
Shield, of buffalo hide, 77, 78.
Shirts, scalp, 44-46.
Shoshonean language, 128.
Sign language, 130-131, 141.
Siouan language, 128.
Skin dressing, 52-59.
Sled, use of, 33.
Social, distinction, 95-96; organiza-
tion, 82-96.
Societies, 89-95; origins of; 91-92.
Soldier bands, 89-91.
147
Soldiers, 16, 86.
Soldier societies, 91, 92.
Songs, 102, 117, 118.
Spoons, of buffalo horn, 71-72.
Stature, of Plains Indians, 135-136;
138.
Stirrups, 34.
Stones, used in boiling food, 69-71.
Strike-a-light pouch, 66, 67.
Sun dance, 16, 79, 103, 108, 109-
113; bundle, 75.
Sun pole, 112.
Sunwise movements, 118.
Supernatural helper, 102-103.
Sweat house, 118.
Symbolism, in art, 122-125.
Taboos, 102.
Tailoring, 59-60.
Taimay image, 105.
Textiles, 52.
Thunder bird, 100.
Tipi, construction of, 35-36.
Tobacco, ceremonies for planting,
109; cultivation of, 29, 77.
Tools, primitive, 74.
Torture, in sun dance, 112.
Transportation, 29-34.
Travois, 30, 31-33, 34.
Vegetable foods, 19, 29.
Village tribes, 17.
Visions, 102, 103.
War, 77; bundles, 105, 107; dance,
117; deeds, 94, 95-96, 121;
record, 94-95.
Weapons, 77-78.
Weaving, 52.
Women’s clothing, 46-48.
Women’s societies, 93-95.
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