RESEARCH AND EXPLORATION AMONG THE INDIANS OF 

 THE NORTHERN PLAINS 



liH Clnrh ir/Wr/- 



D[KI.\(; the suiiiincr of l!»l() the icsciircli stall' of the I )ci)ai-l iiiciit 

 of Aiitliropolofiy niadc further [)n)^rcss on the s\ stcniatic ^iir- 

 Ncy of the Xortlicni Plains Trilx's, n-tni'mnu collrctions from 

 the ( row, Dakota and X'illa^c Indians. In central Xortli Ainei-iea tlierei> 

 a lar^'e area drained l>y tlie I pjter Missouri and Saskalcliewan ri\"ers, 

 <j;rass-co\cred land for tlie most pai't, the home of a munher of Indian 

 tribes of peculiar intei'est to anthropoloi^ists. Here in hiiffalo days li\-ed 

 eleven difl'erent tritx's, - the Sarei, lilaekfoot, (iros XCntre, Assinihoine, 

 (Vow, Dakota, Plains ( ree, Plains Ojihwa, Hidatsa, Arikara and Maiidan. 

 Each occupied a more or less definite teri'itory, and sj)oke a distinct lan- 

 fjuage, fi'eiierally rcco^'iiizcd as helon^ini;' to one of four widely distrihuted 

 linguistic families, Alji'onkin, Siouan, Athapascan and (addoan. At 

 present representati\'es of these ahoriyinal trihes sur\ i\-e on rescrxations 

 in \arious jiarts of the area. The cultures of this grouj) of northern Plains 

 Indians, as j)resented in museum collections, show striking fundamental simi- 

 larities in contrast to diver.sc linguistic origin and offer therefore an in\iting 

 field for nui.seuni collecting and in\-estigation. 



In !()()() the Department of .Anthropology selectcil this area for con- 

 tinuous systematic e.\j)loration, to seek data for foi-nnilat ing the manner 

 in which special ceremonies like the sun dance and the medicine pipe, as 

 well as distinctix'c traits of material culture and ait, wei'c distriliuted 

 throughout the region, one of the more important groups of prohleins 

 now confronting serious students of American aiithropologx'. Fortunately 

 for this plan, the trihcs concerned were neither closely confincil nor forced 

 to ahandon their aboriginal economic life until after JSCi."), the change being 

 gradual and contiiuious to the ])resent i\\'.\ so that the domestic life and 

 other aspects of culture, while much modificil, are still cherished in the 

 memories of old Indians from whom data and specimens may yet be ob- 

 tained. Naturally with each succeeding year comes the obliteration of 

 more and more of these j)recious memories, rendering the labors of oiu' 

 field workers less and le.ss producti\c. The realization of this has led to 

 the \igorous f)ro.secution of the woi'k by our field staff to the extent of axail- 

 able funds. 



Field exploration has been conducted .•imoiig practically the full list of 

 tribes contemplated in the [)lan, the Sarei, HIackfoot, .\ssinil)oine, Xcz 

 Perce, Northern .Shoshone, ( 'row, Teton-Dakota, Hidatsa, .\rikara, Mandan, 

 Plains Cree and Plains Ojibwa. In most cases however, the work is still 

 i2r) 



