238 BULLETIN, PUBLIC MUSEUM, MILWAUKEE [Vol. 19 



the scene, and in general the Southern Tradition is well represented by 

 the Pawnee. 



On the other hand, in the case of the nomadic hunting tribes among 

 whom the Northern Tradition would be expected to prevail, the issue is not 

 particularly clear-cut. For example, coupled with the strong hunting tradition 

 of these peoples we would expect to find on the basis of our hypothesis a 

 strong concern for health and an emphasis on curative rites. Such is not the 

 case. For example (Ackerknecht, p. 557), "the Cheyenne were fatalistic 

 about disease in a culture where death in war was more likely than death 

 from disease . . . the relative neglect of medicine is perhaps the most 

 Cheyenne-like trait among the Cheyenne." Here we have a tribe which 

 migrated from the Woodlands to the Plains as late as the 18th century and 

 rapidly and almost completely adopted the culture of the Plains nomads. In 

 the process they dropped whatever emphasis on curing they may have had 

 and adopted the Plains war complex in which death in battle was, ". . . be- 

 sides being glorious, protected one from all the miseries which threaten 

 later life and are inevitable in old age." (Grinnell, Vol. 2, p. 5.) Nomadic 

 Plains culture in general is one in which the social cynosure of war was 

 developed to a point where it could have overshadowed and paled any 

 strong emphasis on curing which might previously have existed. It must not 

 be thought, however, that among these people all concern for health was 

 blacked out. The most important religious ceremonial of the Plains, the Sun 

 Dance, was pledged for curative purposes by individuals of such tribes as the 

 Arapaho, Blackfeet, Sarsi, and Plains-Cree. Shamanistic curings were also 

 performed, but the point to be made is that the curative traditions and rites 

 among the early historic nomadic Plains tribes were considerably weaker 

 than in the Woodland or MacKenzie areas. Whether or not this can be 

 ascribed to a traditional lack of basis on health, or to a conversion of atti- 

 tude resulting from the interference of a newer cultural cynosure, that ot 

 war, cannot be determined. Another point at which nomadic Plains culture 

 does not conform to the Northern Tradition is in terms of the religious 

 development. While it is not as strong or elaborate as in the Southwest, 

 neither can it be characterized as weak. It is certainly more developed than 

 in either the MacKenzie or Woodland areas. Summarizing the case for the 

 Plains, we can only say that the Southern Tradition is ia evidence among 

 the agricultural groups, and absent among the nomadic groups. It must also 

 be conceded that the Northern Tradition is not particularly strong among the 

 nomadic tribes where we would expect to find it so on the basis of their 



