THE PONCA TRIBE 



By James H. Howard 



INTKODUCTION 



In tlie past four decades the data of archeology, etlinology, and 

 ethnohistory have begun to provide us with at least the main outlines 

 of what was undoubtedly one of the most highly developed North 

 American Indian civilizations. This culture, which clearly shows 

 its derivation from the high cultures of Middle America, has been 

 termed "Middle Mississippi" by modern archeologists.^ In tech- 

 nological advancement, social organization, and art it ranks just below 

 the civilizations of the Aztec, Toltec, and Maya. 



Middle Mississippi towns were usually built on the fertile flood- 

 plains of rivers. Each town was built around a great central plaza 

 or "square ground" where important ceremonials were held. Nearby 

 were huge pyramidal mounds with temples and chiefs' houses on their 

 flattened summits. These mounds, the largest of which are as large 

 or larger than the great pyramids of Egypt, were built up of earth 

 and clay. In some instances the mound exteriors were faced with a 

 smooth covering of clay analogous to the stone or plaster shells which 

 covered Mexican pyramids. A wide ramp or stairway of earth or 

 logs led to the summit of each mound. Also near the "square ground" 

 was the "hothouse," a large, sometimes earth-covered lodge where 

 councils were held. 



Clustered around the square ground, mounds, and hothouse were 

 the dwellings of the ordinary folk. These houses were generally 

 rectangular in shape, with walls of wattle and daub construction and 

 roofs of poles and thatch. The chiefs' houses and temples were simi- 

 lar but often boasted elaborately carved interior timbers and roof 

 combs. Around the town there was frequently a palisade of upright 

 posts supported by earthen embankments for protection against 

 enemies- 

 No less impressive than their architectural works was the art of 

 the Middle Mississippi people. Their pottery — buff, gray, or black in 



1 This description of Middle Mississippi culture was largely abstracted from "Indians 

 before Columbus" (Martin, Qulmby, and Collier, 1947, pp. 353-366). 



1 



