Book Description

Excerpt from Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 16: Sun Dance of the Plains Indians The last Crow sun dance dates back to about forty years ago, for with the Old warfare disappeared the sole raison d'etre Of the performance from the Crow point Of view. The notes presented in this paper are therefore not at all based on personal Observation. Moreover, as none of the main performers survived to the time when I began my inquiries in 1907, the following account is based on the statements of mere eye-witnesses and participants who played a minor part. Within the limitations thus imposed, the data seem satisfactory. I recorded independent descriptions of the entire ceremony by Gray-bull, Muskrat, Bear-gets-up, the F ire-weasel couple, Bear-crane, and others; and the accounts given in 1910 by the two informants heading this list were checked by having them repeat their narratives from beginning to end in the following summer. Ralph Saeo (bighorn District), Henry Russel (pryor), Robert Yellowtail (lodge Grass), and James Carpenter (lodge Grass) are the interpreters who assisted me during this work. I am under special Obligations to James Carpenter, who spared no pains in ascertaining additional facts from various native authori ties and gave me the benefit Of the information thus obtained by his own efforts. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.