Book Description

Excerpt from The Thunder Ceremony, of the Pawnee The Field Museum's collection illustrating the life of the Indians of the Great Plains is one of the best and most extensive in this country. Much of the material has been obtained directly from the tribes through research of museum officials and others employed by the institution, among whom Mr. S. C. Simms, Dr. G. A. Dorsey, Mr. James Mooney, and Mr. H. R. Voth deserve especial mention. The collections have been further enriched by purchases and particularly by numerous gifts of Mr. Edward E. Ayer, a trustee of the institution, who has always taken a profound interest in this phase of the museum's activities. The exhibits are especially rich in objects used by the Indians in connection with their religious observances, and several miniature groups have been prepared showing the manner in which the Pawnee, one of the Plains tribes, performed their most important ceremonies. A proper understanding of the significance of such ceremonial objects is impossible without some knowledge of the religious concepts and observances of the tribes represented. The present series of leaflets is designed to give this necessary background by presenting the facts in a simple and popular form. Much of the information contained in them has already been published in various scientific publications; but the descriptions of the Pawnee ceremonies have not previously been published, and it is hoped that they may prove of interest to the scientist, as well as the lay reader. 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.