American Anthropologist 1935

Aginsky, B. W. The Mechanics of Kinship. American Anthropologist, 1935. Vol. 37: 450-457.

Aginsky’s goal in this text is determine the ways in which kinship terminology does and does not reflect marriage practices. This article really explores the problems of classification and reveals the ways that the existing kinship terminology does not cover all of the possibilities.

This article takes on a very logical approach by constructing several theoretical systems then analyzes the possible identities that are made available through kinship terminology. In many cases, Aginsky found that it fails to reflect the kin relationships. There are several distinctions that the author makes between the affinal and the consanguineal relatives, suggesting that there are several ways of identifying kin. Between the two, however, are relationships that remain excluded.

The categorization in kinship is problematic and complicated in this text, as explained by the author. Ultimately, Aginsky informs the reader that the identification of relatives through kinship terms is a selective process that reflects the culture’s ideology.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
KENTURAH DAVIS Occidental College (Elizabeth Chin)

Aginsky, B.W. The Mechanics of Kinship. American Anthropologist 1935 vol: 37, pp 450-457.

Since the time of Lewis H. Morgan there has been an ongoing discussion about whether or not marriage is reflected in kinship terminology. Aginsky suggests that one approach to this problem is to logically construct theoretical kinship systems on the basis of types of marriage. First of all, we have a hypothetical case where sororate marriage and the marriage of a man to his wife’s brother’s daughter function together. A kinship system is constructed where all of the wife’s brother’s male descendants through males, and female descendants through males are equated. Secondly, a hypothetical case is constructed where levirate marriage and the marriage of a women to her husband’s sisters’ son are practiced simultaneously by a group of people. The condition which would occur would be parallel to the previous condition, but reversed. In this case, the manner of the husband’s sisters’ female descendants through females, and the husband’s sisters’ male descendants through females is equated. The author also looked at a situation where the kinship system is based on the two previous systems. In this case, a man would equate all descendants through males, and females would equate all descendants through females. The author traveled to California to look at how identifications are passed from generation to generation. Tribes in the Hopland Valley have a kinship system known as an Omaha type. In the Ukiah Valley, the people practice a Dakota type system. The Rincon Valley tribes have a Crow type system. The author argues that to look at kinship, one must first study the terminology used by a person for the members of their family. Then it must be determined if these terms reflect marriage practices. Then it is important to find out why they chose this form of identification. Aginsky states that it is impossible to have all the marriage practices reflected in the terminology unless there is more than one term for each relative.

CLARITY RATING: 2
DREW ZAJICEK California State University, Hayward (Dr. Peter Claus)

Ballard, Arthur C. Southern Puget Sound Salish Kinship Terms. American Anthropologist, 1935 Volume 37, pp. 111-116.

This article contains a description of kinship terms obtained from informants of Puyallup, Duwamish and Snoqualmi groups in King and Pierce counties in Washington. No distinction is noted between terms for parallel cousin relationship or cross cousin relationship, and there is no evidence of cross-cousin marriage practices. Residence patterns are predominantly patrilocal and exogamous marriage practice is favored. There are extended family communal living arrangements during the winter months. Terms for kinship recognition are divided into two groups: kindred by blood and kindred by marriage. Terms listed include Simple and Derivative terms for both groups. The age and sex of speakers determines the variation used in talking about relationships. The author recommends further study.

CLARITY RATE: 3
JAYNE SMITHSON California State University, Hayward (Peter J. Claus)

Ballard, Arthur C. Southern Puget Sound Salish Kinship Terms. American Anthropologist 1935. Vol. 37:111-116.

Ballard presents a list of 59 kinship terms of the Puyallup, Duwamish, and Snoqualmi groups of King and Pierce Counties, Washington. The article states that the language of these three groups is the same aside from dialectical differences and that the terms should apply to other adjoining groups in the north, south and southwest as well.

A brief description of the kinship patterns of the culture is provided. The society did not exhibit any signs of cross cousin marriage. Residence was mainly patrilocal and exogamy was favored. Polygyny was practiced among the elite. Communal housing was used during the winter.

The kinship terms are divided into two groups, related by blood and related by marriage, and subdivided into basic and compound terms. Certain types of terms are highlighted for various reasons, including reciprocity of the term, or changing of the term upon the death of a relative.

Ballard states that there is no Salish word that corresponds to “family” in English. The lists of kinship terms he provides are therefore useful for understanding the types of kinship relations that are important in the culture by demonstrating how familial relationships are defined in the language.

CLARITY: 3
KATHERINE TSE Middlebury College (David Napier)

Ballard, Arthur C. Southern Puget Sound Salish Kinship Terms. American Anthropologist 1935 Vol. 37: 111-116

In this paper, the author presents and defines the kinship terms used by the Puyallup, Duwamish, and Snoqualmi groups residing in King and Pierce Counties, Washington. He begins with a brief discussion of their social structure, defining exogamous marriage as “universally followed” and endogamy relating to the “low class.” Residence was mainly patrilocal. He attributes many kinship terms to these varied relationships but admits to not entirely understanding their significance.

The author begins his explanation of the kinship terms by making the distinction between kindred by blood and kindred by marriage. He notes the differences in meaning by using the compound or derivative form of each term, as represented in the elaborate kinship chart included.

He briefly explains, in the text of the paper, some of the specific factors that produce the differences in terms. For example, the change in nomenclature that occurs after a death has a different impact on each person in relation to the deceased. The spouse of the deceased’s name changes from sbalotsiD to kwel, and it is presumed that the brother or sister of the deceased is to then marry the widow. If the deceased is a parent, the surviving is called yelaB and if this individual also dies their children are called kasi, which is also the term commonly used between elderly and young people. There are also distinguishable differences between the sex of who is spoken to, til ska for elder brother; tsil ska for elder sister. The term used may also be determined by the sex of the speaker in conversation. The author presents a thorough introduction to these cultures kinship terms, including a detailed chart of both the nomenclature and definitions.

CLARITY: 4
ANNIE KATES Occidental College (Elizabeth Chin)

Beaglehole, Pearl. Census Data from Two Hopi Villages. American Anthropologist, 1935 Volume 37, pp. 41-54.

Article lists and analyzes findings of census performed at Second Mesa villages of Mishongnovi and Shipaulove on Hopi Reservation during summer of 1934. Information is given on population, sex ratios, household composition, matrilocal residence patterns and variations, marriage types and clan development.

A total of 339 people were counted in this census. While there were slightly more female minors (95) than male minors (92), there was a significant decrease in the proportion of adult females (67) to adult males (85). Households were mainly comprised of traditional matrilineal extended families. Matrilocal residence patterns were confirmed in 94% of households surveyed. Of the 57 marriages noted, 47 couples were ritually and/or legally united, whereas 10 couples (made up of widowed and/or divorced individuals) were simply living together. The majority of Hopi people marry in the traditional way, and marriages appear to be fairly stable. Almost all people surveyed married once, and remarriage is discouraged according to tribal beliefs. Clan development data gathered in this census is compared to earlier material gathered by Dr. Lowie during his study in 1916. Since that time, three new clans have arisen in Shipaulove, two via relocation from Mishongnovi and one through schism. Mishongnovi clans have remained stable since Lowie’s report, with one exception.

This article makes little attempt to interpret data and presents no supporting information for cause and effect of what interpretation is offered. Author ends by confirming that there has been little change in census information gathered when compared to data from 20 years earlier.

CLARITY RATE: 3
JAYNE SMITHSON California State University, Hayward (Peter J. Claus)

Beaglehole, Pearl. Census Data From Two Hopi Villages. American Anthropologist 1935. Vol. 35:41-54.

In this article Pearl Beaglehole presents the census data she collected during her fieldwork in two Second Mesa Hopi villages in Arizona during the year 1934. She concedes that her data are not complete, as she obtained her information from one informant, a female member of one of the villages. Consequently, no decisive conclusions can be drawn from the data. However, Beaglehole nonetheless intends for it to provide basic insight into the composition of the two villages, Mishongnovi and Shipaulovi.

Population figures are given for the two villages, divided into male and female categories for the adult and minor age groups. The household composition is given as the number of households in each village and the number of persons per household. She analyzes the differences in kinship relations of household members to account for the wide range of household sizes in the villages. The society follows a matrilocal rule of residence, but there are many exceptions to the rule for various reasons within the villages. Marriage as a category is analyzed by distinguishing between those married in Hopi ceremonies, civil ceremonies, or both. The native Hopi ritual is presented as still being very strong. Lastly, data is given on the clan membership of the villages and the development of new clans.

The census data is presented in a series of tables with elaboration and explanations provided in the text. The accuracy of the data is uncertain since it is based on the knowledge of one informant. The information in the article can be used to compare this census with past and future time periods in the villages, and to get a basic understanding of the structure of Hopi society, kinship, and marriage patterns.

CLARITY: 3
KATHERINE TSE Middlebury College (David Napier)

Beaglehole, Pearl. Census Data from Two Hopi Villages. American Anthropologist. 1935 Vol. 37: 41-54.

In this article Pearl Beaglehole analyzes the census data she took in 1934 of two matrilocal Hopi villages, Mishongnovi and Shipaulovi. She uses this data to look at topics such as population and sex ration, household composition, variation from the pattern of matrilocal residence, types of marriage and their stability, and clan development. Beaglehole collected data in four areas: population, household composition, marriage and clan census data. From the population data she concluded that there is possibly a high rate of maternal mortality due to the proportionately larger adult male vs. female population. From household composition much could be understood. The household appeared to be a stable unit, except when marriage necessitated change or when personal and economic reasons in a few exceptions caused change in the unit. The basic unit is that of the biological family of mother, father and children. The children build family of their own, usually, after they have two or three children. It was not uncommon for women to have children before marriage. Most families (94%) still abided by the matrilocal rule. The reasons for stepping out of the rule were for economic and personal reasons, and these exceptions were not condemned by the group. Man and woman living together in a single household constitutes Hopi marriage. From her data on marriage, Beaglehole established that all older couples were married by Hopi way and that younger couples were sometimes married by civil law, but most were also married in Hopi tradition or were intending at some point to be married in the Hopi way. She also discovered that people were rarely married in Hopi tradition twice due to societal pressures. Passage to the adults’ afterworld were difficult in such cases. According to her data and informant, marriage life was considerably stable. From her clan census data she discovered that clans were created in rare cases after connections were severed from one’s own clan. Clans could be linked through intermarriage or naming rights and were considered to “go together” in such cases.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
SARAH MCDOWELL Occidental College (Dr. Elizabeth Chin)

Brand, Donald. The Distribution of Pottery Types in Northwest Mexico. American Anthropologist 1935 37 (2): 287-305.

The article is dealing with the pottery types of the Northwest Mexican tribes.

The problem that the author is attempting to deal with is to discuss the manners of distribution of the pottery and how this distribution shows aspects of the tribal society. Also the author looks at what kinds of pottery are being distributed and to whom.

The author has at his disposal the archeological findings in the area. There are some areas that seem to be completely void of any kind of remains. The author includes in his article a map of the distribution. The author has found that there was no basket making culture from Sonora or from Chihuahua. There had been found need for further investigation of the Sierra Madre Occidental and its foothills in regards to some basket maker sandals. The author suggests sedentary occupation in the areas with no remains found and he also discusses the invasion of other nomadic tribes based on archeological findings. The author recommends further reconnaissance and excavations. He feels that excavations will determine stratigraphy, house structure, manner of disposal of the dead, and so on.

CLARITY RATE: 3.5
DANIELLE SULLIVAN California State University, Hayward (Peter J. Claus)

Brand, Donald D. The Distribution of Pottery Types in Northwest Mexico. American Anthropologist 1935 Vol. 37 287-305.

Brand’s essay gives an overview of pottery types of the Sonora and Chihuahua states of Northwest Mexico as well as their distributions, giving clues to the level of contact between cultures and trade. Due to a lack of representation of Central Mexican pottery types, Northwest Mexico is thought to have had very little contact with the regions south. Brand identifies two major cultures: the Trincheras of Northwest Sonora, whose wares are rarely seen over the border, and the Casas Grandes of Northwest Chihuahua, whose wares are found spreading into New Mexico and Arizona. The pottery of Northwest Chihuahua shows skill in both form and painting. Interest in effigy and polychrome wares has overshadowed other significant forms. Brand describes these forms (Casas Grandes polychrome offshoot Barbicora polychrome, Villa Ahumeda polychrome, Huerigos polychrome, Redware, and Blackware) in detail. The Casas Grandes polychrome comprises the majority of painted ware found in the region and is the category in which most effigies fit. The pieces are noteworthy for their painted “life designs”, their quality, and popularity as trade ware. The olla or jar was the dominant form in this region, and was not found in such numbers in any other region of Mexico. Brand also describes five minor, independent Chihuahuan pottery types: the Rio Carmen red-on-gray, Sierra Madre “plain yellowish porous ware”, Sonoran, Chihuahuan, New Mexican and Arizonan polished redware, Rio Sonora “plain and coarse wares”, and finally Santa Cruz ware made of a “thick, coarse porous paste” featuring a grayish-white slip and painted with “blackish purple and blood red” designs. Two main types represent the pottery of the Trincheras: purple-on-red ware and purple-and-red-on-buff ware. Within the purple-on-red ware found, the olla is again the most common form.

Despite some overlaps with the Arizona Canal Builders, Brand insists that the major differences in forms negate the theory of similar origin along with distinctive borders. He concludes his essay with an extremely detailed geographic distribution of specific pottery types and a trade ware evidenced and encourages further study of pottery and excavation of Northwest Mexico.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
AMY VAN AALST Middlebury College (David Napier)

Brand, Donald D. The Distribution of Pottery Types in Northwest Mexico. American Anthropologist 1935. Vol.37: 287-305.

Donald D. Brand discusses the different types of pottery in Northwest Mexico, examining how these types delineate borders, migration patterns, and the ages of occupation found in this area. The two main groups which populated the areas of the present day states of Chihuahua and Sonora, are the Chihuahua to the East and Trinchera to the West. Within these cultures, their relative age is determined by pottery wares. Brand identifies four cultural categories within pothunter archeology which can be used in this analysis to identify cultural eras. The four are: Middle Pueblo III, Pueblo IV (1300-1540 A.D.), Pueblo IV from 1450AD, and historic wares. Brand details the lists of the pottery types within each of these areas. Painted, polychrome ware, the most common in these areas, have been divided into four types, based on the decorative technique, past, areal distribution and stratigraphic relationship. Each type is named after the geographic area in which it is known to be prolific. Through a detailed examination of the specific pottery types and their locations, found in Northwest Mexico, Brand comes to four conclusions. First, that no early Pueblo (I or perhaps II) or basketmaker cultural remains have been found in these areas. Second, that the first sedentary occupation took place in late Pueblo II or early III due to the absence of artifacts in these areas. These cultures were formed by people from the North or what is now the Southwestern United States. Third, that the most widespread occupation of Northwest Mexico was from late Pueblo III and early Pueblo IV, beginning around 1400AD. This growing population is attributed to nomadic invaders. Fourth, Brand encourages further excavation in these areas.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
SARAH MCDOWELL Occidental College (Dr. Elizabeth Chin)

Butler, Mary. A Study of Maya Mouldmade Figurines. American Anthropologist October-December, 1935 Vol.37(3):636-672.

Until 1935, an accumulation of Maya mouldmade figurines lay in Mexican and American museums, taken out of the ground but not studied or dealt with in any significant manner. This paper is the result of Mary Butler’s attempts to classify the mouldmade figurines and to understand their cultural significance.

To lay the groundwork for the reader’s understanding of mouldmade figurines, Butler first articulates the difference between mottled and moulded methods of creating clay figurines. Of all Maya clay figurines, moulded are the majority and are more finely artistic than mottled. Butler’s overview of mottled figurines divides them into three groups: Early, Late, and Brasero. She describes the basic form of each of the three types of figurines, as well as where they were located in time and space and what variation occurs within the class. From mottled figurines Butler moves to her main focus, mouldmade figurines. She introduces these by explaining their basic form, purpose, location, and approximate dates. She explains the manner in which the figures that she reviewed were placed in different categories based on style and subject. Butler gives a brief overview of headform (the shape and style of the head of a figure), an aspect she considers to understanding the figurines. Organization of the article is then formatted by figurine classification. Detailed descriptions of many individual figurines fall into three major groupings: X, Y, and local. Within each of these styles Butler illustrates several major types. Each individual description explains the type name and headshape of a figurine as well as its connection to other figurines or to prominent Maya cults, its possible significance of the figure as a symbol, and its possible use.

The descriptions of individual figures given by Butler are informative, especially because at the time she wrote the article her study and classifications were groundbreaking. However, due to its newness, description and investigation of the figurines lacks much information that a person with advanced interest in the figurines might desire; for the most part Butler is able to write a great deal about what the figurines are as she sees them, but little about their significance to the Maya who created them. This classification and the review of figures that the paper provides is an important first in the study of mouldmade figurines. In contemporary times Butler’s study probably serves as a better introduction to the topic than definitive review, as it has doubtless been added to/outdated by further study.

CLARITY: 4
JULIANNE BAROODY Middlebury College (David Napier)

Butler, Mary. A Study of Maya Mouldmade Figurines. American Anthropologist. 1935 Vol. 37:636-.

The author of the article focuses on studying mouldmade figurines from the Mayan areas. Yet, in her analysis he provides comparisons of figurines from southern Arizona into South America. She wants to prove that the different figurines belong to the Mayan Empire. Although, the author notices that the figurines have similar and different styles by which each style can be grouped into categories. Thus, she groups the figurines into two general style types.

The first style she talks about is style X. In order for a figurine to be classified into style X the object must posse “highly developed artistic sense and technique, and are the finest from pre-Columbian America.” Figurines that fit into the style X category are broken down into subcategories, which she analyzes each figurine intensively throughout the article. Secondly, style Y is the category that the author considers in her classificatory system. She argues ” style Y is a crude, bold treatment of figurines in the round that pays little attention to detail…[and] resemblance to Mexican figurines.” Style Y categories, like style X, are broken into subcategories. In order to see the categories, Butler provides figures where she classifies the figurines by style x and style y.

Towards the end of the article, she provides appendixes of the figurines. Her objective in providing appendixes is to show the reader the district or provenience of each figurine. The article is highly recommended to scholars studying archeological remains similar to figurines.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
KATHY TAPIA Occidental College, (Elizabeth Chin)

Davidson, D.S. Knotless Netting in America and Oceana. American Anthropologist, Volume 37, pp. 117-134.

This article attempts to answer the question of trans-Pacific influences in American cultures. The author begins by listing the standard objections to the trans-Pacific diffusion theory, most notably the lack of archaeological evidence, although acknowledging that practically all traits listed as examples of historical unity between Oceana and America are perishable items. The article focuses on one such trait, that of similarities in knotless netting techniques.

Knotless netting is prevalent in apparently identical form and construction throughout both Oceana and North and South America. Three basic techniques are described: Simple Loop, Loop and Twist, and Hourglass. The Hourglass pattern appears to be derived form the Loop and Twist within the past 500 years, at least in the Americas, and given the relatively short period of development is probably not the result of diffusion. Likewise, the Loop and Twist technique probably was developed simultaneously in different regions. The oldest and most basic technique, the Simple Loop, is the most widespread, appearing in the archaeological record of Pueblo culture and in many living societies throughout America and Oceana. No archaeological evidence exists for this technique in Oceana, which suggests that it may have developed there after its appearance in America. The author concludes that spontaneous parallel development of knotless netting techniques is the most probably explanation, and the evidence does not support the theory of trans-Pacific influence on American cultures. Appearances can be deceiving and require thorough investigation before evidence can be used to support theories.

CLARITY RATE: 2
JAYNE SMITHSON California State University, Hayward (Peter J. Claus)

Davidson, D.S. Knotless Netting in America and Oceania. American Anthropologist 1935 Vol. 37: 117-133.

Davidson is contributing to the long debated discourse of trans-Pacific influences in American culture. The theory of a historical relationship of culture traits of the New World and Oceania are based on the trans-Pacific diffusion Theory. This theory concludes: 1. Similarities might be independently invented or discovered, 2. Voyagers of the Pacific must have had sufficient watercraft capable of making long journeys, 3. The diffusion of traits would entail many independent crossings of the Pacific, 4. The records of Polynesians do not refer to any passing people.

Davidson suggests that this hypothesis should emphasize that a trans-Pacific derivation of a one trait does not prove that they have a similar history to the New World. Each trait of influence should be evaluated in its own merits and not in accordance with a preconceived theory. The examples of direct historical unity between America and Oceania are non-material. He suggests that on the basis of all factors, ethnological, archaeological, geographical and technological, it seems that knotless netting lends a good discussion for possibilities of trans-Pacific influences in American cultures. Archaeological material shows three basic patterns or techniques present in America and Oceania in the past or present: the Simple Loop, the Loop and Twist, and the Hourglass.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
JOANNA PEREZ Occidental College (Elizabeth Chin)

Deuel, Thorne. Basic Cultures of the Mississippi Valley. American Anthropologist, 1935 vol 37: pp429-445.

The archaeological artifacts of the Mississippi Valley are generally grouped into two categories: the Woodland Basic Culture and the Mississippi Basic Culture. This article attempts to outline these two cultures.

WOODLAND BASIC CULTURE

-dwellings: Houses were mostly conical in shape, although some were rectangular. The dwellings were not as permanent as the ones of the Mississippi Basic Culture.

-ornaments: Personal ornaments are not found in abundance. Shell necklaces and polished stone gorgets are moderately common.

-burial customs, etc.: Flexed burials are the most common, but occasionally bundle and extended burials occur. The dead were usually buried in highland cemeteries in earthen mounds. There are small numbers of grave offerings.

-work in stone: Stone was the main material used for tools. Chipped stone was fashioned from a core and secondary flaking was done by pressure. The projectile points were usually large, indicating throwing weapons. Polished stone was used for grooved axes and adze.

-work in shell, bone, mica, copper, and hematite: Rare in this area. Shell necklaces, bone awls, and some copper knives occur.

-pottery: Not elaborate or skillfully fashioned. Decorations confined to area near the lip of the vessel.

-art: Chipped and polished stone.

MISSISSIPPI BASIC CULTURE

-dwellings: Commonly rectangular with arched roofs. Walls were sometimes plastered with clay.

-ornaments: Necklaces, armlets, belts, ear spools and plugs, headdresses were common. Pearls were common in necklaces.

-burial customs, etc.: The dead were usually buried in an extended position on their back. Most were buried in cemeteries, but high ranking individuals were buried on top of earthen mounds. Many objects buried with the dead.

-work in shell, bone, and copper: Highly developed. Shells commonly made into beads. Bone used as awls, hairpins, and fishhooks, also flutes and whistles. Sheet copper was common.

-agriculture: Maize and tobacco were important crops.

-textiles: Woven textiles were commonly preserved with copper salts.

-pottery: Mostly flattened globular shaped and highly decorated.

-work in stone: Small projectile points were common. Celts and the discoidal were the polished forms.

-art: Representations of human and animal figures, along with geometric designs.

CLARITY RATING: 5
DREW ZAJICEK California State University, Hayward (Peter J. Claus)

Deuel, Thorne. Basic Cultures of the Mississippi Valley. American Anthropologist, 1935. Vol 37: 429-445.

This article speaks of the Mississippi Basic Culture Woodland Basic Culture in terms of its their historical phases in culture. It simply reports on both categories according to the following attributes: dwelling, ornaments, burial customs, work in stones, work in shell/bone/mica/copper/hematite, pottery, and art.

The phases of the Woodland Basic Culture is described as less elaborate than the Mississippi Basic Culture. Deuel speaks of the latter’s textiles, agriculture, fishing practices, woodworking, in addition to attributes used to describe the Woodland culture.

Deuel includes, at the end of his article, a summary that outlines the differences between the two cultures and catalogues the artifact found in this area. He includes several pictures on the artifact, most of them being examples of pottery.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
KENTURAH DAVIS Occidental College (Elizabeth Chin)

Gayton, A.H. Area Affiliations of California Folktales. American Anthropologist 1995 Vol. 37:582-599.

The author compares the folktales and mythology of the tribal peoples of California. This article is meant to build upon the work of Kroeber who was one of the three leading contributors to the field. In 1907, he wrote a paper that was designed to characterize folktale types throughout California and draw them into a common cultural perspective. During the thirty years since the publishing of Kroeber’s paper, the record of California mythology was greatly enlarged to include that of contiguous regions. The new additions from northern California, southern Oregon, the Basin, and the lower Colorado River filled in the gaps that were left by Kroeber’s limited domain of inquiry.

Gayton begins by summarizing Kroeber’s areal distinctions. California is divided into three ethnic areas: a small Northwestern coastal area where Hupa, Yurok, and Karok tribes dwell, a Southen area inhabited by Shoshonean and Yuman speaking peoples, and the great Central portion that is subdivided into North Central and South Central sections. These regions are differentiated by the nature of their creation myths or the lack thereof. The tribes of the Northwestern area and Southern area lack creation myths. However, the creation myths of the Central region are well developed. The author proceeds to identify the characteristic myths of each part of California and offers new insight into how California may be divided based on folktales. The distribution of various types of folktales is expanded by also considering southern Oregon, the Basin, and the lower Colorado River. Traits that are addressed include the concepts of creator and cultural hero, literary style, forms of trickster tales, and interest shown in the establishment of culture. Before concluding, the author engages in a dialogue about the distribution of certain folktales and their characters. Gayton concludes that details in local folktales can provide a scale by which distinctions can be made. However, the arbitrary selections of components that are considered make it difficult to come up with a clear standard for classification of geographic regions. The concepts, upon which the tales are based, including plot, incidents, and elements, are not distinctly confined to any given area. However, the purpose of this article is not to clearly define the borders between regions of California where the folktales are clearly different. Instead, it provides generalities that could be used as the basis for further research.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
JUDITH SCHUTTER Middlebury College (David Napier)

Gayton, A.H. Areal Affiliations of California Folktales. American Anthropologist, 1935. Vol. 37: 582-599.

Gayton begins his article with, “The present paper, the by-product of a specific comparative study of a particular tribal mythology, does not presume to offer the evidence of exhaustive research: it indicates generalities which subsequent analytical studies may or may not substantiate.” The paper reveals the essential differences and similarities between the mythology of the North Central and South Central sections of California. Gayton closes with, “As in any other phase of culture, the variable provenience of its components makes areal delimitations of mythology a matter of arbitration.”

The majority of Gayton’s paper is dedicated to the comparison of specific regions of California (and their corresponding tribes, based on Kroeber’s ethnic divisions) regarding specific folktale themes. The author stresses the point that local tales resemble those of neighboring groups. These themes include: creation, culture heroes, supernatural beings and magic, concepts of thunder as a Thunderbird, and trickster figures. Specific tales that appear in many cultural groups include: the story of Takwish (the “wife-stealing meteor”), the story of a rags to riches boy, the story of two girls sent to seek a husband, the theft of fire and of the sun, and the story of the old man who attempts to destroy his son to obtain his daughter-in-law (evil fathers in law are recurrent throughout the folktales of northern California).

CLARITY RANKING: 4
KATHLEEN BRADLEY Occidental College (Elizabeth Chin)

Goodwin, Grenville. The Social Divisions and Economic Life of the Western Apache.American Anthropologist, 1935 Volume 37, pp. 55-64.

The Western Apache cultural area is defined as native people living on the San Carlos and White Mountain Reservations in Arizona, and various other Arizona settlements near Camp Verde, Payson, etc. The Western Apache is historically comprised of five distinct social divisions, which were held together by close relationship in custom and speech rather than political ties. Each division contained several bands or semi-bands loosely joined by common custom and clan and blood relations. Every band was composed of several local groups (the basic historical unit of social organization), and each local group was led by a chief and head woman chosen by common consent from amongst the heads of the various family units in the local group. The clan system served to bind the entire region together. Clans are matrilineal and exogamous. Clan power is derived from interrelational obligations between its members throughout the region. The article briefly mentions preferred marriage patterns and the roles of children and adults in society.

Since interference by the U.S. government and relocation to reservations, the old social divisions of Western Apache life have broken down beyond the basic family unit, which continues to be a cultural stronghold. Current (1935) economic and subsistence strategies are discussed, along with mode of travel and house construction. This article presents a superficial sketch of Western Apache life, and lacks any depth of description or observation. The author concludes by looking forward to future holistic studies of relationships between the Western Apache and other neighboring native peoples.

CLARITY RATE: 4
JAYNE SMITHSON California State University, Hayward (Peter J. Claus)

Goodwin, Grenville. The Social Divisions and Economic Life of the Western Apache.American Anthropologist 1935 Vol. 37: 55-64.

The purpose of this article is to display the social characteristics of the Western Apache and to set them apart from the other Apache tribes of Arizona during the first part of the twentieth century. The author describes the various levels of organization among the Apache and the way in which the Western Apache social organization and government developed. Various aspects of Western Apache life are listed in an informal fashion providing mostly factual information.

Kinship terms of the historical Western Apache clan are displayed as the basis for the development of more modern gender relations. The women take on a very domestic role, while the men partake in manual labor and control the more violent aspects of Western Apache life. With the introduction of reservations, the close-knit community of the Western Apache slowly deteriorated, but still maintained its traditional value system. The author goes on to exhibit the importance of agriculture as the sole means of economic subsistence for the Western Apache. The article concludes with the author’s disappointing remark concerning the lack of information existing about the culture of the Western Apache, labeling this group of people as a mystery of the Western world.

The article is very clearly written and easy to understand; however, in my own point of view, it lacks originality. The majority of the text consists of factual data listed in a very informal fashion, leaving the reader wanting more. A better way of examining this group of people would involve some form of analysis more than just observational data; the average reader is more intrigued when an article involves facts as well as opinion, something that this article lacks.

CLARITY: 4
CORI PLOTKIN Middlebury College (A. David Napier)

Goodwin, Grenville. The Social Divisions and Economic Life of the Western Apache.American Anthropologist 1935. Vol. 37: 55-64.

The term Western Apache is used to designate Apache peoples who have lived within the present boundaries of the state of Arizona, with the exception of the Chircahua, Warm Springs, and a small band of Apaches known as the Apaches Mansos. At the time of American occupation of their territory, the Western Apache were divided into five groups: 1. White Mountain, 2. Cibecue, 3. San Carlos, 4. Southern Tonto, 5. Northern Tonto. The relationship of custom, speech, and blood relations held the groups together and not political unity. Goodwin asserts that the following is a superficial description of the Western Apache social pattern, and not a stereotypical program that people follow. This applies only to people within historic times, and up to the period when the United States government started to interfere with the balance of their culture (1871-1873).

Each local group had its own chief with no supreme power, however, he directs the people in matters of importance. There was a range of nine to thirty houses in each local group, generally close-knit units of the same clan. Family groups of three to six lived in various households with two headmen who directed the family, a similar role to the chief. Blood relationship is a very strong bond that involves mutual aid and responsibility, obligations are stronger on the maternal side, and so the society has matrilocal residence.

The clan system forms relationships cross strata among several groups, joining them all together. Members of the same clan are expected to mutually aid each other when necessary. The power of the clans lay in its web of interrelational obligations between its members in the Western Apache groups.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
JOANNA PEREZ Occidental College (Elizabeth Chin)

Hambly, Wilfred D. Tribal Initiation of Boys in Angola. American Anthropologist, 1935 Volume 37, pp. 36-40.

Comparative study of puberty and initiation rites amongst the Ovimbundu, Vachokue, Babunda and Valuchazi tribes at Kuchi, Ngongo near Ngalangi, and at Cangamba in eastern and east-central Angola. The essentials of the rites are the same everywhere. Initiates are segregated from non-initiates and instructed in dancing, tribal customs, fabrication of masks and costumes, and solidification of age groups. The ideas of death and rebirth are emphasized, including name change and ceremonial introduction to tribal life at culmination of rites. The article mentions details and similarities of masks and costumes by referring to plates and photographs, which are not provided. Place names and coordinates are given, but no maps are provided for reference. Observations of the author are reinforced by reference to similar observations made by other ethnographers. The author presents findings as obvious and unassailable, and does not provide any opportunity for validation or alternative interpretation on the part of the reader. The article concludes by noting that tribal initiation rites have declined particularly in areas where natives have contact and interaction with Europeans.

CLARITY RATE: 2
JAYNE SMITHSON California State University, Hayward (Peter J. Claus)

Hambly, Wilfrid D. Tribal Initiation of Boys in Angola. American Anthropologist 1935 Vol.37:37-40.

This article reviews a recently published series of articles providing accounts of initiation rites by local tribes in several regions of Angola. The author, Wilfrid D. Hambly, highlights the observations and data reported by independent observers and considers these new reports inter se and with his own notes on the subject. With the help of these newly published articles, Hambly is pleased to proceed with a comparative study of local rites and customs among the different regions observed.

The author is himself an expert on the subject of Angolan tribal initiation of boys, and he assesses that, despite local difference of procedure at regional centers, the essentials of the rites are the same everywhere. Hambly reviews such “essentials of the rites” as the basic distinction between the circumcised and the uncircumcised, seclusion, harsh treatment, instruction in dancing and tribal customs, fabrication of masks and costumes, and also the rigorous exclusion of women and the uninitiated from the rites. Hambly compares the new reports of these observers (H. Baumann, F. and W. Jaspert, A. Schachtzabel, C.P. Holdredge, and P.A. Delille) with previously recorded observations as well as his own documented observations, and thereby is able to draw specific conclusions as to changes in tribal integration and cultural exchange that are taking place.

The author is particularly interested in shedding light on the “harmony” in ritual and belief among the various accounts, and in discussing the significance of these similarities with consideration to the separation in distance of the tribes and regions. Many of these tribes are separated by hundreds of miles, and yet they closely share many aspects of their rites of initiation. He mentions specific costumes (like fibre skirts and decorated masks) and rituals (like name changing, circumcision, and ceremonial death) as examples of shared practices.

According to Hambly, initiation rites among tribes like the Ovimbundu have undoubtedly declined, but it is improbable that they are defunct. This decline is attributed to, among other factors, the current economic conditions in Angola. Hambly points to Baumann’s explanation that, based on economic demands like property taxes, or hut taxes, the older boys leave the enclosure of the rites intermittently in order to follow their usual occupations.

The author presents a succinct, well-organized review of the published reports, and effectively draws significant conclusions based on comparing these observations among themselves and with previous knowledge. A tendency by Hambly to focus on the similarities among the initiation rites without full explanation of the context of these aspects of the rituals weakens the article at points, though, and takes away from his findings.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
BENJAMIN H. WEBER Middlebury College (David Napier)

Hambly, Wilfrid D. Tribal Initiation of Boys in Angola. American Anthropologist 1935. Vol. 37: 36-40.

In this article the author sets to compare young men’s initiation rites among local tribes within Angola. He examines the eastern and western tribes of Angola by comparing the fabrication of masks, costumes, shared meanings of dance, and customs. He noticed that the initiation rites were a rite of passage among all tribes. However, in one of the tribes he points out ” the occurrence of this mask among Vachokue is an instance of the cultural exchange, which has been taking place between eastern and western Angola.” As the author tries to explain, the initiation rites can have similar significance because of more common interaction among all villages and tribes. He provides other evidence of the importance of circumcision and spiritual meaning of each tribe. Although, the majority of the tribes share similar experiences and common significance at times which our detailed in the article.

On the other hand, Hambly also notes, that ceremonies are declining in significance. The group who has declined in initiation rites is the Ovimbundu. His assumption for the loss is due to “their long and intimate contact with Europeans.” Overall, his comparison and explanation for similar rites of passage is due to more common and frequent interaction among tribes that were studied probably since 1928.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
KATHY TAPIA Occidental College (Elizabeth Chin)

Herzog, George. Plains Ghost Dance and Great Basin Music. American Anthropologist, 1935 vol: 37, pp 403-419.

The Ghost Dance songs of Plains Indians are an excellent example of the study of the relation and stability of musical form and function. Most all of the Plains Ghost Dance songs so closely resemble each other that they can be conceived as a particular style. The author believes that this style of music can be traced to the Great Basin area, and that the music has moved to other areas of North America. However, this style of music is only considered Ghost Dance among the Plains Indians. The melodic range of these songs is usually narrow and there is no accompaniment. The sections are symmetrical, which achieved by every phrase be presented twice, known as patterned pairs. Ghost Dance songs are unusually difficult to record, as only one example exists among 400 Indian recording at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The frequent occurrence of paired patterns is unique to Plains Ghost Dance music. In most cases this paired pattern is clear and unbroken. Narrow range and the use of tonic phrase endings can also be found among the majority of Ghost Dance songs. These Ghost Dance songs are quite different from all other forms of Plains music which have little or no paired patterns. This is also true among most other Native American music. For the author, the fact that this unique style of music has spread from the Great Basin to other areas where the musical style is completely different, and has still retained its unique style, shows the stability of the musical form. The author admits that the amount of evidence and recordings of Native American music is lacking. He states that “musical form can weather amazingly,” even it its function changes from area to area.

CLARITY RATE: 4
DREW ZAJICEK California State University, Hayward (Peter J. Claus)

Herzog, George. Plains Ghost Dance and Great Basin Music. American Anthropologist. 1935. Vol. 37: 403-419.

In this paper, George Herzog examines the Ghost Dance songs of the

Plains Indians and how they are associated with a movement in a different setting of the Paiute of the Great Basin. He looks at the ways in which the style of the Great Basin music has influenced other regions music and the Ghost Dance specifically.

Herzog uses musical terms in his analysis, including a detailed table of Plains Indians songs with their ranges, structures, and finals. He uses this method in showing the patterns in styles of the music. The Plains Indians songs differ from the Ghost Dance songs in their styles, representing a different musical influence, although used in the same culture. The Ghost Dance music is unusually different than the style of the other Plains Indians songs. Herzog concludes that the Ghost Dance songs are unique in that they represent a diffusion of styles from different settings into one as a well as being an instance of cultural contact. The Ghost Dance also represents how a musical style can be explained from their function in social life, not proven in this case. What style of music symbolizes one thing in one cultural setting can be adapted and take on a new meaning in another. Herzog concludes his paper explaining that musical styles can maintain their styles well throughout the years, but can also be adapted into new and unique meanings.

CLARITY: 3
ANNIE KATES Occidental College (Elizabeth Chin)

Hill, W.W. The Status of the Hermaphrodite and Transvestite in Navaho Culture. American Anthropologist 1935 37 (2): 273-279.

The concern of the author in his article is how the Navaho society views people who are hermaphrodites and transvestites.

The author wants to find what social recognition, opportunities and to what extent do these people adjust to these cultural opportunities.

The author states in a footnote attached to the title of the article, that the information in this article was found while he was researching the Navaho material culture. The author provides the reader a brief but concise view of the status of hermaphrodites and transvestites. In the Navaho culture these people are linked to their creation. In these creation stories the nadle (the name given to these people by the Navaho) had casted their vote with the men when the sexes quarreled, because of the nadle the men were able to overcome the women. They are in charge of the wealth. They have power to disperse the personal property of members of their society. They cross the boundaries of both sexes and are given many liberties in personal expression that the other Navaho are not given.

The nadle at the time of the article were still given the opportunities the Navaho had historically provided to them but they were not as adjusted to their status as they could have been. Their culture allows a complete adjustment to the nadle’s difference but it was difficult for the informant to do so. The times were changing within the Navaho and some of the nadle at the time of the article were being ridiculed. Any young people showing signs of becoming a nadle were being discouraged from this behavior.

CLARITY RATE: 5
DANIELLE SULLIVAN California State University, Hayward (Peter J. Claus)

Hill, W.W. The Status of the Hermaphrodite and Transvestite in Navaho Culture. American Anthropologist 1935 Vol. 37:273-279.

Hermaphrodites and transvestites serve a special role in Navaho culture. The term that the Navaho use to define them is nadle, which can mean “weaver” or “being transformed.” Hermaphrodites were called “the real nadle.” Transvestites were called “those who pretend to be nadle.” Both groups were highly esteemed for their contribution to the Navaho community because they could perform the duties of both men and women.

Hill considers the social recognition of nadle in various domains and discusses how it is possible for them to capitalize on this. In mythology, nadle are described as wealthy and having control of all wealth. The outlook of Navaho society toward the nadle is very favorable. A transvestite or hermaphrodite born into a family is considered a blessing. When growing up, they are shown favoritism by their parents. As adult members of the community, they are respected and revered. This attitude is reflected in the following quotation given by one of Hill’s informants that reads, “They know everything. They can do both the work of a man and a woman. I think when all the nadle are gone, that it will be the end of the Navaho.” The Navaho community is dependent on the nadle who serve as leaders in many respects. Their economic role is dual. They act as head of the family and hold all the property rights. They are also responsible for domestic activities and supervise the work of the other women within the household. Nadle are also said to be excellent sheep raisers, weavers, potters, and basket makers. Most nadle excel in the performance of one or more religious rituals, although other Navaho have the same opportunities to participate in ceremonies. Although the social status of the nadle is very well defined, there is ample opportunity for individual expression through personal attire and behavior. Nadle have the same legal status as women. Their political power is limited. They most commonly serve as mediators. Interestingly, no stigma is placed on the irregular sex activities of the nadle. This is an extension of the culture of respect that is shown towards them.

Hill conducted fieldwork in a Navaho community to determine if these generalizations corresponded to the personal reality of an individual nadle. Six days of questioning produced little results so the interviewer became more direct in her approach. The subject was visible distressed. Hill continues her interview paying particular attention to evidence of maladjustment and behavior that does not coincide with previous notions of what a typical nadle is like. However, Hill was able to obtain very little information regarding other individuals. The conclusion leads us to speculate that the case of this one individual offers insight into the general failure of the nadle to capitalize upon their special standing in the Navaho community.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
JUDITH SCHUTTER Middlebury College (David Napier)

Hill, W.W. The Status of the Hermaphrodite and Transvestite in Navaho Culture. American Anthropologist. 1935. Vol. 37: 273-279.

W.W. Hill describes the lives of Hermaphrodites and Transvestites in Navaho Culture by looking at the cultures regard for such individuals and the individuals themselves. While Navaho culture places no stigma on Hermaphrodites or Transvestites, the individual interviewed felt awkward and uncomfortable with their sex.

Navaho culture holds both Hermaphrodites and Transvestites in the highest regard. In Navaho, the term used is nadle, and have a favorable status in society. They are believed to control all wealth and a family with a nadle member is considered very fortunate. The concept of the nadle is first introduced in Navaho origin mythology. They are described as wealthy and control the wealth. There is a prominent battle between men and women where the nadle plays an important role, because of their ability to perform the functions of both a man and a woman they are able to help the men defeat the women. Many of the nadles take on a specific gender which is seen in their attire and actions. The nadles in Navaho culture have socially favorable position.

The individual interviewed by Hill had a different personal experience as a nadle. She was uncomfortable answering questions about her identity and was reluctant to be photographed (fearing that photo would be used by Hill for comedic purposes)beliefs contrasting typical Navaho ideas. She reiterated her economic role for her family and was pleased with the authority afforded her and the part the nadle played in mythical times with pride, but in discussing her own life, she appeared ashamed.

While the Navaho culture denies any stigma on Hermaphrodites and

Transvestites, the individuals themselves have difficulty internalizing the beliefs of the greater structure.

CLARITY: 5
ANNIE KATES Occidental College (Elizabeth Chin)

Hoebel, E. Adamson. The Sun Dance of the Hekandika Shoshone. American Anthropologist 1935 Vol.37:570-581.

This article is primarily an observational account of the sun dance of Hekandika Shoshone. The purpose of this dance is to heal any ailments or misfortunes one may have. The Shoshone do this by refraining from food and water for three days. The greater part of this article is devoted to the preparation and performance of the Hekandika sun dance. As a result of “several short visits” to Lemhi Shoshone and Bannock communities, Hoebel concludes that their ritual sun dance is identical to that of the Hekandika; therefore, the essential features of this article pertain to all three dances. This is the first of many major assumptions that the author makes. It is obvious from his descriptions that Hoebel is simply an observer. He puts all events into chronological order, and keeps exact times of particular songs, dances, etc. Hoebel also gives no account of interaction with any of the participants.

Hoebel gives a general description of his observations of this particular sun dance for which he was present. Early arrivals begin to set camp three days before the first event of the sun dance. On the eve of the first day, participants erect the dance lodge. Hoebel goes into great detail concerning this structure of this lodge and its orientation with respect to magnetic north. With the completion of the dance lodge, the sun dance begins. Four songs are sung at each sunrise while subsequent events differ by day. These events, including drumming, song, and dance, are explained in full in the article. Participants in the sun dance include an orchestra of drummers, male and female dancers, and a medicine man and woman. Dancing, singing and other rituals take place until participants begin to faint from dehydration. A small fee is then paid to the medicine man and woman who proceed to heal the unconscious dancers by inducing vomit with a mixture of water and clay. This process brings healing spirits into the dance lodge for the goodness of all participants.

Though Hoebel was a highly respected ethnographer of his day, the analysis of this dance offered here seems naive and unscholarly by contemporary standards. He states that the four songs sung were without meaning, that participants dance at random, and that other jobs, such as tending the fire, are assumed by unimportant people often for no reason. Hoebel also makes some very interesting, but seemingly unfounded connections between the Hekandika sun dance and Christianity. He even goes so far as to disprove his own point in one such case, saying that the ceremony lasts three days because Jesus stayed three days in the Sepulchre without food or water, while the Shoshone themselves told him that it initially lasted four days but on one occasion was too exhausting, thus resulting in the reduction of its duration to three days. Therefore, his assumptions make it unclear as to whether or not Hoebel had any experience with Hekandika sun dances prior to the encounter herein described, and seem to cast doubt on his credibility as well.

CLARITY: 3
JAMES J. PERGOLIZZI IV Middlebury College (David Napier).

Hoebel, E. Adamson. The Sun Dance of the Hekandika Shoshone. American Anthropologist. 1935 Vol. 37: 570-581

E. Adamson Hoebel describes the Shoshone ceremony of the Hekandika in full detail. The yearly ceremony is celebrated in honor of the Sun, but was historically held sporadically for curing or divining the position of animals before a hunt. The main purpose of the ceremony is to cure ailments and bring general happiness and welfare to the community.

The three-day ceremony begins with thorough preparations, including collecting materials, drumming and singing. The center pole is raised during the late afternoon (symbolic of a Shoshone origin myth), a ritual involving only men and the medicine man. The ceremony continues into the evening with singing and dancing until midnight. There is a break for sleep, but at five o’clock the people are awakened for the sunrise ritual, where again there is dancing and singing. In conclusion there is a feast enjoyed by all.

There is evidence that many elements of the Shoshone ceremony are similar to other tribes, namely, Arapaho and Gros Ventre. Hoebel also recognizes the Christian influences, noting that the symbol for the sun can be understood as God and the lodge as his temple.

Hoebel concludes that the current ceremony is peripheral to those historically, using the works of Leslie Spier as a comparison. The ceremony is now more ritual than deeper in spiritual meanings.

CLARITY: 4
ANNIE KATES Occidental College (Elizabeth Chin)

Hoover, J. W. Generic Descent of the Papago Villages. American Anthropologist 1935 37 (2): 257-264.

The author sees a problem for the Papago. Their name is again coming into use, the Spaniards had called them Papagueria, due to the encroachment of civilization and settlements to them.

What the author appears to want to solve is any possible future boundary issues and to prove how long the Papago have inhabited the area. How far back he can trace their descent.

The authors arugement is constructed based on first looking at how the Papago have subsisted in the desert. Based on their methods and modes of subsistence he was able to reconstruct how the Papago had moved between different villages and which villages were theirs and which were of other groups. Old ways have been given over and the Papago find subsistence much easier at the time of the article. Wells had been dug by the government and those wells had allowed the scant resource of water to increase and change the semi-nomadic ways of these people.

CLARITY RATE: 3.8
DANIELLE SULLIVAN California State University, Hayward (Peter J. Claus)

Klimek, S. and W. Milke. An Analysis of the Material Culture of the Tupi Peoples. American Anthropologist, Volume 37, pp. 71-91.

The stated object of this article is a structural analysis of the material culture of the Tupi peoples of South America and their cultural history. The importance of ordering ethnographic material and grouping of cultural elements according to distribution is heavily stressed. Comparisons and relationships of peoples involved must be made only in the context of a large number of traits as exhibited by the cultural material. Furthermore, diffusion must always be considered as the primary cause of any similarities found between groups, not assumed historical relations.

The article focuses on the statistical method of comparison of traits and their diffusion amongst the seventeen different sets of Tupi peoples. The statistical method accounts for both the presence and the absence of the material trait(s) being investigated. The article contains many mathematical equations and statistical calculations to illustrate the analysis of data. Relationships and connections can be deduced from graphic presentation of the distribution of cultural materials. The seventeen tribes, represented by 146 cultural elements, are subjected to various statistical models for analysis. Relationships of various degrees are “proven” by black and white representation of material culture distribution patterns. Chronological developments are also inferred in this archaeological and ethnographic study. Extremely laborious read.

CLARITY RATE: 1
JAYNE SMITHSON California State University, Hayward (Peter J. Claus)

Klimek S. and W. Milke An analysis of the material culture of the Tupi peoples. American Anthropologist January-March, 1935 Volume 37(1): 71-89.

Milke and Klimek use this article to analyze the material culture of the various sects of the Tupi people who live on and around the Amazon River in South America. The authors critique the study of Alfred Métraux, which focused on the presence of shared material traits in different Tupi peoples. Milke and Klimek find error in Métraux’s study because it fails to mention the absence of these traits, which leads to incomplete conclusions. In formulating new methods of calculating the distributive relationship between various cultural traits amongst the Tupi, Milke and Klimek attempt to bring order and comprehension to the interrelationships between seventeen Tupi tribes.

Using the association coefficient Q, the authors devise a method of comparing data on a broad range of cultural traits in order to show the distribution of each tribe’s cultural relationships with the others. By showing graphic representations of distributions, the authors analyze these relationships. In plotting various characteristic similarities, they show a level of likeness between certain tribes of the Tupi, and highlight a general disconnection between other more secluded tribes.

Milke and Klimek then analyze the distinct connection between the distribution of like customs and practises and geographical area. By mapping the location of Tupi tribes throughout South America, they find that the composition and break up of Tupi cultural traits is reflected in the geographical distribution of seventeen of its tribes.

A final, in-depth analysis of the most apparent and interesting similarities and dissimilarities is then undertaken. The authors show the presence of a dominant strain of the Tupi tribe and propose the influence of foreign cultures, such as that of the Peruvians, as having affected this cultural diversity, or lack thereof. The article hinges on the study that Métraux made, and the twist that a new mathematical equation gives to it. Several graphic representations are shown in order to demonstrate visually the connections made by way of coefficients of association.

CLARITY RANKING: 2
ANGUS BIRCHALL Middlebury College (David Napier)

Kroeber, A. L. History and Science in Anthropology. American Anthropologist October-December, 1935 Vol. 37 (4): 539-569.

This article concerns the historical attitude and approach and the scientific attitude and approach and their applications to anthropology. The article is framed by a discussion of the major anthropologist, Boas, who was accomplished in the diverse fields of ethnology, linguistics, and physical anthropology and stood for the use of scientific method in anthropology. Boas is considered the greatest personality in anthropology at the time, and the Boas movement represented the largest number of active workers in the field. The author characterizes the Boas movement by four points. First, the Boas movement concerns the application of the scientific method to anthropological material. This is particularly significant because prior to Boas, researchers used either the historical approach solely or naVve methods when working with anthropological material. Next, the movement saw that anthropological material was distinctive enough that it couldn’t make a direct transfer of methods from the experimental sciences. Third, the Boas movement does use and practice the historical method, but fourth, it never fully understood the objectives of history, and so did not formulate its problems historically. Consequently the results are unhistorical and the movement has had an anti-historical attitude tendency.

The article also touches on movements labeled sociologic or functional. The thinkers that are discussed in this part include Durkheim and Mauss, Radcliffe-Brown and Malinowsk. In the final section, the author deals with two pairs of figures, Bastian and Ratzel, and Tylor and Frazer.

The author believes that Boas’s greatest contribution was making the field of anthropology a value process. Process concerns objectives and methodology, concepts that come from the sciences. But process cannot, and does not, exclude the importance of pattern, which is linked to historical material. The author believes that both of the two approaches, historical and scientific, are useful and that they do not have to conflict with one another.

CLARITY RANKING: 2
ASHLEY PRICE Middlebury College (David Napier)

Kroeber, A.L. History and Science in Anthropology. American Anthropologist October- December, 1949 Vol. 37: 539- 569

In this article, A.L. Kroeber discusses the importance of both science and history in anthropology. Kroeber draws on the works and fields of study of many anthropologist, historians, and sociologists such as: Boas, Durkheim, Mauss, Rivers, Malinowski, and Tylor, to illustrate his point. His main focus was Boas, his background and demand for scientific processes and his lack of use of the historical method. In relation to Boas, Kroeber examines the ideas of a functional approach, a historical approach, and a scientific approach to anthropology. Kroeber states that these approaches all have valuable methods, yet they all lack completeness. However, in his examination of these varying methods of approach he seems to state that all of these approaches rely on the others to some degree and use methods specific to each. In so doing, he addresses issues of anthropology as culture-conscious, process-conscious, pattern-conscious, and time-conscious.

Kroeber concludes that using both the approaches of science and history the field anthropology will better penetrate cultures.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
TYLER MARTZ Occidental College (Elizabeth Chin)

Krogman, Wilton Marion. Life Histories Recorded in Skeletons. American Anthropologist, Volume 37, pp. 92-103.

This article concentrates on the importance of collaboration and interdependence between archaeologists and physical anthropologists in solving the mysteries of skeletal remains. The archaeologist is responsible for getting all relevant evidence to the physical anthropologist with a minimum of disturbance. The physical anthropologist is responsible for analyzing and interpreting the evidence, taking into account any secondary evidence found by the archaeologist.

This investigation revolves around the analysis of the remains of two children, as exhumed from an “Indian mound” in Missouri. Detailed forensic analysis is reported, excellent work given the limitations of 1935 methodology. X-rays of long bones, skulls and dentition yield clues to age, stature and health of these two individuals. Forensic evidence and reference to cultural material found in situ support the conclusions that the skeletal remains were probably those of a white two-year old male and a six month old baby, both of which died from nutritional deficiencies and general poor health.

This article calls for more detailed methods of study and for a standard series of criteria by which to evaluate age, sex and stock origins of specimens, to replace the more or less casual observation and analysis techniques currently prevalent in the field of forensic analysis. Very readable article.

CLARITY RATE: 5
JAYNE SMITHSON California State University, Hayward (Peter J. Claus)

Krogman, Wilton Marion. Life Histories Recorded in Skeletons. American Anthropologist 1935 Vol.37:92-103.

Krogman’s article discusses the discovery of two human skeletons from an “Indian mound” near Hartsburg, Missouri and the subsequent examination of the full skeletons to determine the race, age, gender, and cause of death of each individual. The discussion arose as to whether the two individuals were Indian children or White, because the skeletons where discovered on a supposed Indian burial mound among the remains of what appeared to be coffins. Due to the lack of Indian artifacts associated with burials in the vicinity of the children and given the fact that Indians rarely used coffins when burying their dead, the individuals where determined to be White. Based on studies of the teeth, cranio-facial growth, bone growth, and skeletal maturation, the age of each skeleton was approximated. A close study of each skeleton and an analysis of the transverse scars on the bones were used as indicators of the cause of death.

Krogman’s main objective in writing his article was to stress the importance of preserving all human bones that are excavated by archeologists. Krogman believes that all too often archeologists disregard pieces of bones or partial skeletons as inconsequential material. Conversely, Krogman is trying to stress the importance of each bone in determining a little bit of the history of an individual.

A working vocabulary of human anatomy would be helpful but not necessary when reviewing this article. The article is very dry, focusing mostly on statistical data and numbers. Krogman does not present his argument well at the beginning of the article, leaving the reader confused as to the true intent of the paper. Krogman also spends very little time developing what he claims is his main point to archeologists, only briefly mentioning at the beginning and the end of his article the need not to disregard any piece of evidence that is found during an excavation.

CLARITY RANKING: 2
ERIN JENSEN Middlebury College (David Napier)

Krogman, Wilton. Life Skeletons Recorded in Skeletons. American Anthropologist 1935 Vol.37: 92-103.

Krogman is examining two skeletons that were sent to the Anatomical Labatory in February 1933 by Mr. H.O. Bowman. The attached letter stated that the bones were recovered from an “Indian mound”, however, it appeared that the wood around the bones strongly resembled a coffin. Mr. Bowman thought the bones were probably from an Indian and Krogman disagreed. He asserts that there was no evidence of Indian artifacts at the mound, and it is possible that the mound is artificial (based from a photograph of the site). He suspects that the evidence of the coffin suggests the skeletons are two white children, possibly brothers since they were buried next to each other. The skeleton A is older, under six, and skeleton B is about 2 years old. In both individuals the transverse lines of the long bones of the children reveal that about a year prior to death the children had suffered from poor health, probably from improper nourishment.

Krogman concludes that this study demonstrates how important it is for archaeologists to utilize skeletal material in their work. Each fragment tells a story of the individual’s age, health, and physical history.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
JOANNA PEREZ Occidental College (Elizabeth Chin)

Lesser, Alexander. Functionalism in Social Anthropology. American Anthropologist, 1935 vol: 37, pp 386-393.

Functionalism is the most “vigorous tendency in social anthropology today.” Functionalists believe that there exists a unified, homogeneous subject matter, defining a separation of functional social anthropology and non-functional social anthropology. Many non-functionalists fail to differentiate the concepts of individual functionalists from that of the more basic approach of functionalists. Functionalists can be blamed for this by often times failing to separate content and method, which is needed for clarity. Functionalists are responsible for the emphasis on certain types of cultural phenomena within social anthropology. The question which concerns the author is “to what extent the ethnologist who is committed to functional method is committed to functional content,” (387). The author argues that what has happened is “cross-fertilization.” That is students have brought other fields of interest, such as psychology and biology, into the field of anthropology. The author states that the social scientists must collaborate is sound and unified social science is to be done. It is the author’s belief that there is no necessary connection between the essentials of functional method and the particulars of functional content. There is more value for the ethnologist in the broad fundamentals of functionalism, but there must be discrimination between particular claims and essential ideas. Functionalism is a reaction against outdated ideas, and an escape from ideas of evolutionary social history. If cultural events are to be understood they must be looked at in their present context, not the past context and how it came to be what it is today. Turning back the clock to look at these events is of no importance to functionalists, who have a strong distaste for evolutionary concepts. What is functional relation? It is the relation between two or more terms that can be asserted under certain conditions that determine the observed expressions of that condition. These relations are established by observation. These relationships are the definitions of cultural functions.

CLARITY RATE: 4
DREW ZAJICEK California State University, Hayward (Peter J. Claus)

Lesser, Alexander. Functionalism in Social Anthropology. American Anthropologist, 1935. Vol. 37: 386-393.

In his article, Lesser defines, and compares the objectives of, the functionalists and non-functionalists schools of thought. He discusses the functionalist emphasis on the present, compares functionalist and historically minded ethnologists, and reveals similarities between the two schools. He then outlines functionalist doctrine, noting that the discipline was originally borne out of a reaction against the “evolutionary comparative method.” He argues,

“The functionalist emphasizes the doctrine that investigation of customs and institutions must begin with their relation to immediate or contemporary conditions; he stresses the fallacy of assuming that remote factors are always more important than immediate conditions; and he tends toward the extreme of assuming that only contemporary conditions and factors are relevant.”

On the subject of knowledge (of the past or present, he specifies), “The past is always an inferential reconstruction drawn from present facts and conditions.” Lesser stresses the functionalist emphasis on the present, saying that functionalists believe that “since history is merely inferred from present conditions, it is conceived irrelevant to the understanding of present conditions.”

Lesser continues with an account of Franz Boas and the American school and their anti-evolutionary methods. He explains that their resistance to “evolution as a principle in social anthropology” was based on the belief that evolution was not history, but was a result of deductive philosophies of history. He argues,

“…whereas the functionalist, annoyed at the results of false historical theorizing, turns away from history to limit himself strictly to the consideration of immediate conditions in the present and contemporary, the American ethnologist, starting from a factual critique of inaccurate deductive history, and attempting to replace it with sound history, has in so doing often limited himself too strictly to the consideration of remote temporal relations of the conditions and events of the present.”

Lesser notes that both schools of thought stress the importance of studying culture in the present. He closes by emphasizing the importance of scientific knowledge in “functional historicity.”

CLARITY RATING: 2
KATHLEEN BRADLEY Occidental College (Elizabeth Chin)

Linton, Ralph. The Comanche Sun Dance. American Anthropologist, 1935 vol: 37, pp 420-428.

The last Comanche Sun Dance was held in 1878, but its usage had been in decline for twenty years preceding that. From 1860 on it was held at irregular intervals, but it is uncertain if it was ever a regular annual ceremony. It also seems improbable that the dance was ever attended by the entire tribe. The tribe’s medicine man had complete control over the ceremony, and only young men participated in the dance. The ceremony was held in midsummer and lasted for approximately eight days. The first four days were spent building a lodge, while the last four were spent dancing. Cottonwood was used for the poles and covering of the lodge. The cutting of the center pole was left until last. The center pole was usually about 14 feet tall and one foot in diameter with a fork at the top. The construction of the lodge was not started until all the materials had been collected. After the lodge was constructed there was a mock battle which took place. The young men would reenact their war deeds. The night that the lodge was completed a crier would ride through the camp telling everyone to get ready for the following mornings activities. The dance would begin the following morning with a mock buffalo round up. This was symbolic of bringing food to the people. After a noon time meal, people would enter the lodge and begin dancing. There were 8 to 12 dancers and an orchestra. During the dancing, spectators would hang gifts on the center pole and pray for a happy life. The dancing ended on midnight of the fourth day. Very little of the symbolism of the dance is remembered at present time, but Linton suggests that it was to raise the supernatural powers of the dancers and the medicine man.

CLARITY RATING: 5
DREW ZAJICEK California State University, Hayward (Peter J. Claus)

Linton, Ralph. Comanche Sun Dance. American Anthropologist. 1935 Vol. 37:420-428.

Ralph Linton provides a descriptive report of the Comanche Sun Dance, which at the time of printing had last been held in 1878. Each Sun dance was the result of a supernatural vision or dream by a young man who had just started his career. The dance usually took place in the middle of summer and lasted for eight days. Preparations for the dance were extensive, requiring the building of a lodge around a center pole, which had been carried to the site of the dance by about twenty-five to thirty men. Whilst the lodge was being built hunters would catch and kill a three-year-old buffalo. Depending on whether the lodge was fully roofed or open, the stuffed head and fore quarters would be placed on the roof or the skin in the fork of the center pole of the lodge. As builders neared the completion of the lodge, clowns with false noses of mud would chase observers with mud-soaked swabs.

The completion of the lodge was marked by a mock battle, and a group of people from the main camp would come out and defeat the people in a second camp, an act that symbolized the prowess of the Comanche over their enemies. The main dance, consisting of eight to twelve dancers, lasted four consecutive days with short breaks at noon and at night for the dancers. These dances were often interspersed with offerings stuck on arrows and shot into the center pole by spectators as well as sleight-of-hand tricks by a medicine man. At the end of the fourth day, the camp was broken and the various bands would make the long trip home, which usually took four nights.

Linton concludes by discussing the symbolic aspects of the dance. He suggests that the lodge represented the eagle’s nest and the buffalo manikin or skin was food the eagle. The ceremony also served to increase the importance of the medicine man and consequently the supernatural power of the dancers, which was drawn not from the supernatural beings such as the Sun or the Eagle but from the medicine man himself.

CLARITY RANKING: 5
AKOSUA NYAKO Middlebury College (David Napier)

Linton, Ralph. The Comanche Sun Dance. American Anthropologist 1935 Vol. 37: 420- 428

In this article, Ralph Linton describes the Comanche Sun Dance. Linton states that he is not sure if the Comanche Sun Dance was a practice that the Comanche performed on a regular basis or if it was a rather infrequent ceremony. He believes that the last Comanche Sun Dance was held the same year as a solar eclipse seen in Oklahoma in 1878.

Varied informants recounted that the ceremony was limited to the band of medicine men. Although Linton noted that there are many difference in the details of each account, the overlying ceremony and rituals remain the same. The eight-day ceremony is held in approximately midsummer. The first four days are used for preparation and gathering of materials and the last four are reserved for the actual dance. Linton describes the meticulous details that go into the planning and construction of the lodge where the dancers stay. While the construction of the lodge was underway, hunters went out to kill a three year old buffalo bull to use its skin, head, and fore quarters to create a manikin of sorts to place on the top of the lodge with the head facing east. When construction of the lodge was complete, four or five clowns appeared painted in mud and clothed and armed with sticks and leaves. The clowns, on horseback, chased and swatted the gathered people as well as amusing the audience. After this performance, there is believed to have been an enacted invasion where the Comanche triumphed and displayed their victory over their enemies. Other rituals took place later in the day, but the actual dance began that next morning.

The dance usually began after the noon meal. At this time, as the people assembled, the dancers, which numbered between eight and twelve, painted their bodies. The dance began when the dancers emerged from the lodge with their arms raised toward the sun, dancing and blowing short blasts from an eagle bone whistle. On this first day, the dance continued on until sunset, at which time there was a two-hour rest. After the rest, the dance continued until midnight. The dance would then resume the next morning, continue into afternoon and then into night for three more days. Following the dance there was a small feast held for each dancer.

It is believed that all of the people in attendance benefited from the dance and that the importance of the medicine man was increased because the dancers received their supernatural powers from him and not directly from supernatural beings.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
TYLER MARTZ Occidental College (Elizabeth Chin)

Lips, Julius E. Fitz Graebner: March 4, 1877 to July 13 ,1934. American Anthropologist, 1935 vol: 37, pp320-326.

The well respected ethnologists Fritz Graebner died in Berlin on July 13, 1934. This German ethnologists began his studies in history, but after beginning work at the Berliner Volkermuseum he became very interested in ethnology. Like many German ethnologists, Graebner had an extensive background in the sciences. His background in history is what determined his methodological attitude toward his work. He soon began work on his dissertation, which was published in 1901. In 1906, Graebner moved to Cologne where he became the museum director at the Rautenstrauch – Joest – Museum. It was while Graebner was director of this museum that his most important works were published. Among them “Soziale System in der Sudsee,” “Volkerkunde der Santa Cruz Inseln,” and most importantly “Die Melanesische Bogenkultur und ihre Verwandten.” During the first World War, Graebner was invited to do some ethnological work in Australia. It was here that he was interned and but into solitary confinement. During his imprisonment, Graebner continued his scientific writings and research, and wrote “Ethnologie” to demonstrate the practical application of his scientific conception to a synthesis of the culture of all humans. Graebner’s importance to anthropology is greatly connected to his methodological work, which also had a great influence on the study pre-history and the study of history as well. His methods have their limitations and are often misunderstood, but there is no denying the fundamentals of Graebner’s work.

CLARITY RATE: 5
DREW ZAJICEK California State University, Hayward (Peter J. Claus)

Lipps, Julius E. Fritz Graebner: March 4, 1877 TO July 13, 1934. American Anthropologist 1935 Vol.37:320-326.

This is an obituary of Fritz Graebner who, in his book Ethnologie, established a methodology that has been prominent in the anthropological world for almost a century. The author, Julius E. Lipps, admits his bias of being a close personal friend and successor of Graebner, but assures that this takes nothing away from Grabener’s great accomplishments in the field of ethnology. Graebner was a historian before stumbling upon anthropology. He took a job at the Berliner Volkermuseum because of his economic circumstances. During his time at the museum he was strongly influenced by Ankermann who helped him develop a lecture on the cultural stratification of Oceania. In 1904, despite doubts about whether or not he was sure of his case, Graebner gave his lecture at an anthropological convention in Berlin. In 1906 Graebner went to Cologne and the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum. Based on his studies of culture and history, and spurred on by the elder anthropologist, Foy, Graebner developed a methodological foundation for the topic of his Berlin lecture. Graebner spent the war period in Australia. Having been invited there to an international congress of anthropologists, he was interned because of a map of the South Seas found in his shoe. It was assumed that he would use this map in a plot to escape. Graebner spent this period of imprisonment studying and writing on anthropological methodology. Soon after his release, he wrote his famed Ethnologie in which he argued for the practical uses of his scientific conception to a mixture of all human culture.

The author states that whatever one may think of Graebnerian methods, their impacts upon the fields of anthropology, history, and prehistory have been quite significant. Graebner was often criticized for claiming that his methodology was exclusively valid, and also that he meant to explain all similar cultural phenomenon through borrowing. Lipps adamantly opposes these statements. However, he also admits of limitations to Graebner’s methods in solving psychological processes, and in explaining chance intercultural relationships. Lipps also proves his conviction of being an honestly biased biographer in stating that, although Graebner’s influence on the field of anthropology was great, his effectiveness as a teacher was severely lacking. One of the most interesting themes of this article is the underlying sentiment against Hitler’s Third Reich that is demonstrated in only a few sentences but speaks powerfully against the regimes oppression of anthropological science.

CLARITY: 4
JAMES J. PERGOLIZZI IV Middlebury College (David Napier).

Lips, Julius E. Fritz Graebner: March 4, 1877 to July 13, 1934. American Anthropologist. 1935 Vol. 37: 320-326.

Julius E. Lips’ obituary of the German ethnologist Fritz Graebner is punctuated by their personal and professional relationship. His passing was the result of a slow process commencing with a stroke at forty-eight. Graebner started in the discipline of history, later shifting to a concentration on ethnology with a basis in museums. He was a South Seas specialist, spending many years in Australia, some of which were spent in solitary confinement after a map was discovered in his shoe and attributed to escape. Graebner is known for his elaboration of ethnographic methods, specifically the Kulturkreis method. He was a pioneer against the biological-evolutionary concept. He believed in identical or similar phenomena of culture through borrowing. According to Lips he laid the foundations for further theory, never believing that his method was an end in and of itself. While not very effective as a professor, he had only one PhD. student, he apparently gave enthralling lectures. One of his greatest achievements was his encouragement of the opening of anthropological museums to use by the general public.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
SARAH MCDOWELL Occidental College (Dr. Elizabeth Chin)

Michelson, Truman. Some Notes on Winnebago Social and Political Organization. American Anthropologist, 1935 vol: 37, pp 446-449.

Easily accessible accounts of Winnebago social organization can be found in Morgan’s Ancient Society, J.O. Dorsey’s Siouan Sociology, the article by J.O. Dorsey and Paul Radin entitled Winnebago in the Handbook of American Indians, and Radin’s The Clan Organization of the Winnebago, Winnebago Tribe, and The Social Organization of the Winnebago Indians. These authors seem unaware that many important statements about the Winnebago can be found in Caleb Atwater’s remarks made on the Tour to Prarie du Chien in 1829. Atwater states that the Winnebago’s form of government is aristocratic, along with their entire society. They are divided into seven tribes, each tribe has two Civil Chiefs who run the village. These chiefs appoint all offices. They can lose their position for instances of bad conduct. The army is headed by a general. The Civil Chiefs and army generals lead the tribes. Each tribe also has two men which are assigned to protect the village. Many of the above authors, namely Radin, have many points which are contradictory to those of Atwater.

CLARITY RATE: 5
DREW ZAJICEK California State University, Hayward (Peter J. Claus)

Michelson, Truman. Some notes on Winnebago Social and Political Organization. American Anthropologist July-September, 1935 Vol.37(2):446-449.

Michaelson’s article is a critical attempt to eliminate contradictions between the works of ethnographers of the Winnebago. The controversy arises from the evaluation of a quote from the1829 remarks of Caleb Atwater, an early observer of Winnebago social and political organization. The section of Atwater’s remarks isolated by Michaelson includes the identification of several specific tribes, named after animals, as well as an evaluation of the organization of these tribes as a group. Michaelson’s close reading of this text reveals several tribes that are not named or whose existence is specifically denied in the works of several contemporary Winnebago scholars. Writings on Winnebago social organization by Morgan, James Owen Dorsey, and Paul Radin, among others, leave out the Turtle, Snake and Fish gens, which are all tribes whose existence Michaelson believes to be well-founded. The Eagle and Elk tribes, not mentioned in previous works, are also named in Atwater’s observations. The greatest contribution of Michaelson’s article is his suggestion of the use of lists of signers of treaties between the Winnebago and the United States (particularly those of June 3rd, 1816, and August 19th, 1825) as an important manner of substantiating the existence of previously unidentified tribes (as he does here).

As a note at the end of his article, Michaelson briefly mentions the contradiction of Atwater’s remarks that village groups were based on one clan and are governed by a general representative council, and Radin’s suggestion that village groups are structured in a hierarchy and included members of more than one clan.

This article brings to light disagreements within the field and reconciles them through the use of the definitive works of a retrospective observer. Michaelson suggests this methodology as a good technique for future comparative study.

CLARITY: 3
JULIANNE BAROODY Middlebury College (David Napier)

Michaelson, Truman. Some Notes on Winnebago Social and Political Organization. American Anthropologist 1935 Vol. 37: 446-449.

This article explores the work of Caleb Atwater on the social organization of the Winnebago. The Winnebago’s are divided into seven tribes, or bands that are named after animals or other inanimate things. Each village has two appointed civil chiefs, by birth or election, which send orders to the warriors of the army. The civil government of the Winnebago’s includes the fourteen civil Chiefs, an assembly of the Grand National council. Disobedience to the orders of the rulers is subject to the punishment of death. The great body of people have very little influence in electing chiefs and only appear when summoned. Two soldiers are placed within every village to maintain order, and one man acts as the divider. This man divides all trade or gift exchange equally to all present at the time. Michaelson asserts that the ethnology of Atwater gives some acute statements regarding the chronology of the populating America. Atwater mentions a turtle band, as well as snake, and fish band, and it suggests that Siouan tribes had similar names for gentes (clans) to the Winnebagoes. He claims that a study of the signers of the treaties between the Unites States and Siouan tribes would yield valuable results.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
JOANNA PEREZ Occidental College (Elizabeth Chin)

Opler, M.E. The Concept of Supernatural Pewer Among the Chirecchua and Mescalero Apaches. Americal Anthropologist, 1935 Volume 37, pp. 65-70.

This engaging article asserts that “Apaches are very religious people.” There are supernatural aids, rituals and ceremonies to help cope with every aspect of life. The article focuses on the idealogical foundations behind the rites.The Creator-of-Life remains a remote figure in Apache mythology, while the all-pervading supernatural force can be harnessed and focused to affect daily life through specific ceremonies and rituals. The power is conducted through some medium of natural phenomena or animal helpers. Dreams and visions are the mediums through which the animal or natural phenomena reveals their intention to give certain supernatural paowers to their chosen human recipients. Transference of power is usually accompanied by instruction in the proper rites and ceremonies by elders with similar powers. Recipients then perform these ceremonies for the benefit of themselves and/or others in a variety of ways. The powers themselves are not beneficial or harmful, but simply capable of accomplishing extraordinary things depending on the person wielding the power and to what end.Apache supernatural practices often are reported by outsiders as being held by only a few “medicine men” in the Apache community. The author emphasizes that this assumption is wrong. All Apache people are custodians of at least one ceremony and its attendant supernatural power by the time they are middle aged. Every adult plays an integral part in the various rituals, bringing their particular to bear on problems as necessary in support of the supernatural system throughout the Apache community.

CLARITY RATE: 5
JAYNE SMITHSON California State University, Hayward (Peter J. Claus)

Opler, M. E. The Concept of Supernatural Power Among the Chiracahua and Mescalero Apaches. American Anthropologist, 1935. Vol 37: 65-70.

This ethnographic work analyzes Apache ritual and their understanding of the supernatural. Although he makes very general assessments about Apache ritual, Opler locates some of the variations and similarities in their religious ceremonies. He takes a very ideological approach in presenting the significance of their ritual activities.

Opler confines his analysis to the Apaches’ conception of the Giver-of-Life, source of all supernatural power. He assesses how this deity impacts all ways of life for the Apaches. He proceeds to explain its responsibility to distribute different levels of power among the people on a very individual basis. The ceremonies exist to distinguish those who have just accepted power from the Giver-of-Life.

Opler speaks of the Apache rituals in terms of the ideas that apparently manifest their particular religious activities. They exist to account for both beneficial and harmful events that occur in their daily lives.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
KENTURAH DAVIS Occidental College (Elizabeth Chin)

Osgood, Cornelius. The Archaeological Problem in Chiriqui. American Anthropologist 37 (2): 234-243.

The overall problem that the author faced was to classify and exhibit new material given to the Peabody Museum of Yale University. The new material that was given by Mr. Wm. J. Lampson, to the Peabody Museum was a large Chiriqui collection.

The purpose of the article was to present new information about the archaeology of the Province Chiriqui, located in Panama. The author also takes previous information and presents it based on the point of view of the field-worker, which will help data to be available for the approach of new problems.

The author takes the pottery of the Chiriqui and reclassifies them. He combines the MacCurdy list and the Holmes terminology together and comes up with a more concise classification. The author also determines which pieces appear to be trade items and not indigenous to the Chiriqui. Once the author reclassifies the objects, he then offers the readers a critique of the pieces. Within each classification he separates four sub-topics: form of pots, techniques, decoration, and evidences of use.

The author provides statically information about the pottery distribution and out of how many graves these came out of. A problem with the analysis of the archaeology of Chiriqui is that little is known about it, there does not exist good documentation about the removal of the grave goods. The hope of the author is that his article will stimulate further investigation and he provided questions that would need to be answered.

CLARITY RATE: 4.5
DANIELLE SULLIVAN California State University, Hayward (Peter J. Claus)

Osgood, Cornelius. The Archaeological Problem in Chiriqui. American Anthropologist 1935 Vol. 37: 234-243.

The article is written from the perspective of a fieldworker in Chiriqui, Panama, concerned with the recently new (at the time of writing) developments in the archaeology of the area and the reoccurring problems in previous research.

A large number of pieces were given to the Peabody Museum at Yale University, and Osgood takes painstaking measures to describe each of the different Chiriqui techniques and decorative peoples’ patterns. Central Americans were known for traveling great distances to trade, and therefore their pieces can be found all over the western hemisphere. The work is classified into ware according to the place of origin, the time frame it was designed, the size of the piece and the paint used. Information was also gathered from the excavation of graves in the Chiriqui area, but because of rain and time constraints the questions of classification were not solved.

The author concludes by saying that there is not a great deal of information about the archaeology of Chiriqui, and the little that is known was collected from some pottery and excavation of graves. He gives suggestions for further research in this area and possible solutions to problem areas.

The article is written to individuals who are already knowledgeable in this area and only they would understand the terminology used and the distinctions made between the pieces. He provides detailed information concerning the archaeological pieces and the article is well organized.

CLARITY RANKING: 2
KELLIE JENSEN Middlebury College (David Napier)

Osgood, Cornelius. The Archaeological Problem in Chiriqui. American Anthropologist 1935. Vol. 37: 234-264.

Osgood opens with, “The purpose of this paper is to present new information concerning the archaeology of the Province of Chiriqui, Panama, and to summarize from the point of view of the field-worker certain phases of previous work in order that data necessary for approaching new problems may be more readily available.” The article is divided into the following sections: “Classification of Chiriqui Pottery,” “Distribution,” “Analysis of Partial Information on 117 Graves and their Contents,” and “Conclusion.”

He begins the article with a classification list of Chiriqui pottery, consolidating the “Unpainted ware” and “Painted ware” lists into four major categories: Armadillo-Terra Cotta ware, Fish-Tripod-Handled ware, Lost Color ware, and Alligator ware. For these sections, he provides Form, Technique, Decoration, and Evidences of Use lists supported by photographs of example pots from each category. He concludes this section by explaining the origins of the similarities between the Lost Color and Alligator groups. Following the classification lists, the brief “Distribution” section (accompanied by a map of the Chiriqui province) offers percentages of basic Chiriqui wares from three sites. In the “Analysis of Partial Information” section, Osgood begins by listing the eight excavated sites, including the number of graves and geographical location of each. He summarizes the results of the findings by reporting the percentages of the following: pottery, stonework, and grave construction (all of which was found in the excavation of the collective 117 graves). He closes the analysis section with a few interesting notes on grave positioning, pot placement, and the lack of gold, polychrome ware, and “open-work stools.”

He concludes with the statement, “The only certain conclusion which can be made is that little is known about the archeology of Chiriqui beyond the information implicit in a collection of antiquities in the region.” He then lists twelve suggestions for archeological research that have yet to be conducted in the Chiriqui region of Panama.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
KATHLEEN BRADLEY Occidental College (Elizabeth Chin)

Radcliffe-Brown, A.R. On the Concept of Function in Social Science. American Anthropologist, 1935 vol: 37, pp394-402.

Function, when applied to human societies, is centered around an analogy of social life and organic life. Function is the correspondence between social institutions and the necessary condition for the existence of the social organism. For the ideas of function to be applied to social science, one must assume that there are indeed necessary conditions for the existence of human beings. When looking at the above analogy, one must understand that function is used as such: “the life of the organism is conceived as the functioning of its structure,” (395). The structure is preserved as long as the functioning is also preserved. Each individual part of the organism has a certain activity which has a certain function. Turning now from organic life to social life, each of the individual humans are connected by social relations into an integrated whole. The continuity of the structure is guaranteed through social life; one individual dies and another takes his activity over. Three problems are presented when looking at function. One is social morphology, another is social physiology, and finally the problem of development. This idea of social functionalism is a working hypothesis which poses questions for research and investigation. It does not require the assertion that all aspects of every society has a function, only that it may. Radcliffe-Brown argues that Dr. Lesser’s previous paper (Functionalism in Social Anthropology) has many permissible points (see article for this argument).

CLARITY RATING: 4
DREW ZAJICEK California State University, Hayward (Peter J. Claus)

Radcliffe-Brown, A. R. On the Concept of Function in Social Science. American Anthropologist 1935 Vol. 37 394-402

A. R. Radcliffe-Brown’s essay on function is a response to a paper by a Dr. Lesser. Radcliffe-Brown provides Emile Durkheim’s definition of function as correlation between a “social institution” and the “social organism’s necessary conditions of existence.” To explain the definition, he draws a parallel between social science and biology. Within a community, individuals are the cells or molecules, essential units. Social structure is maintained by activities or life processes (an example given—”funeral ceremony.”) Each activity performed has a specific function. Where the organism and society differ is in observation. It is impossible to observe society without discovering function; this is not necessarily a barrier when studying organisms.

Radcliffe-Brown also presents the hypothesis of functional unity, described as “a condition in which all parts of the social system work together with a sufficient degree of harmony or internal consistency, i.e., without producing persistent conflicts which can neither be resolved nor regulated” (397). He advises that this hypothesis does not suggest that every part of the life process has a function, only that each part might, and that this possibility is worth exploring.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
AMY VAN AALST Middlebury College (David Napier)

Roberts, Jr., Frank H.H. A Survey of Southwestern Archaeology. American Anthropologist, 1935 Volume 37, pp. 1-35.

An overview of American Southwest archaeological methodology from 1850 – 1935, with emphasis on modern (1925-35) dating techniques (improved stratigraphy and the new field of dendrochronology) and interpretation of regional variations in artifact styles. Leading archaeologists came to general consensus on delineation of sequential stages of southwest cultural development in 1927 (the Pecos Classification) and refined definitions until present guidelines were established (in 1931). The region was divided into Plateau and Desert sections for study. The Basket-Maker/Pueblo peoples of the plateau area are discussed at length in terms of physical characteristics, footwear, basketry, textiles, weapons, houses, pottery and miscellaneous traits and divided into the standard eight phases of cultural development. The Hohokam people of the desert province are divided into five periods of cultural development and discussed in terms of houses, disposal of their dead, pottery and miscellaneous traits.

Pros and cons of the Pecos classification system are discussed and defended. This article is written from holistic perspective, and stresses the importance of using broad standard for characteristics to classify pottery. There is some discussion on the general dissatisfaction with nomenclature for cultural elements and phases. The author calls for comparative studies of all types of objects found throughout the region, not just ceramics and basketry. Border regions need further scrutiny to ascertain relationships with neighboring cultures. The article concludes with suggestions of minor modifications to the Pecos definition of phases, but overall provides a good defense of the classification system used to study southwestern archaeology.

CLARITY RATE: 4
JAYNE SMITHSON California State University, Hayward (Peter J. Claus)

Roberts, Frank H. H. Jr. A Survey of Southwestern Archaeology. American Anthropologist January-March, 1935 Vol.37 1-35.

This article is a survey of Southwestern archaeology as of 1935. The author notes that this area of research, while in existence for a long time, had recently gained more widespread attention. Roberts examines the status of the southwestern archeology research and some of the current problems and critiques of southwestern archaeology.

The published research on this subject falls into three categories, and each style of reporting correlates more or less with the time period in which the research was done. The three ages are as follows: the era of exploration, 1850 to 1880; the time of “promiscuous digging” with specimens being the primary motivation, 1880 to 1910; and the stage of carefully planned excavations keeping an eye to solving problems, 1910 to the present. Stratigraphy, now a commonly used technique in excavation, was not truly accepted until the present era. Discussion of stratigraphy, along with a new method of absolute (rather than relative dating) and the state of the tree-ring dating system, or dendrochronology, comprise the remainder of the first section of the article.

The majority of the author’s survey concerns the results of a conference at Pecos Ruins, New Mexico in August 1927. It was there that researchers in Southwestern archaeology met and agreed on a series of sequential stages in the culture development and a set of names labeling the phases, called the Pecos Classification. The Pecos Classification refers to the plateau group, and is designated by the names Basket Maker and Pueblo. These divisions are further broken down; for instance, there is Early Basket Maker, Basket Maker, and Late Basket Maker. The criteria for each class is largely based on differences in ceramics. The next section of the paper summarizes the stages according to changes in crania, sandals, basketry, textiles, weapons, houses, and pottery.

Next, the Hohokam, or desert province, is similarly broken down, although it uses a different classification system, the Globe Classification.

The final section of the article is a commentary on the Pecos Classification and the Hohokam group. The author discusses each of the main critiques of the classification systems before finally suggesting a slight alteration of the terminology in the hopes of lessening the nomenclature problem associated with the Pecos Classification.

This article is most useful to a reader with some prior knowledge of archaeology, for the significance of certain concepts and terms may be otherwise difficult to grasp.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
ASHLEY PRICE Middlebury College (David Napier)

Sapir, Edward. A Navaho Sand Painting Blanket. American Anthropologist September, 1935 Vol. 37 609-616.

In Edward Sapir’s article Navaho sand painting blankets are examined with respect to their weaver’s intentional deviation from real sand paintings that are used in curing ceremonies known as “chants.” The weaver hopes that by changing the designs they will avoid being cursed for meddling with the holy. Sapir asserts that the changes are sufficient to render the blanket a decoration, a profane object.

Sand painting blankets receive their general design from real sand paintings. The protocol for real sand paintings is for them to be used in a ceremony and destroyed that day without retaining a permanent copy of it. The alterations in the blanket designs are in hope of relieving the weaver from the charge of blasphemy. Although it is said that the older Navaho are opposed to the creation of sand painting blankets, the white man’s demand for these blankets appears to be more powerful.

The author uses a sand painting blanket whose design is the male version of the Shooting Chant to illuminate inaccuracies in sand painting blankets. Albert Sandoval, an interpreter for the author, supplied the information on the design and the blanket’s differences. The author goes into great detail in illuminating the “inaccuracies” in each of the four sacred figures that are represented in this blanket, the Holy Young Man, the Holy Young Woman, the Holy Boy, and the Holy Girl. Not all elements of the design have ritual importance, such as the skirt and belt fringes of the Holy Young Man; these items can be shaded in a variety of colors. In contrast, many parts of the design in the sand painting require particular details, such as the anklets of the Holy Young Man. The anklets should not be red and blue as depicted in the blanket. This difference in the blanket from the painting may be an intentional inaccuracy, but it is possible that it was an error in the memory of the weaver.

Sapir’s article, in addition to examining the thirty-four “errors” in the sample blanket which lends support to his claim that the sand painting blankets are profane objects, provides a glimpse into the symbolism within Navaho sand paintings.

CLARITY RANKING: 5
ASHLEY PRICE Middlebury College (David Napier)

Sapir, Edward. A Navaho Sand Painting Blanket. American Anthropologist 1935. Vol 37: 609-616.

Edward Sapir is examining the weaving of sand painting blankets that depict curing rituals known as “chants” rather than geometrical patterns. The sand paintings of the ritual must be destroyed before nightfall because it is forbidden for the “chanter” to keep permanent record of the ritual. Sapir asserts that these sand painting blankets are themselves blasphemous because they preserve a moment of holiness by depicting a ritualistic origin that should remain a legend but instead become a mundane article of sale. The older Navaho are opposed to the blankets serving the demand of the white man instead of its original religious sentiment.

Women that weave these blankets deliberately change the sand painting design to absolve themselves from blasphemy. To the white man these blankets are genuine but to the Navaho the departure of the ritualistic accuracy turns the blankets into a profane object. Sapir is analyzing a blanket that was made by Manuek Denetsone’s wife and purchased by a writer in1929 at Crystal, New Mexico. A man named Albert Sandoval interpreted the meaning of the blanket to the writer however he was not able to specify the deliberate departures or inaccuracies. According to Mr. Sandoval the image in this blanket is portraying the Male version of the “Shooting Chant”, representing the four sacred figures from left to right, Holy Young Man, Holy Young Woman, the Holy Boy, and Holy girl.

Sapir reviews the inaccurate depiction of the colors, positions, and dress of the figures to show the deliberate departure from the original. He concludes that there is no real animation in the blankets because the holy beings are deprived of their ritualistic reality. The blanket becomes a dead decoration and the weaver may hope to remain free from sin.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
JOANNA PEREZ Occidental College (Elizabeth Chin)

Schmidt, W. The Position of Women with Regard to Property in Primitive Society. American Anthropologist 1935 37 (2): 244-256.

The concern of the author in his article is the issue of property and its nature, quality, and limits. He also wants to look at the number and quality of the owners, more specifically an interesting part of the latter.

The author argues as to find in what degree woman are able to develop their selves in society to independently dispose items from the exterior nature as owners of such items. Also he looks to find in what limits does primitive society consider women capable of fulfilling her role as property owner.

The author disguises primitive society into two sub-groups, ancient primitive and the younger primary culture. These are defined further between the most primitive of the hunter/gather societies and by a more developed ‘higher’ hunter or animal breeder societies. The author clearly looks at these different societies and applies his theories to them and points to current cultures to make his points. He shows the different degrees of women’s property rights within different hunter/gathers, animal breeders and in horticulture. Based on his findings, the matrilineal and matriarchal forms of society do not succeed in producing in them higher and the highest of civilization. The author admits that the totemistic higher hunters are missing from his analysis due to the lack of evidence.

CLARITY RATE: 5
DANIELLE SULLIVAN California State University, Hayward (Peter J. Claus)

Schmidt,W. The Position of Women with Regard to Property in Primitive Society. American Anthropologist 1935 Vol.37: 244-256.

W. Schmidt discusses in this lecture the subject of property and ownership in primitive societies and, more specifically, the position of women. He states that in this area of study it is important to look not only at the nature, quality and limits of property, but also the number and quality of its owners. Schmidt is interested in the degree to which women may be able to develop the faculties of their proper selves by independently disposing of the objects of exterior nature as true owners, and secondly, within limits primitive society considers women capable of fulfilling the right of property. By distinguishing between primitive and primary cultures, Schmidt is able to discern cultures that depend exclusively on what nature offers as opposed to cultures in which animal breeding and horticultural developments occur.

Schmidt divides his lecture concerning woman’s property into two parts: the primitive cultures of hunters and food gatherers, the cultures of animal breeding herders among primitive horticultures. A clear shift in property rights is evident, according to Schmidt, in the primitive to primary cultures. In many primitive cultures the soil was not seen as an object of ownership, therefore woman did not have property rights, which greatly differs from the equilibrium we see in primary animal breeding cultures. This article attempts to account for female property rights in primary and primitive culture all over the world: India, Western Asia, Africa and the Pacific islands. Schmidt over generalizes the position of women in these societies, and ceases to explain in depth the reasons for the shift in rights of property. It is also important to take into consideration the many matrilineal cultures in which women were given property rights above and beyond the “norm.” Schmidt viewed this as “astonishing.” With this view in mind it is interesting to read this in the historical context in which it was written and how woman were viewed during the 1930’s around the world in modern society.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
CATHERINE SAMSON Middlebury College (David Napier)

Schmidt, W. The Position of Women with Regard to Property in Primitive Society. American Anthropologist. 1935 Vol. 37: 244-256.

W. Schmidt discusses women’s rights in the transition from primitive societies to primary societies, mostly through analysis of their control over property. Schmidt categorizes this change as one from hunter/gatherer to those who work on nature through developed hunting, animal breeding or horticulture, thus controlling access to resources. Within primitive hunter/gatherer societies rights to soil do not belong to either sex, but women control the objects taken from the soil and therefore retain a closer relationship with the land. While no property is specifically individual, rights over individual properties: items which retain special value and those objects which are movable, are passed from parents to children and sex is unspecified. Women retain rights over her own movable items as well as her own person, in that she may dispose of herself independent of influence by her parents or others. In primary animal breeding cultures a shift is apparent from women’s power over themselves and their property, to an emphasis on men’s rights, thus excluding women. In the initial stages of these primary cultures, that of reindeer breeding, women had extensive rights over property in the form of reindeer. Women could own, inherit and dispense of their property independently. In later forms of animal breeding, Schmidt argues an increased level of male guardianship. Women lose rights to bequeathing and inheriting property, including their own self in the form of marriage. In primitive horticulture societies, Schmidt argues that, because of their role as close to the land, installed a mother-right, known as matriarchy. While animal-breeding societies shifted to control by male hunters, horticulture societies instilled rights to the female gatherers. Women control the staples of the economy and thus the whole economic structure. Husbands were visitors to their wives at first, and eventually they simply moved in with the wife upon marriage, women retaining control over their children and property. Through initial offering of services by brothers, Schmidt argues that men slowly obtained control over the economic structure. Schmidt argues that the conflict over economic rights was solved through “the male’s robust gifts and egotism over female debility and modesty” (254).

CLARITY RANKING: 4
SARAH MCDOWELL Occidental College (Dr. Elizabeth Chin)

Schultz, C. Bertrand and Loren Eiseley. Paleontological Evidence For the Antiquity of the Scottsbluff Bison Quarry and Its Associated Artifacts. American Anthropologist, 1935 vol: 37, pp306-319.

Recent finds of extinct bison in Nebraska have raised questions as to the antiquity of the site, and has revived arguments about Pleistocene man in America. It is uncertain whether these fossil bison lived during the Pleistocene or during the Recent. Two similar bison finds have recently been made in Nebraska, but the dates of these sites are unclear, as the geology of the area has not been dated. The first artifact found at the newly found Scottsbluff site was uncovered on August 4, 1932. Two days later it was determined that no evidence of intrusion could be found. Fully articulated leg bones at the site further supported this. Projectile points were found with the bison fossils, and proved to be of the Folsom and Yuba type. This is the first time that these two types of projectile points have been found together in situ, leaving no question as to their equal age and contemporary existence of the humans who made them. The authors argue that no species of extinct bison have been dated to the Recent, which suggests greater antiquity of these new finds. They believe that the site at Scottsbluff is definitely Pleistocene and probably late Wisconsin. However, the authors state that a great deal of research still needs to be completed before coming to any further conclusions.

CLARITY RATE: 3
DREW ZAJICEK California State University, Hayward (Peter J. Claus)

Schultz, C. Bertrand and Eiseley, Loren. Paleontological Evidence for the Antiquity of the Scottsbluff Bison Quarry and its Associated Artifacts. American Anthropologist 1935 Vol.37:306-319.

Prompted by the recent controversy surrounding the publication of a paper by Alfred S. Romer announcing the discovery of a “fossil” camel in Utah of supposedly Recent age, the authors attempt to address the issues of this controversy with a complete report that includes highly relevant archaeological and geological evidence. Romer’s announcement, which was soon followed by a reply by O. P. Hay, revived the long war over Pleistocene man in America.

The authors report that this traditional conflict has now shifted from a formerly customary denial of Pleistocene man and fossil animals in America, to a questioning of the time of extinction of these same animals. Therefore, in response to this reopened debate, Schultz and Eiseley provide a thorough review of the history of findings made in the bison quarry at Scottsbluff, Nebraska, with the intention of relating these discoveries to the debate over Pleistocene classification of artifacts versus the move toward classifications as Recent.

The article is generally highly engaging and easy to follow, but at points it is complicated and somewhat unclear. The authors’ argument is presented in the form of pronouncements based on evidence from Scottsbluff finds, and the series of discoveries surrounding the Scottsbluff site is narrated as an ongoing story. Despite this narrative style, though, there is too inadequate a review of the debate at hand or a history of the controversy to allow the readers to fully understand and assess these issues for themselves.

The authors ultimately set out to prove that it is not impossible to classify the Scottsbluff bison quarry as Pleistocene. They construct this argument by pointing to the evidence from recent fossil and artifact findings at Scottsbluff, and by reviewing the details and opinions surrounding these cases. In particular, the article examines a collection of artifacts found in a bone bed in the bison quarry, and clarifies the position and depth at which these points were found. The authors assert that the appearance of a Folsom and a Yuma point together in situ leaves no question as to their equal age and contemporary existence among the people who produced them. Another particular focus of the article is the distinction of the Scottsbluff bison from other species, with differences noted in length and curvature of the horn cores, in order to reinforce the notion that these bison did not survive into “sub-Recent” time, as Romer’s documentation suggests.

The article, therefore, is essentially a narrative of the sequence and details of artifacts and fossils found at the Scottsbluff bison quarry. This story is described with the intention of reviewing the debate between the “Pleistocene school” and the reviving popularity of Recent age classifications. Ultimately, the authors attempt to challenge and discredit the assertions by Romer in his recent paper.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
BENJAMIN H. WEBER Middlebury College (David Napier)

Schultz, Bertrand C. and Loren Eiseley. Paleontological Evidence for the Antiquity of the Scottsbluff Bison Quarry and its Associated Artifacts. American Anthropologist. 1935 Vol. 37: 306-319.

This article begins with the debate petween the age of fossils and the antiquity of man in North America. Definite facts point to the existence of man-made objects found alongside the remains of animals no longer existent. The ages of debate are the Pleistocene and Recent. While the authors offer no conclusions to this debate, the analysis of the evidence of bison fossils at the Scottsbluff Quarry in Nebraska due to the conflicts between the methods used for dating can be used to further complicate and add evidence to both sides of this debate. The Folsom and Yuma points found in this area suggest that man played a part in the existence of these bison. These findings point to the dating of this in the recent period. Other animals, assumed to have died with the Pleistocene age, have been found alongside animals known to have existed in the Recent area pointing to the possibility that these animals lived longer than previously assumed. The quarry, while not accurately dated shows geological antiquity. The distinct nature of the bison found at the quarry proves the extinction of this species. The invertebrate data found at the site also suggests its antiquity. The authors, conclude that the varied evidence, including: invertebrate evidence, the undisturbed character of the deposit and the presence of fossil bison point to a placing of this quarry into the Pleistocene. In conclusion multi-faceted dating methods, using diverse fields of knowledge, are necessary to reach an accurate observation of the age of such archeological sites.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
SARAH MCDOWELL Occidental College (Dr. Elizabeth Chin)

Serrano, Antonio. The So-Called Chaco-Santiaguena Civilization (Argentina). American Anthropologist 37 (2): 226-233.

The concern of the author is that the works of Emile and Duncan Wagner had not at the time of this article, been put into publication. He also looked to contribute his own findings about the Chaco-Santiaguena Civilization. The author had set out to prove that the information the Wagner brothers discovered corresponded to the Juries cultural possessions.

Beginning in 1927, the Wagner brothers made several archeological trips in the so-called Chaco-Santiaguena which is located northwest of a place called Melero. The Wagners discovered an amazing amount of archaeological remains, but a publication of their discoveries had never been done in their entirety.

The author includes in the article the summaries written by the Wagners about their findings (most of the archaeological remains were polychrome earthenware). The bulk of the article seems to consist of this summary and little of the author’s own words. The author takes from the summary details that he uses to make his conclusions. He states that his work in the article is mostly an historical discussion and that he wanted to share with America the excitement the people of Argentina have found over these discoveries.

CLARITY RATE: 4
DANIELLE SULLIVAN California State University, Hayward (Peter J. Claus)

Serrano, Antonio. The So-Called Chaco-SantiagueZa Civilization (Argentina). American Anthropologist 1935 Vol.37:226-234.

This article is a summary of the archeological findings of brothers Emile and Duncan Wagner in Argentina’s Dulce River region in 1927. Serrano presents excerpts of the original archeological field notes, as well as the work of anthropologist Enrique Palavecino, to demonstrate the existence of the Chaco-SantiagueZa civilization. Based on this evidence, Serrano concludes that the Juri (the indigenous people of the Argentine civilization) were a sedentary Indian population that settled along the Dulce River valley. He describes the agrarian practices of the Juri people, their traditional dress, bow and arrow weaponry and the bohio construction of their homes. The author further asserts that the archeological findings of the Wagner brothers were instrumental in proving that the Chaco-SantiagueZa civilization had an advanced system of trade (by evidence of European glass beads) and that skilled handcrafts were a central cultural element. The article is illustrated with drawings and photographs of items uncovered in the archeological study.

Using the writings of Palavecino, Serrano also demonstrates the hypothetical social structure that existed in the Juri community. Palavecino corroborates the Wagner findings by surmising that the economic system was agrarian, the civilization had industrial production of tools and earthenware pots, and also created their dwellings and implements to further their environmental adaptation. Finally, Serrano examines physical anthropological evidence concerning the shape of skulls and excavated bones to speculate on the phenotype of the Juri people.

In an attempt to relate the information he presents in the article, Serrano highlights four reasons the artifacts of the Chaco-SantiagueZa civilization are significant to anthropology. The first reason the author provides is that the items were found in a region known to be inhabited by the Juri Indians during the era of conquest. Second, he documents similarities in the way the Juries managed their water supply to irrigation systems in other mountain-based societies. Third, the presence of glass beads and other European cultural elements demonstrates trade. Finally, Serrano asserts that the articles most clearly suggest that the Juri Indians did in fact construct a sedentary, agrarian society.

CLARTIY RANKING: 5
MARY KATHERINE O’BRIEN Middlebury College (David Napier)

Serrano, Antonio. The So-Called Chaco-Santiaguena Civilization (Argentina). American Anthropologist 1935. Vol. 37: 226-233

In this article, Antonio Serrano uses historical accounts to make a connection between the Juries, a sedentary Indian group situated along the river Dulce in the province of Santiago del Estero in Argentina, and the ancient “Civilizacion chaco-santiaguena”. Serrano uses the findings of the Wagner brothers, Emile and Duncan, and the archeological record of the skulls found in this area to illustrate his point.

Serrano describes the Juries as farmers who produce pumpkins, maize, and kidney beans, and as hunters and gatherers. The clothing is made of feathers for the men and vegetable fibers for the women. Both of which are worn from the waist down. Serrano describes the weapons as bows and poisonous arrows.

The Wagner brothers describe their findings of tumuli groups along the edges of the rivers Dulce and Salado. The arrangement of the tumuli is either in small groups surrounding a pool or in lines along long avenues. The hollows that surround the area are believed to be pools to collect rainwater in dry times. Also, due to the findings of kitchen refuse, broken earthenware and animal bones, the Wagner brothers concluded that these sites were not used as burial sites, but rather that the tumuli were places where the inhabitants built houses.

Also, the archeological record shows that the skulls found in “Civilizacion chaco-santiaguena” are deformed by the decuhitus system of tying babies’ heads to a cradle with rope, which is also found in the area of the Juries.

Serrano concludes his article with a list of the reasons, already described in the article, why the Juries culture corresponds to the “Civilizacion chaco-santiaguena”.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
TYLER MARTZ Occidental College (Elizabeth Chin)

Setzler, Frank M. A Prehistoric Cave Culture in Southwestern Texas. American Anthropologist, Volume 37, pp. 104-110.

This article is a study of the archaeological finds in eight caves in the Big Bend region of southwestern Texas, as used by prehistoric Native Americans. There is a detailed discussion of basket types and their unique constructions in comparison with baskets found in adjacent geographical and cultural regions. Particularly noted are differences between this Texas culture’s baskets and those of the Pueblo culture to the west. Differences and similarities are noted in the construction of sandals, cradles, fur burial robes, atlatl shafts and other weapons, tools, animal bone modifications and shell decorations.

The author reaches the conclusion that the Texas caves were used only as temporary shelters for a foraging society. No pottery is in evidence, so there is no reliable method of dating cultural material found other than inferences based on some basket construction similarities to those found in Basketmaker III and Pueblo I materials. The author states that the Texas Big Bend cave dweller culture should be regarded as independent from the Pueblo culture, given lack of sufficient evidence to link the two together. Further excavations are needed before advancing theories of direct connections between the two cultures.

CLARITY RATE: 4
JAYNE SMITHSON California State University, Hayward (Peter J. Claus)

Setzler, Frank M. A Prehistoric Cave Culture in Southwestern Texas. American Anthropologist 1935. Vol. 37: 104-110.

Setzler attempts to define a “phase of the Huastec culture” that is located in the southwest corner of Texas known as the Big Bend region. After presenting a list of his archaeological findings, he states that he cannot link this particular group directly to the Basket Makers or Pueblo Indians “because of the variation in similar types of artifacts and the lack of sufficient evidence.” He argues that the “Cave-dwellers of the Big Bend region of Texas” are an isolated, independent group and are therefore separate from “the classical Basket Maker.”

By listing various details of the excavated artifacts from various sites in this region, he attempts to identify the relationships (which later affirm the dissimilarities) between this group’s material remains and other “seemingly unrelated groups of prehistoric Indians.” He finally concludes that he is unable to place this particular society in its “proper chronological and cultural position,” except for one possible link to the “Southwestern cultures.”

His copious lists of data include detailed descriptions of artifacts, including: baskets, sandals, cradles, arrowshafts, arrow foreshafts, artifacts made from various different materials, as well as measurements of excavated skeletal remains, specifically infant skulls. He analyzes the artifacts in terms of the materials and techniques used in their manufacture. He speculates on the use of the excavated caves, the permanency (or lack thereof) of the “Indians’” residences, diet, and “material culture.” He adds that the lack of “sun-baked pottery or European evidence” contributes to the difficulty he experienced in trying to chronologically identify this group. He states that the “variations seem to outweigh the few obvious similarities” with the Basket Makers or Pueblo Indians. He adds that “these hypotheses do not imply” that the Big Bend cave cultures are older than the Basket Maker III or Pueblo I cultures, though it is unclear where the Big Bend cultures fall chronologically.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
KATHLEEN BRADLEY Occidental College (Elizabeth Chin).

Speck, Frank G. Siouan Tribes of the Carolinas as Known from Catawba, Tutelo, and Documentary Sources. American Anthropologist 37 (2): 201-223.

The problem that the author had to deal with was that within the early narratives of the Carolinas, there had been much confusion in the tribal names that were mentioned.

The author set out to try to make sense of the different tribal names that were mentioned in the narratives by looking at the names lexically and through informants. Many of the tribes mentioned were extinct at the time and the author had only a few informants that spoke the language of the Siouan tribes.

The author interviews surviving members of the tribes Catawba and of Tutelo in order to identify tribes and possible meanings of these names. The author says himself that the success of his work is not phenomenal, but it seems to be well done. The author takes names from the narratives that date back three hundred years, and he combines the known history of the area with the information gleamed from the informants. The information that the author acquired is broken down lexically, he takes the names that the informants recognized and connected those names to other tribes that might have had contact with the Catawba and the Tutelo. The names that were recognized could have been something as simple as a name for a creek that could be connected to another tribe. Although the time the author spent on the Tutelo was a little confusing in reference to the Catawba, he did stay consistent in his lexical and historical analysis. The author cannot fully succeed in identify all of the Siouan names at this time and there is more work to be done in other areas.

CLARITY RATE: 3.5
DANIELLE SULLIVAN California State University, Hayward (Peter J. Claus)

Speck, G. Frank. Siouan Tribes of the Carolinas as known from Catawba, Tutelo, and Documentary Sources. American Anthropologist 1935 Vol. 37: 201-225

Frank G. Speck provides an etymological analysis of the tribal names and early narratives of the Siouan Tribes of the Carolinas. The two remaining languages, Tutelo and Catawba, were examined for the study, whereas 22 other Siouan dialects could only be determined through inference. With funds provided by the Bureau of American Ethnology, Speck tries to clear up some of the gaps in our knowledge by providing meanings for some of the native names for tribes, rivers and villages. Speck is mostly concerned with the linguistics of the Siouan tribes because of his background knowledge in the origin of words associated with Native Americans. With the assistance of four living speakers of Catawba, Speck is able to deduce the Siouan lineages of the East.

The study discerns proper names from common names, paying close attention to the transformation of idioms. For example, the meaning of People of the River to People on the Edge of the Bank translates differently among various Carolina tribes. Much of the evidence involving tribal languages is revealed through tales of certain Tutelo settlements and the appearance of tribal names in newspaper reports and historical documents of the 1600’s. Many of the tribes during this period moved back and forth over a vast territory of several states. Such migrating makes researching these mysterious languages difficult. Also, the few languages that remained by 1930’s makes Speck cautious about the different languages. Although this study tries to do a great service by defining the ethnogeography of the Carolinas, the lack of evidence and support puzzles as much as educates.

CLARITY RANKING: 2
CATHERINE SAMSON Middlebury College (David Napier)

Steen, Charlie R. Slit Tapestry from the Upper Salt River Valley, Arizona. American Anthropologist July-September, 1935 Vol.37(3):257-259.

The article describes a particular artifact, cotton fabric, discovered in the excavation of a cliff dwelling at Tonto National Monument in the upper Salt River Valley, Arizona in the summer of 1931. The type of weaving used for the strap recovered is known as slit tapestry. This type of weaving is found very rarely in the southwestern United States.

The author explains that the fabric was made with yucca fiber as well as cotton, and is woven in white, red and brown. The division of colors found on the cloth gives the fabric the distinct split tapestry style. This style employs a specific method of weaving which is used to create a terraced design of triangular and rectangular blocks of color. The author mentions one other example of this style of weaving recovered in the American southwest from a site on the Verde River in Arizona. To his knowledge, these two examples are the only reported remnants of the split tapestry style for this area of the country.

Although this article is short, the brief description of the weaving style is a bit difficult to understand with no knowledge of weaving technology.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
KATIE CURLER Middlebury College (David Napier)

Swanton, John R. Notes on the Cultural Province of the Southeast. American Anthropologist, 1935 vol: 37, pp 373-385.

The Native American population in the Southeast United States lived in an area approximately 1200 miles long and 600 miles wide. In the south it was bordered by the Gulf of Mexico. On the east it was bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. It reached as far north as Ohio and as far west as the Trinity River in Texas. Swanton is interested in how these indigenous populations adapted to the region. By the time man had reached the Western Hemisphere they were already proficient in hunting and fishing. The native populations along the Atlantic Coast were much more dense than inland populations. The sea coasts, along with other bodies of water such as lakes and rivers, supplied these people with an abundant food resource. Once agriculture was introduced from the south, more people began moving inland and focusing on the growing of subsistence crops. Most groups in the Southeastern United States, however, remained near bodies of water. Once Europeans began to arrive in North America many of the natives were pushed further and further from the coasts and into the interior. The Native Americans in this area have a great deal of artwork to be accounted for. Paintings on textiles, tattoos, baskets and mats were all forms of artwork these people were involved in. In Northwest Florida the Indians were particularly good at pottery making. How can the eminence of these people be accounted for? The author lists two reasons. One is the antiquity of the culture in this area. The second is that many of the tribes in this area were middlemen between the surrounding tribes. The Caddo tribe, in particular, was in communication with seven different tribes. Examples of tribal government in this area are best represented by the Iroquis and the Creeks. The author admits that this issue is much more complicated than as stated in the essay, but little is known of these people in an archaeological sense.

CLARITY RATING: 4
DREW ZAJICEK California State University, Hayward (Peter J. Claus)

Swanton, John R. Notes on the Cultural Province of the Southeast. American Anthropologist July-September, 1935 Vol.37(3):373-385.

This article attempts to explain the broad trends of settlement in the American Southeast by Native American tribes. The author traces broad trends of movement from the inland forests to coastal areas with the development of fishing techniques and then back inland after the development of agriculture. The author begins with the hypothesis that before man invented hunting and fishing techniques, his diet was largely plant based and better suited to inland life. Once hunting and fishing techniques had been established, the native populations clustered in coastal areas where food and other resources were abundant. The author comments that when Europeans arrived on the continent, coastal settlements were being abandoned in favor of inland environments conducive to agriculture. Tribes moved inland and tended to avoid settling near large bodies of water to avoid their enemies.

Based on an examination of the pottery of the Caddo tribe, the author hypothesizes that the artistic center and the center of civilization in the Southeast existed along the lower Mississippi River at the western edge of what he calls the Southeastern province.

The focus of the article then shifts to the superior governments that developed in the more marginal tribes, the Iroquois and the Creek. The Creek system of government is described as an alliance between the Muskogee band and other smaller bands over which the Muskogee dominated. The Iroquois government is described as an attempt by leaders of different bands to end the warfare between them in a type of confederation.

The author closes the article with a discussion of linguistic and artifact similarities between different tribes that suggest common roots, or at least a closer affinity in the past. The author recognizes that before any concrete statements can be made about the history of the Southeast, further research is necessary.

This article requires careful reading to absorb the names of the various Native American tribes mentioned. Many of the names are similar, and very little description is given to facilitate clarification.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
KATIE CURLER Middlebury College (David Napier)

Taylor, Douglas. The Island Caribs of Dominica, B.W.I. American Anthropologist 1935 Vol.37:265-272.

Taylor’s main concern in the article is discussing the alteration of the indigenous Carib culture due to foreign influences. Much of Carib traditions and customs of the time are difficult to differentiate from those that belong to the Creole people of Dominica. The Caribs have conformed to certain outside cultural influences such as adapting their houses to resemble the general pattern utilized throughout the island. The Carib people have also retained other traditional modes of construction, such as the carving of dugout canoes, as a main source of income. After spending considerable time in the field between 1930 and 1934, Taylor was able to compile a list of words and expressions that are still commonly used by older Carib men and women on the Reserve, which was established for the remaining Carib people in 1903. The list was constructed with the help of a man in his fifties who could neither read nor write and had never left the island. For the most part, Taylor found that the Carib language was unknown to most with only select words continuing to be used among a small group of elders.

The argument in this article is vague to begin with, but the points that Taylor attempts to make are poorly articulated. The main focus of the paper is not clearly stated. Taylor begins the article testifying that, despite the general belief that Carib culture is long dead, the reality is that the indigenous culture still thrives today. However, he then proceeds to say that it is difficult to distinguish between the culture and traditions of the Creole people and those that are of pure Carib origin. Midway through the essay, Taylor shifts the focus from traditions to language, of which even he states is an incomplete study of the words and phrases that are still utilized in everyday speech. Little attention is paid to any one topic, confusing the reader as to the true purpose of the article.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
ERIN JENSEN Middlebury College (David Napier)

Taylor, Douglas. The Island Caribs of Dominica, B.W.I. American Anthropologist 1935. Vol. 37: 265-272.

Taylor opens his article with a short description of the present location, government, and population of the small population of remaining Island Caribs. He responds to the Government Commissioners’ statement (of 1932) that traditional Carib characteristics, customs, and language have nearly disappeared. The bulk of his article is evidence of the existence of Carib customs and traditions, collected between the years 1930 and 1934.

Taylor begins the body of the article with a section entitled, “Custom, Tradition, Industry,” though the majority of the article is dedicated to the “Language” section. Regarding Carib custom, Taylor notes the difficulty in distinguishing between general Créole custom and that which is specifically Carib. He mentions the influence of forced Christianity, which is practiced minimally and, as he says, superficially. He adds that the people who knew the old legends had forgotten half of them or refused to tell them because they feared the priests’ reprimands. He recounts the style of Carib houses as well as the materials and methods used in the construction of Carib-specific products and foods. Specifically, he discusses the manufacture of baskets, canoes, rum, and the shift from cassava to yams and other roots.

He prefaces the “Language” section with the statement that the original Carib languages are dead, though many words have been assimilated into the English and French spoken in the island of Dominica. Over a quarter of the article is dedicated to lists of original Carib vocabulary (recorded by ear) and then his commentary on specific words. He discusses the differences in pronunciation between his experience of the language and that of Father Raymond Breton. He concludes this section with a description of his elderly male informant who had never left the island.

He concludes with, “Interbreeding and the dying out of the old ways seems to be inevitable; but it might be possible by encouragement and judicious help to stem the tide. Unfortunately, no one in the island takes the slightest interest in these, the last of the first-found American people.”

CLARITY RANKING: 4
KATHLEEN BRADLEY Occidental College (Elizabeth Chin).

Taylor, Douglas. The Island Caribs of Dominica, B.W.I. American Anthropologist 37 (2): 265-272.

The concern that the author faces is the loss of the language and culture of the Carib forever. With the influence of the British, the people have lost their customs and traditions and go so far as to be afraid even to tell old stories to the author.

The author is attempting to save what he can about the Carib before their traditions and customs are lost forever, but the author has found that most has already been lost and much of what he finds must be differentiated between Creole and Carib.

The author uses his article mostly as an ethnography. He interviews the people that he determines to be full-blooded Carib on the Reserve. There resides on the Reserve about five hundred people, but only one hundred fifty seemed to be of pure Indian blood. The author looks at what is left of the now dead Carib language, mostly words and phrases. The author provides the reader with a nice sized list of what he was able to find. All of the words and phrases he had to take down by ear. The informant that the author used was about fifty and could not read or write. The informant talked about that when he was a boy it was possible to hear many of the older people speak their language fluently. What is left is a small, probably corrupted vocabulary. The author sees that interbreeding and the dying out of old ways an inevitable process, but is sad that there is no interest in what he calls the first-found American people.

CLARITY RATE: 3.8
DANIELLE SULLIVAN California State University, Hayward (Peter J. Claus)

Thomson, D. F. The Joking Relationship and Organized Obscenity in North Queensland. American Anthropologist 1935 Vol.37 460-40

Thomson describes swearing amongst Australian tribes in North Queensland as existing in two different settings. The first is unorganized swearing and obscenity, which is deliberately used for the purpose of angering enemies. The second type is organized or licensed swearing and obscenity, which is permissible and expected, based on the type of relationships that exist between individuals. He states that though swearing and obscenity may be permissible or obligatory, only swearing falls under social sanction. Thompson discusses the nature of joking relationships, which are allowed among members of one’s grandparent’s generation or with a relative by marriage where ” an incompatibility in the obligatory pattern of behavior has been setup by the marriage.” He makes note of the fact that though there are taboo words which cannot be used with certain relatives, there is generally no restriction as to the usage of words that make reference to genitalia, reproduction and such bodily functions as defecation. Usage of these words is also not restricted to generations, as they are to be found in stories told to the old and young alike and may also be used by children.

Thompson goes on to describe the joking relationship between various Australian tribes with special attention to the differences in manner and vocabulary utilized in each tribe. He concludes by recapping the significance of the joking relationship, its functional role in society and its structured aspects.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
AKOSUA NYAKO Middlebury College (David Napier)

Thomson, Donald F. The Joking Relationship and Organized Obscenity in North Queensland. American Anthropologist, 1935. Vol 37: 460

The author’s objective is show that “the use of swearing and obscenity is of frequent occurrence and plays an important part in social life,” among the native tribes of Cape York Peninsula, North Queensland. Only five representative tribes will be discussed in the article, although the joking relationship can be found throughout the area. It is important to understand that “all the tribes on the Peninsula are patrilineal, tracing their descent in the moiety and clan through the father.” The understanding of a patrilineal tribe will aid the reader to comprehend the shift of a joke to an offense.

Moreover, the author best describes the importance of joking relationships in social life when he mentions “the behavior within this joking relationship is regulated by kinship.” In order for a joking relationship to function, it has to occur between relatives or strong kinship ties. Furthermore, he adds that “it is suppose to induce a state of euphoria: in the words of my informants, to ‘make everybody happy’.” The use of jokes and organized obscenity is laid out by tradition, which fulfils a sociological function.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
KATHY TAPIA Occidental College (Elizabeth Chin)

Whorf, B. L. The Comparative Linguistics of Uto-Aztecan. American Anthropologist 1935 Vol. 37: 600-608

B.L. Whorf argues that the comparative linguistics has entered its second stage. He attempts to grade degrees of linguistics kinship by developing linguistic patterns. However, with contemporary theories, in his era, shifted to an analysis of structure. Thus, the focus of the article is to compare homologous structures.

The author’s argument develops with a series of scientific comparisons between structures. For instance, he provides “homorganic stop may occur in the formula CVCV counting as a single C, and so likewise a consonant preceded by h or a ^9.” It posses a systematic and scientific approach to studying Uto-American language. Nevertheless, the author’s analysis is a great article for scholars with interest and a background in linguistics.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
KATHY TAPIA Occidental College (Elizabeth Chin)

Willoughby, Charles C. Michabo the Great Hare: A Patron of the Hopewell Mound Settlement. American Anthropologist 37 (2): 280-286.

The problem that the author sees in his knowledge of Michabo is that there does not exist in the archaeological sites of the Algonquian many effigies to Michabo. Michabo, the Great Hare, is the highest deity of these people and when he is passed along to other tribes, he becomes identified with Christ.

The author sets out to solve that the two items found in the Hopewell mound site located in Ross County, Ohio is an effigy to Michabo.

There as been found within a grave in the Hopewell mound a carved tube made out of bone and a helmet headdress. Both these items show some very distinct characteristics that would connect them to Michabo. It is believed that the second item was found with a high priest of Michabo and the headdress was his to wear during ceremony. The author provides a complete description of the items, pictures and sketches. He makes a compelling argument and seems to succeed in his endeavor. Many of the graves on this site have not been systematically studied and more evidence of the worship of Michabo might be found. The author concludes with explaining that in his previous articles he has endeavored to prove that the people of the Hopewell mound belonged to the Algonquian linguistic stock and that they shared more than just the worship of the same great deity.

CLARITY RATE: 5
DANIELLE SULLIVAN California State University, Hayward (Peter J. Claus)

Willoughby, Charles C. Michabo the Great Hare: A Patron of the Hopewell Mound Settlement. American Anthropologist, 1935. Vol. 37: 280-286.

Willoughby writes on the Algonquian culture hero associated with the Hopewell Group in Ross County, Ohio. He reports on his perceptions of the traditional storytelling about Michabo, according to his interactions with the Indians of the Algonquian area. He expresses his concern, however, that the archaeological findings that represent the Michabo are rare. Willoughby carefully examines the existing objects that are identifiable with the cultural icon: the headdress and a bone tube.

The headdress is fashioned in a birdlike design. The bone tube is from a human femur and has carved designs portraying an image of other headdresses worn by the religious figures. He argues that these artifacts represent the physical manifestation of Michabo. Only in the hands of priest could the deity take shape, rather than in the construction of other objects that might portray his deity.

Willoughby concludes that there is a wide geographic area containing homogenous artifacts that associate themselves with the Algonquian culture. Those of Ross County, however, have appeared to be the most symmetric and therefore, according to Willoughby, the finished touch.

CLARITY RANKING: 5
KENTURAH DAVIS Occidental College (Elizabeth Chin)

Wyman, Leland and Boyd, William. Human Blood Groups and Anthropology. American Anthropologist 1935 37 (2): 181-200.

The overall problem that the authors were concerned with was when the Hirszfeld’s made the discovery on the Macedonian battlefront during the first World War the percentage of people that belonged to each of the four blood groups was different in the various racial groups. This discovery had an anthropological importance that it would solve problems of race that had previously not been fulfilled.

The authors set out to examine the reasons of the past failure in solving the problems of race in regards to blood grouping. They also stated their opinions in what the probable usefulness blood grouping might have in the future to anthropogical study.

The authors begin their article with a brief but complete description of how the Landsteiner blood groups work how they are detected between A, B or O, and also that only a trained person can determine the different blood group. The authors acknowledge the fact the many of their readers are familiar with Landsteiner and direct them to skip to the section that directly applies to anthropology.

The anthropological aspects of this article focus mainly on how anthropologists might be able to trace the migration of humans based on the blood type of the races of people. They include in this section a counter argument of mutation of the blood to explain the distributions of the blood groups in Asia and America but the authors discarded this hypothesis based on the frequency of mutation in humans. They also discuss the process of extracting blood samples in the field and how to determine the blood groups of mummies. They conclude that the blood groups are more than likely older than the present races. They are unsure of whether the blood groups can be traced back to anthropoid or if there is an independent origin.

CLARITY RATE: 5
DANIELLE SULLIVAN California State University, Hayward (Peter J. Claus)

Wyman, Leland C. and Boyd, William C. Human Blood Groups and Anthropology.American Anthropologist April- June 1935 Volume 37(2): 181-200.

This article, written by Leland C. Wyman and William C. Boyd, offers insight into the study of human blood groups and their relevance to anthropology in general, and to race and migration in particular.

The authors introduce the topic by reviewing, for the uninformed, the formation of the Landsteiner blood groups: types A, B, AB, and O. Detailed techniques and references to further techniques on blood typing are given. They also discuss the ways in which these blood types are inherited and examine, through reference to several different scientific studies and methods, the discovery of new categories of blood typing and their potential informative value in terms of human evolutionary studies.

The article then examines the utility of these findings for the field of anthropology. Maps showing the frequency of blood types A and B in certain global regions are shown, and various hypotheses for the cause of this distribution are discussed. The authors examine blood type as it relates to race and to region. Through this, they attempt to find connections between the origin of these blood types and the movement of early humans throughout the world. Unfortunately, only limited information is available for certain “racial groups,” but the authors concluded that, given the present information, blood groups most likely existed prior to the visible racial groups we now see. The authors feel that evidence as to the origin of these blood types, whether anthropoid or otherwise, is inconclusive, and add that there is much work to be done in this area of study.

The article moves on to discuss the other advantages of blood type analysis, which include the detection of blood types for mummified bodies. Here, the authors make a point of emphasizing the value that blood type analysis has for the anthropological field. The evidence and studies provided in this article, while thorough, are dated and readers interested in the value of human blood group analysis to anthropology would be better suited by seeking out a more contemporary source.

CLARITY RANKING: 2
ANGUS BIRCHALL Middlebury College (David Napier)

Wyman, Leland C. and William C. Boyd. Human Blood Groups and Anthropology. American Anthropologist, 1935. Vol. 37: 181-200.

Wyman and Boyd begin their article with the statement, “It is the purpose of this paper… to state what in the authors’ opinion is the probable future usefulness of blood grouping in anthropology.” At the end of the article, they conclude, “The blood groups are probably older than the present races, but whether of anthropoid or independent origin it is difficult to say.” In the process, they come to the conclusion that it is unlikely “that man came to America before the origin of the blood groups.”

The authors open with an introduction to Landsteiner blood groups and the methods for determining these blood groups. They acknowledge that discovering the blood groups to which certain groups of people belong reveals “no more (and of course no less) than knowledge of any other one fact about them.” Blood groups do reveal, however, hereditary information. With the aid of a world map, the authors plot the locations of high concentration of A and B genes. They add that “mutation A probably occurred in Europe, and mutation B in the Orient, from which they were later carried by migration.” As far as mutation, the authors speculate, “substances A and B might have originated independently in the anthropoid apes… and possibly several times in man in different parts of the world.”

The authors note specifically that one disadvantage of blood grouping is that it can only be determined on the living, though occasionally, blood stains are usable after being dried for years. The authors mention the testing of mummies with a certain method that may lead to clues regarding blood grouping (and perhaps paternity tests to determine royal lineages).

CLARITY RANKING: 2
KATHLEEN BRADLEY Occidental College (Elizabeth Chin)