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Traditions of the Caddo
Hernando de Soto encountered the Caddos in the sixteenth century, and survivors of Sieur de La Salle’s last voyage in the late seventeenth century gave the first full description of them. By 1903, when George A. Dorsey was investigating their customs and beliefs, the Caddos, numbering 530, were living on a reservation in Oklahoma.
The Caddoan tribes, found along the Red River and its tributaries in present-day Louisiana and Arkansas, practiced agriculture long before they hunted buffalo. The tales collected for this book, first published in 1905, reflect the women’s horticultural practices (supplemented by the men’s hunting), village life distinguished by conical grass lodges, family and social relationships, connection to nature, and ceremonies. The tales vibrate with earthly and unearthly Snake-Woman, who distributes seeds; Coyote, who regulates life after death; the Effeminate Man, who brings strife to the tribe; Coward, son of the Moon; the Man and the Dog who become Stars; the Old Woman who kept all the pecans; Splinter-Foot Boy and Medicine-Screech-Owl; water monsters; animal-people; and cannibals.
The Caddoan tribes, found along the Red River and its tributaries in present-day Louisiana and Arkansas, practiced agriculture long before they hunted buffalo. The tales collected for this book, first published in 1905, reflect the women’s horticultural practices (supplemented by the men’s hunting), village life distinguished by conical grass lodges, family and social relationships, connection to nature, and ceremonies. The tales vibrate with earthly and unearthly Snake-Woman, who distributes seeds; Coyote, who regulates life after death; the Effeminate Man, who brings strife to the tribe; Coward, son of the Moon; the Man and the Dog who become Stars; the Old Woman who kept all the pecans; Splinter-Foot Boy and Medicine-Screech-Owl; water monsters; animal-people; and cannibals.
132 pages, Paperback
Published December 1, 1997
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About the author
George Amos Dorsey
92 books2 followersGeorge Amos Dorsey (February 6, 1868 – March 29, 1931) was an U.S. ethnographer of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a special focus on Caddoan and Siouan tribes.
Dorsey was born in Hebron, Ohio, to Edwin Jackson and Mary Emma (nee Grove) Dorsey.
He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Denison University in 1888, then a second Bachelor's Degree in anthropology in 1890 at Harvard university, and finally PhD in 1894 on An Archaeological Study Based on a Personal Exploration of Over One Hundred Graves at the Necropolis of Ancon, Peru., the first PhD in anthropology from Harvard, and the second ever awarded in the United States.
In the 1890s Charles Frederick Newcombe, Dorsey and a Scottish guide named James Deans were travelling to gather artefacts that might be of ethnographic interest. Their methods varied, but they frequently held little regard for the native Canadians. The local missionary, John Henry Keen had to angrily take them to task after he found they had not only raided graves but also not restored them to their former state. Keen found hair and coffins strewn about from where they had dug to steal skulls and bones. Keen wrote to complain about the desecration and challenged Dean to name his accomplices although he was clear that the benefactor of their work was the Field Columbian Museum and that the perpetrators were Americans. George Dorsey was known for his haste in finding artefacts was told of Keen's letter to the "Daily Colonist" and he argued that Keen's anger should be ignored.
He became an assistant and instructor in anthropology at Harvard until 1896 when he joined the staff of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.
He married Ida Chadsey on December 8, 1892. They separated in April, 1914, and were subsequently divorced; Ida died in 1937. Dorsey later married Sue McLellan.
Dorsey died in New York.
The Oraibi Soyal ceremony on Internet Archive (1901)
Indians of the Southwest on Internet Archive (1903)
The Arapaho sun dance : the ceremony of the Offerings lodge on Internet Archive (1903)
The Cheyenne: I. Ceremonial Organization on Internet Archive (March 1905)
The Cheyenne: II. The Sun Dance on Internet Archive (May 1905)
Young Low, a novel (1917)
Why We Behave Like Human Beings (1925)
The Nature of Man (1927)
The Evolution of Charles Darwin (1927)
Hows and Whys of Human Behavior (1929)
Many more of his works are available at the Internet Archive.
Dorsey was born in Hebron, Ohio, to Edwin Jackson and Mary Emma (nee Grove) Dorsey.
He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Denison University in 1888, then a second Bachelor's Degree in anthropology in 1890 at Harvard university, and finally PhD in 1894 on An Archaeological Study Based on a Personal Exploration of Over One Hundred Graves at the Necropolis of Ancon, Peru., the first PhD in anthropology from Harvard, and the second ever awarded in the United States.
In the 1890s Charles Frederick Newcombe, Dorsey and a Scottish guide named James Deans were travelling to gather artefacts that might be of ethnographic interest. Their methods varied, but they frequently held little regard for the native Canadians. The local missionary, John Henry Keen had to angrily take them to task after he found they had not only raided graves but also not restored them to their former state. Keen found hair and coffins strewn about from where they had dug to steal skulls and bones. Keen wrote to complain about the desecration and challenged Dean to name his accomplices although he was clear that the benefactor of their work was the Field Columbian Museum and that the perpetrators were Americans. George Dorsey was known for his haste in finding artefacts was told of Keen's letter to the "Daily Colonist" and he argued that Keen's anger should be ignored.
He became an assistant and instructor in anthropology at Harvard until 1896 when he joined the staff of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.
He married Ida Chadsey on December 8, 1892. They separated in April, 1914, and were subsequently divorced; Ida died in 1937. Dorsey later married Sue McLellan.
Dorsey died in New York.
The Oraibi Soyal ceremony on Internet Archive (1901)
Indians of the Southwest on Internet Archive (1903)
The Arapaho sun dance : the ceremony of the Offerings lodge on Internet Archive (1903)
The Cheyenne: I. Ceremonial Organization on Internet Archive (March 1905)
The Cheyenne: II. The Sun Dance on Internet Archive (May 1905)
Young Low, a novel (1917)
Why We Behave Like Human Beings (1925)
The Nature of Man (1927)
The Evolution of Charles Darwin (1927)
Hows and Whys of Human Behavior (1929)
Many more of his works are available at the Internet Archive.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 15, 2018
A bit more accessible than Dorsey’s Mythology of the Wichita, and contains a greater variety of subject matter. Fewer war stories and more Coyote hijinks. They are pretty interesting to read back-to-back to see some of the same stories coming from different tribes.
November 24, 2023
The introduction lays out some of the difficulties in translation as well as the history of the collection. I read each story and the paired section in the abstract and would recommend that method for anyone looking to get some insight into the process.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews