Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, Vol. I, Part II

Some Protective Designs of the Dakota

The decorative art of the Dakota has been treated in a preceding paper, in which brief mention was made of religious art, or that art in which there was a definite, unmistakable motive on the part of the artist to represent mythical or philosophical ideas. In this more serious art, a large number of designs may be characterized as protective designs, because their presence or possession is in part a protection. The idea in a protective design seems to be a symbolical appeal to the source or concrete manifestation of a protective power. It is not easy to get the point of view and the spirit of the faith that make these designs significant, but from the detailed explanations of them some general idea can be formed. The descriptions given in this paper are based upon the statements of Indians, in most cases the executers of the designs. The attitude of the reader toward such a study as this is often that of concluding that the points of view set forth by a writer are universal in the tribe. This leads to a great deal of superficial criticism. In the opinion of the writer, any rejection of such study because one or two or several Indians deny all knowledge of some or all of the specific native accounts upon which conclusions are based, is absurd. We might as well test the artistic sense of a city by calling in one or two persons from the street. As a case in point, the reader is referred to the remarks of J. Owen Dorsey on the authenticity of Bushotters Double Woman.[1] A great deal of the information received from Indians relative to religion is largely individual, and every ethnological field-worker must take the best of his material from the brightest men of a tribe. The object of this study has been to bring together ideas expressed by various individuals more or less eminent among their people, because all of these individual conceptions seem to have much in common. The data were secured by the writer when on Museum expeditions to the Teton and Yankton divisions of the Dakota. Dorsey (Eleventh Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, p. 480). The circular shield was distributed over a large part of North America. A conspicuous part of the arms of Mexican warriors was the round, small target worn by the brave on his left arm, and made of canes netted together and interwoven with cotton twofold, covered on the outside with gilded boards and with feathers, and so strong that a hard cross-bow shot could alone penetrate them;[2] but merely ornamental shields [were also] used and carried by warriors and chiefs on festive occasions only.[3] ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 50589
Author: Wissler, Clark
Release Date: Dec 2, 2015
Format: eBook
Language: English