The Mythology of the Wichita

by George Amos Dorsey

First published in 1904, George A. Dorsey’s Mythology of the Wichita is a rich collection of American Indian folklore. WIth the help of a Wichita interpreter, Dorsey gathered sixty tales from the Wichitas living in Oklahoma and arranged them according to the first period, the creation; the second period, transformation; and the third period, the present. For the Wichitas, tale-telling was of great instructional value for the young. The tales taught that braverly and greatness depended upon individual effort, no matter how low or mean might have been the individual’s origin, and at the same time, that there might descend upon the child the same longevity and good fortune possessed by the hero of the tale.

368 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1995

About the author

George 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.

Reviews

[Michael Philliber · Rating 5 out of 5]

An array of origin stories from the Wichitas here in Oklahoma, coupled with tales of malevolence and courage. Several of the stories are told from three different "tellers" who change the narratives or received them changed. Many of them are fantastical, grotesque, and seriously unique.

They were given to Dorsey in 1904, after many decades of tribal decimation (disease, death, etc.). One wonders if the decline didn't color the retelling, or if things were lost in the retelling-translation to a non-Tribal member, etc. But further, why were these myths told? What would have been the contexts for their use - moral, managerial, magisterial, or mundane? I had many questions that surfaced and remained unanswered as I read this interesting volume.

If one is intrigued by Indigenous American peoples, and the stories they told, this is a good volume to jump into.

[Leonca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this in a search for insight into how Oklahoma’s native tribes interacted with the unique environment, but the major focus is on the culture’s views on manhood and warfare. Also a few good Coyote stories, and a touching tale of a man’s bond with his dog. Hard to offer critique on what is essentially a snapshot of the speaking/writing style of the turn of the century, but it was less engaging than similar collections I have read from the same era.

[Russell Stamets · Rating 5 out of 5]

More Coyote Stories!