Traditions Of The Osage

by George Amos Dorsey

Traditions of the Osage is a book written by George A. Dorsey that explores the cultural heritage and traditions of the Osage people, a Native American tribe that once roamed the Great Plains of North America. The book is based on extensive research and first-hand accounts of Osage customs, beliefs, and practices, including their religion, social organization, and daily life. Dorsey's work provides a comprehensive and detailed look at the Osage culture, from their creation myths and legends to their intricate ceremonies and rituals. The book also includes illustrations and photographs that help to bring the Osage traditions to life. Overall, Traditions of the Osage is a valuable resource for anyone interested in Native American history and culture, as well as for scholars and researchers in the field.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

68 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

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

[Brenda Hicks · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was published for historical purposes and that is how it should be categorized and considered. I read it as part of research I am doing on the Osage population for a family history project. The most interesting and illuminating part of this book for me was the preface by author George A. Dorsey which confirms what some historians have called his little regard for Native American populations. According to Dorsey, the Osage elders he met with "are very lazy and much addicted to drink."

He admits that his book does not adequately represent the traditions of the tribe. Not because of his own lack of communication but rather - "due to the difficulty of engaging the attention for any length of time of the old men of the tribe, for reasons above mentioned."

I think - the old men, having smelled Dorsey's disgust, may have just been messing with him.