Winslow M. Walker was appointed to the staff of the Bureau of American Ethnology as associate anthropologist in March, 1931. He resumed his research in Hawaiian archeology, begun during a year’s stay in the Hawaiian Islands in 1929, in preparation for a paper on Hawaiian sculpture.
In preparation for work in the field Mr. Walker undertook research in the early narratives of exploration in Louisiana and Arkansas. He left Washington May 29 to investigate some caves in the vicinity of Gilbert, Ark., in the Ozark Mountains, with the hope of being able to throw new light on the Ozark bluff dwellers and other early inhabitants of the caves. Sixteen caves were explored and excavations were made in several of the most promising. A large cave at Cedar Grove yielded several skeletons and a considerable number of stone, flint, and bone artifacts. As the fiscal year closed Mr. Walker was still engaged in excavating this cavern. He intends to make a brief survey of certain mounds and village sites along the Red River Valley in the northern part of Louisiana on the completion of his work in Arkansas.
SPECIAL RESEARCHES
The study of Indian music for the Bureau of American Ethnology has been carried forward during the past year by Miss Frances Densmore. The three phases of this research are (1) the recording of songs and collecting of other material in the field, including the purchase of specimens; (2) the transcription and analysis of songs, with the development of information; and (3) the preparation of material for publication. All these phases have received attention during the year, and the songs of three hitherto unstudied localities have been recorded.
Early in July, 1930, Miss Densmore went to Grand Portage, an isolated Chippewa village on Lake Superior, near the Canadian boundary. This village was visited in 1905, a ceremony was witnessed, and one of its songs written down; therefore a return to Grand Portage was particularly interesting. The purpose of the trip was to witness the Chippewa dances on the Fourth of July, but she remained more than three weeks, continuing her study of native customs. Several songs of the Wabunowin were heard and translated, these resembling the songs of the Grand Medicine, which formed a subject of intensive study during 1907-1911. She also witnessed the tipi-shaking of an Indian medicine man and listened to his songs for almost an hour. This performance is very rare at the present time. Although the evening was quiet, the tipi was seen to sway as though buffeted by a tempest, then remain motionless a few seconds and again shake convulsively. This was continuous while Miss Densmore watched the performance and was said to have continued several hours afterwards. Inside the tipi sat the medicine man, believed to be talking with spirits whom he had summoned, the spirits making known their presence by the shaking of the conical structure. The next day the medicine man said that he had summoned the spirits in order to ascertain whether his treatment of a certain sick man would be successful. He said that if the spirits “spoke loud and clear” the man would recover, but if their voices were faint the man would die. The response was said to have been satisfactory, and accordingly he instituted a “beneficial dance,” which was attended by Miss Densmore, and the songs heard for a considerable time. These, like the songs in the tipi, resembled the songs of the Chippewa Grand Medicine Society.
The study of Indian music was continued by a trip to Kilbourn, Wis., during August and September. Two pageants are given simultaneously at the Dalles of the Wisconsin River, near Kilbourn, each employing about 100 Indians. In the pageants the swan and hoop dance, as well as war and social dances of the Winnebago, were seen. The dances of other tribes presented in the pageants included the eagle dance and other pueblo dances. Songs of the swan, hoop, and frog dances were later recorded by leading pageant singers.
At Kilbourn Miss Densmore recorded numerous songs of Pueblo Indians from Isleta and Cochiti, these consisting chiefly of corn-grinding and war songs. The words of these songs are highly poetic and many of the melodies resemble Acoma songs in structure.
As John Bearskin and his family were traveling from Kilbourn to their home in Nebraska they passed through Red Wing, Minn., and songs were recorded at Miss Densmore’s home. Bearskin recorded three complete sets of the Winnebago medicine lodge songs and a set of Buffalo feast songs.
In January, 1931, Miss Densmore went to Washington, where she worked on the preparation of material for publication, and proceeded thence to Miami, Fla., where she began a study of Seminole music, recording songs of the corn dance from the man who leads the singing in that ceremony; also the songs that precede a hunting expedition. The customs of the Seminole were studied and a collection of specimens was obtained. This collection includes two complete costumes and is now the property of the United States National Museum.
The second phase of the research is represented by eight manuscripts which include the transcriptions and analyses of 77 songs and two flute melodies recorded by Winnebago, Isleta, Cochiti, and Seminole Indians. The cumulative analyses of Indian songs has been continued and now comprises 1,553 songs. The 14 tables submitted during this year constitute a comparison between a large series of Nootka and Quileute songs and the songs previously analyzed by the same method.