Customer Reviews

The Lost Universe: Pawnee Life and Culture

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Author Gene Weltfish has written an irreplaceable book of fast disappearing memories of a time gone by for an Indian tribe overwhelmed and nearly driven extinct by European culture. The Pawnee were a numerous and important tribe living in Nebraska and Kansas when first discovered by the White Man. They were noted for their elaborate ceremonial rituals related to the motions of heavenly bodies and, less favorably, for their occasional sacrifice of a captive child to their Morning Star diety.

Weltfish describes in great detail the Morning Star sacrifice ceremony as well as all other events taking place during a year in the life of a Pawnee village. She gathered her material from discussions with elderly Pawnees who still remembered the old days. We are given superb descriptions of how the Pawnee hunted buffalo, grew corn, made tipis, and the rituals and customs that accompanied each act.

If there is an aspect of Plains Indian culture you would like to explore, Weltfish is a good place to look for specific information. For example, She describes how buffalo meat was dried and packed into bundles for transport, of the uses made of wild plants, of the products the Pawnee made for themselves of wood, reed, grasses, and tanned hides. We learn, for example, how a tipi was erected and an earth lodge was repaired. A final chapter is a rather odd excursion into the modern world -- the book was written in the 1960s -- to apply lessons the author learned from the Pawnee.

This book should be on the shelves of anyone interested in the culture and life of North American Indians.

Smallchief

This was required reading for a grad level anthropology class on Plains Indians. Great book even 30 years after that class. If you're into plains culture this should be on your reading list.

Author Gene Weltfish has written an irreplaceable book of fast disappearing memories of a time gone by for an Indian tribe overwhelmed and nearly driven extinct by European culture. The Pawnee were a numerous and important tribe living in Nebraska and Kansas when first discovered by the White Man. They were noted for their elaborate ceremonial rituals related to the motions of heavenly bodies and, less favorably, for their occasional sacrifice of a captive child to their Morning Star diety.

Weltfish describes in great detail the Morning Star sacrifice ceremony as well as all other events taking place during a year in the life of a Pawnee village. She spoke Pawnee and gathered her material from discussions with elderly Pawnees who still remembered the old days. We are given superb descriptions of how the Pawnee hunted buffalo, grew corn, made tipis, and the rituals and customs that accompanied each act.

If there is an aspect of Plains Indian culture you would like to explore, Weltfish is a good place to look for specific information. For example, She describes how buffalo meat was dried and packed into bundles for transport, of the uses made of wild plants, of the products the Pawnee made for themselves of wood, reed, grasses, and tanned hides. We learn, for example, how a tipi was erected and an earth lodge was repaired. A final chapter is a rather odd excursion into the modern world -- the book was written in the 1960s -- to apply lessons the author learned from the Pawnee.

This book should be on the shelves of anyone interested in the culture and life of North American Indians.

Smallchief