Hidatsa Social and Ceremonial Organization

Abstract

This ethnographic paper, dated January 1, 1963, sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology is a detailed description of Hidatsa Social and Ceremonial practices as told by ethnographer Alfred W. Bowers based on data collected in the 1930s. All the Hidatsa informants of this project were born about 1850-1860 and were alive at the time of the Custer massacre. Bowers indicates that he pushed informants to share sacred religious lore for the sake of this project. The paper is an extensive account of Hidatsa social organization, kinship systems, societies, ceremonies, and other details about the history and social practices as collected at the time. The paper includes illustrations, text figures, charts, photographs, and maps.

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