Tag Archives: Pueblos

Dancing Controversy

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Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Charles Burke

Native American dancing caused controversy for several reasons (see last post). Missionaries saw paganism or sexual immorality in dancing, and also considered it a hindrance to their efforts to convert Indians to Christianity; the Indian Office felt that traditional dancing impeded Indians’ assimilation into white culture. Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Charles Burke, had threatened action if dancing wasn’t sharply curtailed, and this was no idle threat. The Religious Crimes Code of 1883 gave agency superintendents authority to use force or imprisonment to stop practices they felt were immoral, subversive, or counter to government assimilation policies. Though all Native American dancing was denounced, government attention and a great deal of controversy eventually centered on the Pueblos and their dances.

By the time Burke issued his directives against dancing (Circular No. 1665 and its supplement) in 1921 and 1923, the changing times brought a bit of opposition he hadn’t anticipated. By the 1920s, a group of reformers, intellectuals, artists, and other non-traditionalists had begun to support Native American culture. They pushed back against Burke and others with an assimilation agenda, and eventually drummed up enough publicity and legal opposition to defeat some of the more outrageous demands of whites in power. They particularly used the guarantees of religious freedom as a weapon to defend native culture; both Pueblos and their white supporters emphasized that dancing was part of Native American religious ceremonies.

Squaw Dance at Pine Ridge Reservation, July 4, 1891, courtesy Library of Congress

Squaws Ready for Dance at Valentine, Nebraska between 1890 and 1910, courtesy Library of Congress

As time went on and more liberal views of Native American culture emerged in Congress, Burke and others of like mind began to lose power. Former Commissioner of Indian Affairs, John Collier, writing in his memoir, From Every Zenith, described a visit to a Navajo reservation in the late 1920s. During that visit, two senators, a government attorney, and the assistant commissioner of Indian Affairs, J. Henry Scattergood, danced the squaw dance with the unmarried Navajo girls.

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Women’s Food Knowledge

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Hopi Indians Removing Pits from Peaches Before Drying, courtesy Library of Congress

Some Native American women held special positions in tribes (see last two posts), but almost any female possessed food-gathering and culinary skills of great value. When settlers first began pushing West, they found survival on the unforgiving Plains and desert areas very difficult. Scurvy (a vitamin C deficiency) was a special problem until whites could settle long enough to grow vegetables. Yet, Native American women knew to eat raw (wild) greens, berries, and vegetables to prevent scurvy and other nutritional diseases. They also knew how to make calorie-dense pemmican and jerky which kept well and could be used during lean times. Native Americans also ate parts of buffalo and other game that most whites disdained, but liver, brains, heart, and intestines are nutritious parts of the animal.

Whites did not want to eat things like grass, clover, cactus, wild artichokes, or cattails. They tended to cook all their food and frequently bypassed raw edibles that could have eased their hunger or provided better nutrition in the raw state; additionally, they were often suspicious of new foods. Though whites could have learned a lot by observing the peoples who had obviously lived successfully on the land for thousands of years, they held so many cultural prejudices that it was difficult for them to emulate the wisdom of Native American eating patterns.

Native American Woman Adding Berries to Make Pemmican

Indian (Pueblos) Food Preparation, 1899 or 1900, courtesy Library of Congress

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The Bursum Bill

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Holm. O. Bursum, courtesy Holm O. Bursum Papers, Center for Southwest Research, University Libraries, University of New Mexico

Holm. O. Bursum, courtesy Holm O. Bursum Papers, Center for Southwest Research, University Libraries, University of New Mexico

Native Americans faced significant challenges at the beginning of the 20th century. White men still wanted their land, and were willing to go to court to take it. In 1921, Secretary of the Interior, Albert Fall, asked New Mexico senator Holm O. Bursum, to draft a bill to settle a land dispute between Pueblos and whites who had been squatting on their land.

The Bursum Bill that the senator devised, allowed non-Indians to retain any land they had squatted on before 1902. It further gave the state court the right to settle any future land disputes. Since state courts were in the hands of whites who were generally adversarial to Indian rights, unscrupulous non-Indians would have promptly brought valuable land into dispute.

A group of artists and writers heard about the bill and alerted the Pueblos to it–they hadn’t even been notified that Congress was working on a land bill. Amid a lot of public attention drummed up by their supporters, Pueblos leaders testified before Congress on their own behalf. The bill was defeated.

Indian Children, Mescalero Reservation, N.M., circa 1936, courtesty Library of Congress

Indian Children, Mescalero Reservation, N.M., circa 1936, courtesty Library of Congress

Hopi Pueblo girls Weaving Baskets, 1906, courtesy Library of Congress

Hopi Pueblo girls Weaving Baskets, 1906, courtesy Library of Congress

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