The Similarity of Sun Dances Among Four Great Plains Tribes
| Arapho | Assiniboine | Gros Ventre | Blackfoot | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arapho | 100% | 30% | 50% | 41% |
| Assiniboine | 30% | 100% | 32% | 32% |
| Gros Ventre | 51% | 32% | 100% | 48% |
| Blackfoot | 41% | 32% | 48% | 100% |
This passage is excerpted from Stephen J. Lycett, “Dynamics of Cultural Transmission in Native Americans of the High Great Plains,” ©2014 by Stephen J. Lycett.
As case studies go, understanding the distribution of cultural
elements in Native American communities during the historical
period of the Great Plains would seem a most challenging one.
Famously, there is a mixture of powerful internal and external
factors, creating -- for a relatively brief period in time -- a
seemingly distinctive set of shared elements from a
linguistically diverse set of peoples. This is known across the
world as the “Great Plains culture.” [In our study], quantitative
analyses show how different processes operated on two sets of
cultural traits among nine High Plains groups. Moccasin
decorations exhibit a pattern consistent with geographically-
mediated between-group interaction. However, group
variations in the religious ceremony of the Sun Dance also
reveal evidence of purifying cultural selection associated with
historical biases, dividing down ancient linguistic lines. The
latter shows that while the conglomeration of “Plains culture”
may have been a product of merging new ideas with old,
combined with cultural interchange between groups, the details
of what was accepted, rejected or elaborated in each case
reflected pre-existing ideological biases. Although culture may
sometimes be a “melting pot,” the analyses show that even in
highly fluid situations, cultural mosaics may be indirectly
shaped by historical factors that are not always obvious. . . .
“Culture” is the conglomeration of information, knowledge,
ideas, and beliefs, shared by communities and transmitted by
social interaction. This shared property characterizes all human
societies. Communities that came to occupy the High Great
Plains during the 19th century exemplify the manner in which
humans can take existing ideas, elaborate them, combine them
with new ones, pass them successfully between groups and
create novel, distinct patterns, visible over temporal and spatial
scales. Attempting to examine the role of specific factors in
creating cultural patterning under such historically-contingent,
transient, and dynamic conditions, however, presents a
challenge.
Here, analyses have shown the presence of distinct
processes operating and ultimately influencing the
representation of cultural traits in different tribes. Patterns of
similarity and difference in moccasin designs among different
tribes show a statistically significant relationship with the
model of geographic relationships between tribes. No statistical
effect of language affiliation on the distribution of moccasin
decorations was detected. This indicates that the representation
of moccasin decoration types among groups is, in this case,
most strongly determined by whether or not that trait is present
in another, geographically proximate, tribe. In other words,
selection biases have not disrupted the distribution of these
decorations to the extent that they deviate significantly from a
pattern predictable on the basis of the geographic relationships
between tribes alone. These results would seem to reaffirm the
role of intergroup relations in creating a pattern of shared
cultural similarity over the region during the 19th century,
which many have previously discussed.
Behavioral variation between tribes in terms of their
practice of the religious ceremony of the Sun Dance also
indicated a statistical relationship with geography, again
reiterating the role of inter-tribe transmission in creating the
phenomenon historically labeled as the “Great Plains culture.”
However, patterns of inter-tribe variation in Sun Dance
elements also exhibited a statistically significant relationship
with linguistic affinities between different tribes. Ordinarily,
this pattern might simply be attributed to the fact that tribes
with more mutually comprehensible languages were able to
more effectively transmit the behavioral variants among
themselves. Here, however, language patterns were found not
to correlate with geographic patterns and, moreover, the
statistical relationship between Sun Dance patterning and
linguistic affiliation was found to still hold even when
geography was controlled for. The relationship between Sun
Dance variations and language patterns is, therefore, in this
instance puzzling.
As case studies go, understanding the distribution of cultural
elements in Native American communities during the historical
period of the Great Plains would seem a most challenging one.
Famously, there is a mixture of powerful internal and external
factors, creating -- for a relatively brief period in time -- a
seemingly distinctive set of shared elements from a
linguistically diverse set of peoples. This is known across the
world as the “Great Plains culture.” [In our study], quantitative
analyses show how different processes operated on two sets of
cultural traits among nine High Plains groups. Moccasin
decorations exhibit a pattern consistent with geographically-
mediated between-group interaction. However, group
variations in the religious ceremony of the Sun Dance also
reveal evidence of purifying cultural selection associated with
historical biases, dividing down ancient linguistic lines. The
latter shows that while the conglomeration of “Plains culture”
may have been a product of merging new ideas with old,
combined with cultural interchange between groups, the details
of what was accepted, rejected or elaborated in each case
reflected pre-existing ideological biases. Although culture may
sometimes be a “melting pot,” the analyses show that even in
highly fluid situations, cultural mosaics may be indirectly
shaped by historical factors that are not always obvious. . . .
“Culture” is the conglomeration of information, knowledge,
ideas, and beliefs, shared by communities and transmitted by
social interaction. This shared property characterizes all human
societies. Communities that came to occupy the High Great
Plains during the 19th century exemplify the manner in which
humans can take existing ideas, elaborate them, combine them
with new ones, pass them successfully between groups and
create novel, distinct patterns, visible over temporal and spatial
scales. Attempting to examine the role of specific factors in
creating cultural patterning under such historically-contingent,
transient, and dynamic conditions, however, presents a
challenge.
Here, analyses have shown the presence of distinct
processes operating and ultimately influencing the
representation of cultural traits in different tribes. Patterns of
similarity and difference in moccasin designs among different
tribes show a statistically significant relationship with the
model of geographic relationships between tribes. No statistical
effect of language affiliation on the distribution of moccasin
decorations was detected. This indicates that the representation
of moccasin decoration types among groups is, in this case,
most strongly determined by whether or not that trait is present
in another, geographically proximate, tribe. In other words,
selection biases have not disrupted the distribution of these
decorations to the extent that they deviate significantly from a
pattern predictable on the basis of the geographic relationships
between tribes alone. These results would seem to reaffirm the
role of intergroup relations in creating a pattern of shared
cultural similarity over the region during the 19th century,
which many have previously discussed.
Behavioral variation between tribes in terms of their
practice of the religious ceremony of the Sun Dance also
indicated a statistical relationship with geography, again
reiterating the role of inter-tribe transmission in creating the
phenomenon historically labeled as the “Great Plains culture.”
However, patterns of inter-tribe variation in Sun Dance
elements also exhibited a statistically significant relationship
with linguistic affinities between different tribes. Ordinarily,
this pattern might simply be attributed to the fact that tribes
with more mutually comprehensible languages were able to
more effectively transmit the behavioral variants among
themselves. Here, however, language patterns were found not
to correlate with geographic patterns and, moreover, the
statistical relationship between Sun Dance patterning and
linguistic affiliation was found to still hold even when
geography was controlled for. The relationship between Sun
Dance variations and language patterns is, therefore, in this
instance puzzling.