The Problem Is Marriage: Admixture and Fertility Among Native North Americans, 1888-1903
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University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 5-2004 The Problem is Marriage: Admixture and Fertility Among Native North Americans, 1888-1903 Desiree Eulalie Plaisance University of Tennessee, Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes Recommended Citation Plaisance, Desiree Eulalie, "The Problem is Marriage: Admixture and Fertility Among Native North Americans, 1888-1903. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2004. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/4247 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Desiree Eulalie Plaisance entitled "The Problem is Marriage: Admixture and Fertility Among Native North Americans, 1888-1903." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Master of Arts, with a major in Anthropology. Michael H. Logan, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Benita J. Howell, Hector N. Qirko Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Desiree Eulalie Plaisance entitled "'The Problem is Marriage': Admixtureand Fertility AmongNative North Americans, 1888- 1903." I have examined the finalpaper copy of this thesis forform and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillmentof the requirements forthe degree of Master of Arts, with a major in Anthropology. We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Acceptance forthe Council: of Graduate Studies "The Problem is Marriage" Admixture and FertilityAmong Native North Americans, 1888-1903 A Thesis Presented forthe Master of Arts Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Desiree Eulalie Plaisance May2004 Copyright© 2004 by Desiree E. Plaisance All rightsreserved. 11 Acknowledgements As withany large endeavor, this thesis would not have been possible without the encouragement and generosity of many people. First and foremost, I would like to thank my major professor andthesis chair, Dr. Michael Logan, for never unduly pressuring me, always having suggestions and time to make them, and always using pencil -- and not red ink-- for editing the innumerable draftshe patiently read. I would also like to thankDr. RichardJantz for making the Boas Database available formy use, and even creating and sending my samplesto me so I would not have to learnthe intricacies of the data retrieval system. It was above andbeyond the call of duty. Thanks to Ann Reed at the Statistical Consulting Center forhelping me make sense of these data. Thanks also to Dr. Benita Howell and Dr. Hector Qirko, the other members of my thesis committee, foralways remaining patient with my progress and enthusiastic to read the drafts, and for helping me "see the forest forthe trees"when all was said and done. Thanksare also due to Melissa Hargrove,Nancy Anderson, and Dawn Tomlinson for theadvice andsympathetic ears they lent froma grad student perspective. Thanksto all my "non-academic" friendsfor always asking about my progressand listening with interest to all my complaints and descriptions. Thanksto the UT AnthropologyDepartment for fundingme via a teaching assistantship, thus ensuring I could attend school and will have the experience to be competitive when looking formy own facultyposition. And last but certainlynot least, thanksto Alex and MarleenePlaisance, my parents, for "payingme a salary" to make A's in graduateschool instead of makingme get a real job to pay my ownway. None of my school career would have been possible without them. 111 Abstract The majority of American Indians today possess varyingdegrees of Euro Americanadmixture. While Native Americansocieties have recovered some of the population losses they experienced fromcontact to 1900, most of this population recovery has involved the admixed Native Americans,rather than the full-bloods. This thesis explores the historical processes behind Native American population loss, illustrates thestatistical significancebetween the varying levels of fecundity,fertility, and survivorship that spurred thisdifferential recovery between the full- and mixed-blood portions of the population, and explains why this differentialrecovery occurred. Several factorsseem to account for this, ranging from geographical, historical, cultural, and socio-political explanations to considerations �f the physical environment and genetics. The data suggest that level of admixture and acculturation were crucial factors in individual, family, and tribal survival, but these factors oftenhad profound effects on the erosion and loss of traditional culture. Interethnic marriage between Indians andwhites is blamed by many full-bloods and traditionalists for this loss of native customs, identity, and languages. The lead title for this thesis (takenfrom Heriard 2000:54) clearly reflects this sentiment. V Table of Contents Chapter Page 1: Introduction 1 2: Indian-White Relations and Native North American Population History 7 Contact 7 Estimating Prehistoric/Contact Population 8 Native American Population Decline and European Colonization 12 Disease 14 Smallpox 19 Other Diseases 24 Warfare, Genocide, and Racism 29 Indian Policy and the Reservation System 34 Treaties and Legislation 34 Results of the Removal and Reservation Policies 45 Trade 49 Biological Exchange 56 Summary 58 3: Historical Databases 61 U.S. Bureau of the Census: Indian Population in the US and Alaska, 1910 62 The Boas Database 67 History 67 Natureand Utility 69 CurrentApplications of the Databases 75 4: Statistical Analyses 77 SampleSet 1 Tests 77 Fecundity or Parenting 78 Fertility 79 Survivorship 81 Sample Set 2 Tests 84 Age Structure 84 Fertility I 85 SurvivorshipI 86 Fertility II 87 SurvivorshipII 88 Fecundity or Parenting 89 Results 90 Comparison: 1910 Census 91 Summary 97 5: Discussion 99 Genetics 99 Disease 104 Coital Inability 105 Conceptive Failure 106 PregnancyLoss 108 vii Ecology 112 Socio-Political and Cultural Factors 115 Summary 121 6: Conclusion 123 Lines forFurther Research 127 Bibliography 131 Vita 157 Vlll List of Tables Page 1.1: Estimated Native American Population by Blood 3 2.1: Probable Epidemics of Smallpox Among Native NorthAmericans, 1520-1899 25 2.2: Probable Epidemics of Measles Among Native North Americans, 1531-1892 26 2.3: Probable Epidemics Among Native North Americans, 1528-1918 27 3 .1 : Proportion of Mixed Bloods, Cherokee 66 4.1: Chi-SquareAnalysis of Blood Mixture and Parenting 79 4.2: Number and Percent of Childless Women by Tribe 80 4.3: ANCOVA Results of Blood Mixture and Fertility 81 4.4: ANCOVA Results of Blood Mixture and Survivorship 82 4.5: Excel Results for Survivorship of Children, Mothers Aged 16-44 83 4.6: Proportion of Population by Age Group, Mixed-Bloods vs. Full-Bloods 85 4.7: Means forFertility and Survivorship, Full-Blood vs. Mixed-Blood (I) 86 4.8: Means forFertility and Survivorshipby Blood Quantum of Mother (I) 86 4.9: Means for Fertility and Survivorship, Full-Blood vs. Mixed-Blood (II) 88 4.10: Means forFertility and Survivorshipby Blood Quantum of Mother (II) 88 4.11: Sterility by Blood Mixture of Marriage, 1910 91 4.12: Average Fertility by Blood Mixture of Marriage, 1910 92 4.13: Survivorshipof Children by Blood Mixture of Marriage, 1910 93 4.14: Percent of Women With All Children Surviving, by Blood Mixture of Marriage and Numberof Children Born, 1910 95 4.15: Percent of Women With No Children Surviving, by Blood Mixture of Marriageand Number of Children Born, 1910 95 4.16: Reproductive Statistics forIndividual Tribes by MarriageMixture, 1910 96 5 .1: Males to 100 Females in the Indian Population, 1910 119 ix Chapter 1: Introduction "European explorers found North America populatedby dark-skinned natives. Their present descendants are best termed 'Native Americans' in our multi-ethnic society. Yet a high proportion of today's Native Americans actually are genetically mixed descendants of both Europeansand the aboriginal population of the Americas. While the dynamicsof Native American historic population changeshave been little studied, they are neither mysterious nor exotic." -- H.F. Dobyns (1976:1). "Another factor of apparent increase is foundin the mixed-blood element, which is officially counted as Indian, although frequentlyrepresenting only 1/16, 1/32, or even 1/64 of Indian blood ...." -- J. Mooney (1910:286). One of the most significantfe atures in the long and complex history of Indian white relations is interethnic marriage andthe formation and growth of the mixed-blood population. This thesis presents an analysisof Native Americanhistoric population dynamics, particularly the increasing admixture of Indianpeoples that resulted from intermarriage with whites. The reasons underlyingsuch marital unions, and when andto what extent they occurred, will also be explored. The vastma jority of Native Americans today are the heirs not only of a long history of interethnicmarriages, but of racial conflictand oppression as well.