Cultural Affiliation Statement for Buffalo National River
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CULTURAL AFFILIATION STATEMENT BUFFALO NATIONAL RIVER, ARKANSAS Final Report Prepared by María Nieves Zedeño Nicholas Laluk Prepared for National Park Service Midwest Region Under Contract Agreement CA 1248-00-02 Task Agreement J6068050087 UAZ-176 Bureau of Applied Research In Anthropology The University of Arizona, Tucson AZ 85711 June 1, 2008 Table of Contents and Figures Summary of Findings...........................................................................................................2 Chapter One: Study Overview.............................................................................................5 Chapter Two: Cultural History of Buffalo National River ................................................15 Chapter Three: Protohistoric Ethnic Groups......................................................................41 Chapter Four: The Aboriginal Group ................................................................................64 Chapter Five: Emigrant Tribes...........................................................................................93 References Cited ..............................................................................................................109 Selected Annotations .......................................................................................................137 Figure 1. Buffalo National River, Arkansas ........................................................................6 Figure 2. Sixteenth Century Polities and Ethnic Groups (after Sabo 2001) ......................47 Figure 3. Extent of Caddoan Influences (after Perttula 1996)...........................................59 Figure 4. Figure 4. Osage Land Sessions in the nineteenth century (after Wolferman 1997) .....................................................................................................86 1 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS The findings of the cultural affiliation study for Buffalo National River, Arkansas, can be summarized as follows: Prehistoric Affiliations (1) The Ozark Mountains, where Buffalo National River is located, were inhabited by human groups since at least the terminal Pleistocene (9,000 B.C.). Paleoindian hunters likely entered the Ozarks following the White River and its tributaries and took advantage of high-quality lithic raw materials available there. Clovis points have been recovered from several Arkansas localities; the Albertson Site and Calf Creek Cave are the Paleoindian sites closest to the park. One Packard-like point was recovered from a plow zone at the Elk Track site. (2) Among the most significant transitional Paleoindian-Archaic occupations is Dalton, which is well represented across northern Arkansas and southwest Missouri, appearing in areas farther away from the Ozark escarpment; Dalton artifacts have been recovered from sites in Buffalo National River. Following this transition, an impressive Archaic occupation across the uplands suggests that the Archaic developed out of local Paleoindian adaptations. Archaic components in open sites and rockshelters have been identified in the park. Archaic-age burials with offerings were uncovered in the park; among the offerings are two diagnostic points, Hanna and Standlee, which confirm that the cultural affiliation of the burials is with the local Archaic traditions that extend into neighboring states. (3) Other important findings dating to the Archaic period are the grog tempered ceramics recovered from the Dirst Site, which resemble Williams Plain and thus they may be affiliated with the Fourche Maline cultural manifestation that is ancestral to the Caddoan Spiro sequence of the Arkansas River Valley. (4) The Woodland Period in Buffalo National River exhibits strong continuity in adaptations since the Archaic period, but with more pointed innovations in food procurement strategies and artifact technologies. Importantly, the central Ozarks were not involved directly in external networks developed during the Middle Woodland, but nonetheless contributed indirectly to these networks, through the extraction of working stone and other important resources (e.g., quartz) available locally. The single most important development with implications for cultural affiliation is the early evolution of ceramic technology, particularly “Mississippian” shell-tempered technology, alongside other tempering traditions characteristic of areas where Caddoan ancestors likely originated. This technological innovation connects culturally the late Woodland period in the park with contemporaneous developments in the southeastern Ozarks. (5) The Mississippian Period in Buffalo National River is characterized by both seasonal and more permanent habitation sites as well as specialized activity camps. Diagnostic materials recovered from these sites, namely shell-tempered ceramic types and Nodena 2 points, strongly suggest a central Mississippi Valley affiliation. Burials dating to this period contain shell-tempered ceramics that support the central Mississippi Valley affiliation. Although evidence of Caddoan presence in the park (e.g. Spiro sequence) is tenuous at best, regional archaeology does indicate that Spiroan groups were present in the Ozark uplands of northwest Arkansas and thus this affiliation should not be discounted. Protohistoric and Early Historic Affiliations Cultural Affiliation of materials dating to the Protohistoric and Early Historic period are as follows: (1) Aside from isolated Nodena points that may be prehistoric or protohistoric, Buffalo National River does not have evidence of protohistoric occupation, but sites in its vicinity do. The archaeological materials found in the region include Mississippian, Fort Coffee, Neosho Focus and, farther north, Oneota. Each of these materials has, in turn, its own historic affiliation. - Despite the controversy regarding the cultural identity of the groups that inhabited the central Mississippi Valley, regional scholars strongly support a Tunica-Koroan affiliation with multiethnic connections. Given the reconstructed timing of migration of the Quapaw into the west bank of the Mississippi River, and the location of their first confirmed villages at the mouth of the Arkansas River, a Quapaw affiliation for protohistoric remains in northern Arkansas and particularly the central Ozarks, is improbable. Tunica presence on the north bank of the Arkansas River, on the other hand, was recorded as late as 1673. - Fort Coffee is a post-Spiro Caddoan phase from the Arkansas River Valley, which protohistorically may have been related to the Mento subgroup. - Neosho is currently thought to combine Caddoan, Mississippian, and Oneota influences that may, in turn, represent remnant groups that occupied the Ozark Mountains after the collapse of the large Mississippian towns. - Oneota is representative of Ohio River Siouan populations (most likely Chiwere speakers and less likely Deghihan speakers) that began to migrate west in the aftermath of the Middle Mississippian-Cahokian regional system. Although it has been postulated that the Oneota materials in western Missouri represent the ancestral Osage, this association is shrouded in controversy because of the lack of a clear sequence of prehistoric-to-historic occupation of the Osage heartland. (2) Historic documents confirm that Osage ancestors arrived to the western half of Missouri sometime after AD 1500, were well settled in their heartland by 1673, and quickly expanded their territory as far as the Arkansas River Valley by the early 1700s. No Caddoan presence remained north of the valley after this date. 3 Late Historic Affiliations In the early 19th century, emigrant tribes including the Cherokee, Shawnee, Delaware, Kickapoo, Piankashaw, Miami, Wyandot, and Wea, occupied the southern Ozark escarpment. Archaeological remains confirming their presence have been found in the Current River and the White River. Only one reference to the presence of Cherokee campsites in the tributaries of the Buffalo River in Searcy County has been found but the obscure primary source of this information is currently under interlibrary search. Conclusions In conclusion, the following culturally affiliated tribes should be contacted for future consultation in Buffalo National River: - For prehistoric remains of Paleoindian, Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian age: Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, representing the Arkansas River Valley Caddoan ancestors Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana, representing the central Mississippi Valley ancestors - For protohistoric remains of Mississippian affiliation: Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana, representing the central Mississippi Valley ancestors - For protohistoric remains of Fort Coffee and Neosho affiliation: Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, representing the Arkansas River Valley Caddoan ancestors - For protohistoric remains of Oneota affiliation and all early historic remains: Osage Nation of Oklahoma - For late historic remains, as determined by location and material culture: Osage Nation of Oklahoma Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma 4 CHAPTER ONE STUDY OVERVIEW This Final Report presents an overview of archaeological, historical, and ethnographic information relating to American Indian cultural affiliation with Buffalo National River, Arkansas (Figure 1). The primary purpose of this overview is to provide the National Park Service (NPS) with a set of basic criteria that will aid in future consultation for cultural resources and in the development of ethnographic research, interpretation, program objectives, and park management decisions. The