Secular Trends in Stature in an Historic Sioux Population
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University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 5-1989 Secular Trends in Stature in an Historic Sioux Population Joseph M. Prince University of Tennessee, Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes Part of the Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Prince, Joseph M., "Secular Trends in Stature in an Historic Sioux Population. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 1989. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/4122 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 Joseph M. Prince entitled "Secular Trends in Stature in an Historic Sioux Population." 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. Richard L. Jantz, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Fred Smith, William M. Bass 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 Joseph M. Prince entitled "Secular Trends in Stature in an Historic Sioux Population." I have examined the final copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, with a major in Anthropology. We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: - -- . ) -- .. ( . , f . C _______ :-- -�-�1 '-- ' • f..• '\ ,, \,\ -fS�� Accepted for the Council: Vice Provost and Dean of The Graduate School SECULAR TRENDS IN STATURE IN AN HISTORIC SIOUX POPULATION A Thesis Presented for the Master of Arts Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Joseph M. Prince May 1989 STATEMENT OF PERMISSION TO USE In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Master's degree at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, I agree that the Library shall make it available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgement of the source is made. Permission for extensive quotation from or reproduction of this thesis may be granted by my major professor, or in his absence, by the Head of Interlibrary Services when, in the opinion of either, the proposed use of the material is for scholarly purposes. Any copying or use of the material in this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Signatur�mDate t:/J '"' /:)I/ FOR MY PARENTS Sero sed serio. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the course of my research for this thesis I have been assisted by a number of faculty members, colleagues, and friends. To all of them I am indebted. I would particularly like to thank my committee chairman, Dr. Richard L. Jantz, for his abiding patience, good humor, encouragement, and assistance in my more than occasional halting understanding of the statistical and computational approaches necessary for this among many other projects over the years. His profound and seemingly innate ability to comprehend and model biological processes remains an inspiration to me as well as others. It is through the kind auspices of Dr. Jantz that the data utilized herein were supplied. I also wish to thank Dr. William M. Bass for his abiding interest in physical anthropology on the Great Plains, which has been both an inspiration and great service to myself as well as hundreds of other anthropologists, students, and researchers over the years. Dr. Bass also kindly made available to me his collection of South Dakota Historical Collections, from which an early indication of the kinds and types of available historical data important to the findings of this thesis were first gleaned. I also would like to thank Dr. Fred Smith for his understanding, concern, and patience through the years, and his partially skeptical stance towards secular trends that can be seen as iii the genesis behind the carefully documented trends presented in this thesis. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank other researchers using secular trends in heights to examine economic history who have made their research findings available to me. I thank Marilyn Coopersmith of the Center for Population Economics, University of Chicago, for answering several questions over the phone and for sending me the work of Robert Fogel. She also provided me with invaluable assistance in locating the excellent works by the researchers making up the National Bureau of Economic Research's "Nutrition Project." In this regard I also wish to thank Dr. Richard Steckel of Ohio State University for also answering some last minute phone calls and for sending me the results of his studies. I want to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Dr. Maria Smith, who has allowed me a leave of absence from my museum job to immerse myself in the arcana of 19th century mortality rates and other historical documents and issues--which caused my complete disappearance for months. I would also like to thank Dr. Frank Johnston, of the University of Pennsylvania, for making available to me Irwin Ship's 1964 Masters Thesis on modern Sioux Indians. I also wish to thank several colleagues for their assistance in aspects of this project. Peer Moore-Jansen helped with several SAS programs needed to examine some of iv the data generated, and supplied a decent level of relaxing, urbane late-night conversation while trying to interpret what I had meant my programs to do. Dave Hunt often helped with his extensive knowledge of the Boas North American Indian data set and with problems large and small that would spring up occasionally. I wish to express my gratitude towards the excellent staff at The University of Tennessee's Interlibrary loan department at the Hodges Library for their assistance in obtaining the many documents and books that were needed for this project. I owe a profound debt of gratitude to the thousands of Indians who participated in the original anthopometric surveys, as well as the many researchers who collected these original measurements. I wish to also express my gratitude towards my parents for their continued support, despite their remorseless clear recognition ·of the marginality such work is accorded beyond the walls of academia. I finally want to express my fondest thanks to one Becky Carr for the loving concern she has shown throughout this endeavor. V ABSTRACT This study attempts to explore the possibility of the occurrence of secular trends in height in an historic population of Sioux American Indians, and presents the results from an analysis on anthopometric data from two primary sources. One data set was collected in the late 19th century under the direction of Franz Boas. A later early 20th century set was collected by Dr. James R. Walker. A cross sectional design is used to examine an unusually long span of Sioux history; ca. 1820-1880 for the adult (individuals over 20 yrs.) analysis, and ca. 1892-1907 for the children (aged 6 to 11 years). Trends observed in the data are interpreted in light of the insights they provide into the health and nutritional= status of this population. Adult heights (n ll95 tot.) were adjusted for aging effects and regressed on age, sexes being analyzed separately. Tests for differences between the means of age cohorts by decade of birth (1820-1880) were also carried out. The one sample of adults that showed significant differences between age-cohorts in this latter test also showed a significant positive linear secular trend (Walker's adult males). Child heights (n=717 tot. ) were used to examine any trend within the 15 yr. interval between original observations (1892 and 1907). A test for equivalence of regression slopes and for means was carried out comparing the two samplesvi of children. No convincing secular trend could be discerned in the majority of the adult analysis (p.c05). Similarly the null hypothesis of equivalence of slopes could not be rejected in the analysis of the child samples. The failure to find any negative secular trend in this population of American Indians is remarkable given the drastic socioeconomic changes that occurred with the coming of the reservation period (1876 on), and the concomitant radical changes in subsistence lifeways. Comparisons with contemporary populations of White Americans also show that the Sioux remained consistently taller than Whites well into the reservation period. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION .. 1 II. A GENERAL SKETCH OF SIOUX HISTORY (1820-1900) 5 Identity and Demography of the Dakota or Sioux Indians . • • . ... 5 . Subsistence and Diet of the Pre-reservation Sioux 11 A Brief Sketch of Sioux History: 1820-1900 21 RATIONALEThe Early AND Reservation METHODOLOGY Period: (1876-1900) 44 III. 68 Secular Trends in Heights as an Indicator of Net Nutritional and General Health Status ... 68 Materials and Methods 79 The Composition and Derivation of Samples Utilized . • . • . ..... 79 Problems of Samples Used and General Assumptions .•.. • •...... 83 Analyses Performed . 97 · Methods for the Analysis of the Adult Series of Heights . 98 Methods for the Analysis of the Child Series of Heights. • • • . • . 105 IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION . 108 Results of the Analyses of Adult Sioux Heights for Secular Trends . 108 Results of the Analyses of Sioux Children Aged 6-11 for Secular Trend .