History and Acculturation of the Dakota Indians J
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South Dakota State University Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange South Dakota State University Agricultural Bulletins Experiment Station 12-1-1975 History and Acculturation of the Dakota Indians J. L. Satterlee V. D. Malan Follow this and additional works at: http://openprairie.sdstate.edu/agexperimentsta_bulletins Recommended Citation Satterlee, J. L. and Malan, V. D., "History and Acculturation of the Dakota Indians" (1975). Bulletins. Paper 618. http://openprairie.sdstate.edu/agexperimentsta_bulletins/618 This Bulletin is brought to you for free and open access by the South Dakota State University Agricultural Experiment Station at Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Bulletins by an authorized administrator of Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Bulletin 613 History and acculturation of the Dakota Indians by Dr. James Satterlee L. Dr. Vernon D. Malan Agricultural Experiment Station South Dakota State University Rural Sociology Department Brookings, South Dakota History and acculturation the Dakota Indians by Dr. James L. Satterlee* Dr. Vernon D. Malan *Dr. J. L. Satterlee, Associate Professor of Sociology, Department of Rural Sociology, South Dakota State University. Dr. V. D. Malan, Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, South Dakota State University (deceased, 1967). Table of Contents I. INT R DUCT I N ______________________________________________________ 3 0 0 II. ORIGINS Of MAN TO THE NEW WORLD--------------���������������������������� 4 Bering Straits ----------------- ------ -------- --- ------ --- -- -- --- ------ ------ ----------- ---- 4 Beringa ______________________________________________ ----- -------- ----- ----------------- ----------- 4 Oceanic Theory ----- ------ -- ------------------------------------ --------- -- ----------- ---- 4 IX. PROBLEMS OF ACCULTURATION ______________________ __________________________ ___ Ill. PALEO-INDIANS IN NORTH AMERICA ------- ------- ------------------------------ 5 30 Family ProbI ems ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 30 IV. MOUND BUILDERS OF THE PLAINS --- --------- --------- - ---- ------------------------ 6 Family security ---------- --- --- ------------- ----- ---------------- - --- --------- ------ V. HISTORY OF THE DAKOTA SIOUX ------------ ----- --- ----- -------------------------- 9 32 ----·------------------------------------------------------------------------- 34 Linguistic Groups ------------------- --- ----- - ---- -------- ------ --------------- ------ --- 9 Hosp i taIi ty -------- -- - -------- ---------------- - -------------- Westward Migration ---- -------------------------------------------- ---- ------- ---------- 9 Socialization of children -- - -- - 35 VI. STRUCTURE OF DAKOTA CULTURE -------------------------------------------------- 13 Veneration of the aged -- ---------------------------------------- ---- ---------- 36 Sioux of the West (Yankton and Teton)-------------------------------------- 13 Broken fam iiies ----------------- ---- ----------- ----------- ----------------- -------- 36 Economic Proh Iems - - --- ---------------- ------- ------ ----- ------ ______ _________________ Kinship ----·--------------·------------------------------------------------------------------ 13 3 7 land resources ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Economics ------ --- ------- ------------- ----- ------------------------------ ---------- --- 15 38 Working ski ls ---- -------------------- ------- - ---------------- --- ---------- ____ _____ ReIi g ion ------- --- - ---------------- ---------- ----- ---------- -------------- ------------ -- 1 5 I 39 Money economy -------------------------------------------------------------------- Government --------- ----------------- -------------------- ------------- ----------------- 16 39 Gift giving --- --------------------- ---------- - ------------------------------- ____________ Sioux of the East (Santee) _____________ -------- - - --------- ----- - ------- ----- -- -- -- 17 41 PoI itica ProbI ems ____ --------------- ---------------------------------------- ---- --- --- --- Kinship --------------------------------�---- ----------------·----------------· -------------- 17 I 41 Administration of the Indian Agency ________ _________________ ________ Economics ---------------------------- ------------------- - --------- --- - ------- ---------- 17 42 The ration system --- -- ------------ ----- -------------------- ---- ------------------ ReIi g ion - ---------------------------- --------- -------------------------------------------- 17 44 ------ ------- ------------------------------ - ------------------- Government ---- ----------- ------------------------------------------------------------- 17 Edu cation aI Problems - - - -- 45 --------- ---- ---------- - ------------ ------- -- ------------- VII. ACCULTURATION AS A SOCIAL PROCESS -- ------ ----- ----- ---- ------ ------- 18 Cultu ra I isolation - -- - - - - - 45 The boarding schools ------------------------------------------------------------ Definition of Ac cu lturation ---------------------------- ------ --------- - --------------- 18 46 ______________ ___________ _____ _____________________ Culture Change and Acculturation ---------- ---- ------- ---- ----------- --------- 18 Educational opportunities 47 VIII. IMPLICATIONS OF ACCULTURATION FOR THE DAKOT'A INDIANS 20 Religious Problems ______ _________________ - - ---- --- ----------------- --------- -- -- ------ 47' ________ _________ _______ ___ Some Sociopsychological Aspects of Acculturation __________________ 20 Denominational missionary programs 48 ________________________ _______________________ Enforced and Permissive Acculturation ----------- --- ------------- ---------- 22 Marginal religious activities 49 ------- ---- -- ------------- ---- ----- ------ -- ___ Trade rs -------------------------·---------------------------------------------------------- 24 Health and Welfare Problems - - - - - -- 49 ____________ _____ _______ _____ ___________ _________ Missi ona ri es ----------- ----- --------------- ------------------------- ---- ------- ---- --- - 24 X. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 51 - ------- -- -- -------- ---- - - - ---------- ----- ------- Government Agents _____________________----------------------------------------- 25 REFERENCE BIBL IOG RAPHY - - - - - - - - -- -- - 53 Ag ricu ltu rists -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 26 Dysfunctions of the Acculturative Process ---- --- ------------ - ---------- -- 27 Elimination of means of subsistence ______ _____________________ ________ 27 Destruction of the kinship groups------------------ --------------------- 28 Symptoms of disorganizatio0n - -------- --------------- -------------- -- ---- 29 In order to fully understand and appreciate those events which led to the finalsubmission of the Ameri can Indian to the majority white culture,it is necessary to look to the historical antecedents predating white Indian contact. The original ways of living of the American Indian are not easily understood by the Introduction modern man who believes the material progress of his generation to be the highest advancement of civiliza tion. In all societies there is a strong tendency for the majority group to assume that its values, attitudes, and behavior are superior in all regards to the habit pat terns and customs that dominate the lives of minor ity groups. They are suspicious of strange practices which conflict with their ideas of the appropriate and correct ways of living. If they exhibit some curiosity about the customs of the minority, they are usually anxious to learn of them for the purpose of making an invidious comparison with their practices. It is the unusual person who is able to suppress his own preju. dices and view clearly the ways of minorities through the value system of the minority group rather than through his own pattern of beliefs. Often one hears that such behavior as alcoholism, sexual promiscuity, unemployment, suicide, etc., when exhibited by Indians, is but a carry-over from the old culture which was typified by such charac teristics. Nothing could be further from the truth. The traditional cultures of the American Indian possessed many of the same values and virtues upheld by the protestant ethic. Such deviant behavior must be seen as a result of an acculturational process which denied the American Indian the right to retain those institu tions of family, religion, and economics which served to uphold his traditional values. Such behavioral pat terns as reflected in high rates of alcoholism, suicide, and unemployment a·re fairly recent phenomena in the life of Indian people. Through a better under standing of the lasting traditional culture of one group of American Indians, the Dakota, it is hoped that such misconceptions of cause and effect may be alleviated. 3 route of entry is known as the Beringa Theory. It is Origins estimated that with a 450 foot drop in sea level during the Wisconsin glaciation a land bridge some 1300 miles wide would have existed between the two conti of man in nents. The presence of certain animals in the New World which have their origins in the Old World and which would have found the Bering Straits route