A HALLOWED PATH: AN HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF THE MUTABLE PERSPECTIVES ON INTERPRETATIONS OF MISSISSIPPIAN PERIOD ICONOGRAPHY By ERIC DAVID SINGLETON Bachelor of Arts/Science in History The University of Oklahoma Norman, Oklahoma 2003 Master of Arts/Science in Museum Studies The University of Oklahoma Norman, Oklahoma 2008 Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate College of the Oklahoma State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May, 2017 A HALLOWED PATH: AN HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF THE MUTABLE PERSPECTIVES ON INTERPRETIONS OF MISSISSIPPIAN PERIOD ICONOGRAPHY Dissertation Approved: Dr. L.G. Moses Dr. William S. Bryans Dr. Michael M. Smith Dr. F. Kent Reilly, III Dr. Stephen M. Perkins ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is true that nothing in this world is done alone. I would like to thank my family and friends for all their love and support. My grandparents, parents, sister, cousin, aunts and uncles. They were the foundation of everything that has shaped my life and allowed me the strength to complete this while working full-time. And, to my fiancée Kimberly. I mention her separately, not because she is not included above, but because she is the one person who diligently edited, listened, and gracefully sat by giving up years of vacations, holidays, and parties as I spent countless nights quietly writing. I would also give the most heartfelt thank you to Dr. Moses, Dr. McCoy, and Dr. Smith. Each of you made me the historian I am today. As Dr. James Ronda told me once, pick your professors, not the school—they will shape everything. I would also like to give a tremendous thank to Dr. Reilly and all the participants, past and present, at the Texas State Iconography Workshop from the bottom of my heart. They are changing our perceptions of the past and, in turn, the present and they invited me in to that world as a friend and colleague. They changed my life. Finally, to all Native Americans—the first Americans—thank you for letting me share your history, culture, and world. iii Acknowledgements reflect the views of the author and are not endorsed by committee members or Oklahoma State University. Name: ERIC DAVID SINGLETON Date of Degree: MAY, 2017 Title of Study: A HALLOWED PATH: AN HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF THE MUTABLE PERSPECTIVES ON THE INTERPRETATIONS OF MISSISSIPPIAN PERIOD ICONOGRAPHY Major Field: HISTORY Abstract: Interpreting Mississippian Period iconography has been an ongoing process for the last five hundred years. As early European explorers moved into the Southeastern United States, only the remnants of the once great Mississippian communities still held sway. Gone were the vast ceremonial complexes which exemplified the height of Mississippian culture. At their pinnacle, these people created some of the most intricate and ornate ceremonial objects in all of North America. Infused with iconographic imagery representing both naturalistic and supernatural elements, these cultural and religious objects characterized the core of the Mississippian belief system and were, in all likelihood, tied to the economic, political, and social structure of the Mississippian people. Once considered unknowable, the meaning behind these objects is now being deciphered using a multidisciplinary approach that incorporates and necessitates the views of Native and non-Native historians, art historians, folklorists, archaeologists, ethnologists, cultural anthropologists, and ethnohistorians. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................1 Section 1 – Topic and Purpose.................................................................................1 Section 2 – Early Americans ...................................................................................4 Section 3 – Methodology ......................................................................................16 II. THE HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE MOUNDS ....................................................28 Section 1 – Mutable Perspectives ..........................................................................28 Section 2 – Trappers, Traders, Explorers, and Statesmen .....................................31 Section 3 – Who Built the Mounds ........................................................................43 Section 4 – Reason and Methodology at Play .......................................................55 Section 5 – The Holistic Approach ........................................................................62 III. INTERVIEWS: UNDERSTANDING A NEW METHODOLOGY ....................69 Section 1 – F. Kent Reilly, III Interview ..............................................................70 Section 2 – David Dye Interview ..........................................................................77 Section 3 – James R. Duncan and Carol Diaz-Granados Interview ......................83 Section 4 – Robert Sharp Interview ......................................................................87 v Chapter Page IV. EVERYONE HAS A THOUGHT: LOOKING AT PAST APPROACHES ......100 Section 1 – Determining Space and Time ...........................................................100 Section 2 – Capricious Connections ...................................................................102 Section 3 – The Bureau of Ethnology .................................................................114 Section 4 – The Rise of Archaeology .................................................................124 Section 5 – The Southeastern Ceremonial Complex ...........................................133 V. FINDING A NEW PATH FORWARD ...............................................................154 Section 1 – Changing the Rules ...........................................................................154 Section 2 – Understanding their World ..............................................................158 Section 3 – A Regional Diversification ...............................................................171 Section 4 – Mystic Modeling ...............................................................................182 VI. CONCLUSION....................................................................................................209 Section 1 – Summarizing Past Approaches .........................................................209 Section 1 – Complications ...................................................................................215 REFERENCES ..........................................................................................................218 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Beaver Effigy Pipe ...............................................................................................10 2. Monks Mound .....................................................................................................12 3. Copper Birdman Plate ..........................................................................................19 4. Female Effigy Jar .................................................................................................22 5. Flint Clay Pipe .....................................................................................................23 6. Mató-Tópe............................................................................................................24 7. Engraved Shell Cup .............................................................................................25 8. Ceremonies at the death of a chief .......................................................................34 9. Indian in Body Paint ............................................................................................35 10. Drawing by Louis Nicolas .................................................................................37 11. Watercolor by Montigny ....................................................................................40 12. Drawing by Le Page Du Pratz ...........................................................................41 13. Ogee Motif .........................................................................................................93 14. Engraved Shell Ogee Motif ...............................................................................97 15. Spider Gorgets .................................................................................................117 16. Symbols on Ceramics ......................................................................................119 17. Shell gorget ......................................................................................................120 18. Motifs ...............................................................................................................135 19. God Animal Representations ...........................................................................135 20. Copper Plate .....................................................................................................147 21. Birdman Copper ...............................................................................................152 22. Birdman Shell ..................................................................................................152 23. Birdman Stone .................................................................................................152 24. Mississippian Cosmic Map ..............................................................................164 25. Drawing of Chest Tattoo ..................................................................................165