University of Nevada, Reno CULTURAL MAPPING OF A FOLKLORIC PEOPLE A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Anthropology by Ean T. Barnett Dr. Donald L. Hardesty/Thesis Advisor May, 2011 THE GRADUATE SCHOOL We recommend that the thesis prepared under our supervision by EAN T. BARNETT entitled Cultural Mapping Of A Folkloric People be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Donald L. Hardesty Ph.D., Advisor Louis Forline Ph.D., Committee Member Paul F. Starrs Ph.D., Graduate School Representative Marsha H. Read, Ph. D., Associate Dean, Graduate School May, 2011 i Abstract Folklore serves a fundamental societal function spreading accepted culture from generation to generation. The role of folklore is paramount in social networking and the scope of folklore will be investigated using specific myths from the Great Basin region. The Si-teh-cah as the Paiute referred to them was a mysterious group of purported cannibalistic giants. The study of this myth helps aid the understanding of the archetypical motifs and their roles in society. The underpinning of this research is to understand the cultural perceptions and perspectives that go into their folklore. From this understanding folklore has applicable functions in its role affecting the understanding of migration trends, societal framework, behavioral functions and the purpose of identity as well as the esoteric and exoteric dynamic of each group with the “Other.” The typical “Other” goes through transmutation based on the society discussing the “Other.” This research explores the behavioral patterning of perspective and perception that has developed and shows how this cultural framework alters aspects of myth to put each culture’s signature traits into the narrative. From this understanding it also becomes apparent that through folklore we can see elements of how place affects the culture along with how all these aspects are entangled and play roles in migrational trends, social order, identity and aspects of perseverance and warfare. Folklore serves a function of cultural relativism and the dynamic art form of perception and perspective on history. Folklore can be advantageous in multiple disciplines and shows that even what we purport as factual history in contemporary times is folkloric in the respect that it is history from specific perspectives. This Great Basin research is a dynamic way to understand the universality and the cause of universality while sorting the factual information from the absurdities. ii Dedication To all of those who play a part in the art of performance and the act of identity. iii Acknowledgment I want to thank my inspirational wife Julie, my sister Engrid a stoic, diabolical dictator of epic proportions, and my loving family and friends. Special thanks to Donald L. Hardesty, Louis Forline, and Paul F. Starrs for their guided direction and exemplary work ethic. iv Contents 1. Introduction 1 2. Folklore: Functionality In a Social Network and Seeking Truth 7 Functions in Society 9 Esoteric and Exoteric 21 The Functions of Folklore to Anthropology 23 Folklore Archetypes and Motifs 26 3. Great Basin Folklore: The Si-teh-cah and the Giants 37 4. Environmental Context of Great Basin Folklore 49 Influence of Environmental Factors in Culture 52 5. Lovelock Cave and the Archaeological Record of the Si-teh-cah 56 Lovelock Cave Archaeological Record 63 6. The Documentary Record and the Si-teh-cah 74 7. The Si-teh-cah and the Biological Record 85 8. Conclusion 90 Index 93 1 CULTURAL MAPPING OF A FOLKLORIC PEOPLE By Ean T. Barnett CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION Perspectives and perceptions, the cultural gaze and the idea of social integrity and identity are all wrapped up into an entangled web of social structure, meaning and transmission of information. This thesis will explore the function of folklore within the context of the Great Basin landscape from a multidisciplinary perspective by utilizing analysis criteria from researchers in the fields of Folklore Studies, Cultural Anthropology, Cultural Geography, Sociology, Environmental Studies, and Archaeology. In particular, it will consider the purposes of specific folkloric themes by dissecting the processes by which archetypes develop and how they underline localized folkloric traditions. In more general terms, the folklore of a people includes collections of events and stories passed on from generation to generation, and so this research will focus primarily on myths from the folkloric tradition of the Great Basin, or rather, more specifically, stories about the mythic people referred to as the Si-teh-cah by the Northern Paiutes, the Nu’numic and Suskia by the Southern Paiute, and the Tso’apittuse, Dzo’avtis, Zoe’ah’vich, and Nuwa’deca by the Shoshone. Despite linguistic variations in the monikers listed above, each tribal tradition appears to describe a similar people group, one of legendary physical proportions or giant stature. All groups being discussed share the Great Basin region and its environment can shape cultural and therefore folklore as people interact with a diverse and ever changing system. The Great Basin was a region undergoing severe transitionary flux as it changed from a pluvial environment to a more 2 arid region therefore it is entirely reasonable to explore the inescapable influence of environmental implications on cultures of the Great Basin. This touches on Ellen Churchill Semple's thoughts and aspects of environmental determinism making connections between environmental conditions and societal development. These so-called giant legends could potentially represent cultural memories of a Pre-Numic people their dynamic representation changes from culture to culture, expressing each group‟s folkloric tradition as well as showing elements of factual truth. Folklore represents stories that hold the elements of the narrative heritage of the perspectives and perceptions that are the signature stamp from each particular group. Through this understanding of folklore we see diverse functions of folklore as the very essence and signature of the culture relaying the information. Folklore seems to be the representation of the collective population and serves purposes in understanding behavioral patterning, migrational trends, warfare, and overall social functions as well as incorporating aspects of preservation. Folklore relays all of these elements, yet it is also formed and created from these factors as well as by environmental features. All of this will be explored more closely in later sections of this thesis. To provide context, Numic refers to the language group of the most recent populations of the Great Basin region. Their language is part of the Uto-Aztecan linguistic family, and so Pre-Numic peoples would date to a prior wave of immigration and occupation of the Great Basin. To date, very little is known about the Pre-Numic people including why they vanished from the region. As this thesis asserts, further study of folkloric elements from the above-mentioned oral traditions may lead to a better 3 understanding of who these long lost people actually were. The similarities between these three folkloric traditions will be explored in further detail later in this paper. But first, this thesis will fundamentally explore folklore and its universal themes as well as esoteric and exoteric factors. Lévi-Strauss‟ structural analysis of myth, Vladimir Propps formalist folkloric thought, and Malinowski‟s definition of folklore will be explored (Strenski 1987: 131). Further focus will be shifted to the exploration of the “Other,” a concept articulated essentially as any group of people deemed outsiders by another group and, therefore, rendered exceptional through cultural, physical or other means. Such is the case of the Si-teh-cah who were vilified through stories and folktales. In this particular case, the folkloric stories of the Paiute, Washoe, and Shoshone discuss mythical giant people that cannibalized Great Basin natives, especially their children, when they were not on guard and/or disobedient to their parents. Although on the surface these myths are reminiscent of a prehistoric „boogie man‟, one created to motivate children to behave, there is more to these legends than initially meets the eye. For through these folkloric stories, the natives justified and gave cause to wars and the eventual genocide of some suspected Pre-Numic groups. So, what might at first appear to be an innocuous childhood fable to Western eyes contains entirely different dimensions to the natives of the Great Basin. Their perceptions and perspectives of culture helped mold and develop the folkloric traditions of their societies. Moreover, environmental factors played a prominent dynamic in their folklore as well. After understanding the significance and the function of folktales within their culture, it becomes apparent that there are similarities across cultures, and patterns 4 emerge. Folkloric accounts provide information on events, wars, lineage, migration movements, and so forth. Folkloric tradition has long been considered primarily oral (as in the case of the Paiute, Washoe, and Shoshone) but this paper will also look at later treatments of the giant myth thereby asserting that literate societies also use folklore to fill functions in societies and relate ideas through a cultural scope. This will be shown through accounts and newspaper articles of mysterious “giant” skeletons and finds. After analyzing the purpose