00:00.00 archpodnet Um, welcome to episode 151 of a life ruins podcast reinvesigate the careers and ruins of those living life ruins I am your host Carlton Gover and today we are well today you guys are in store for another lecture by me. Professor Carlton Shield chief gover um, the last time I did this talk which was on um preloviss Clovis people in the Americas and Megafaun extinction I asked listeners just like you. If you'd like more forms of these episodes every once in a while and we got we got surprising um a surprising amount of feedback requesting more of these lectures? Um, but you know just every now and then. Don't need the show to just be me. We all love David and Connor and we like the style format. So here today. We're going to do just another lecture by me and I really enjoy these kinds of lectures because one had allows me the opportunity to talk about topics that I'm really passionate about in an academic context. Um, and also just because like. I'm here at indiana university I only have a 1 1 teaching load. So don't always get to teach topics that I want to so like right now I'm teaching a science communication course. So I'm not really talking about archeology. Um, and you know in the fall I'm teaching an introduction to archeology course which is my bread and butter. However. 01:30.15 archpodnet I very much enjoy talking about like my specific research. What I um like working on and so with that what I thought today. Um I'd like to talk to you guys about is ah pawne history and as it relates to the archeological records. So really doing. A deep dive into um, deep time history of of the pawnee and so with that and this is really when we talk about pawe history. Um, it's also the history of like many great plains, indigenous nations. And the history of people within the great plains themselves. So it's just kind of this broad topic where we're going to start this off this episode off real quick. We're going to go through the contemporary ponye nation. Really looking back at the past two hundred years of pawnee history to set this stage then we're going to go into the geographic and climatic and chronological. Um, you know, background of the great plains and then start going through specific archeological cultures transitions. And human behavior and cultural adaptation to environment. Um that then laid up into this you know eighteenth Nineteenth century ah time period of european and great planes contact. So with that. Just some just some background right? So you guys all know at this point that i'm. 03:02.97 archpodnet Myself a tribal citizen of the pawnee nation of Oklahoma if if you if you're just tuning in. Um, that might be new to you. But for those longtime listeners. You guys have heard me talk about this a number of times and so who who are the pawnee exactly well. The Pawnye nation today. The Panye nation of Oklahoma is our official title now. We're not originally from Oklahoma that is very much a twentieth century ah kind of thing. We. We picked up that of Oklahoma as we were on the reservation in Oklahoma like many other tribal groups. Um, in the late nineteenth century when we're you know, forcefully relocated to what was then indian territory but the pawnee nation itself is a confederation between four different groups and so. Within these four groups they're they're basically it's a confederation of 4 band bands is what we call them. Um now. However, when we talk about bands. It's not the same as you know, um elman service and and solins bands tribes chiefdoms states. And so it's not that same kind of cultural makeup in which like these bands I'm about to talk to you about are the same kind of societies that are talked about in cultural evolution. So these 4 bands there. We have this skidi Kikka Hockey pitahawi dotta and the chawi 04:36.20 archpodnet Now in translated skedi means wolf band it's the wolf Wolf Wolf Tribe wolf wolf group kick a hockey means little earth lodge village pitahawi data means man going downstream and chawi means like. To beg for to beg. We're not quite or to ask for. That's kind of the translation. We're not quite sure where where that comes from. Um so those are the actual names now in the literature you'll sometimes see them as like the like. They'll they'll translate skedi Kicka Hockey bit to how we dot tohow we into what the french called us so they'll be like oh well, the kickckokckies are the republican pawnie these are the grand pownies. These are the to podge. These are the loop pownies so people get those translations confusedre like oh that's what they mean it's like no That's what the french called us because the earliest european one of the earliest european powers that we had a relationship with were the french out of you know then french canada um, so that's where that kind of comes in It's really interesting when I look at the you know like the academic publication. Peer-reviewed scholastic sources and even like a year ago I saw a professor publish something like these are the translations and these the french translations and they were just wrong and I had to reach out to them like that's not what these mean do your research? Um, so. 06:00.21 archpodnet Even out of these 4 bands There's actually like really two major groups. The kicka hockeys pit tohawi dot is and the chawis these are what we call the south band pawnies these 3 bands each in time had their own town maybe 2 towns so the south bands. At the very minimum had 3 towns and at the very maximum had 6 towns this ski d on the other hand which is what I am represent. Um sometimes called the north band now the skidi is actually a federation of 13 clans and these clans. Also had their own town so there was at minimum 13 towns that were you know quote unquote skd. Um, so larger than the other other groups um combined and so that's kind of like geopolitically they're different right? You have the kikokck and battawi da chawi. They're smaller There's also some cultural differences between the south bands and the skiddi that we'll we'll talk about as we get to the archeological record what sets this up but they speak the same language like we all speak pawny um, the skidi have a dialect change a dialect difference and it's it's nothing severe if you read like Doug Parks's work. I'm not a linguistic anthropologist but the more that I learned the language and work with our guys that have like you know you guys have heard Zach and Taylor on the podcast before and how they talk about the differences between North Band and south be it's like a val change um how you enunciate like 1 specific valw but all you have to do is switch it out like it's not a major. 07:34.84 archpodnet It's really not a big ah language difference or I wouldn't even call it. It might be like ah a dialect I guess um, but for my understanding it's like how you pronounce. Pecan like you so pronounce a pecan or pecan and that's really how I as a layman would describe that dialect change. It's 1 bell. Um, so regionally why are they called why the kickokck he pit to haway das and chawi called the south bands. Well in our homeland in Nebraska and Kansas that's our core. Town area. That's where our permanent towns resided um, but our our geographic range would so you know traditionally so spread from the Missouri River in Eastern Nebraska northeastern kansas 08:27.23 archpodnet All the way into the Colorado front range and W And Wyoming front range in Western Nebraska western Kansas eastern Colorado eastern wyoming those were our hunting grounds but that was part of our not only our our geographic range but also our cultural geography. So we have. Um, geographic names for many locations in the west including pike's peak or other gods in Colorado springs places in Wyoming like that's part of our cultural geography. We have a big time depth there. Um the ski d. Our towns were spread up specifically along the loop river in central nebraska so like the skities are like central Nebraska through and through where the other bands are kind of like Eastern Nebraska eastern Kansas Northern Kansas central Kansas and they kind of have each band has kind of their own geographic. Area in particular um and the south bands are more culturally similar um pawnees have different rituals than the than the south bandoo but they all took part in them like there's some um, definitely evidence. Of um, when the skidies would hold their morning star sacrifice cultural leaders and political leaders from the south be towns would would come for these events our closest. 09:51.64 archpodnet Kin I should say like tribes nations that are closest to us culturally linguistically are the aryra to the north of us and then the Wichita to the south and the Wichita today. The Wichita affiliated tribes. They're really a a confederation of multiple tribes and then they're under the banner of Wichita. Um, the south bands had a much closer relationship with the wichitas right? because they're right next door to each other like the Wichita their cultural geographies like Southern Kansas all the way down to southeastern Texas whereas the skids. We had a close relationship with iricara why will he? rira. Originally, we're in Southern South Dakota right? above us right? So there was a time period a history in the great plains in which cato and speakers Cato and being the language group that are Rick Rapawney and Wichita all follow under in addition to the cato proper the catow are and a separate linguistic branch all on their own. You know that's a cultural geography linguistic geography that was really the entirety of the great plains from Southern Texas all the way up into South Dakota from the mountain ranges all the way to the Missouri river and parts of the Mississippi. So the great plains used to be very much catoan ancestral pawnees riras. In Wichita's that was ours for a very long time really up until the fifteenth sixteenth centuries okay um and I keep using the word towns and the reason why is I hate the word villages and if you really look geopolitically. 11:22.20 archpodnet And at the archeological record even the historical documentation of the settlements that pawnies had we're talking about like several dozen earth lodges which was what we stayed in which held up to like two dozen people each up to like hundreds of earth lodges these were towns. Um. Populations that exceeded 5000 people regularly. Um you know and there were um meeting places there were ceremonial spaces like these were um, planned developments like these weren't just random mud huts that were just strewn about the landscape these were planned settlements. Okay, that had locations for religious and political leaders. Um, so keeping that in mind that's why I use the word towns villages is just kind of come across as like really demeaning in my opinion and so what are. 12:19.94 archpodnet The pawe is really known for so we were we were farmers first and foremost so corn beads and squash 3 sisters agriculture was our bread and butter. However, on the great plains. You also have to supplement farming with bison hunting so we were also bianual bison hunters. Um. Meaning we would plant crops in the spring in our towns then in the summer we'd go on bison hunts while the crops are growing so we'd go to the western part of our of our homeland and hunt bison summer bison are really good for ah 1 meat. Like a lot of protein but then also their hides are thinner. So they really those hides at that time are are better for clothing and tpeas. Then we'd come back to our towns in the fall for harvest and while we're we're harvesting. Earth lodges have a dual purpose in which not only are we ah like using them to live in but actually you can turn them into like smokers as well like you can do a lot inside an earth lodge. So but also like smoke and cure meat inside of our earth lodges we could cover up the top smoke hole smoke em and also when you smoke an earth lodge. That way. Not only are the smoking the meats and processing the hides. But you're also fumigating the earth lodges of rodents and insects and also that process helps to pack the interior clay linings of of the earth lodges themselves and also hardened the wood and the beams. 13:53.16 archpodnet And cures a lot of that stuff so it has this really interesting several purposes then after harvest and storage um would go out on winter bison hunts and during the winter bison hunts you know the bison they're they're a little little scraggly at this time but we're still processing meat. But. Winter bison in particular their hides are really thick and they're really good for blankets these are much more durable and tough hides. So you can think of like the summer bison hides are much better for clothing. They're much thinner better for tpe like I said. Went bison high and those are those are your blankets you get those? those are the thick guys they're they're really hard to sew and work with because they're so much thicker so they're they're used for much more like robust forms of cultural material. Um. 14:41.90 archpodnet Come into contact with the spanish a couple times one ah in in the late or like yeah early to mid sixteenth century with the spanish but then the french start coming in in the sixteen hundreds as well and we develop trading relationships with the french um and and so the french kind of get this monopoly or the monopolies of the wrong word. But they developed some really good relationships with the Missouri river tribes and at that point in the sixteen hundreds the paka and omaha and the Kansas have come in along the Missouri River in Eastern Nebraska Kansas relatively peaceful with us. Um, you know in the archaeological record ancestral pawnees. And Ponahs and Omahas got along. We have we have a really deep history with them. Um in the ponkas and omahas they're they're really just one nation each with their own town basically had the ponka town and the Omaha town same people but they got different designations for whatever reason that's the us government Kansa. We're a little bit more wily. But whatever. It's relatively peaceful time and so what the french are doing. They're trading european goods with the Missouri river tribes and they're looking for captives. They're looking for slaves but our version of indigenous slavery is much different. Than european chattel slavery so indigenous slavery is much more captive taking indentured servitude. Um, it's not the chattel slavery of Europe and the United States so the pawnees and the Missouri river tribes are going out to the southwest which are under spanish influence. So really, the hiory apaches. 16:10.48 archpodnet The lipen apaches pueblos Musculero Apaches um we're going and raiding them in the southwest in Southeastern Colorado New Mexico western Texas and we're taking captives and bringing them back to the french and vice versa. The spanish are having the Apaches and Pueblos. Cross the plains to attack Missouri river tribes and get captives and bring them back. So there's actually like a ah pawny people get really not concerned but they're curious. Why it? Why do the pawnes and some of these Missouri river tribes when it comes to repatriations in New Mexico or land acknowledgements in New Mexico they're like why do we have to acknowledge like the pawnees Omahas Kansa and it's because out of this form of slavery. Um Pawnee captives were taken back to New Mexico and forced to work on some of these um villas. And so there are an ancestral pawnees that that got stuck in New Mexico it's like a really fascinating topic in in my opinion. Um, the Pawne There's the a famous viosaur expedition in which ah Viosaur who's a spanish conquistador. A bunch of conky stores in pueblos went out to try to stop the french and the Missouri river and they get caught in Nebraska by ah or in the central plains by pawnies and otos and we absolutely annihilate the viosaur expedition and every time the spanish try to get to the Missouri river they run into pawnees and get annihilated fundamentally. 17:34.50 archpodnet Ah, the spanish didn't do so good with us. Um, they tried they tried um and really the pawnie we started developing treaties with the United States in the early nineteenth century. So 18 16 18 18 18 nineteen a bunch of treaties are signed including 1 of my ancestors signed a. Ah, treaty in 1818 on June eighteenth my birthday. Um basically declaring peace with the United States we never went to war with the United States in any point in time. Um, we were really really good allies to the United States and ah it's through that allyship. That when the United States provoked war and violated their treaties with the lakotas cheyennes and arapahos after you know, really one of the big kickoff powder keg events was um the sand creek massacre in Colorado the United States Calvary could not. Defeat the lakotas cheyennes and araos they just could not and so they enlisted a battalion of pawnee's scouts to help them because the lakotas I hate using the word traditional enemy like we talked about that today but prior really to you know european western expansion the United States west expansion when they were disrupting. These these long held thousands of euros old market economies and trade networks and annihilating bison herds and which resource on the planes are getting scarce and the tribes it becomes like every tribe for themselves because they can just get everything from the United States um pawnes and lakotas especially went to war. 19:05.72 archpodnet Same with their coymanches now there is apparently a lakota group that was always chill with the pawnie I think it was the bruels maybe but there is a a a band of lakotas that the pawniees were really chill with um so the United States government basically hired the 200 pawnee indians to serve as scouts for um. Us Cavary and through our scouting we participated in these battles. Um, you know the lakota cheyen and Arapaho were put on the reservations and that doesn't happen without the pawnees and there's other indian scouts that take part but our tribe had the largest um amount that were enlisted. And ultimately even though we did all this work for the United States and we're allied with them. They still took our land in Nebraska um, and we you know we moved to Northern Oklahoma um part of Oklahoma that is actually and in the archeological record. There are ancestral pawnees you know and catoans that that live there and and I've heard this story in which why did the pawe choose to put their reservation Oklahoma in that part of Oklahoman's because they're like oh this used to be ours like we we know this place this is this is actually part of pawe land. So. There's this like it's part of our further southern extreme is where our current reservations at and actually our reservation wasn't given to us we we bought that property um from a different tribe so we actually purchased land from a different tribe's reservation so it should have been ours. 20:30.87 archpodnet And the daws act was illegal for many different reasons but you know the a loting of the paation reservation in Oklahoma and and all that was is super illegal because actually the United States Andt own it. It wasn't federal territory. So with that. That's a brief you know rundown upon a history in the eighteenth Nineteenth Century um the next section we're going to start talking about um the geography of the great plains so stay tuned for more of episode one fifty one