OBSERVATIONS ON THE THUNDER DANCE OF THE BEAR GENS OF THE FOX INDIANS

Oct 6, 2026

Bulletin text presents two accounts of the Thunder Dance of the Bear gens among the Fox Indians, written in a native syllabary and later restored through phonetic analysis by researchers. It details the collaboration process behind the English translations, including paraphrasing and grammatical analysis of the Indian text. The introduction explains authorship and publication delay, summarizes the literary structure of the first account, describes the second account’s role within the Thunder Dance organization, and references a diagram showing how the dance and related festival are conducted.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages79

Reading Time2 h 2 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

First account: Indian text and English translation

Linguistic notes on the Indian text

Second account: Indian text and English translation

Linguistic notes on the Indian text

Authorities cited

Index

= 二 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGYBULLETIN 89 OBSERVATIONS ON THE THUNDER DANCE OF THE BEAR GENSOF THE FOX INDIANS TRUMAN MICHELSON UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICEWASHINGTON:1929 ADDITIONAL COPIES OP THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE PROCURED FROMTHE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTSU.8.GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICEWASHINGTON,D.C. AT 65 CENTS PER COPY(CLOTH) LIBRARY OF CONGRESSRECEIVED 1929 NOV2 DOCUMENTS DIVISION LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION,BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY,Washington,D.C.,January 80,1928. SIR:I have the honor to transmit the accompanying manuscript,entitled“Observations on the Thunder Dance of the Bear Gens ofthe Fox Indians,"by Truman Michelson,and to recommend its pub-lication as a bulletin of the Bureau of American Ethnology. Very respectfully yours, H.W.DoRSEY, Chief Clerk,Smithsonian Institution. DR.CHARLES G.ABBOT,Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. III 1TT/2VAIT H CONTENTS PageIntroduction_---1First account:Indian text__---10English translation__--11Linguistic notes on the Indian text_24Second account:Indian text__-----28English translation_29Linguistic notes on the Indian text_62Authorities cited__-69Index71 ILLUSTRATION Page FIGURE 1.Diagram showing how the Thunder dance of the Bear gens ofthe Fox Indians is conducted,together with the appurtenantgens festival__---- # OBSERVATIONS ON THE THUNDER DANCE OFTHE BEAR GENS OF THE FOX INDIANS By TRUMAN MICHELSON —— INTRODUCTION The two accounts of the Thunder dance of the Bear gens of theFox Indians which I now present were written by two native inform-ants in the current syllabary and were subsequently restored accord-ing to the phonetics of Harry Lincoln in the main,though a few pagesof the second account were restored according to those of ThomasScott.The songs,however,are given in the Fox syllabic style,using roman type for the script.The English translation of thefirst account is based upon an English paraphrase by Horace Powe-shiek,corrected and supplemented by a grammatical analysis of theIndian text by myself.This last task was materially lightened bythe intelligent help given by Harry Lincoln when answering linguisticqueries based on the text.The English translation of the secondaccount is almost entirely by myself,though I had the benefit of aparaphrase dictated by Harry Lincoln;and I was further assistedby the grammatical notes(based on the text)which I obtained fromhim. The first account is by Jim Peters,who died in 1917.The reasonfor the delay in its appearance is twofold—first,his request that thisbe deferred until after his death so that he might not suffer sociallyor politically,as he assuredly would have had it been disclosed duringhis lifetime that he had imparted the information;secondly,it wasclear that additional data were needed.The second account in ameasure covers the second desideratum.Hence both accounts arenow published,even if the total information in certain respects isnot as complete as desirable. The literary style of the account by Jim Peters is slightly inferiorto some other writings by him on ceremonial and religious subjects(as yet unpublished),and decidedly unequal to the excellency at-tained by him in writing ordinary myths and tales.First we have abrief ritualistic origin myth;then a description of a specific cere-mony follows;then follow some songs used any time the Thunderdance of the Bear gens is held;information on this dance follows,and indirect discourse should be noted;then a speech such as occursin the ceremony comes;then follow some general comments andmoralizing,such as occur elsewhere in gens festivals.Although these topics are all appropriate,they are rather disjointed in thepresent composition.On the other hand,the individual Fox sen-tences are good. The second account is by a member of the Bear gens who is amember of the organization centering around the Thunder dance. FIG.1.—Diagram showing ho

FAQs

How were the Fox Indian accounts originally written and later prepared for publication?

The two accounts were written by native informants in a current syllabary and were subsequently restored according to phonetics, with some portions restored using additional phonetic sources. The songs are given in a Fox syllabic style using roman type for the script.

What is the basis of the English translations in the introduction?

The first account’s English translation is based on an English paraphrase corrected and supplemented through grammatical analysis of the Indian text. The second account’s translation is almost entirely by the author, with assistance from a paraphrase dictated and grammatical notes based on the text.

Why was the first account delayed until after the death of its author?

The introduction states the delay was twofold: the author requested deferral to avoid social or political consequences during his lifetime. It also notes the need for additional data that the second account helps address.

Oct 6, 2026

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