James Owen Dorsey
Encyclopedia
James Owen Dorsey was an American
ethnologist, linguist
, and Episcopalian missionary
who contributed to the description of the Ponca
, Omaha, and other southern Siouan languages
. He also collected much material on beliefs and institutions, although most of his manuscripts have not been published. Some of the many stories he collected from the Ponca and Osage have been published, and are being used in an Omaha language curriculum project at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
of the Episcopal Church
in 1871.
Indians in the Dakota Territory
. He had a remarkable aptitude for languages, and a sympathetic and helpful personality which won the confidence of the Indians. He lived 27 months as a missionary in Nebraska
and South Dakota
, learning the difficult (for English speakers) Siouan language of the Ponca and Omaha
Indians.
Ill health forced Dorsey to leave the West and to become a pastor in Maryland. He continued to study linguistics, and to work on linguistic analysis of Ponca and Omaha. In the early years, he tried to link those languages with Hebrew, in the mistaken theory that Native Americans were among the Lost Tribes of Israel. These efforts were considered "crude and immature." He developed into a linguist and anthropologist who presented Indian cultures with "unsurpassed fidelity."
In 1878, in the formative period of the Bureau of American Ethnology
(BAE) as part of the Smithsonian Institution
, the director John Wesley Powell
engaged Dorsey to return to Nebraska to compile dictionaries of the Omaha and Ponca languages. In 1880, he returned to Washington to work with the BAE at the Smithsonian as a specialist in Siouan languages, a position he held for the rest of his life.
Dorsey later did field work with the Siouan-speaking Tutelo
in Canada
, the Biloxi
in Louisiana
, and the Quapaw
in Oklahoma
. In addition, he studied several tribes along the Oregon
coast, where he compiled materials on the Athabaskan (also called Dene), Coosan
, Takilman
, and Yakonan language families or "stocks", some of which were spoken by small groups of people. In 1884 he was the last to record the Yakona (Yaquina) language, which is now extinct.
Dorsey also compiled word lists and dictionaries of the Kansa
and Osage
languages. He became the foremost expert on the languages and culture of southern Siouan peoples. Many of his extensive compilations of vocabulary, grammar, myths, oral histories, and cultural practices are still unpublished.
Dorsey died of typhoid fever
in 1895 in Washington, D.C.
at age 47.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
ethnologist, linguist
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, and Episcopalian missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
who contributed to the description of the Ponca
Ponca
The Ponca are a Native American people of the Dhegihan branch of the Siouan-language group. There are two federally recognized Ponca tribes: the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma...
, Omaha, and other southern Siouan languages
Siouan languages
The Western Siouan languages, also called Siouan proper or simply Siouan, are a Native American language family of North America, and the second largest indigenous language family in North America, after Algonquian...
. He also collected much material on beliefs and institutions, although most of his manuscripts have not been published. Some of the many stories he collected from the Ponca and Osage have been published, and are being used in an Omaha language curriculum project at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Early life and education
James Owen Dorsey was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He attended the Theological Seminary of Virginia, and was ordained as a deaconDeacon
Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
of the Episcopal Church
Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
in 1871.
Career
That year he became a missionary to the PoncaPonca
The Ponca are a Native American people of the Dhegihan branch of the Siouan-language group. There are two federally recognized Ponca tribes: the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma...
Indians in the Dakota Territory
Dakota Territory
The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of North and South Dakota.The Dakota Territory consisted of...
. He had a remarkable aptitude for languages, and a sympathetic and helpful personality which won the confidence of the Indians. He lived 27 months as a missionary in Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
and South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
, learning the difficult (for English speakers) Siouan language of the Ponca and Omaha
Omaha
Omaha may refer to:*Omaha , a Native American tribe that currently resides in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Nebraska-Places:United States* Omaha, Nebraska* Omaha, Arkansas* Omaha, Georgia* Omaha, Illinois* Omaha, Texas...
Indians.
Ill health forced Dorsey to leave the West and to become a pastor in Maryland. He continued to study linguistics, and to work on linguistic analysis of Ponca and Omaha. In the early years, he tried to link those languages with Hebrew, in the mistaken theory that Native Americans were among the Lost Tribes of Israel. These efforts were considered "crude and immature." He developed into a linguist and anthropologist who presented Indian cultures with "unsurpassed fidelity."
In 1878, in the formative period of the Bureau of American Ethnology
Bureau of American Ethnology
The Bureau of American Ethnology was established in 1879 by an act of Congress for the purpose of transferring archives, records and materials relating to the Indians of North America from the Interior Department to the Smithsonian Institution...
(BAE) as part of the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
, the director John Wesley Powell
John Wesley Powell
John Wesley Powell was a U.S. soldier, geologist, explorer of the American West, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions...
engaged Dorsey to return to Nebraska to compile dictionaries of the Omaha and Ponca languages. In 1880, he returned to Washington to work with the BAE at the Smithsonian as a specialist in Siouan languages, a position he held for the rest of his life.
Dorsey later did field work with the Siouan-speaking Tutelo
Tutelo
The Tutelo were Native people living above the Fall Line in present-day Virginia and West Virginia, speaking a Siouan dialect of the Tutelo language thought to be similar to that of their neighbors, the Monacan and Manahoac nations...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the Biloxi
Tunica-Biloxi
The modern Tunica-Biloxi tribe live in Mississippi and east central Louisiana. The modern tribe is composed of descendants of Tunica, Biloxi , Ofo , Avoyel , and Muskogean Choctaw. They speak mostly English and French...
in Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, and the Quapaw
Quapaw
The Quapaw people are a tribe of Native Americans who historically resided on the west side of the Mississippi River in what is now the state of Arkansas.They are federally recognized as the Quapaw Tribe of Indians.-Government:...
in Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
. In addition, he studied several tribes along the Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
coast, where he compiled materials on the Athabaskan (also called Dene), Coosan
Coosan
Coosan is a suburb just north of Athlone, County Westmeath. Surrounded on three sides by Lough Ree and one side by Athlone town itself, its population has grown since the Celtic Tiger from around 400 in the 1990s to roughly 5000 in the early 21st century. Due to its location on the edge of Lough...
, Takilman
Takelma
The Takelma were a Native American people that lived in the Rogue Valley of interior southwest Oregon, with most of their villages sited along the Rogue River. The name Takelma means Along the River.-History:...
, and Yakonan language families or "stocks", some of which were spoken by small groups of people. In 1884 he was the last to record the Yakona (Yaquina) language, which is now extinct.
Dorsey also compiled word lists and dictionaries of the Kansa
Kansa language
Kansa is a Siouan language once spoken by the Kaw people of Oklahoma. The last mother-tongue speaker, Walter Kekahbah, died in 1983.-Scholarship and Resources:...
and Osage
Osage language
Osage is a Siouan language spoken by the Osage people of Oklahoma. The last native speaker, Lucille Roubedeaux, died ca. 2005.Osage has an inventory of sounds very similar to that of Dakota, plus vowel length, preaspirated obstruents, and an interdental fricative...
languages. He became the foremost expert on the languages and culture of southern Siouan peoples. Many of his extensive compilations of vocabulary, grammar, myths, oral histories, and cultural practices are still unpublished.
Dorsey died of typhoid fever
Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi...
in 1895 in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
at age 47.
Publications
- A Dictionary of the Biloxi and Ofo languages, accompanied with thirty-one Biloxi tests and numerous Biloxi phrases, 1912
- A Dakota-English dictionary, Edited by James Owen Dorsey, 1968
- "Omaha and Ponca Letters" (1890), (Contributions to North American Ethnography VI), supplement, 1891
- Omaha Dwellings, Furniture and Implements, 1892-1893
- Osage Traditions, 1888
- Siouan Sociology, 1897
- The Cehiga Language, 1890
External links
- "J.O. Dorsey", E-Museum, Minnesota State University Mankato
- "Nineteenth Century Omaha Texts," collected by James Owen Dorsey, 1890, Omaha (Degiha) Language, OMAHA LANGUAGE CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT PROJECT, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (includes link to audio version of one story)
- J. O. Dorsey (1890-1891), "Ponca & Omaha Texts", University of Colorado