Washington Matthews
Encyclopedia
Washington Matthews was a surgeon
in the United States Army
, ethnographer, and linguist known for his studies of Native American
peoples, especially the Navajo
.
, near Dublin, Ireland
in 1843 to Nicolas Blayney Matthews and Anna Burke Matthews. His mother having died a few years after his birth, his father took him and his brother to the United States
. He grew up in Wisconsin
and Iowa
, and his father, a medical doctor, began training his son in medicine. He would go on to graduate from the University of Iowa
in 1864 with a degree in medicine
.
The American Civil War
was raging at the time, and Matthews immediately volunteered for the Union Army upon graduating. His first post was as surgeon
at Rock Island
Barracks, Illinois
, where he tended to Confederate
prisoners.
in what is now Montana
in 1865. It was there that an enduring interest in Native American peoples and languages took root. He would go on to serve at a series of forts in Dakota Territory
until 1872: Fort Berthold, Fort Stevenson
, Fort Rice
, and Fort Buford
. He was a part of General Alfred H. Terry's expedition in Dakota Territory in 1867.
While stationed at the Fort Berthold in the Dakota Territory
, he learned to speak the Hidatsa language
fluently, and wrote a series of works describing their culture and language: a description of Hidatsa
-Mandan culture, including a grammar
and vocabulary
of the Hidatsa language
and an ethnographic monograph
of the Hidatsa
. He also described, though less extensively, the related Mandan and Arikara
peoples and languages. (Some of Matthews' work on the Mandan was lost in a fire before being published.)
There is some evidence that Matthews married a Hidatsa woman during this time. Her name is not known. There is also speculation and circumstantial evidence that Matthews had a son with the woman.
In 1877 he participated in an expedition against the Nez Perce, and again in 1878 against the Bannock
. While serving on a prison on Alcatraz Island
in San Francisco Bay
, Matthews made a study of the Modoc language.
in Washington, DC. During this time he conducted research and wrote several papers on physical anthropology
, specifically craniometry and anthropometry
.
of the Smithsonian Institution
's Bureau of American Ethnology
suggested that Matthews be assigned to Fort Wingate
, near what is now Gallup, New Mexico
. It was there that Matthews came to know the people who would become the subject of his best known work, the Navajo.
His work on the Navajo served to dispel then-current erroneous thinking about the complexity of Navajo culture:
Matthews is said to have been initiated into various secret Navajo rituals.
Matthews argued that the Navajo were ichthyphobic.
in his work on emotion
; Matthews is cited with respect to the expression of emotion and other gestures among various peoples of America: the Dakota, Tetons, Grosventres, Mandans, and Assiniboine.
Loeseliastrum matthewsii
was named after him.
Matthews is buried at Arlington National Cemetery
in Arlington, Virginia.
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, ethnographer, and linguist known for his studies of Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
peoples, especially the Navajo
Navajo people
The Navajo of the Southwestern United States are the largest single federally recognized tribe of the United States of America. The Navajo Nation has 300,048 enrolled tribal members. The Navajo Nation constitutes an independent governmental body which manages the Navajo Indian reservation in the...
.
Early life and education
Matthews was born in KillineyKilliney
Killiney is a suburb of Dublin in south County Dublin, Ireland. It is within the administrative area of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County. The area is by the coast, south of neighbouring Dalkey, and north to Shankill area in the most southern outskirt of Dublin....
, near Dublin, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
in 1843 to Nicolas Blayney Matthews and Anna Burke Matthews. His mother having died a few years after his birth, his father took him and his brother to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He grew up in Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
and Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, and his father, a medical doctor, began training his son in medicine. He would go on to graduate from the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
in 1864 with a degree in medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
.
The American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
was raging at the time, and Matthews immediately volunteered for the Union Army upon graduating. His first post was as surgeon
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
at Rock Island
Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island is the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 40,884 at the 2010 census. Located on the Mississippi River, it is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring Moline, East Moline, and the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendorf. The Quad Cities...
Barracks, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, where he tended to Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
prisoners.
In the West
Matthews was posted at Fort UnionFort Union Trading Post National Historic Site
Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site is the site of a partially reconstructed trading post on the Missouri River and the North Dakota/Montana border twenty-five miles from Williston. It is one of the earliest declared National Historic Landmarks of the United States...
in what is now Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
in 1865. It was there that an enduring interest in Native American peoples and languages took root. He would go on to serve at a series of forts in 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...
until 1872: Fort Berthold, Fort Stevenson
Fort Stevenson
Fort Stevenson was a frontier military fort in the 19th century in what was then Dakota Territory and what is now North Dakota. The fort was abandoned in 1883 with the sale of all buildings and property. In 1901 the lands encompassing the Fort Stevenson Military Reservation were sold to Black and...
, Fort Rice
Fort Rice
Fort Rice was a frontier military fort in the 19th century in what was then Dakota Territory and what is now North Dakota....
, and Fort Buford
Fort Buford
Fort Buford was a United States Army base at the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers in North Dakota, and the site of Sitting Bull's surrender in 1881....
. He was a part of General Alfred H. Terry's expedition in Dakota Territory in 1867.
While stationed at the Fort Berthold 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 learned to speak the Hidatsa language
Hidatsa language
Hidatsa is an endangered Siouan language, closely related to the Crow language. It is spoken by the Hidatsa tribe, primarily in North Dakota and South Dakota....
fluently, and wrote a series of works describing their culture and language: a description of Hidatsa
Hidatsa
The Hidatsa are a Siouan people, a part of the Three Affiliated Tribes. The Hidatsa's autonym is Hiraacá. According to the tribal tradition, the word hiraacá derives from the word "willow"; however, the etymology is not transparent and the similarity to mirahací ‘willows’ inconclusive...
-Mandan culture, including a grammar
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
and vocabulary
Vocabulary
A person's vocabulary is the set of words within a language that are familiar to that person. A vocabulary usually develops with age, and serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge...
of the Hidatsa language
Hidatsa language
Hidatsa is an endangered Siouan language, closely related to the Crow language. It is spoken by the Hidatsa tribe, primarily in North Dakota and South Dakota....
and an ethnographic monograph
Ethnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
of the Hidatsa
Hidatsa
The Hidatsa are a Siouan people, a part of the Three Affiliated Tribes. The Hidatsa's autonym is Hiraacá. According to the tribal tradition, the word hiraacá derives from the word "willow"; however, the etymology is not transparent and the similarity to mirahací ‘willows’ inconclusive...
. He also described, though less extensively, the related Mandan and Arikara
Arikara
Arikara are a group of Native Americans in North Dakota...
peoples and languages. (Some of Matthews' work on the Mandan was lost in a fire before being published.)
There is some evidence that Matthews married a Hidatsa woman during this time. Her name is not known. There is also speculation and circumstantial evidence that Matthews had a son with the woman.
In 1877 he participated in an expedition against the Nez Perce, and again in 1878 against the Bannock
Bannock (tribe)
The Bannock tribe of the Northern Paiute are an indigenous people of the Great Basin. Their traditional lands include southeastern Oregon, southeastern Idaho, western Wyoming, and southwestern Montana...
. While serving on a prison on Alcatraz Island
Alcatraz Island
Alcatraz Island is an island located in the San Francisco Bay, offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. Often referred to as "The Rock" or simply "Traz", the small island was developed with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, a military prison, and a Federal...
in San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
, Matthews made a study of the Modoc language.
Army Medical Museum
From 1884-1890, Matthews was posted to the Army Medical MuseumArmy Medical Museum
Army Medical Museum:*National Museum of Health and Medicine -United States*Army Medical Museum...
in Washington, DC. During this time he conducted research and wrote several papers on physical anthropology
Physical anthropology
Biological anthropology is that branch of anthropology that studies the physical development of the human species. It plays an important part in paleoanthropology and in forensic anthropology...
, specifically craniometry and anthropometry
Anthropometry
Anthropometry refers to the measurement of the human individual...
.
With the Navajo
John Wesley PowellJohn Wesley Powell
John Wesley Powell was a U.S. soldier, geologist, explorer of the American West, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions...
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...
's 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...
suggested that Matthews be assigned to Fort Wingate
Fort Wingate
Fort Wingate is near Gallup, New Mexico. There were two locations in New Mexico that had this name. The first one was located near San Rafael. The current fort was established on the southern edge of the Navajo territory in 1862. The initial purpose of the fort was to control the large Navajo...
, near what is now Gallup, New Mexico
Gallup, New Mexico
- Demographics :As of the census of 2000, there were 20,209 people, 6,810 households, and 4,869 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,513.7 people per square mile...
. It was there that Matthews came to know the people who would become the subject of his best known work, the Navajo.
His work on the Navajo served to dispel then-current erroneous thinking about the complexity of Navajo culture:
- Dr Matthews referred to Dr Leatherman's account of the Navahoes as the one long accepted as authoritative. In it that writer has declared that they have no traditions nor poetry, and that their songs "were but a succession of grunts." Dr. Matthews discovered that they had a multitude of legends, so numerous that he never hoped to collect them all: an elaborate religion, with symbolism and allegory, which might vie with that of the Greeks; numerous and formulated prayers and songs, not only multitudinous, but relating to all subjects, and composed for every circumstance of life. The songs are as full of poetic images and figures of speech as occur in English, and are handed down from father to son, from generation to generation.
Matthews is said to have been initiated into various secret Navajo rituals.
Matthews argued that the Navajo were ichthyphobic.
Medical Research and Retirement
Matthews was quoted by Charles DarwinCharles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
in his work on emotion
The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals
The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals is a book by Charles Darwin, published in 1872, concerning genetically determined aspects of behaviour. It was published thirteen years after On The Origin of Species and is, along with his 1871 book The Descent of Man, Darwin's main consideration...
; Matthews is cited with respect to the expression of emotion and other gestures among various peoples of America: the Dakota, Tetons, Grosventres, Mandans, and Assiniboine.
Loeseliastrum matthewsii
Loeseliastrum matthewsii
Loeseliastrum matthewsii is an annual herbaceous plant of the Polemoniaceae family known by the common name desert calico. It is native to the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of western North America, where it is relatively common. It is a small plant with alternately arranged leaves, each up to 4...
was named after him.
Selected works
- 1873 Grammar and Dictionary of the Language of the Hidatsa
- 1877 Ethnography and philology of the Hidatsa Indians
- 1887 The Mountain Chant: A Navajo Ceremony
- 1897 Navaho legends
- 1907 Navaho Myths, Prayers, and Songs
Matthews is buried at Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
in Arlington, Virginia.