James Dorsey

January 31, 1848 (age 47)

Baltimore, Maryland, United States

At an early age he showed a tendency toward linguistics, having learned the Hebrew alphabet at six and being able to read the language at ten. Beginning mission work among the Pawnees of Dakota Territory, he soon acquired ability to speak the language, but, hampered by illness, he returned to Maryland and engaged in parish work in 1880. At this period the newly founded Bureau of American Ethnology under Maj. J. W. Powell required his services, and he was sent to study the Omaha Indians, returning later to elaborate his notes. In this way he made a number of trips to the West, collecting linguistic material from various Indian tribes. Brief as was his productive career, he published, besides numerous shorter articles in various publications, a creditable number of major works on a difficult subject. The Annual Reports of the United States Bureau of American Ethnology contains most of his larger papers, including: “Omaha Sociology”; “Osage Traditions”; “A Study of Siouan Cults”; “Omaha Dwellings, Furniture and Implements"; “Siouan Sociology”. In Contributions to North American Ethnology he published The Cegiha Language; and Dakota Grammar, Texts, and Ethnography by Stephen Return Riggs In various outside media he published : “An Account of the War Customs of the Osages"; and in the same journal: “Mourning and War Customs of the Kansas”, and “Migrations of Siouan Tribes”. One of his early papers was: “Of the Comparative Phonology of Four Siouan Languages”. Omaha and Ponca Letters appeared in 1891 as Bulletin 11, of the Bureau of American Ethnology, and A Dictionary of the Biloxi and Ofo Languages, with J. R. Swanton, as Bulletin 47 in 1912. These studies are of a highly specialized character, requiring trained and expert observation and accurate record. To this work he brought method, rapidity, assiduity, and a keen ear. A trained scientist, he bent his energies to recording, holding to facts, and promulgating no theories. On the whole, “in the field of linguistics and sociology Mr. Dorsey collected many facts and much data, which are a permanent addition to our heritage of knowledge”. A delicate constitution, accounting for illnesses which at times slowed up his work, did not prevent Dorsey’s being an example of the men whose inner fire drives them on to triumph over adverse circumstances. He was honored by various learned societies devoted to ethnology. He gave the impression of distinction, of transparency, and of spirituality. Moving among men as a friend, he was loved and revered by all.

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Illustration Of The Method Of Recording Indian Languages - From the First Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution

(Illustration Of The Method Of Recording Indian Languages ...)

Omaha Dwellings, Furniture and Implements Thirteenth Annual Report of the Beaurau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian ... Office, Washington, 1896 pages 263-288

(Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)

Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 47. A Dictionary of the Biloxi and Ofo Languages. Accompanied with Thirty-One Biloxi Texts and Numerous Biloxi Phrases

( About the Book The Americas were settled by people migr...)

About the Book The Americas were settled by people migrating from Asia at the height of an Ice Age 15,000 years ago. There was no contact with Europeans until Vikings appeared briefly in the 10th century, and the voyages of Christopher Columbus from 1492. America's Indigenous peoples were the Paleo-Indians, who were initially hunter-gatherers. Post 1492, Spanish, Portuguese and later English, French and Dutch colonialists arrived, conquering and settling the discovered lands over three centuries, from the early 16th to the early 19th centuries. The United States achieved independence from England in 1776, while Brazil and the larger Hispanic American nations declared independence in the 19th century. Canada became a federal dominion in 1867. Also in this Book United States history began with the migrations of Indigenous people prior to 15,000 BC. Christopher Columbus's 1492 expedition enabled European colonization, with most colonies formed after 1600. By the 1770s, 13 British colonies held 2.5 million people along the Atlantic coast east of the Appalachians. The British government imposed new taxes after 1765 and would not agree to the colonists having a say in their determination. The American War of Independence, 1775–1783, ensued, resulting in independence, and another war was declared against Britain in 1812. The next 50 years saw the expansion of American states and territories through the west, however growth was curtailed by the costly American Civil War, which broke out in 1861 over the Confederate States' wish to continue the practice of slavery, and the Union's wish to preserve the union. By 1865 some 620,000 people died, making it the most costly in US history. Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867. The next decades up to World War 1 saw large migrations from Europe and massive growth in the US economy. The US had a short but decisive influence on World War 1, suffered during the Great Depression, and had an even greater decisive influence on the outcome of World War 2. The US then engaged in a Cold War with its military and ideological adversary, the USSR, which disintegrated in 1991. Over the 20th century the US was not just a dynamo of technological advancement, but also contributed greatly to world growth. About us Leopold Classic Library has the goal of making available to readers the classic books that have been out of print for decades. While these books may have occasional imperfections, we consider that only hand checking of every page ensures readable content without poor picture quality, blurred or missing text etc. That's why we: • republish only hand checked books; • that are high quality; • enabling readers to see classic books in original formats; that • are unlikely to have missing or blurred pages. You can search "Leopold Classic Library" in categories of your interest to find other books in our extensive collection. Happy reading!

Siouan Sociology

(Siouan Sociology is presented here in a high quality pape...)

Dakota Grammar, Texts And Ethnography (1893)

(This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)

James Owen Dorsey Edit Profile

ethnologist linguist Missionary

Background

James Owen Dorsey was born on October 31, 1848 in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. He was a son of Thomas Anderson and Mary Sweetser (Hance) Dorsey of Baltimore, Maryland.

Education

Dorsey's education in the primary schools of Baltimore brought him into the Central High School in 1862.

A later period of study in the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary at Alexandria, Virginia, saw him ordained a deacon in 1871.

Career

At an early age he showed a tendency toward linguistics, having learned the Hebrew alphabet at six and being able to read the language at ten.

Beginning mission work among the Pawnees of Dakota Territory, he soon acquired ability to speak the language, but, hampered by illness, he returned to Maryland and engaged in parish work in 1880.

At this period the newly founded Bureau of American Ethnology under Maj. J. W. Powell required his services, and he was sent to study the Omaha Indians, returning later to elaborate his notes.

In this way he made a number of trips to the West, collecting linguistic material from various Indian tribes.

Brief as was his productive career, he published, besides numerous shorter articles in various publications, a creditable number of major works on a difficult subject.

The Annual Reports of the United States Bureau of American Ethnology contains most of his larger papers, including: “Omaha Sociology”; “Osage Traditions”; “A Study of Siouan Cults”; “Omaha Dwellings, Furniture and Implements"; “Siouan Sociology”.

In Contributions to North American Ethnology he published The Cegiha Language; and Dakota Grammar, Texts, and Ethnography by Stephen Return Riggs In various outside media he published : “An Account of the War Customs of the Osages"; and in the same journal: “Mourning and War Customs of the Kansas”, and “Migrations of Siouan Tribes”.

One of his early papers was: “Of the Comparative Phonology of Four Siouan Languages”.

Omaha and Ponca Letters appeared in 1891 as Bulletin 11, of the Bureau of American Ethnology, and A Dictionary of the Biloxi and Ofo Languages, with J. R. Swanton, as Bulletin 47 in 1912. These studies are of a highly specialized character, requiring trained and expert observation and accurate record. To this work he brought method, rapidity, assiduity, and a keen ear.

A trained scientist, he bent his energies to recording, holding to facts, and promulgating no theories. On the whole, “in the field of linguistics and sociology Mr. Dorsey collected many facts and much data, which are a permanent addition to our heritage of knowledge”.

A delicate constitution, accounting for illnesses which at times slowed up his work, did not prevent Dorsey’s being an example of the men whose inner fire drives them on to triumph over adverse circumstances.

He was honored by various learned societies devoted to ethnology.

He gave the impression of distinction, of transparency, and of spirituality.

Moving among men as a friend, he was loved and revered by all.

Achievements

Dorsey became known as the expert on languages and culture of southern Siouan peoples, although he also studied tribes of the Southwest and Northwest. He contributed to the description of the Ponca, Omaha, and other southern Siouan languages.