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{{short description|American anthropologist}}
{{short description|American anthropologist (1848-1895)}}
{{Infobox scientist
{{Infobox scientist
|name = James Owen Dorsey
|name = James Owen Dorsey
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|death_date = {{Death date and age|1895|02|04|1848|10|31}}
|death_date = {{Death date and age|1895|02|04|1848|10|31}}
|death_place = [[Washington DC]]
|death_place = [[Washington DC]]
|residence =
|field = [[Ethnology]]
|citizenship =
|nationality = [[Americans|American]]
|ethnicity = Euro-american
|field = [[ethnology]]
|work_institutions =
|work_institutions =
|alma_mater =
|alma_mater =
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|influenced =
|influenced =
|prizes =
|prizes =
|religion = Episcopalian (Protestant Christian)
|footnotes =
|footnotes =
|signature =
|signature =
}}
}}


'''James Owen Dorsey''' (October 31, 1848 – February 4, 1895) was an American [[ethnologist]], [[Linguistics|linguist]], and Episcopalian [[missionary]] in the [[Dakota Territory]], who contributed to the description of the [[Ponca]], [[Omaha people|Omaha]], and other southern [[Siouan languages]]. He worked for the [[Bureau of American Ethnology]] of the [[Smithsonian Institution]] from 1880-1895, when he died young of [[typhoid fever]]. He became known as the expert on languages and culture of southern Siouan peoples, although he also studied tribes of the Southwest and Northwest.
'''James Owen Dorsey''' (October 31, 1848 – February 4, 1895) was an American [[ethnologist]], [[Linguistics|linguist]], and Episcopalian [[missionary]] in the [[Dakota Territory]], who contributed to the description of the [[Ponca]], [[Omaha people|Omaha]], and other southern [[Siouan languages]]. He worked for the [[Bureau of American Ethnology]] of the [[Smithsonian Institution]] from 1880 to 1895, when he died young of [[typhoid fever]]. He became known as the expert on languages and culture of southern Siouan peoples, although he also studied tribes of the Southwest and Northwest.


Dorsey 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]].
Dorsey 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]].
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That year he became a missionary to the [[Ponca]] 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.<ref name="Dorsey">[https://omahatribe.unl.edu/etexts/oma.0004/oma.0004.html James Owen Dorsey, "Siouan Sociology"], published posthumously, ''Omaha Indian Heritage Project'', at University of Nebraska-Lincoln, accessed 18 Apr 2011</ref> 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.
That year he became a missionary to the [[Ponca]] 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.<ref name="Dorsey">[https://omahatribe.unl.edu/etexts/oma.0004/oma.0004.html James Owen Dorsey, "Siouan Sociology"], published posthumously, ''Omaha Indian Heritage Project'', at University of Nebraska-Lincoln, accessed 18 Apr 2011</ref> 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.<ref name="Dorsey"/> 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, shared by many scholars at the time, that Native Americans were among the [[Lost Tribes of Israel]]. These efforts were considered "crude and immature."<ref name="Hinsely"/> But, he developed into a linguist and anthropologist who presented Indian cultures with "unsurpassed fidelity."<ref name="Hinsely">Hinsely, Jr., Curtis M. ''Savages and Scientists: The Smithsonian and the Development of American Anthropology, 1846-1910.'' Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1981, pp. 172-177</ref>
Ill health forced Dorsey to leave the West and to become a pastor in Maryland.<ref name="Dorsey"/> He continued to study linguistics and to work on linguistic analysis of Ponca and [[Omaha, Nebraska|Omaha]]. In the early years, he tried to link those languages with [[Hebrew]], in the mistaken theory, shared by many scholars at the time, that Native Americans were among the [[Lost Tribes of Israel]]. These efforts were considered "crude and immature."<ref name="Hinsely"/> But, he developed into a linguist and anthropologist who presented Indian cultures with "unsurpassed fidelity."<ref name="Hinsely">Hinsely, Jr., Curtis M. ''Savages and Scientists: The Smithsonian and the Development of American Anthropology, 1846-1910.'' Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1981, pp. 172-177</ref>


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, Dorsey 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.
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, Dorsey 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.
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* ''Omaha Dwellings, Furniture and Implements,'' 1892-1893
* ''Omaha Dwellings, Furniture and Implements,'' 1892-1893
* ''Osage Traditions,'' 1888
* ''Osage Traditions,'' 1888
* ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=5Y_Gg3ZUS9UC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false Omaha Sociology],'' 1884
* ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=5Y_Gg3ZUS9UC Omaha Sociology],'' 1884
* ''The Cehiga Language,'' 1890
* ''The Cehiga Language,'' 1890


==External links==
==External links==
* {{Gutenberg author |id=Dorsey,+James+Owen | name=James Owen Dorsey}}
* {{Gutenberg author |id=7103| name=James Owen Dorsey}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=James Owen Dorsey}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=James Owen Dorsey}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080904212957/https://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/abcde/dorsey_james_owen.html "J.O. Dorsey"], E-Museum, Minnesota State University Mankato
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080904212957/https://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/abcde/dorsey_james_owen.html "J.O. Dorsey"], E-Museum, Minnesota State University Mankato
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[[Category:1895 deaths]]
[[Category:1895 deaths]]
[[Category:Linguists of Siouan languages]]
[[Category:Linguists of Siouan languages]]
[[Category:19th-century anthropologists]]
[[Category:19th-century American anthropologists]]
[[Category:Linguists from the United States]]
[[Category:19th-century American linguists]]
[[Category:19th-century linguists]]
[[Category:19th-century American Episcopalians]]
[[Category:19th-century American Episcopalians]]
[[Category:People from Baltimore]]
[[Category:People from Baltimore]]
[[Category:Episcopalians from Maryland]]
[[Category:Episcopalians from Maryland]]
[[Category:Virginia Theological Seminary alumni]]
[[Category:Virginia Theological Seminary alumni]]
[[Category:Deaths from typhoid fever]]
[[Category:Deaths from typhoid fever in the United States]]
[[Category:Infectious disease deaths in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Infectious disease deaths in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:American Anglican missionaries]]
[[Category:American Anglican missionaries]]
[[Category:Missionary linguists]]
[[Category:American missionary linguists]]
[[Category:Dorsey family of Maryland]]

Latest revision as of 07:30, 18 November 2024

James Owen Dorsey
Born(1848-10-31)October 31, 1848
Baltimore, Maryland
DiedFebruary 4, 1895(1895-02-04) (aged 46)
Washington DC
Known forSiouan languages
Scientific career
FieldsEthnology

James Owen Dorsey (October 31, 1848 – February 4, 1895) was an American ethnologist, linguist, and Episcopalian missionary in the Dakota Territory, who contributed to the description of the Ponca, Omaha, and other southern Siouan languages. He worked for the Bureau of American Ethnology of the Smithsonian Institution from 1880 to 1895, when he died young of typhoid fever. He became known as the expert on languages and culture of southern Siouan peoples, although he also studied tribes of the Southwest and Northwest.

Dorsey 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

[edit]

James Owen Dorsey was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1848. He attended the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, and was ordained as a deacon of the Episcopal Church in 1871. He was a descendant of Edward Dorsey.

Career

[edit]

That year he became a missionary to the Ponca 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.[1] 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.[1] 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, shared by many scholars at the time, that Native Americans were among the Lost Tribes of Israel. These efforts were considered "crude and immature."[2] But, he developed into a linguist and anthropologist who presented Indian cultures with "unsurpassed fidelity."[2]

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, Dorsey 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.[1] 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.[1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d James Owen Dorsey, "Siouan Sociology", published posthumously, Omaha Indian Heritage Project, at University of Nebraska-Lincoln, accessed 18 Apr 2011
  2. ^ a b Hinsely, Jr., Curtis M. Savages and Scientists: The Smithsonian and the Development of American Anthropology, 1846-1910. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1981, pp. 172-177

Publications

[edit]
  • 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
  • Omaha Sociology, 1884
  • The Cehiga Language, 1890
[edit]
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