Alfred W. Bowers Hidatsa Social and Ceremonial Organization

Annotation

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. Anthropologists are usually silent with respect to their field methods and their manner Of handling research data in the final preparation Of reports. When the researcher lives with the people he is investi gating and writes about a way of life that he is able to Observe, one may presume that most Of what he records is the result of personal Observations supplemented by direct inquiry. When I studied the Hidatsa Indians in 1932 and 1933, and for short periods thereafter, little Of their ancient way Of life remained, and a description Of what I saw then would have told me little Of the ancient culture that I was endeavoring to reconstruct.