Society-PAWNEE

The Pawnee are a Plains Indian ethnic group of the Caddoan linguistic
stock. The name Pawnee comes from the term pariki, which means "horn,"
and refers to the typical hair style. The Pawnee called themselves
Chahiksichahiks, "men of men" (Fletcher 1959: 213-214). They are located
within the central United States.

The traditional territory of the Pawnee centered in the valleys of
the Loup and Platte Rivers and along the Republican River in what
later became the state of Nebraska. They occupied this area throughout
their known history, until they moved to a reservation in Indian Territory
(later Oklahoma) in 1874-75. Their population was estimated at around
9,000 to 10,000 in the early part of the nineteenth century. After
that, the population underwent a steady decline, probably due in large
part to warfare and newly introduced diseases. In 1859 they had an
estimated population of about 4,000; this dropped to about 2,000 in
1876 and further to 650 in 1900 (see Lesser, 1933: 3, 31, 40, 122).
This population trend was subsequently reversed, and there were about
2,000 Pawnee in 1970.

Although the Pawnee are generally classified within the Plains culture
area, they differed significantly in their mode of life from the classic
Plains cultural type, such as that of the Arapaho or Cheyenne. The
Pawnee were a settled, agricultural people, occupying large, relatively
permanent villages made up of earth lodges. Their staple crops were
maize, beans, squash, and pumpkins. The introduction of the horse
stimulated a tendency toward a more nomadic, buffalo-hunting life,
but this remained a secondary pattern. Maize played a much more important
part than the buffalo in their ceremonies and mythology.

The Pawnee were divided into four population groups, which were defined
geographically and socially (Linton 1922: 4). Each of these population
groups was comprised of a variable number of villages. The four main
groups, generally called "bands" in the ethnographic literature, are:
(1) the Chaui (Tcawi) or Grand (often designated as Panis in the earlier
literature); (2) the Kitkehahki or Republican: (3) the Pitahauerat
or Tappage; and (4) the Skidi or Wolf (known in the early literature
as the Panimaha). The Chaui were generally recognized as the leading
band.

The nature of the relationship between the bands is far from clear.
Fletcher (1949: 213) used the term "confederacy" to describe it. Lesser
(1933: 1) says that aboriginally the four bands were politically independent
of each other. Other sources (Densmore 1929: 3, and Linton 1922: 5)
claim that the political structure of the tribe was similar to that
of the band, and that there was a tribal council composed of the combined
band councils. It is possible that the structure changed over time,
with greater unity resulting from the pressures of acculturation.

The political structure of the band is best described for the Skidi.
In the early nineteenth century, the Skidi constituted a federation
of some 13 villages, held together by a governing council of chiefs
and a ceremonial organization involving common participation in a
ceremonial cycle. Each component village had a chief and a council.

The political structure was integrated with a ranking system, which
included a series of class-like hierarchical divisions. The highest
in rank were the chiefs, followed by the warriors, the priests, and
the medicine men. Next in rank were the "commoners," people without
influence or power, who probably constituted less than half of the
band; and below them came the semi-outcastes, persons who had violated
tribal laws or customs and who lived on the outskirts of the villages.
Traditionally there was also a class of slaves, who, if they had been
captured from other tribes, were often incorporated into the tribe.

Villages were endogamous. Polygyny was practiced, and as a rule was
strictly sororal . Descent was matrilineal, and residence was matrilocal.
The sizes of the lodges varied. Although it was possible to have a
single nuclear family residing in a lodge, more often a lodge was
occupied by a number of families. Dorsey and Murie (1940: 79) state
that there was no rule limiting the number of families, and no information
is given as to the kinship composition of the lodges. According to
Weltfish (1965: 14), most lodges contained from 30 to 50 people.

The primary division of the people appears to have been a moiety division.
People belonged to either the north or the south (or winter or summer)
side, with membership inherited from the mother. This moiety division
was important in games and in ceremonies.

Murie (1914: 558-559) names 10 men's societies (fraternal organizations,
warrior societies). Each society was connected with a sacred bundle,
membership was for life, one could be a member of all ten societies
at the same time, and their public functions were connected with warfare
and/or hunting. In addition, there were several private organizations.
These private organizations had no official public functions nor recognition,
but they did function for the public good in times of need. There
were also eight medicine men's societies. In each band, these societies
were responsible for conducting a "Grand Medicine Ceremony" (which
lasted 20 days or more), the Doctors' Dance (which was a one-day ceremony),
and the ceremonies in the spring and fall which purified and renewed
the medicine bundles. These latter ceremonies were held in the "Grand
Medicine Lodges."

According to Linton (1922: 1) ceremonialism among the Pawnee was "more
highly developed than that of any of the other Plains tribes." Ceremonialism
centered around various types of sacred bundles. The first class of
ceremonies consisted of those which were performed by the various
societies, while the second class were those performed for general
public benefit.

Unlike other Plains societies, the Sun Dance was not important. Murie
(1914: 641) mentions it only briefly and says that typical Sun Dance
features can be noted in many of the Pawnee ceremonies. Modern ceremonies
(as of the early twentieth century) practiced by the Pawnee were the
Omaha or Grass Dance, the Ghost Dance, and the Peyote Cult.

Weltfish (1965) is probably the most basic, comprehensive ethnography
available on the Pawnee. This source is based primarily on memory
ethnography and is written in a personalized narrative style.