The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1939-07-27

what. Enough, anyway. so that
! the job. After that she felt
out in search of dinner and a
naturally. II would be soft. Il sell
dom ran. But with this heat wave
the butter not only ran. but every
thing else spoiled. despite our ef-
forts with damp cloths. The only
food we were able to salvage at all
was the flour and sugar and rice,
and all three OF those were in air
tight cans.
ExcavatinE Old Village
In the same camp just below MS
was q group Of Psychologists from
Columbia university. engaged in
excavating an old Indian village
few miles above the town. With
Louise inactive, Bob spent most Of
the morning chatting with the
women OF ne camp who were busy
cataloguing finds of the day be-
fore. The village was probably one
Of the old Arikara towns which
practically line the river In north
ern South Dakota. Most of them
had long been deserted when the
white man first came, and this was
one OF those. Most OF the finds
were more or less routine, such as
pieces of pottery, bone implements.
mostly knives and avis. and stone
sledges. But each piece had to be
catalogued for future study at the
university and pieces OF pottery
that would fit together had TO be
assembled, numbered, and glued in
place. The work was exacting and
would seem duh to the layman, but
II was just like gold mining. Years
might go by without finding much
OF interest. then something star
Ting might be brought to light and
the finders name would go down
In archaeological history.
South Dakota is the happy hunt
ing ground for classes that dig
into the past. 1t Is from this state
that most has been learned about
the plains Indians, both prehistoric
and after the advent OF the con-
quering white man. Most OF the
findings concerning the plains In
dams shows them rather far down
the scale in advance culture. II
gives some basis for the theory Of
some historians that Indian culture
came up from the south, probably
from the Aztecs or Mayas. or both.
Our southern Indians were much
farther advanced than the plains
red men. From the Navajos and
Gobis of the southwest TO the
Cherokees in Alabama with their
alphabet, and on TO the Seminole
nation in Florida that even the
United States army could not con-
quer, their culture was on the up
grade. II Is true, Of course. that
the difficult life of hunting Indians
gave little time for cultural adj
vance, while the southern Indians
had permanent abodes and though,
naturally, they hunted, their agri-
culture was their chief mode Of life.
University Benefits
Some northern Indians. like the
Rees and the Mandans. did have
more or less permanent ssettle-
ments, but the continual warfare
with the Sioux and kindred tribes
held their culture in check. BY the
time the white man drifted in all
Indian culture In the north was on
the decline, and most Of them. find
ing the white mans implements
superior. gave up their old crafts
which quickly died. Today II II
I doubtful II there are any full
blooded Mandsns or Ariksras left,
though some claim pure blood on
the Fort Berthold reservation.
The University Of South Dakota
Is the ultimate gamer in these
excavations by outstste schools.
The latter merely catalogue and
study the finds for their own pub
locations and then all the items
are returned to the local school for
their museum at Vermillion. With
their own state pretty well dug up
by outsiders, the u. of 8. ID. mere
ly crosses the river into Nebraska
and does most Of It's work there,
though they bring back and keep
their finds.
Lights Are Dimmed
We didn't envy these Columbia
people their lot. The temperature
rolled up 10 a hundred and nine
today, the hottest we had ever seen
IL. and perhaps the hottest in the
country for that day. And these
people we're working inside BIZ
wall tents that merely intensified
the heat. And what makes u worse.
they were msrooned in this bleak
country until Ssptsmbsrs
When night comes lights are out
of the question in this camp. In
town every light Is dim because Of
the millions Of tiny insects cius-
tered about them. Out here they
are even worse. The screens Of our
cabin keep out most Of the flies
and mosquitoes. but there Is lit
tie hard-shelled. flying bug that
jnst wakes right through. They
don't bite, thank goodness. but they
do make sleep an impossibility with
their ineessant buzzing and crawl
ing all over one. To step out OF the
cabin at night means a concerted
attack by all the insects, stepping