James Mooney

For other people named James Mooney, see James Mooney (disambiguation).
James Mooney
Born(1861-02-10)February 10, 1861
Richmond, Indiana, U.S.
DiedDecember 22, 1921(1921-12-22) (aged 60)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting placeMount Olivet Cemetery
Washington, D.C., U.S.
OccupationEthnographer
Spouse
Ione Lee Gaut
​
(m. 1897)​
Children6, including Paul

James Mooney (February 10, 1861 – December 22, 1921) was an American ethnographer who lived for several years among the Cherokee. Known as "The Indian Man",[1] he conducted major studies of Southeastern Indians, as well as of tribes on the Great Plains.[2] He did ethnographic studies of the Ghost Dance, a spiritual movement among various Native American culture groups, after Sitting Bull's death in 1890. His works on the Cherokee include The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees (1891), and Myths of the Cherokee (1900). All were published by the US Bureau of American Ethnology, within the Smithsonian Institution.

Native American artifacts collected by Mooney are held in the collections of the Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution[3] and the Department of Anthropology, Field Museum of Natural History.[4] Papers and photographs from Mooney are in the collections of the National Anthropological Archives, Department of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution.[5][6]

  1. ^ Moses, L.G. (1984). The Indian Man: A biography of James Mooney. University of Nebraska. ISBN 0-8032-8279-6.
  2. ^ "Register to the Papers of James Mooney" Archived 2014-04-21 at the Wayback Machine, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution, accessed 10 Nov 2009
  3. ^ "Anthropology | Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History". naturalhistory.si.edu.
  4. ^ Wparkinson (November 2, 2010). "Culture". Field Museum.
  5. ^ "Anthropology Archives | Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History". naturalhistory.si.edu.
  6. ^ "American Anthropologist". American Anthropological Association. April 12, 1922 – via Google Books.