The Hide Trade and Wichita Social Organization
An Assessment of Ethnological Hypotheses Concerning Polygyny
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9218184 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Stephen M Perkins (0000-0003-2139-0143, Oklahoma State University Oklahoma City, corresponding author), Susan C Vehik (0000-0003-0096-3491, University of Oklahoma), Richard R Drass (0000-0001-8990-3115, University of Oklahoma) |
| Year | 2008 |
| Volume | 53 |
| Issue | 208 |
| Pages | 431-444 |
| Publication date | 2008-11-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Plains Anthropologist (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0032-0447 • E-ISSN: 2052-546X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1179/pan.2008.032 |
| OpenAlex | W2316287921 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
Compared with late prehistoric archaeological sites attributed to the Wichita, protohistoric sites in Oklahoma contain artifact assemblages indicating that hide processing for trade with French voyageurs became a primary economic activity. Yet aside from assemblage changes, little is understood about how market demand for hides and other animal byproducts altered Wichita social organization, if at all. In this article we investigate polygyny. We examine the hypothesis that in household economies where production depends on women's contributions, market integration intensifies demand on female labor: Where polygyny is practiced, market integration increases the number of wives sought by males, leading to larger families. We compare ethnological data and Blackfoot accounts of polygyny with ethnohistorical and ethnographic information concerning the Wichita. We then review protohistoric Wichita documentary and archaeological data to discuss their strengths and weaknesses for. identifying these social and economic changes
Archaeology · Artifact (error · Economic history · Ethnography · Ethnology · Fur trade · Genealogy · Geography · Polygyny · Population · Prehistory · Social organization · Sociology · American History and Culture · Anthropology · Archaeology and Natural History · Demography · Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies · History
Digging Ditches
Partners and Power
Combining experiment and ethnoarchaeology to differentiate the surface conditions of animal hides
Towards a Context for Late Precontact Culture Change
Florence-A chert end scrapers from the Lasley Vore (34TU65), Deer Creek (34KA3) and Longest (34JF1) sites and the eighteenth-century southern Plains hide trade
Gearing up for a hunt
| Citations per year | 0.4 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2011 - 2024 (14) |
| Highly cited | No |