Lakota=>Siouan polyandry inquiry

[George Wilmes]

Mark, here is an entry from Buechel's Lakota dictionary (as
transcribed into the Colorado Siouan Archive; sorry about the
formatting):

1 WIC'>U'N*KES*NI
2 ONE WHO KNOWS NOTHING OR DOES NOT CARE TO DO ANYTHING, IS INCOMPETENT TO KEEP
   HOUSE. NOTE: THE WORD IS APPLIED ONLY TO WOMEN.
3 N.
4 +LILA TA'NYA'N LOLIYAH'>''A'N S*NI YELO; - CA LOLIH'>''A'N S''E
5 AS THEY WOULD SAY OF A WOMAN WHOSE COOKING WAS VERY POOR, INTIMATING THAT FOR
   THIS REASON SHE HAD MANY HUSBANDS.
11 P 583

And this from Kaschube's Crow texts:

1 -- I*SAHKE* LU'*:B'6M HAWA*S'^C'^+IS'^I:N KUSC'^+ISSA*L'6HGUK
2 --/ OLD MEN,/ TWO/ BACK AND FORTH,/ SHE GOES./
8 PAGE51 LINE1 BOTTOM WORD1 +THE +CROW +INDIAN NAME AND THE TRANSLATION HAVE
  BEEN DELETED AS THE NARRATIVE IS OF A PERSONAL REFERENCE TO A WOMAN WITH TWO
  HUSBANDS.
11 PAGE51 LINE1 BOTTOM

And this from Lowie's Crow word list:

1 DU*':P, DU*':P'6, DU*':PARE, DU*':PAR'6K,
  DU*':PKA':CE, DU*':PET, DU*':PTUM
2 TWO
3 ADJ.
...
4 BI*':'6CT TSIRA*':RUPDE':T'HBICI'*':ND'6K'H
5 WOMEN'8 THERE IS NONE WHO HAS NOT TWO HUSBANDS
...
11 +P. 89

Hope that helps!

George


On Thu, Sep 22, 2011 at 9:13 AM, Mark J Awakuni-Swetland
<mawakuni-swetland2 at unlnotes.unl.edu> wrote:
> Aloha All,
> My Anthropology Department Chair Ray Hames brought me a copy of James
> Walker's LAKOTA SOCIETY with an inquiry.
>
> He and a student are preparing a journal article describing polyandry (a
> woman having more than one husband).
>
> They are finding accounts of this practice in groups outside of the
> regularly cited groups known to use this strategy.
>
> In the Walker case, there is no reference or citation as to the source of
> his statement regarding polyandry among the Lakota.
>
> I have included the paragraph that mentions polyandry from page 55 of
> Walker's book for your reference.
>
> Ray Hames also inquired as to the meaning of the second husband being
> considered "buried"
>
> Does anyone know of this practice among the Lakota or other Siouan groups?
>
> I am not aware of it among the Omaha.
>
> I would presume that if such a practice existed there would be a term for
> that names this arrangement, the second husband, terms of relations, etc.
>
> Thanks
> Mark
>
>
>
>
> Mark Awakuni-Swetland, Ph.D.
> Associate Professor of Anthropology & Ethnic Studies
> Native American Studies Program Liaison
> University of Nebraska
> Department of Anthropology
> 841 Oldfather Hall
> Lincoln, NE 68588-0368
>
> http://omahalanguage.unl.edu
> http://omahaponca.unl.edu
> Phone 402-472-3455
> FAX: 402-472-9642