Raymond J. DeMallie
Encyclopedia
Raymond J. DeMallie is an American anthropologist whose work focuses on the cultural history of the peoples of the Northern Plains, particularly the Lakota. His work is informed by interrelated archival, museum-based, and ethnographic
research in a manner characteristic of the ethnohistorical method
. In 1983 he founded and became the director of the American Indian Studies Research Institute at Indiana University
, Bloomington.
. In 1964, in his last year of high school, he attended the Lewis Henry Morgan Lecture at the University of Rochester, given by Fred Eggan
of the University of Chicago.
This inspired DeMallie's decision to attend the University of Chicago
for undergraduate and graduate work; Eggan would eventually serve as the chair of his dissertation committee. Other influential teachers at Chicago included Sol Tax
(with whom he worked as a member of the staff of Current Anthropology), George Stocking
, Ray Fogelson
, and David Schneider
.
DeMallie's dissertation fieldwork on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation
focused on kinship and social organization. DeMallie drew from both cultural and linguistic data, and he received his PhD in 1971. (He earned his B.A. with honors in 1968 and his M.A. in 1970, with the Department of Anthropology throughout his education at Chicago.)
Department of Anthropology from 1972-73.
In 1973 he joined Indiana University
's Anthropology Department, which allowed him to work with the department's founder, Charles Voegelin. In 1983 DeMallie founded and became the director of the American Indian Studies Research Institute at Indiana University. The Institute collaborates with tribes to document endangered native languages and develop materials to teach the languages, many of which are being revived in tribal schools and colleges. On the Indiana faculty, Professor DeMallie is also the Class of 1967 Chancellor’s Professor of Anthropology American Indian Studies.
During his career at Indiana, DeMallie has trained a significant number of scholars who have taken up research and teaching posts in several fields concerned with Native North American studies. These include Brenda Farnell, Paula Wagoner, Mindy J. Morgan, Jason Baird Jackson
, and Carolyn Anderson.
DeMallie has been active in professional associations; in 1991-1992, he was elected as president of the American Society for Ethnohistory.
Ethnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
research in a manner characteristic of the ethnohistorical method
Ethnohistory
Ethnohistory is the study of ethnographic cultures and indigenous customs by examining historical records. It is also the study of the history of various ethnic groups that may or may not exist today....
. In 1983 he founded and became the director of the American Indian Studies Research Institute at Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
, Bloomington.
Early life and education
Raymond DeMallie was born in 1946 and raised in Rochester, New YorkRochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
. In 1964, in his last year of high school, he attended the Lewis Henry Morgan Lecture at the University of Rochester, given by Fred Eggan
Fred Eggan
Frederick Russell Eggan was an American anthropologist best known for his innovative application of the principles of British social anthropology to the study of Native American tribes. He was the favorite student of the British social anthropologist A. R. Radcliffe-Brown during Radcliffe-Brown's...
of the University of Chicago.
This inspired DeMallie's decision to attend the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
for undergraduate and graduate work; Eggan would eventually serve as the chair of his dissertation committee. Other influential teachers at Chicago included Sol Tax
Sol Tax
Sol Tax was an American anthropologist. He is best known for his studies of the Meskwaki, or Fox, Indians, for "action-anthropological" research titled the Fox Project, and for founding the academic journal Current Anthropology. He received his doctorate from the University of Chicago in 1935.Tax...
(with whom he worked as a member of the staff of Current Anthropology), George Stocking
George W. Stocking, Jr.
George W. Stocking, Jr., is an American scholar noted for his scholarship on the history of anthropology.Trained in history and the humanities as well as anthropology, he attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a student of A...
, Ray Fogelson
Raymond D. Fogelson
Raymond D. Fogelson is an American anthropologist known for his research on American Indians of the southeastern United States, especially the Cherokee. He is considered a founder of the subdiscipline of ethnohistory....
, and David Schneider
David M. Schneider
David Murray Schneider was an American cultural anthropologist, best known for his studies of kinship and as a major proponent of the symbolic anthropology approach to cultural anthropology. He received his B.S. in 1940 and his M.S. from Cornell University in 1941...
.
DeMallie's dissertation fieldwork on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation
Cheyenne River Indian Reservation
The Cheyenne River Indian Reservation was created by the United States in 1889 by breaking up the Great Sioux Reservation, following its victory over the Lakota in a series of wars in the 1870s. The reservation covers almost all of Dewey and Ziebach counties in South Dakota...
focused on kinship and social organization. DeMallie drew from both cultural and linguistic data, and he received his PhD in 1971. (He earned his B.A. with honors in 1968 and his M.A. in 1970, with the Department of Anthropology throughout his education at Chicago.)
Career
DeMallie was a member of the University of Wyoming'sUniversity of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming is a land-grant university located in Laramie, Wyoming, situated on Wyoming's high Laramie Plains, at an elevation of 7,200 feet , between the Laramie and Snowy Range mountains. It is known as UW to people close to the university...
Department of Anthropology from 1972-73.
In 1973 he joined Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
's Anthropology Department, which allowed him to work with the department's founder, Charles Voegelin. In 1983 DeMallie founded and became the director of the American Indian Studies Research Institute at Indiana University. The Institute collaborates with tribes to document endangered native languages and develop materials to teach the languages, many of which are being revived in tribal schools and colleges. On the Indiana faculty, Professor DeMallie is also the Class of 1967 Chancellor’s Professor of Anthropology American Indian Studies.
During his career at Indiana, DeMallie has trained a significant number of scholars who have taken up research and teaching posts in several fields concerned with Native North American studies. These include Brenda Farnell, Paula Wagoner, Mindy J. Morgan, Jason Baird Jackson
Jason Baird Jackson
Jason Baird Jackson is an associate professor of folklore in the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology at Indiana University Bloomington. At IUB, he has served as Chair of the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology and as Director of the Folklore Institute...
, and Carolyn Anderson.
DeMallie has been active in professional associations; in 1991-1992, he was elected as president of the American Society for Ethnohistory.
Legacy and honors
- In 2002-2003, he was the French-American Foundation Chair in American Civilization at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences SocialesÉcole des Hautes Études en Sciences SocialesThe École des hautes études en sciences sociales is a leading French institution for research and higher education, a Grand Établissement. Its mission is research and research training in the social sciences, including the relationship these latter maintain with the natural and life sciences...
in Paris.