Post by writespretty on Nov 17, 2012 9:47:17 GMT -5
I continue my research for the Sioux by the name of Big Nose. I found a reference to him in Marie Sandoz's notes at the UNL library. I ordered a copy of the notes. She referenced DeBarthe's book "The Life and Adventures of Frank Grouard." I downloaded the book.
I would appreciate your thoughts on the following references to Big Nose. Is there a possibility he is the same man I am looking for? Or is it this other guy from the Walter M. Camp collection who is labeled as Chief Big Nose, Sioux by an unknown photographer?
"In their councils the orators confine themselves to a particular manner of speech that is little understood by any but the hereditary chiefs of the nation. Their most solemn deliberations are those heard but not comprehended by the braves who are not permitted to enter the charmed circle. In this particular they occupy the same plane as the white man who knows not a word or sign of Sioux - the deliberation's result must be interpreted to them. Grouard familiarized himself with every phase of the Sioux tongue, but it required years of study to accomplish so herculean a task, and had it not been for the friendship of Sitting Bull, Little Assiniboine, Black Kettle, Big Nose, No Neck, Gall, Four Horses and others of the head men of the nation, his labors would have ended in a confused comprehension of a language seemingly without beginning or end." p. 93
"There is still another feature of village government worthy of attention. The inhabitants of the village were divided into clans, and these were in turn ruled by one or more chiefs. These clans comprised the relatives and adherents of certain chiefs, who shared all his misfortunes and conquests. In the Sioux village, when Grouard was still in captivity, these clans were two in number, being the Big Bellies, under immediate control of Big Nose, and the Sitting Bull, with Four Horns and Black Kettle as governors. The leaders of the different clans were always members of the Circle of Silence, so there was no danger of a clash of authority, besides which the scope of these leaders' authority extended only to the actual family life of its members." p. 133
I would appreciate your thoughts on the following references to Big Nose. Is there a possibility he is the same man I am looking for? Or is it this other guy from the Walter M. Camp collection who is labeled as Chief Big Nose, Sioux by an unknown photographer?
"In their councils the orators confine themselves to a particular manner of speech that is little understood by any but the hereditary chiefs of the nation. Their most solemn deliberations are those heard but not comprehended by the braves who are not permitted to enter the charmed circle. In this particular they occupy the same plane as the white man who knows not a word or sign of Sioux - the deliberation's result must be interpreted to them. Grouard familiarized himself with every phase of the Sioux tongue, but it required years of study to accomplish so herculean a task, and had it not been for the friendship of Sitting Bull, Little Assiniboine, Black Kettle, Big Nose, No Neck, Gall, Four Horses and others of the head men of the nation, his labors would have ended in a confused comprehension of a language seemingly without beginning or end." p. 93
"There is still another feature of village government worthy of attention. The inhabitants of the village were divided into clans, and these were in turn ruled by one or more chiefs. These clans comprised the relatives and adherents of certain chiefs, who shared all his misfortunes and conquests. In the Sioux village, when Grouard was still in captivity, these clans were two in number, being the Big Bellies, under immediate control of Big Nose, and the Sitting Bull, with Four Horns and Black Kettle as governors. The leaders of the different clans were always members of the Circle of Silence, so there was no danger of a clash of authority, besides which the scope of these leaders' authority extended only to the actual family life of its members." p. 133
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