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Post by clarkkimberling on Jun 6, 2010 14:37:20 GMT -5
Can someone help me find information about Two Shields? First, there was Two Shields the singer in Densmore's Teton Sioux Music. If this was Antoine Two Shields, then he was born in 1873 or 1874, son of [Adam?] Two Shields and White Dog Two Shields (both born about 1839). (Adam Two Shields died 4-28-1931, reportedly at the age of 94; his wife died 12-?-1931, aged 77. I would like to learn the date and place of Antoine's death.) Second, there was Two Shields described in Nellie Snyder Yost's book A Man as Big as the West: "At Fort Yates [about 1930?] we associated with the Hunkpapa branch of the Sioux, old Sitting Bull's own group. Two Shields was head of the tribe when we were there... [later, same page]...After we had eaten, old Two Shields invited us to a big dance and reception he was giving for us out at his place...[next page] ..."led by such chiefs as Two Shields, Gall, John Grass,..." Was this [Adam]? Was he a chief? (I've used [ ] because in records prior to his old age, no first name appears.) Third, there was Two Shields the Indian policeman, whose portrait can be viewed at digitalhorizonsonline.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/uw-ndshs&CISOPTR=332&CISOBOX=1&REC=2 The policeman also appears in a group photo at nearby URL. Was the policeman Antoine? Thanks!
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Post by ladonna on Jun 9, 2010 14:57:28 GMT -5
Antoine Two Shield died 1932
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Post by ephriam on Jun 10, 2010 8:21:32 GMT -5
Clark:
Unfortunately, Francis Densmore did not give any biographical information about Two Shields except that he was "a close adherent of the old beliefs, the missionaries having made no impression of him." The 1909 portrait of him published in Densmore (1918) and in Fiske (1917) shows an older man.
The census records show that "old man" Two Shields (c1836-1931) moved from Fort Peck to Standing Rock about 1886, joining Cottonwood's band of Lower Yanktonai. Since Densmore generally sought out the old men for their songs, I would guess that this is the man she interviewed. Two of his sons survived into the twentieth century: Antoine (c1873-1932) and Anthony (c1881-d. after 1940).
In later census records at Standing Rock, there is also a man named John Two Shields (c1862-1935). I do not know how he is related to the family.
Sorry it is not much help.
ephriam
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Post by clarkkimberling on Jun 11, 2010 8:20:27 GMT -5
Thank you, LaDonna and Ephriam.
Two Shields recorded songs demonstrated by White Shield. Can someone tell more about White Shield than Densmore has told?
Possibly White Shield and Two Shields were described in "Brief Biographies of Noted Sioux Indians," by Frank B. Zahn. Where can a copy be found?
Clark
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Post by clarkkimberling on Jun 17, 2010 17:00:52 GMT -5
Ancestry.com shows several pages of Indian census records, 1885-1930, for the surnames Two Shields and Twoshields. It appears that all Two Shields families trace back to Adam Two Shields and his wife White Dog Two Shields. Adam is the "old man" mentioned in Reply #2 and, it appears, he was Densmore's singer. There was another singer named Two Shields who was recorded by George Herzog at Standing Rock in 1928. I do not know yet if Herzog's singer was Antoine Two Shields. Now I would like to mention TWO SHIELDS BUTTE, on the Fort Berthold Reservation, Dunn County, ND. According to one account, this is a "flat topped butte with an acre or more of hay land on top, east of Mandaree ND by Saint Anthony's Catholic Church. Two Shields is buried on top, he was killed when he fell under a hay mower when the horses ran off." It seems certain that this Two Shields was Hidatsa, although the census records at Ancestry.com show no "Two Shields" for any ND county except Sioux. The name Two Shields Butte is not on the Geographic Names Information System - geonames.usgs.gov/domestic/index.html - but it is the site of recent shale-oil drilling. You can see one of the rigs at buffalopost.net?cat=748 A search for "Two Shields Butte" at itouchmap.com/latlong.htmlfinds this location: 47.551493, -101.002012 . Searching the same site for Saint Anthony's Church, Mandaree, ND, finds 47.732511, -102.598522 . One of (at least 6) of the Kodiak Gas & Oil sites is located at T149N-R93W, which converts to 22.966 acres centered at 47.71739, -102.5785. Conversion like this from township to latitude-longitude is easy at www.earthpoint.us/Townships.aspx Prior to these computations, it was thought that there were two different places called Two Shields Butte.
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Post by lgarcia on Jun 18, 2010 12:36:20 GMT -5
The State Historical Society of North Dakota emailed me about a month ago asking about Two Shields Butte and it's location. IgaridaenubaSh (Two Shields) was a Hidatsa. I didn't say he was buried on top of the butte. I don't know where he is buried.
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Post by lgarcia on Jun 21, 2010 9:35:45 GMT -5
Members: I hate to beat a dead horse as they saying goes. Two Shields Butte: Igaridabe Nuba SH (Shield / Two/ Definite article. A flat topped butte with an acre or more of hay land on top, east of mandaree, ND by St. Anthony's Catholic Church. Two Shields is buried on top, he was killed when he fell under a hay mower when the horses ran off (Louis Garcia - unpublished "Hidatsa Place Names" 1996) I guess I did say he is buried on top of this butte. I'll be age 70 in two months and getting forgetfull. Later, Louie
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Post by clarkkimberling on Jun 21, 2010 14:25:37 GMT -5
Thank you, Louie. Is there some chance that your Hidatsa Place Names can be published - or, at least, a copy could be given to the State Historical Society of North Dakota?
I have taken a first step toward having "Two Shields Butte" added to the Geographic Names Information System mentioned in Reply 4. A requirement is that "for natural features, a person or persons being comemorated by having a natural feature named for them must have been deceased for at least five years." The date of Hidatsa Place Names establishes that Two Shields Butte is named for a person who died more than 15 years ago - probably much more.
There are at least two historic Two Shields, and one wonders: were they the same man, and was it the man for whom the butte is named?
Two Shields #1: searching Google for "Vigilantes in North Dakota" finds an 1884 account in which "a Hidatsa Indian, called Two Shields, was captured..."
Two Shields #2: in Alfred W. Bowers, Hidatsa Social and Ceremonial Organization, pages 141-2, there is an eight-paragraph description of Two Shields. The last sentence: "More than twenty years later, after the people were put on the Reservation, Two Shields, while mowing hay, was cut on the foot and bled to death. (Two Shields is also mentioned on pages 444, 456, and 459 in connection with his participation in ceremonies and his membership in the Black Mouth society.)
It seems to me that Two Shields #2 was the man for whom Two Shields Butte is named, and I'd guess that he was also #1.
Has anyone encountered anything else about Hidatsa men named Two Shields?
Clark
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Post by lgarcia on Jun 22, 2010 9:03:14 GMT -5
Clark: You are a great researcher, locating more information on the Hidatsa Two Shields. I am sure he died circa 1920. The Ft. Berthold Community College library has a copy of my place names. I have tried to publish one of a kind information but no one is interested. I looked on the 1885 list of Standing Rock heads of households and Two Shields does show up. If he was having a dance - it was probably the Grass Dance which means Two Shield was a Tiyospaye leader or the Dance Chief. He could have held both jobs. LaDonna is our Inyan Woslata Oyanke person. She would know more about Two Shields. I live at Spirit Lake in Dakota makoce. Later, Louie
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Post by clarkkimberling on Jun 23, 2010 11:45:08 GMT -5
In a 1945 article entitled "The Importance of Recordings of Indian Songs," Frances Densmore wrote this: "It is said that Two Shields, one of my Sioux singers, has been heard a distance of a mile. The sound of his voice was not unpleasantly loud when recording songs but he knew how to project his voice when singing on the open prairie." The voice of Two Shields has projected its way into the title of a book: SING WITH THE HEART OF A BEAR: Fusions of Native and American Poetry, 1890-1999, by Kenneth Lincoln, University of California Press, 2000. The words "Sing with the heart of a bear" come from Song 93 in Densmore's Teton Sioux Music. I'll quote the English translation and some of what Densmore has written. Then I'll raise some questions. Song 93. "A Wind from the North", sung by Two Shields
my heart is different [see footnote, p. 120] behold me my heart is different I have shown it from the north a wind comes to get me
Densmore introduces this song as "commonly used by medicine-men of the tribe." After showing the song (six staves of melody with Lakota text), Densmore continues: In this song we meet a strange phase of the life of a medicine-man. Two Shields, who recorded the song, said that "White Shield used to sing this song when he was worried or disappointed." Strangely human is this little melody. Two Shields said also that when singing the song he would mention the direction on which the wind was blowing that day, as "every man who performs ceremonies respects the various winds." In the second line of the song, you see a reference to a footnote on page 120. This is because the meaning of "My heart is different" is an instance of "sacred language," which is described on page 120. There, Densmore writes that " 'My heart is different' means 'with a heart that is different,' but carrying the idea of the fierceness of a bear." "Sing with the Heart of a Bear" serves as a theme throughout Lincoln's book, beginning on page 4, with a mention of Lakota sacred language and Two Shield's Song 93, and recalled like dashes of spice on later pages. Question 1. Can someone elaborate on the meaning of the key phrase: cante' mato'kecaca (I'll not attempt to type the special marks on the letters; is "bear" there?) Question 2. Does "Sing with the heart of a bear" have a recognized meaning among modern Lakota singers and/or writers? Question 3. The reference to White Shield suggests that he was a medicine man. Two Shields learned several songs from White Shield. Is White Shield mentioned anywhere besides Densmore's Teton Sioux Music, where he indexed as "composer of songs"? Among men named White Shield in census records, which one was the medicine man who taught songs to Two Shields? Clark
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Post by clarkkimberling on Jun 30, 2010 16:03:04 GMT -5
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Post by clarkkimberling on Jul 22, 2010 19:15:24 GMT -5
Since starting Two Shields thread, I have received a number of helpful replies, some privately. Among them were death certificates for both Adam Two Shields and Antoine Two Shields. According to the certificate for Antoine, he was a policeman who died on January 10, 1933, at Standing Rock Hospital in Fort Yates, and his father's name was John Mail. The father's birthplace and mother's name are marked "Not Known." The informant was Alvin Warrior of Cannon Ball.
Antoine was the informant for Adam's certificate, which states that he died on April 28, 1931 at the age of 94 years, 3 months, and 27 days (!), and that he and his parents, Bear Man and Sapawin (listed for maiden name), were born in Montana.
Regarding Yost's reference to Two Shields as "head of the tribe" who "invited us to a big dance and reception...at his place," this perhaps refers to Adam Two Shields's camp, which is mentioned in a steno notebook, one of two with title "Fiske notes", at the State Historical Society of North Dakota. Specifically, in connection with Picture 1952-114 of Alice Two Shields, these words appear: "Two Two Shields families. One lived at Cannonball and one at Two Shield's camp."
Early in my research there was some suggestion that the man named Two Shields who sang for the ethnomusicologist Frances Densmore was Antoine, rather than Adam. This may have resulted from someone's recollection that Antoine was a singer. It appears possible that Antoine sang for an ethnomusicologist named George Herzog in 1928.
Tomorrow I'll post another message. It will conclude that Densmore's singer was Adam Two Shields and leave open the question of the identity of Herzog's singer.
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Post by clarkkimberling on Jul 23, 2010 10:50:17 GMT -5
In this message, I'll quote from Densmore's Teton Sioux Music certain indications that the man named Two Shields whom she recorded was Adam Two Shields. Then I'll tell about George Herzog's singer named Two Shields. The two accounts will lead to a puzzle: was Herzog's singer Adam Two Shields, or Antoine Two Shields, or someone else? Densmore recorded at Standing Rock during 1911 to 1914. During those years, according to the certificates mentioned in Reply 11, Adam Two Shields was past 74 years old, and Antoine was not yet 41. In Reply 2, Ephriam wrote: Unfortunately, Francis Densmore did not give any biographical information about Two Shields except that he was "a close adherent of the old beliefs, the missionaries having made no impression of him." The 1909 portrait of him published in Densmore (1918) and in Fiske (1917) shows an older man. Those are two pointers from Densmore (page 207 and plate 47) toward Two Shields as an old man. Here's another, from page 293: Two Shields was one of the singers and drummers in [the Elk] society, the last meeting of which was held about 30 years ago [about 1882]. He sang the following song, which was used in this society, and which he said had been handed down for many generations... Finally, in Densmore's The American Indians and Their Music, The Woman's Press, 1936, page 87: The Sioux said their nearest approach to love songs consisted of a very few concerning a man's qualification to support a wife--whether he had enough ponies or had been successful on the warpath. Such a song was recorded by Two Shields, one of the most reliable old singers on the Standing Rock reservation in North and South Dakota. Those five references to Densmore indicate that her singer was an old man. There are two lesser indicators. One is that Densmore's Two Shields seems to have been a close acquaintance of the singer Siyaka, who was about 80 years old in 1913. The second is Two Shields's closeness to the elusive White Shield. (There are an Uncpapa White Shield and an Upper Yanktonai White Shield in the 1885 list at www.primeau.org/StandingRock1885families.html ; I would very much like to know more about this singer, who exerted a considerable influence on Adam Two Shields.) In the summer of 1928, George Herzog made nearly 200 recordings of songs at Standing Rock. One of his singers was named Two Shields. Herzog's work is described in "We Come to You as the Dead": Ethnomusicology, Colonialism, and the Standing Rock Reservation, 1868-1934," by Erik Gooding, Resound (A Quarterly of the Archives of Traditional Music), January/April 1997. Although Herzog did not prepare his recordings and notes for publication, they are archived in the Indiana University Archives of Traditional Music (ATM), collection 54-110-F. Herzog's songs numbered 8-24 were sung by "Two Shields, about 60 y., Yanktonai, Fort Yates." Nine of them are labeled "Song of the Dog-society" and five, "Song for the Buffalo dance." The latter include no. 21, which is essentially "His Horses He Granted Me" in Densmore's Teton Sioux Music, sung for her by Adam Two Shields. No. 23 is labeled "Vision-song of White Shield". "This song was given by White-Shield to Two-Shields." Unfortunately, Herzog did not give any biographical information about Two Shields except that he was "about 60 y." and two other bits of writing in a small notebook. From page 30: "Two Shields heard these two songs when he was about 60 years old, does not know how old they are." From page 85: "2-Shields may be a Cut-Head (Pxa-baksa). His mother is Santee." When Herzog recorded, Antoine was about 54 and Adam was about 90. Herzog wrote that Two Shields was about 60 y. but also that "when [Two Shields] was about 60..." - suggesting that Two Shields was already past 60. Does anyone have any further ideas for identifying the man named Two Shields who sang for Herzog? Again, thank you to those who have helped get this far! Clark
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Post by clarkkimberling on Aug 22, 2010 14:25:08 GMT -5
Two Shields really meant what he sang. So, as a keeper of the old ways, he had plenty of reason to sing for Frances Densmore and her Lakota interpreter, Robert P. Higheagle, thereby leaving a permanent record. Now, nearly a century later, the "old ways" are especially important for reasons of cultural identity, and so we should ask: What did Two Shields really mean in his songs? William K. Powers addresses the question of real meaning in a review of Densmore's Teton Sioux Music and Culture, first published by the Smithsonian Institution in 1918 and republished by the University of Nebraska Press in 1992. Powers writes, "Even though all the words in the songs are glossed separately, there are no free translations at all, which makes it impossible to comprehend what the songs are about..." I invited Bill to translate the song "A Wind from the North," sung by Two Shields, in order to compare his translation with the Densmore/Higheagle translation (appearing above in Reply #9). Here is Bill's reply: Regarding Song 93, Densmore (and Higheagle) have a peculiar way of presenting the texts of the song in vertical columns, the right one (presumably) being a translation of the left; however, the two frequently are juxtaposed in such a way that the individual words are chopped up out of whole sentences. Thus, at first glance, one may "see" the word mato as a single word where in fact it is a part of a sentence. Mato 'bear' does not appear in the song at all. Densmore writes the first three lines (repeated five times throughout the song) as: cante .............................. my heart matokecaca ..................... is different wanmayanka yo ................ behold me Now forget the stress marks and the footnote alluded to--they're not necessary. The above three lines are a full sentence chopped up into syllables that are disconnected. The full sentence is "Cantematokeca ca wanmayanka yo." Cante correctly means heart, but when conjoined with tokeca forms cantetokeca which should be translated "special person." In spoken Lakota cante plus many different types of modifiers are common--cantewaste 'happy'; cantesica 'sad', etc. The ma represents the first person singular of what is now the verb " to be a special person" hence "I am a special person;" mato 'bear' does not appear in the sentence. It is the first person ma injected between cante and tokeca that makes it misleading. Similarly, Densmore has added ca to matokeca as if it were one word. Ca is a separate conjunction meaning "so, therefore." However, Wanmayanka yo is correct as written. The full sentence then is translated: I am a special person so look at me. So much for nonexistent bear. But--I am curious about your reference to "sing like a bear." I never heard it before and it definitely not a Lakota idea. Where did it originate or better where does one hear this expression?
Well, as you see, Bill's translation differs from Densmore/Higheagle's. Bill's translation, I trust, gives a clearer understanding of what Two Shields meant by his song. I hope others will share their wisdom as relates to Song 93 and other songs sung by Two Shields and other keepers of the old ways. Here are a few footnotes: 1. You can actually hear Two Shields himself sing! Just find a copy (ask an interlibrary loan librarian) of Music of the American Indian: Songs of the Sioux, Recorded and Edited by Frances Densmore, ISBN: 1-57970-044-6, an A-FM Recording from Audio-Forum, a division of Jeffrey Norton Publishers, Inc. This recording includes songs sung by 14 Sioux Indians (Lakota and Dakota): Kills-at-Night (4), Two Shields (4), Brave Buffalo (3), Red Bird (3), Fray Hawk (2), Teal Duck [Siyaka] (2), Used-as-a-Shield (2), Bear Eagle (1), Eagle Shield (1), Lone Man (1), Wita'hu [Kills-at-Night's wife], Holy-Face Bear (1), Little Conjuror (1), and Moses Renville (1). 2. Powers's review of the Densmore book is published in Ethnohistory, vol. 41, no. 2 (Spring 1994), Duke University Press, pages 335-339. Here is the concluding paragraph: Teton Sioux Music and Culture is a must for the student of Lakota and of the anthropology of music. Not only a sensitive portrayal of the past, it is an inspiration to all who seek the Lakota experience. 3. For more about Marla and Bill Powers, visit these sites: www.lakotabooks.com/ home.netcom.com/~powersmw/LakotaFieldSchool.htmlClark
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Post by pineridgeporcupine on Aug 25, 2010 12:52:09 GMT -5
This is a test as I dip my toe in unknown waters. In the next couple of days I want to clarify my position on at least two issues raised by Clark re: first, song 93 from the perspective of Densmore's and Higheagle's translations--or lack thereof, as well as their treatment of Lakota orthography at a time when one actually had been developed and was in use in some Indian schools, and generally their contribution to Lakota/Dakota ethnography. The second issue is the phrase "sing like a bear," which, when I first read it in Clark's blog, believed that it was some new-ager's contribution to recent Lakota mysteria. This will lead me to examining the relevance of Lincoln's book by (nearly) the same name by tracing the sometimes perceived power of poetry. But not in this section.
I'm very happy that Clark first contacted me and discussed the Two Shields project and I'm particularly happy that my old friend, colleague, singer, and historian Louis Garcia is on board. Louie, nitocaje wanblake ca lila cantewastemayaye lo. And Clark, I neglected to translate the entire song 93 using the modified Buechel orthography and my own free translation. So here it is:
Cantematokeca ca wanmayanka yo Cantematokeca ca wanmayanke Cantematokeca ca he iyayewaye Waziyata tate hi-I-yomau we Cantematokeca ca wanmayanke Cantematokeca ca he iyayewaye
I am a special person so look at me I am a special person so look at me I am a special person so I send it away The North Wind is co-o-ming for me I am a special person so look at me I am a special person so I send it away
In the first line of Lakota wanmayanka yo is replaced in lines 2 and 5 by wanmayanke. They are translated the same because the yo in the first line, indicating a strong command, is simply dropped by the singer as it is understood in 2 and 5.
The interjection of capital I line 4 of Lakota and -o- in the corresponding English recognizes the use of a vocable --"meaningless" syllable to carry the melody of the song and its presumed effect on the English drawn out pronunciation of 'coming'. Densmore recognized the importance of the vocable in the musical lines but not in her translations. I try to do it whenever the vocables are obvious in the text.
If one compares it to Densmore's side by side translations, we find that the word heiyaye waye In my orthography he-I-yayeway is actually he iyayewaye meaning 'I send it away' not (by any stretch 'I have shown it' which appears as D/H's translation.
The meaning? Well we know that Two Shields attributes the song to White Shield. These types of prayer songs are very personal, rarely shared or sung my other medicine men--at least in public. This may have been a private recording session--or perhaps White Shield gave Two Shields the right to sing it. Not uncommon.
In any case, the singer has a special relationship with the North Wind and is able to entice it to come or go as he wills because he is a special person. In this case he is a wicasa wakan, a sacred man with his own abilty to perform sacred rituals, in this case, healing. By this song, he is stating his authority given to him in a vision which ultimately is the source of all these types of songs.
Densmore makes reference to songs 4 and 105 presumably to clarify the meaning of "the North Wind is coming for me," but it makes no sense. Those two songs deal with a totally different concept not at all relevant here. Similarly, her reference to footnote 120 has to do with sacred language which is an interesting commentary on the particular kind of language medcine men use but not necessarily relevant to No 93. If interested in the subject, see my book Sacred Language: The Nature of Supernatural Discourse in Lakota, University of Oklahoma Press,1986.
So much for 93. Henala yelo.
William K. Powers
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