[meteorite-list] Pawnee meteorite lore

From: E.P. Grondine <epgrondine_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 1 Mar 2011 09:06:12 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <367677.51052.qm_at_web36904.mail.mud.yahoo.com>

Hi all -

I spent some time reading through Adrienne Major's book "Fossil Legends of the First Americans" recently. It's not too bad, and she nearly spans the two worlds, but sadly did not realize that the peoples remembered impacts, and thus failed to entirely grasp simple concepts like uktena and tlanwa.
She also retells the traditions, with her intense interest in fossils coloring them, and it is tough using her book to locate the originals as they were first shared. However, that said, its a pretty good book.

In the footnotes we find these two items:

"Besides an interest in fossils, the Pawnees were also keenly aware of meteorites, which they located and collected after observing their trajectories. Indeed, the Kansas prairie is one of the best places on Earth to find meteorites." page 377

"Pawnee priests were concerned with astronomy, while Pawnee doctors dealt with earth phenomena, such as fossils. page 376

good hunting, everyone,
E.P. Grondine
Man and Impact in the Americas




      
Received on Tue 01 Mar 2011 12:06:12 PM PST