Leslie Spier
Leslie Spier (December 13, 1893 – December 3, 1961) was an American anthropologist best known for his ethnographic studies of American Indians. He spent a great deal of his professional life as a teacher; he retired in 1955 and died in 1961.[1]
Spier created a path for the study of
Background
Leslie Spier was born in
During his childhood and teenage years, he received his education through the
Employment history
Spier began his career in the field of anthropology before he had acquired a college degree. In 1913, he was assigned to be an assistant anthropologist with the New Jersey Archaeological and Geological Survey. While studying at Columbia as a graduate student (1916–1920), he was employed as an assistant anthropologist at the American Museum of Natural History.[4] After graduating with his Ph.D. in 1920, Spier began his teaching career, which he continued until his retirement in 1955. He taught at many institutions throughout his career, staying the longest at the University of Washington (1920–1929), Yale University (1933–1939), and the University of New Mexico (1939–1955). He taught at several other universities as well including the University of Oklahoma (1927–1929), the University of Chicago (1928 and 1930), and Harvard University (1939 and 1949). In addition, Spier was a visiting professor for summer courses at Columbia University (1921, 1923, 1925, and 1932), the University of California, Berkeley (1924, 1925, 1927, 1932, 1933, and 1948), and at the University of California, Los Angeles (1947).[1]
Spier, along with
Research
Early in his career, Spier was involved in many
Archaeology
Even though Spier’s main research focus was in ethnology, he started his career in anthropology through archaeological studies. Spier, along with other archaeologists such as
Another well known archaeological publication by Spier concerns the Zuni; in his research with Zuni groups, Spier demonstrated his use of seriation to chronologically order site deposits. In conjunction with Kidder’s seriation, Kroeber’s ranking and concurrent variation, and Nelson’s stratigraphy, Spier was helping develop fundamental methods in archaeological theory that are used to this day.[10] Through use of these procedures, Spier was able to determine that the Zuni culture was a continuation of the earliest cultures of the same area.[11]
Ethnology
Spier’s main anthropological interest was ethnographic studies, especially of American Indians. His favorite ethnological courses to teach were those concentrated on the Southwest, the Great Basin, the Plains, and California.[4] Spier’s previous anthropological experience made him well-suited for ethnographic studies; he completely immersed himself in the culture he was studying, acquiring the language, learning cultural customs, and bringing a new awareness to an otherwise unknown group of people. He conducted many ethnographic studies among Native American populations; for Spier, it was crucial to gain knowledge and evidence about these cultures before they became extinct.[1] From the 1910s to the 1930s, he studied Zuni, Havasupai, Kiowa, Wichita, Wishram, Klamath, and numerous other groups.[4] Spier’s personal interest in gathering firsthand knowledge of American Indian cultures shaped his place in the ethnographic world.[1] His interest in Native American cultures led him all across the United States, but a majority of his research is based in the western areas of the country from California to the Great Basin, and everywhere in between.[1] Spier studied extensively on the complex ceremonial sun dance performed by the Plains Indians. He looked closely into the lifestyles of the native cultures, taking detailed inventory of housing, clothing, economy, etc., and created a detailed account of how the cultural system worked and prospered.[1] Spier’s ethnographic studies went far beyond descriptions; he frequently compared the cultural systems over a surrounding area in order to gain a deeper understanding of the people he was studying.[4]
Awards and honors
In 1919, Columbia University awarded Spier the Cutting Travelling Fellowship; in 1923, Spier was awarded a
Selected works
- Spier, Leslie. An Outline for a Chronology of Zuni Ruins. New York City: The Trustees of Columbia University, 1917.
- Spier, Leslie. The Trenton Argillite Culture. New York City: The Trustees of Columbia University, 1918.
- Spier, Leslie. Ruins in the White Mountains, Arizona. New York City: The Trustees of Columbia University, 1919.
- Spier, Leslie. Notes on the Kiowa Sun Dance. New York City: The Trustees of Columbia University, 1921.
- Spier, Leslie. The Sun Dance of the Plains Indians: Its Development and Diffusion. New York City: The Trustees of Columbia University, 1921.
- Spier, Leslie. The Distribution of Kinship Systems in North America''. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1925.
- Spier, Leslie. The Ghost Dance of 1870 Among the Klamath of Oregon. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1927
- Spier, Leslie. Havasupai Ethnography. New York City: The Trustees of Columbia University, 1928.
- Spier, Leslie. Growth of Japanese Children Born in America and in Japan. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1929.
- Spier, Leslie and Sapir, Edward. Wishram Ethnography. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1930.
- Spier, Leslie. Plains Indian Parfleche Designs. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1931.
- Spier, Leslie. Yuman Tribes of the Gila River. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1933.
- Spier, Leslie. Cultural Relations of the Gila River and Lower Colorado Tribes. Yale University: Yale University Press, Department of the Social Sciences, 1936.
- Spier, Leslie, Riley, Carroll L., Taylor, Walter W. eds. American Historical Anthropology: Essays in Honor of Leslie Spier. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1967.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Robert F. Spencer, "Leslie Spier December 13, 1893-December 3, 1961." National Academy of Sciences, 1987, Washington D.C.
- ^ "Viking Awards 1960." American Anthropologist, 63(4): 835–837.
- ^ Ruth Bunzel, "Spier, Leslie." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, 1968.
- ^ a b c d e f Harry W. Basehart and W. W. Hill, "Obituary: Leslie Spier, 1893–1961," American Anthropologist, 67(5): 1258–1277.
- ^ University of Washington Department of Anthropology, "Welcome." University of Washington, 2004.
- ^ University of New Mexico Department of Anthropology, "Our History." University of New Mexico, 2008.
- ^ Clive Gamble, "Seriation Dating." Archaeology: The Basics 2nd Edition, 2008: 64.
- ^ Regna Darnell, Frederic Wright Gleach, "Leslie Spier 1943." Celebrating a Century of the American Anthropological Association: Presidential Portraits, 2002: 101–104.
- ^ Leslie Spier, "New Data on the Trenton Argillite Culture." American Anthropologist, 18(2): 181–189.
- ^ Walter W. Taylor, "Leslie Spier, 1893–1961." American Antiquity, 1963: 379–381.
- ^ Leslie Spier, "Zuni Chronology." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 1917: 280–283.
External links
- Works by Leslie Spier at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Leslie Spier at Internet Archive
- http://www.unm.edu/~anthro/history.html
- http://depts.washington.edu/anthweb/
- https://web.archive.org/web/20110516104803/http://www.unm.edu/~jar/v65n1.html
- http://www.enotes.com/twentieth-century-criticism/boas-franz/leslie-spier-essay-date-1959
- https://web.archive.org/web/20100731024658/http://www.unm.edu/~jar/CrisisEd.html
- http://www.jstor.org/stable/83674
- Spier (Leslie) Papers 1924–1961 and Leslie Spier papers, 1920–1939 at The Bancroft Library