John Gregory Bourke

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Gregory Bourke

John Gregory Bourke (born June 23, 1843 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , † June 8, 1896 there ) was an American officer and ethnologist . His ethnological publications on the Indians of North America and the intercultural comparisons with the traditions of the peoples are significant . One focus of his publications describes the custom of using products for excretion and defecation .

Life

Bourke - son of an immigrant from the Irish county of Galway - entered at the age of nineteen during the Civil War (1861-1865) as a volunteer in the 15th Pennsylvania Equestrian Regiment. He was honorably discharged in 1865. He received the Medal of Honor for his services in the Battle of the Stones River under General George Henry Thomas . On the recommendation of his general, he was then accepted into the United States Military Academy and, after passing the exam, promoted to lieutenant in 1869. He was assigned to the 3rd Cavalry Regiment and fought against the Indians mainly in New Mexico and Arizona . From 1871 to 1883 he was adjutant to General George Crook , with whom he cultivated a friendship in the following years. In 1876 he was appointed first lieutenant , but refused an appointment as major .

Bourke kept diaries in which he recorded his observations about the fighting and the Indians. This made him an expert on the customs of the Indians and their way of thinking. In contrast to his companions, he was distinguished by compassion for the Indians. John Gregory Bourke worked again and again to ensure that the remaining tribes should not be completely wiped out after fighting. His knowledge and empathy were valued at the Department of War in Washington, DC . Bourke was appointed to various commissions on the fate of the remaining tribes.

Bourke was commissioned to study the manners and customs of the Pueblo cultures , the Apaches and the Navajo . As part of these studies in 1884 his publication appeared on the snake dance of the Hopi in Arizona as the first scientific treatise on these then become popular ceremony.

In 1886 Bourke - meanwhile a captain - was called to Washington to sort and process his findings and records about the Indians. It took him five years for this work: Bourke not only used his reports, but also spent a lot of time in libraries, comparing the observations he had made with the customs of other indigenous peoples . A number of publications emerged, including treatises on the medicine men of the Apache Indians and on urine dances among various peoples.

Bourke first became aware of the Kotsitten in 1881 as a guest of the Zuñi Indians, where he was allowed to attend a ceremony of the Newekwe priests. He published these experiences in 1888 under the title The use of human odure and human urine in rites of a religious or semi religious character among various nations . Numerous studies on the Kotsitten of different peoples then led to his main work, which in 1891 under the title Scatologic Rites of all Nations. A Dissertation upon the Employment of Excrementicious Reemdial Agents in Religion, Therapeutics, Divination, Witch-Craft, Love-Philters, etc. appeared in all part of the Globe . This work was only distributed to selected experts and was only made available to the public in 1913 in a revision by Friedrich S. Krauss and Hermann Ihm with a foreword by Sigmund Freud .

While in Washington, John Gregory Bourke served on the board of directors of the Anthropological Society.

Bourke then helped mediate at the Pan-American Congresses through his knowledge of the Spanish language and went to Texas as a fort commander , where he was mainly active in the fight against Indian rebellions and Mexican robber gangs. At the time he mainly collected ritual objects, including a collar made from human fingers, which was exhibited in the National Museum in Washington.

Bourke worked for various ethnological journals, in which he regularly published articles about the Indians and his findings.

Publications

With year and place

  • 1884: The Snake Dance of the Moquis. London and New York
  • 1888: Urine Dances and Ur-Orgie. Smithsonian Institute Washington
  • 1888: Notes on the Cosmogony and Theogony of the Mojaves. Journal of American Folk-Lore, Cambridge (Mass.)
  • 1888: The use of human odor and human urine in rites of a religious or semi religious character among various nations. Washington
  • 1891: On the Border with Crook. Charles Scribner's Sons
  • 1891: Scatologic Rites of all Nations. A Dissertation upon the Employment of Excrementicious Reemdial Agents in Religion, Therapeutics, Divination, Witch-Craft, Love-Philters, etc. in all part of the Globe. Based upon Personal Notes and Personal Observations and upon Compilation from over one thousand Authorities. Not for General Perusal. Washington
  • John Gregory Bourke: The rubbish in custom, custom, belief and customary law of the peoples (= accessories to the study of Anthropophyteia ; Volume 6), with a preface by Sigmund Freud (original title: Scatalogic rites of all nations , translated by Friedrich S. Krauss and H. Ihm), unchanged reprint of the German first edition (private print, Ethnological Verlag, Leipzig 1913,), Eichborn, Frankfurt am Main
  • 1958: An Apache Campaign In The Sierra Madre ISBN 1-2995-4982-9
  • 2003: The diaries of John Gregory Bourke. University of North Texas Press, ISBN 1-5744-1161-6 .

Without year and place

  • Folk-Lore concerning Arrows.
  • Vesper Hours of the Stone Age.
  • Primitive distillation among the Tarascos.
  • Distillation by Early American Indians.
  • The Laws of Spain in their Application to the American Indians.
  • The Gentile Organization of the Apache.
  • The Miracle Play of the Rio Grande.
  • The Folk-Foods of the Rio Grande Valley and of Northern Mexico.
  • Popular Medecine, Customs and Superstitions of the Rio Grande.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Bourke, John Gregory
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American soldier and ethnologist
DATE OF BIRTH June 23, 1843
PLACE OF BIRTH Philadelphia , Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH June 8, 1896
Place of death Philadelphia , Pennsylvania