Teton Dakota: Ethnology and history

Ewers, John

The purpose of this paper is to present data on the Teton which may be of value in planning and creating museum exhibit items to interpret the Teton story. Before planning museum exhibits on any subject, it is well to secure a compact, ordered, accurate compilation of factual information on the subject in question. For many subjects this information is obtainable in a single publication or a limited series of publications. Such sources are available for a number of northern Plains tribes. Especially is this true of the Blackfoot, Crow, Assiniboine, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Omaha. But such is not the case with the Teton Dakota. No compact monograph or series of monographs is available to cover adequately the ethnology and history of the Teton. The data are scattered through a large number of publications, some of which are more or less inaccessible to the general reader. The purpose of this paper is to bring together for the use of museum technicians and artists data on the Teton which may be of value in planning and creating museum exhibit items to interpret the Teton story. This is not intended to be a complete ethnology and history of the Teton. It is merely a compilation of data on those aspects of Teton cultural which will lend themselves to graphic portrayal in museums. Emphasis is therefore placed on the material culture of the tribe, and reference to illustrations which may be of value to museum preparators are cited where it is felt such illustrations will be of value.