IN SUN'S LIKENESS AND POWER Cheyenne Accounts of Shield and Tipi Heraldry. By James Mooney. Transcribed and Edited by Father Peter J. Powell. 2 Volumes

Mooney, James & Father Peter J. Powell

ISBN 10: 0803238223 / ISBN 13: 9780803238220

Published by University of Nebraska Press, 2013

About this Item

Quartos, white clothbacked pictorial white boards, in white publisher's slipcase with finger indents and ribbon pull; very minor horizontal scratch to one board of the slipcase. Note:only ten copies were initially released to the public - the rest of the edition was returned to the binder to corrrect some flaw; B.A.E. Ethnologist James Mooney (1861-1921) learned about Cheyenne tribal heraldry from 50 elders who detailed their interpretations, which Mooney recorded in handwritten field notes - the single best source of information on Plains Native shields and tipis. This is the first transcription of Mooney's notes, and with annotations by Father Powell, an Anglo-Catholic priest who is a member of the Chief's Society of the Northern Cheyenne People. Powell won a National Book Award for his prior work on the Cheyenne Nations. Signed on the title-page by Father Powell. Nearly 150 color illustrations from Ledger Drawings, and more than 50 b&w photographs. Seller Inventory # 20220742

Bibliographic Details

Title: IN SUN'S LIKENESS AND POWER Cheyenne ...

Publisher: University of Nebraska Press

Publication Date: 2013

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: As New

Dust Jacket Condition: issued without

Signed: Signed by Author(s)

Edition: First edition.

About this title

Synopsis:

According to traditional Cheyenne belief, shields are living, spirit-filled beings, radiating supernatural power from the Supreme Being for protection and blessing. Shields stand at the nexus of several dimensions of Cheyenne culture, including spirituality, warfare, and artistic expression.

From 1902 to 1906, fifty Cheyenne elders spoke with famed ethnologist James Mooney, sharing with him their interpretations of shield and tipi heraldry. Mooney’s handwritten field notes of these conversations are the single best source of information on Plains Native shields and tipi art available and are a source of inestimable value today for both the Cheyennes and for scholars.

In 1955, with the blessing and permission of the Keepers of the Two Great Covenants and the Chiefs and Headmen of the Northern and Southern Cheyenne People, Father Peter J. Powell began a five-decade effort to help preserve the religion, culture, and history of the Cheyenne People for the generations ahead. His transcriptions and annotations of Mooney’s notes on Cheyenne heraldry is the culmination of these efforts. This two-volume set features nearly 150 color illustrations as well as more than 50 black and white photographs.

About the Author:

James Mooney (1861–1921) was an American anthropologist with the Bureau of American Ethnology for more than thirty-five years and is recognized as one of the nation’s leading experts on Native Americans.

Father Peter J. Powell is a research associate of the Newberry Library, the spiritual director of St. Augustine’s Center for American Indians, Inc. in Chicago, and a member of the Chief’s Society of the Northern Cheyenne People. He is the author of Sweet Medicine and People of the Sacred Mountain: A History of the Northern Cheyenne Chiefs and Warrior Societies, 1830–1879, winner of the National Book Award in history.