Year of Award

2008

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

Master of Arts (MA)

Degree Name

Anthropology

Department or School/College

Department of Anthropology

Committee Chair

Ashley McKeown

Commitee Members

Randall Skelton, Wade Davies

Keywords

Blackfeet, Boas' data, craniofacial plasticity, secular changes

Abstract

Franz Boas proposed almost one hundred yeas ago that cranial plasticity explained the differences in cranial form between European-born immigrants and their American-born children. Plasticity refers to the idea that the body responds to environmental forces during growth and development. If the environment does affect cranial growth and development, than differences should be seen in populations living under different ecological conditions. In this study anthropometric measurements will be used to test for differences in head and face measurements of members of the Blackfeet Nation using multivariate statistics. The tests are designed to detect differences between the three tribes of the Blackfeet Nation (the Piegan, the Blood, and the Blackfeet). Blackfeet children sent to the Carlisle Indian School in Carlisle, PA are compared to the children that remained on the reservations. Lastly, this study examines the overall changes in the Blackfeet peoples throughout the nineteenth century as they were forced to change from nomadic hunter-gatherers to sedentary farmers living under Anglo-American policy on restricted lands.

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© Copyright 2008 Jenee Caprice Gesler