US Government Documents related to Indigenous Nations

Committee

Bureau of American Ethnology

Congress

85th Congress, 1st Session

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Description

Published as a series sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology, the “River Basin Surveys Papers” are a collection of archeological investigations focused on areas now flooded by the completion of various dam projects in the United States. The River Basin Surveys Papers (numbered 1-39) were mostly published in bundles with 5-6 papers in each bundle. In collaboration with the United States (US) National Park Service and the US Bureau of Reclamation, the US Department of the Interior, and the US Army Corps of Engineers, the Smithsonian Institution pulled archeological and paleontological remains from several sites prior to losing access to the sites due to flooding. The Smithsonian Institution calls this project the Inter-Agency Archeological Salvage Program.

Paper number 11 discusses the excavation of an earth-lodge village located in South Dakota that is known to this report as “The Spain Site.” The site is named after a former owner of the land named Abraham Spain. The site is near the mouth of the White River on Bull Creek. Excavation of the site took place in the summer of 1953 and yielded one complete house, one partial house, and many various artifacts, including pottery, chipped-stone artifacts, iron ware, stone artifacts, shell artifacts, copper artifacts, bone and antler artifacts, plant and animal remains. The author estimates that this site was occupied between 1550 and 1650 A.D. This site was flooded by construction of the Randall dam. This paper contains photographs, illustrations, text figures, and maps.

Publication Date

1-1-1957

Keywords

Mandan Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, Mandan, Nueta, Hidatsa, Arikara, Sahnish, Archeological Salvage Program, Randall Reservoir, Randall Dam, Bull Creek, White River, Spain site, excavation, anthropology, ethnology, earth lodge, pottery, artifacts, chipped stone, ground stone, shell, copper, bone, antler, 16th century, sixteenth century, 17th century, seventeenth century

Organizations Referenced

Mandan Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, Mandan, Nueta, Hidatsa, Arikara, Sahnish, Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, US National Park Service, US Bureau of Reclamation, US Department of the Interior, US Army Corps of Engineers

People Referenced

Frank H. H. Roberts Jr., Carlyle S. Smith, Roger T. Grange, Jr., Abraham Spain, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark

Publisher

Government Printing Office

Disciplines

American Politics | Indigenous, Indian, and Aboriginal Law | Indigenous Studies | Law and Politics | Native American Studies | United States History

Recommended Citation

Smith, Carlyle S. and Roger T. Grange, Jr.. River Basin Surveys Papers, No. 11: The Spain Site (39LM301), a Winter Village in Fort Randall Reservoir, South Dakota, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1957. https://commons.und.edu/indigenous-gov-docs/68/.

River Basin Surveys Papers, No. 11: The Spain Site (39LM301), a Winter Village in Fort Randall Reservoir, South Dakota

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