Anthropologist and Advocate for Native Americans. James Mooney was a notable anthropologist who modeled the highest ideals of his profession. He lived for several years among the Cherokees, studied the Ghost Dance among the Lakota, and advocated for the Native American Church. The son of Irish Catholic immigrants, he became connected with the Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE) in Washington, D.C. in 1885 which was his dream career. For the BAE he complied a tribal list containing 3,000 groups. While he conducted several famous studies across the country, his most notable work, conducted while the event was happening, was his ethnographic study of the Ghost Dance, a widespread religious movement among various Native American groups that ended in 1890 with a bloody massacre by the United States Army at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. He was a member and past president of the Anthropological Society of Washington, a member of the Mississippi Valley Historical Society, first president of the Gaelic Society of Washington, and the author of many books and articles dealing with Indian life and lore. When the Cheyenne who had been confined to reservations in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) began the Native American Church, a religion with both Christian and traditional Plains Indians elements, Mooney defended the Native American Church as a real religion before Congress. He argued that the Native American Church should be protected under the freedom of religion amendment to the U. S. Constitution. As a result he lost the only job he ever wanted, at the BAE. Mooney died shortly after his Congressional testimony—some say of a broken heart. He would not compromise doing what was right and just to save his dream career or his life. The Southern Anthropological Society's Mooney Award is named for him.
Anthropologist and Advocate for Native Americans. James Mooney was a notable anthropologist who modeled the highest ideals of his profession. He lived for several years among the Cherokees, studied the Ghost Dance among the Lakota, and advocated for the Native American Church. The son of Irish Catholic immigrants, he became connected with the Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE) in Washington, D.C. in 1885 which was his dream career. For the BAE he complied a tribal list containing 3,000 groups. While he conducted several famous studies across the country, his most notable work, conducted while the event was happening, was his ethnographic study of the Ghost Dance, a widespread religious movement among various Native American groups that ended in 1890 with a bloody massacre by the United States Army at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. He was a member and past president of the Anthropological Society of Washington, a member of the Mississippi Valley Historical Society, first president of the Gaelic Society of Washington, and the author of many books and articles dealing with Indian life and lore. When the Cheyenne who had been confined to reservations in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) began the Native American Church, a religion with both Christian and traditional Plains Indians elements, Mooney defended the Native American Church as a real religion before Congress. He argued that the Native American Church should be protected under the freedom of religion amendment to the U. S. Constitution. As a result he lost the only job he ever wanted, at the BAE. Mooney died shortly after his Congressional testimony—some say of a broken heart. He would not compromise doing what was right and just to save his dream career or his life. The Southern Anthropological Society's Mooney Award is named for him.
Bio by: Sharlotte Neely Donnelly
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