In this Book
- Comanches and Germans on the Texas Frontier: The Ethnology of Heinrich Berghaus
- Book
- 2017
- Published by: Texas A&M University Press
summary
In 1851, an article appeared in a German journal, Geographisches Jahrbuch (Geographic Yearbook), that sought to establish definitive connections, using language observations, among the Comanches, Shoshones, and Apaches. Heinrich Berghaus’s study was based on lexical data gathered by a young German settler in Texas, Emil Kriewitz, and included a groundbreaking list of Comanche words and their German translations. Berghaus also offered Kriewitz’s cultural notes on the Comanches, a discussion of the existing literature on the three tribes, and an original map of Comanche hunting grounds.
Perhaps because it was published only in German, the existence of Berghaus’s study has been all but unknown to North American scholars, even though it offers valuable insights into Native American languages, toponyms, ethnonyms, hydronyms, and cultural anthropology. It was also a significant document revealing the history of German-Comanche relations in Texas.
Daniel J. Gelo and Christopher J. Wickham now make available for the first time a reliable English translation of this important nineteenth-century document. In addition to making the article accessible to English speakers, they also place Berghaus’s work into historical context and provide detailed commentary on its value for anthropologists and historians who study German settlement in Texas.
Comanches and Germans on the Texas Frontier will make significant contributions to multiple disciplines, opening a new lens onto Native American ethnography and ethnology.
Perhaps because it was published only in German, the existence of Berghaus’s study has been all but unknown to North American scholars, even though it offers valuable insights into Native American languages, toponyms, ethnonyms, hydronyms, and cultural anthropology. It was also a significant document revealing the history of German-Comanche relations in Texas.
Daniel J. Gelo and Christopher J. Wickham now make available for the first time a reliable English translation of this important nineteenth-century document. In addition to making the article accessible to English speakers, they also place Berghaus’s work into historical context and provide detailed commentary on its value for anthropologists and historians who study German settlement in Texas.
Comanches and Germans on the Texas Frontier will make significant contributions to multiple disciplines, opening a new lens onto Native American ethnography and ethnology.
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- Title Page, Copyright
- pp. i-iv
- List of Illustrations, Tables, and Maps
- pp. vii-viii
- Orthographic Note
- pp. 14-17
- PART I. Berghaus and German Contributions to American Ethnology
- Chapter 2: Berghaus and Humboldt
- pp. 38-40
- Chapter 5: Berghaus’s Ideology
- pp. 56-64
- Chapter 7: Who Was Emil Kriewitz?
- pp. 69-81
- PART II. Berghaus’s 1851 Ethnological Article
- Chapter 10: Commentary on the 1851 Article
- pp. 117-144
- PART III. The Berghaus Glossary and Map
- Chapter 11: The Glossary: An Overview
- pp. 147-154
- Chapter 12: Comanche Glossary
- pp. 155-188
- References
- pp. 219-240
Additional Information
ISBN
9781623495954
Related ISBN(s)
9781623495947
MARC Record
OCLC
1015884721
Pages
272
Launched on MUSE
2018-01-03
Language
English
Open Access
No