James Rolfe Murie (1862 – 18 November 1921) was an American farmer and ethnographer conducting research among the Pawnee Tribe in Nebraska, of which he was also a member. Murie wrote the Ceremonies of Pawnee, which included accounts of songs utilized in three South Band ceremonies, constituting one of the most extensive song collections for any Native American tribe ever described. Murie also collaborated with anthropologists Alice Fletcher, George Dorsey, and Clark Wissler.
Early life and education
James Rolfe Murie, also known as Sa-Ku-Ru-Ta was born in 1862 in Grand Island, Nebraska to a Skiri Pawnee mother, Anna Murie, and a white father, James Murie. Murie's father was a Scottish immigrant who became a captain in Major Frank North's U.S. Army Pawnee scout battalion, which patrolled the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and Wyoming, protected the construction of the transcontinental railroad from raids, and safeguarded smaller settlements throughout the Plains. Murie's father rose from second lieutenant to captain, and in April 1869 re-enlisted in the scout battalion.
During the summer of 1869, Murie's father suffered from what was later identified as a mental illness and in 1871, was admitted to a mental institution. At this time, his wife and three children, including Murie, went to live with Anna Murie's brother. Murie was raised by his mother to speak Pawnee and participated in Pawnee tribal ceremonies. Murie claimed that his father died from a lightning strike while scouting with the battalion, but Murie's father was moved from the mental institution to the Soldiers and Sailors Home in Nebraska in 1888 and died there on December 26, 1910.
Although born in Nebraska, Murie lived part of his life in Oklahoma. In 1833, four Pawnee bands ceded their lands south of the Platte River, and in 1857 signed a treaty at Table Creek, Nebraska Territory, to accept a small reservation along the Platte River. The United States government removed the Pawnee from their Nebraska territory to Pawnee County, Oklahoma over a three-year period starting in 1874. A cholera epidemic in 1849, a smallpox epidemic in 1852, and continued conflict with the Sioux allowed the United States government to forcefully remove the Pawnee. The Pawnee Indian agencies and the Indian boarding school were established close to Pawnee, Oklahoma.
In 1879, Murie started attending the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia. During this education, he learned to read and write English and Arikara. Murie received a diploma in 1883, and from 1883 to 1884 worked as an assistant teacher at the Pawnee Agency boarding school with aspirations of becoming a full-time teacher. From 1884 to 1886, Murie served as the assistant disciplinarian and drillmaster at the Haskell Institute. Murie also managed the post office in Pawnee, Oklahoma. By 1890, most of the Skiris lived in houses on their own farms and spoke English.
Collaboration with anthropologists
Murie became a teacher and colleague to anthropologists studying Pawnee culture, including Alice C. Fletcher, George A. Dorsey, and Clark Wissler, by interpreting Pawnee language and culture. Many anthropologists greatly benefited from Murie's connection to Pawnee tribal members and his knowledge of English. In a letter to Alice Fletcher in 1898, Murie writes, "I have managed to get the Skee dee madicial [sic] man – a priest to stop with me tonight so he can give me lodge legend." Murie also remarks in a 1902 letter to Fletcher how "my people at this time have full confidence and trust in me."
In the mid-1890s, Murie worked with Alice Fletcher from the Peabody Museum of Harvard University to transcribe and translate Pawnee cultural materials, including songs. Fletcher collaborated with Murie and Tahriussawichi, a Pawnee Ku'rahus or ceremonial leader, to produce a description of a Calumet Ceremony, and Fletcher observed the Hako, a version of the Calumet Ceremony practiced by the Chauci clan of the Pawnee, one of the three South Bands. Fletcher published a book The hako: song, pipe, and unity in a Pawnee Calumet ceremony in which she transcribed and translated each Hako song and included its interpretation by a Pawnee Ku'rahus.
Murie was involved with sharing Pawnee culture with others. In January 1899, the American Anthropologist published the ceremony for changing a person's name performed by a Chauci Pawnee priest who was the friend of the Omaha chief Joseph La Flesche. Murie brought this priest to Washington, D.C. and helped to interpret his words during the ceremony.