George Elmer Hyde (1882–1968) was the "Dean of
American Indian Historians."
He wrote many books about Indian tribes, especially the
Sioux
The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin ( ; Dakota/ Lakota: ) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations people from the Great Plains of North America. The Sioux have two major linguistic divisions: the Dakota and Lakota peoples (translati ...
and
Pawnee Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language:
* Pawnee people
* Pawnee language
Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States:
* Pawnee, Illinois
* Pawnee, Kansas
* Pawnee, Missouri
* Pawnee City, Nebraska
* ...
plus a life of the
Cheyenne
The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...
warrior and historian,
George Bent.
Life
Hyde was born in
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...
and lived there all his life. He was educated only to the eighth grade. His interest in American Indians was excited by a visit to an Indian encampment at the
Trans-Mississippi Exposition in Omaha in 1898. At eighteen he became totally deaf and nearly blind as a result of
rheumatic fever
Rheumatic fever (RF) is an inflammation#Disorders, inflammatory disease that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain. The disease typically develops two to four weeks after a Streptococcal pharyngitis, streptococcal throat infection. Si ...
. Despite his modest means, this did not discourage him from pursuing his Indian studies. In fact, he went a step further and even owned a bookstore to support himself. He led a reclusive life, and as he grew older, he relied on a powerful magnifying glass to aid his reading. Hyde communicated with the world almost entirely through his letters and books.
Hyde began a correspondence with George Bent in 1904 and, at Bent's recommendation, became a salaried researcher for
George Bird Grinnell
George Bird Grinnell (September 20, 1849 – April 11, 1938) was an American anthropologist, historian, naturalist, and writer. Originally specializing in zoology, he became a prominent early conservationist and student of Native American life. ...
about 1908. Hyde, with extensive contributions from Bent, claimed to be the ghost writer for Grinnell's classic book ''The Fighting Cheyennes''. Grinnell and Hyde are both distinguished for emphasizing the importance of Indians in the history of the Western frontier.
Works
Hyde was an opinionated and sardonic writer and his books are highly readable. As an outsider in the anthropological fraternity he had difficulty getting his works published. This was especially true of his ''Life of George Bent'' based on the 340 letters he received from Bent between 1904 and 1918. ''Life of George Bent'' had to wait for 50 years before being published, but it is invaluable as the most detailed eye-witness account we have from the Indian point of view about the Cheyenne wars with the United States in the 1860s. Collaborators Hyde and Bent never met in person.
* ''Red Cloud's Folk: A History of the Oglala Sioux Indians'' (1937, revised 1957)
* ''The Pawnee Indians'' (1951)
* ''A Sioux Chronicle'' (1956)
* ''Indians of the High Plains: From the Prehistoric Period to the Coming of the Europeans'' (1959)
* ''Spotted Tail's Folk: A History of the Brule Sioux Indians'' (1961)
* ''Indians of the Woodlands: From Prehistoric Times to 1725'' (1962)
* ''Life of George Bent: Written from his Letters'' (1967)
References
External links
* Bent-Hyde papers, University of Colorado, Boulde
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hyde, George E.
1882 births
1968 deaths
20th-century American anthropologists
People from Omaha, Nebraska
20th-century historians
Blind scholars and academics