Alice Cunningham FletcherBorn 15 Mar 1838; died 6 Apr 1923 at age 85.U.S. anthropologist whose stature as a social scientist, notably for her pioneer study of Indian music, has overshadowed her influence on federal government Indian policies that later were considered to be unfortunate. Her early interests were in archaeology. Her later interests, however, focused on contemporary Native Americans. Fletcher was one of the first ethnologists to live among the people whom she studied, the Omaha. She had a lifelong interest in Native American music, customs, and language, and with collaborators, transcribed hundreds of songs of the Plains Indians. She helped write and get passed the Dawes Act (1887) which "...gave each Indian legal title to a plot of land and also granted them citizenship" |
