Who is considered to bethe father of North American Anthropology?

Question

What contributions did he make?

Answer 1

The Hall of Northwest Coast Indians, the Museum's oldest hall, showcases the research conducted during the Museum's first major field expedition, the Jesup North Pacific Expedition (1897-1902), considered one of the most important anthropological field studies ever made. Organized by Museum President Morris K. Jesup and led by Franz Boas (1858-1942), known as the "father of American anthropology," the expedition set out to investigate the cultural and biological links between people living on both sides of the Bering Strait, with the hope of determining whether or not America was first populated by migrations from Asia. The cultures featured in the hall occupy North America's shores from Washington State to southern Alaska. The artifacts, folklore, and artwork displayed document and celebrate the customs and artistry of the Kwakiutl, Haida, Tlingit, Bella Coola, and other peoples. Exhibits include exquisite totem carvings, clothing, tools, and masks.
http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/culture/northwest.html

http://wings.buffalo.edu/ARD/showme.cgi?keycode=2124
Indian Myths & Legends from the North Pacific Coast of America is the English translation of Franz Boas' Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen K’ste Amerikas. This book details various myths and legends recorded by the Father of North American Anthropology during his field investigations of twenty-six native groups along the Northwest Coast. Dietrich Bertz painstakingly translated Boas' original text and field notes. Bouchard and Kennedy then compiled these translations, conferred with native storytellers and academic researchers, and then attempted to replicate these original myths and legends.
Countless footnotes riddle the book explaining the sources, potential variations, and limitations of these various accounts. The editors have also added a lengthy section about Boas and his theoretical background to instruct the reader on the Boasian theory and methods and give the reader background on where and when he conducted his field investigations. Moreover, this section aims to prevent criticism about the incomplete stories. This attempt is significant as Boas' work shows an obvious bias towards using myths and legends as a way of discovering cultural affinity and diffusion. In this way, the reader will soon find a number of the accounts only contain a paragraph or two stating that the story is the same as previous except for a few omissions or additions. These revisions are then listed or the differing portion of the story related. For researchers looking for precise details, a smooth read, or culture-specific symbolic ideology, this aspect of Boas' original work may be extremely bothersome.

This book also contains a summary of Boas' findings. This section is a comparison of various individual events found within common myths and legends. Boas used the frequency of these common components to establish cultural links. Nonetheless, the comparison of these variations might be useful as a starting point for a Lévi-Straussian analysis of myth and legend variations. Furthermore, this section acts as a summary for an extensive and somewhat overwhelming amount of material.

The majority of this book, however, is composed of myths and legends from the twenty-six native groups that Boas studied. The number of myths and legend in each section varies substantially. For instance, there is only one Klahoose legend, while twenty-five stories of the Bella Coola are recorded. This is a reflection of knowledgeable native storytellers willing to share their traditions within the confines of Boas' hectic fieldwork schedule.

Each of these sections contains an introduction that outlines when and where Boas completed his field studies as well as any comments he recorded about his informants. This orients the reader any to potential bias due to lack of time and the qualifications of the native storytellers. Moreover, black and white photographs taken by Boas accompany each introduction. These regularly depict native informants, their villages, and local activities. These activities include not only daily activities useful as potential clues in site and activity area reconstruction but also rarely recorded special events such as the potlatch ceremony.

Many of the sections contain myths and legends common to the Pacific Northwest. The most common reoccurring themes surround Raven and Mink. Other common stories include tales about illegitimate and rejected children becoming rich and powerful as well as cautionary tales about sexually active girls.

Despite Boas' research bias towards shared themes, he did an exemplary job in recording such a wide variety. Many of these are origin myths and legends explaining nature and the universe. Others relate the history of the group and the invention of technology such as the salmon weir. Still others valiantly illustrate cultural mores, taboos, and gender roles.

Thus, despite some acknowledged research bias, this book is a wealth of knowledge. Many of these myths and legends are the only surviving remnants of otherwise lost traditions. Furthermore, this compilation is the most complete collection from the Pacific Northwest created to date. These aspects make this book invaluable to the avid myth and legend collector or scholar.

Friends: I am Mr. Boas who is speaking to you. I am he whom you called Heiltsaqoalis [he who says the right thing]. It is two winters since I have been with you, but I have thought of you often. You were very kind to me when I was with you, and I always think of your kindness. I am thinking of it, that it is difficult for you to show to the white man in Victoria that you[r] feasts and your potlatches are good, and I have tried to show them that they are good. My friend, George Hunt, will read this to you. He will also read to you what I have told the people in Victoria. I am trying to do the right thing. I am trying to show them that your ways are not bad ways.

Franz Uri Boas, the German immigrant known as the "father of American anthropology," wrote this letter to the Kwakiutl Indians of British Columbia in April 1897. That year marked the beginning of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition, one of the largest and most ambitious anthropological field research efforts of its time. Boas, who led the five-year study, directed his assistants to gather as many folk tales, costumes, artifacts, and observations as they could. Convinced that cultures on both sides of the Bering Strait were facing extinction--as native peoples succumbed to starvation, as well as to diseases carried by fur traders and missionaries--Boas urged an almost scattershot approach: collect and record anything and everything.

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1134/is_10_106/ai_53479059
His directive also applied to the gathering of such human remains as bones and skulls. Like medical researchers and anatomists going at least as far back as Leonardo da Vinci, Boas saw no way around digging up buried bones in order to study human morphology--a practice contemporary anthropologists find troubling, to say the least. Boas wanted to use anthropometric data--body measurements such as head length and head width--to show that the physical types of the people in northeastern Asia resembled the physical types in northwestern America. He hoped that the Jesup North Pacific Expedition would demonstrate what he had long hypothesized: that Asians had crossed the ancient landmass of Beringia to the New World before water had closed this passage, leaving racially and culturally related populations on each side. (One popular theory of the late nineteenth century, espoused by the physical anthropologist Daniel G. Brinton, held that Native Americans originated in America. Still others seriously argued that they originated on the "lost continent" of Atlantis or were descendants of a lost tribe of Israel.)

Hope this helps,
Dayna

Answer 2

Father Of American Anthropology

Answer 3

The Paradoxical Legacy of Franz Boas - father of American anthropology -