As an editor, I get to geek out over dictionaries, style guides, and book catalogs (such as this one from the University of Nebraska Press). I also try to stay current with a variety of academic journals, and am privileged to work with editor Pam Berreth Smokey on one of the best in our region: North Dakota History: Journal of the Northern Plains, published semiannually by the State Historical Society of North Dakota.

Perhaps you are one of our devoted readers, but for the uninitiated (and newcomers to the northern plains, such as myself), I am excited to tell you about this stellar resource. The State Historical Society loves gathering audience feedback, and we recently conducted a North Dakota History reader survey. Ensuring reader satisfaction is a unique challenge in that we want to present new, credible scholarship in an accessible and visually appealing way.

Well, we were thrilled with the results! Here are five top reasons readers love our journal.

Recent covers of North Dakota History: Journal of the Northern Plains

1. Well-researched articles.
Did you know the State Historical Society of North Dakota has published an academic journal since 1906? While the journal (called North Dakota Historical Quarterly from 1926 to 1945) maintains high academic standards for the historians, professors, and others who contribute well-researched articles, we also attract a broad general readership of folks interested in the history of our region. If we can help the reader think more deeply about an article topic through a new lens or learn a fascinating new tidbit about history, we’re fulfilling our purpose.

2. Enlightening topics.
In our reader survey, over half of respondents* rated the journal “outstanding,” and 79 percent read “most pages” or “cover to cover.” As a bookworm (and the journal’s book review editor), I am excited folks still make time to read an entire magazine! Some of the most interesting feedback relates to article topics: immigrant ethnic history is our most popular subject area, with Native American history and architecture/historic preservation coming in close behind.

From North Dakota History reader survey, January 2018

3. Local history is personal.
Our most popular article of 2016–17 was “1997 Grand Forks Flood” by University of North Dakota professor Kimberly Porter, which recounted a personal experience of the natural disaster many of our readers lived through. Similarly, our Winter 2017 issue featured McIntosh County German-Russians and three rural North Dakota cemeteries, meaning many of our readers were tied (as actual relatives, or culturally) to the people and communities discussed.

Kimberly Porter’s article on the 1997 Grand Forks flood was the most popular of the past year. North Dakota History, Vol. 82.1 (Summer 2017), pp. 18–19

4. Great design.
Images remain vital to our storytelling, and we are proud the journal has won the Mountain-Plains Museums Association Publication Design Award for two years in a row (2016–17). The most recent winner included this article on frontier photographer Orlando S. Goff, who captured an iconic photo of Sitting Bull in 1881.

5. One-of-a-kind stories.
On the northern plains, truth sometimes really is stranger than fiction. We continue to add original content for free online, including this recently posted 1957 article, “Reminiscences of a Pioneer Mother.” A personal favorite, Kate Roberts Pelissier’s astounding oral history is reminiscent of Little Women and the Little House books.

Margaret Barr Roberts, described in “Reminiscences of a Pioneer Mother” by Kate Roberts Pelissier, raised five daughters alone on a ranch near Medora after her husband disappeared. SHSND A4454

Have I piqued your interest enough? You can catch up with the contents of recent issues online, read them in our State Archives, purchase copies through our Museum Store, or subscribe. Our next issue, going to press in June, will highlight World War I memorials across the state and explore the 1856 G. K. Warren maps, which were pivotal in charting the Missouri River and its environs.

Keep reading! And don’t hesitate to let us know what you think.

 

* We conducted the survey electronically through an email to available subscribers. The link was also published in the print journal. Fifteen percent (148 people) of the email list responded.

What are the typical artifacts found in North Dakota? What do you usually find when you sort artifacts? What does an average box of artifacts from an excavation look like?

These are all questions I have been asked recently. But they are difficult to answer, mostly because there is a lot of variety in North Dakota’s archaeology. People in different times and circumstances used different tools, technologies, and materials—meaning that depending on the age or type of site, the artifacts found will also be different. Artifacts also come in many different sizes—and the size of the artifacts will effect what kinds of things you are looking for or finding.

So, I might not be able to show you what the “average” box of artifacts looks like. But I can show you what one specific box is like, as I have spent the past week sorting it.

The box I am finishing is from the Larson Village site (32BL9). Staff and volunteers have been helping with this project for several years, and we are almost done with the sorting (for more information on Larson Village, see blog.statemuseum.nd.gov/blog/adventures-archaeology-collections-larson-village). There are only about eight boxes left to finish. All those boxes contain the smallest sizes of objects that we currently sort—size grade 4 (anything that slides through a screen mesh 0.111 inch square) and size grade 5 (anything that slides through a screen mesh 0.0469 inches square).

The cardboard box is the size of a banker’s box.

A box of size grade 5 artifacts (2012A.13, 32BL9, from Feature 6 South ½)

This specific box has six bags of size grade 5 materials to sort.

A bag of size grade 5 artifacts. There are six of these bags in my current box.

Would you like to try sorting? Here is your chance! In size grade 5 we sort out only certain types of objects or materials including (but not limited to) identifiable bone, identifiable shell, seeds, and insect parts. What do you see in this photo? (click photo to see larger image)

Can you spot the aritfacts that need to be sorted out?

Hint, there are nine items visible in the above photo that we would sort out in the archaeology lab, including:
-3 small animal teeth
-1 small animal vertebra
-1 insect leg
-2 shells
-2 seeds

Can you find these items in the previous photo?

Can you find them? (The locations are circled at the end of this post).

So what exactly is in this box? Here is everything that has been found so far (minus the half of a bag I have yet to finish).

This is the last tray of material from this box. I have not yet finished the top half of the tray.

There is a lot of identifiable animal bone. These will be sent to a faunal analyst (someone who specializes in animal bone).

All the identifiable bone found in this box so far (2012A.13)

Modified bone is present too—bone that has been used or made into tools. If you look closely, you can see that these tiny, pointy pieces are very polished and smooth. They are tips from bone awls, used to make holes in leather and hide.

Two awl tips found in this box (2012A.13)

A complete awl from Larson Village—but not from the same box or feature (2012A.13, 32BL9, from Feature 26 North ½)

I have found quite a few gastropods (mollusks like snails). The shells are very difficult to pick out of the tray as they are very fragile. There are also a lot of insect parts—legs, wings, and more.

All the gastropods found in this box so far (2012A.13)

All the insect parts found in this box so far (2012A.13)

Here are chipped stone flakes of obsidian (volcanic glass). Usually we don’t pull out flakes of stone that are this small, but I have set these aside because they are identifiable and have a story. Obsidian does not originate in North Dakota. The closest sources are Wyoming (in the area of Yellowstone National Park) and Idaho. These flakes are evidence of either travel or the extensive trade relationships between the people living at Larson Village and elsewhere.

All the obsidian flakes found in this box so far (2012A.13)

Seeds show the kinds of wild plants that were growing around the village or that people were collecting to use, as well as the types of domestic plants people were growing—like sunflowers, corn, and squash.

All the seeds found in this box so far (2012A.13)

But what about the leftovers—the pieces we don’t pull out to send to experts to identify and study? You may have guessed: we save it. Why? Because technology and ideas change over time. Technologies that were not possible 50 years ago are possible now—like lipid residue analysis for pottery (to figure out what people were storing or cooking in pots), or obsidian sourcing (to figure out exactly where obsidian material comes from). Even though tiny pieces of unidentifiable charcoal, or fire-cracked rock, or bits of unidentifiable broken bone might not seem useful right now, archaeological methods will eventually change in ways that allow us to draw information from them.

Did you find all the artifacts that need to be sorted?

Throughout the year, the State Historical Society accepts hundreds of objects into the museum collection, all with interesting stories to tell. Occasionally, we accept objects under non-ideal conditions. For instance, there may be gaps in an object’s history, or a donation arrives damaged.

In June 2018, Curator of Collections Management Jenny Yearous purchased a Native American jingle dress with military patches at a garage sale in Bismarck, North Dakota. The proprietor of the garage sale had received the jingle dress from someone at the United Tribes Technical College International Powwow in Bismarck and no longer wanted it. Unfortunately, the owner did not have any additional information, so we had to do our own investigating.

The dress is believed to have been worn by a member of the Native American Women Warriors (NAWW), a color guard of female veterans. They also perform a jingle dance, which some tribes regard as a healing rite traditionally performed by women. Founded by Mitchelene BigMan, NAWW is a nonprofit group based in Colorado. Their mission is to support U.S. veterans and their families.

2018.00067

The back of the silver bodice has a series of patches sewn onto it, including “Native American Veteran,” “Iraq Veteran,” “Operation Iraqi Freedom/Woman Veteran,” and a “Bring Home or Send Us Back POW-MIA” patch. There is also a red, white, and blue ribbon with the words “Native American” on it, and in the center a large patch with an eagle head and the words, "THE NATION WHICH FORGETS ITS DEFENDERS WILL ITSELF BE FORGOTTEN / FALLEN HEROES / IN MEMORY OF OUR TROOPS / DEFENDERS OF OUR FREEDOM."

The Museum Collections Committee decided to accept this jingle dress into the collection despite not having much history about it. We simply do not have many contemporary Native American regalia, or many female-owned items related to the military. We have only one other jingle dress, which is not military-related. Combining the lack in the existing collection with the connection to the military and women, this object has an important place in the collection, even without a complete history.

If you or someone you know may have additional information about who wore this dress, please contact Melissa Thompson at 701.328.2691 or methompson@nd.gov.

Frances Reese donated a stone sculpture made of Colorado pink alabaster by the artist Tex Wounded Face. Wounded Face was born in Watford City, North Dakota, in 1955 and is of Mandan/Hidatsa descent. He passed away at the age of 57 in Scottsdale, Arizona. The sculpture was given to the donor’s husband, William F. Reese, when he and Wounded Face held a joint exhibit in Seattle in 1978.

The sculpture, titled The Americanization of the Native American, is the head and shoulders of a Native American with flowing hair, arms outstretched with a blanket covering the arms.

The box carrying the sculpture arrived at the North Dakota Heritage Center damaged. When unpacked from the box, the sculpture was discovered to have several pieces of rock separated from the base area. The Museum Collections Committee decided to acquire the sculpture for our collection despite its damaged condition. We do not have many pieces of contemporary Native American artwork, and the missing pieces do not distract from the overall aesthetic of the sculpture. The sculpture was placed in our collection with the hope that we would someday have the funds to repair the damage.

If you would like to donate to the collection’s conservation fund, please call 701.328.2666.

Some of the most fascinating features to observe in vertebrate fossils are pathologies. These are injuries or diseases the animal sustained over its life that left a legacy on the bones we collect. We like to think about these great, extinct beasts dominating the landscape — but what about the sick? The old? The injured? What happened to them? Living things in the past are just like living things today, each vulnerable to its own set of typical injuries. For the examples I provide below, I will be using Edmontosaurus, the duck-billed dinosaur (which also happens to be the same type of animal as Dakota the Dinomummy!).

Over the course of excavating these wondrous, giant “Cretaceous cows,” you would notice patterns in many of the bones. You would come across the standard bones and become more familiar with them, and thus would learn what they should look like as you gently scrape off the dirt . . . but the bones don’t always look the way they should. One of the most common bones to sustain injury is the tail — specifically what is called the spinous process. These long spikes sticking out of the centrum (main body) of the vertebrae are the same bumps you can feel on the back of your neck — just on the tail in this case. Interestingly, a lot of these tail injuries started healing before the animal died. Evidence of this healing includes breaks with a large callus (massive growth) of spongy bone around the breaks to stabilize fractures, or pockets and holes that were draining pus. The oldest animals even show evidence of arthritis on the ends of the spinous processes. Vertebrae also had a high chance of getting stepped on, perhaps while the animals slept in their large herds.

This spinous process shows just a touch of what could be arthritis, but gives you a good idea of what one of these tail bones would look like.

This broken spinous process is a mass of rough bone growth that had an active infection in it. The arrow is pointing to a lesion that was most likely an exit for pus.

Damage happened during life to this tail, with the healed result being a fusion of two tail bones together.

This trio of caudal (tail) vertebrae (not from the same animal) all show breaks on the top-most portion of their spinous processes. The zoomed-in spine at right shows a different angle of the break, with the bone offset while healing.

Series of caudal vertebrae with crushing damage. Vertebra C had nearly healed from a horizontal break that split the bone in two. Vertebra D was not as far along in the healing process. Vertebrae E and F split vertically in half and were riddled with infection. Pus-draining lesions can be seen scattered throughout the bone.

This caudal vertebra is odd — it has lost the prezygopophyses [G] that connect the bone to the one in front of it, yet the area of bone has healed. The back end of the bone also shows damage, with another lesion.

This spinous process is one of my personal favorites — just LOOK at that gnarly arthritis and infection! Crazy! AND a break on top of that.

The tail wasn’t the only bit of the animal to sustain injury. At the fossil site these came from, hand injuries were more common than foot injuries — at least you can run with a sore hand. But you become a Tyrannosaurus snack with a sore foot. Below are two hand bones that show damage. Both are set next to a normal, undamaged bone for comparison.

This hand bone shows some possible arthritis in what would have been the pinky finger.

This hand bone shows an interesting pucker on one end, which slowed the growth of the bone. It is much shorter than it should have been.

I used to think being a custodian was just a matter of mastering the skills typical of janitorial work, occasionally managing the unexpected, and having some ability to empathize with people. But it isn’t. Custodians must constantly grapple with the challenges that come with any job: ensuring we have the resources we need to do our jobs, managing time, and dealing with changing circumstances, incomplete information, organizational culture, and our own shortcomings.

Custodian Bob Canter starting the evening shift at the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum.

Business innovator Nilofer Merchant wrote, “Culture is a set of habits that allows a group to cooperate by assumption rather than by negotiation.” When visitors enter the awe-inspiring North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum, they assume safety, and they assume cleanliness. It is the custodian’s mission to ensure— through diligence, awareness, initiative, and responsibility — that those expectations are met.

As you might imagine, Heritage Center custodians clean and maintain public spaces like the museum galleries, restrooms, and event spaces.  But we also clean and maintain the non-public areas in the lower level of the building: workshops, laboratories, offices, and special project rooms. So there is quite a variety of skills involved. On one shift, while cleaning the usual cubicles, restrooms, offices, and employee lounge, I may also oil a squeaky door hinge, or discover, report, and mitigate a leak in a mechanical room. On tomorrow’s shift I may replace the brush bearings on a floor scrubbing machine.

Our duties fall under three larger, overarching objectives: first, protect the safety of the visitors and employees; second, protect the building itself; and third, assure visitor and employee comfort, enjoyment, and satisfaction. Custodians, in our continuous process of constructing a clean and safe environment, are often invisible to our building’s users. We are behind the scenes; out of sight and out of mind. In short, my role is a little like Batman (if Batman also had the talents of his butler, Alfred): Protect people. Protect the building. Assure comfort.

Custodian Josh Masser mopping the terrazzo floor of the Northern Lights Atrium and front entrance at the end of the day.

Examples of safety include sanitation of restrooms and “touch surfaces” like door handles, countertops, glass cases, and water fountains. Other safety watch-outs are slip hazards from leaks and spills. Gallery carpet tiles can loosen from their adhesive during exhibit changes and become a trip hazard. I can’t be there to swoop in like Batman and catch the child who trips on a loose carpet tile, but I can prevent the accident from happening in the first place.

Building protection involves watching for and reporting leaks and stains, a loosened door plate, a failing window seal. Are we custodians using appropriate products for buildings surfaces? Are we keeping three-year-old humans from climbing on the 13,000-year-old mastodon?

The National Association for Interpretation, a professional organization for museums and historical sites, says, “Cleanliness is a cardinal principle — people will remember dirty bathrooms more than anything else.” I agree that cleanliness is closely tied to enjoyment of a public space. I think it engenders a feeling of safety and comfort (even if subconsciously) among our visitors and employees. It sends a signal that here, in this place, someone cares.

Bob dusting the tin sculptures displayed near the James River Café.

Hospitality in ancient cultures involved welcoming the stranger and offering him food, shelter, and safety —the hospitality for which the Mandan villages were famous. My approach to custodial work is through a lens of goodwill.

April is an exciting time in the State Archives. The month includes two weeks that are relevant to archival collections. National Library Week (April 7–13), promoted by the American Library Association, raises awareness of the importance of libraries and their staff to our communities. National Library Preservation Week (April 22–28) raises awareness of preserving items held in library collections across the country.

This year’s theme for National Library Week is “Libraries = Strong Communities.” With this in mind, a couple of unique examples from our library collection stand out.

First, the oldest cataloged item in our library collection is a 1749 published report related to the Hudson’s Bay Company. This is a beautiful example of mid-18th century publishing. Entitled Report from the Committee Appointed to Enquire into the State and Condition of the Countries Adjoining to Hudson’s Bay and of the Trade Carried on There, the report deals with the land granted to the Hudson’s Bay Company, which included parts of present-day North Dakota that fell within the bay’s drainage basin. The trade in furs and skins is noted, as well as other aspects of trade with Native Americans in the region.

It is fascinating to consider that when the report was published, Great Britain and France still vied for control of North America. George Washington was a teenager, and many of our nation’s Founding Fathers were still children — some not even born yet.

Pages 216-217 of Report from the Committee Appointed to Enquire into the State and Condition of the Countries Adjoining to Hudson’s Bay and of the Trade Carried on There (1749). Photo by Daniel Sauerwein

Another unique book in our library holdings is The Kindergarten Book (1906). At first glance, one might think this book deals with educating youngsters, but its subject matter is not as innocent as the title implies. It was a publication of the Kindergarten Club, a group of powerful political figures in early North Dakota history. Signatures in the front of the book include Judson LaMoure, one of the first legislators in North Dakota. The Club also included North Dakota politicians Alexander McKenzie and Jerry Bacon, as well as Govs. Louis B. Hanna and Elmore Sarles.

The book is full of poetry and boisterous drinking songs set to popular melodies of the day. The contents of the book denote a group of men who engaged in raucous partying, drinking, and gambling, and perhaps some behind-the-scenes power politics.¹

Pages 28-29 of the The Kindergarten Book (1906). Photo by Daniel Sauerwein.

While we actively engage in preservation of items every day in the Archives, one special activity that some staff engage in is book repair. Sarah Walker, head of reference in the Archives, wrote an earlier blog post on what goes on when the repair group gets together. She noted that it is not a service provided to patrons, but is something the staff does to keep heavily used materials in our collections accessible for future generations as long as possible.

Repairs usually involve gluing loose pages back in place, or shoring up binding, but some are more involved and require the rebinding of the book with special tape. Books deemed too fragile for such repairs are instead housed in phase boxes to protect them from as much wear and tear as possible. The repair efforts do not restore the book completely, but are important to keeping the documented information around for future generations.

As you can see, the State Archives is more than individual pieces of paper or photographs. We also have books that illustrate the changing political history of North Dakota. When those books show signs of frequent use by researchers and need some love and attention, our staff does what it can to keep them around and available for years to come. Each spring, a season of growth and rebirth, we look forward to new additions to our State Archives collection and to repairing items in need.

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¹¹ “Kindergarten Club Records, 1906, 1971 Collection Overview,” Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections, Chester Fritz Library, accessed April 1, 2019, https://apps.library.und.edu/archon/index.php?p=collections/findingaid&id=858&q=Kindergarten+Club.