21 Facts About James Mooney

James Mooney was an American ethnographer who lived for several years among the Cherokee.

James Mooney did ethnographic studies of the Ghost Dance, a spiritual movement among various Native American culture groups, after Sitting Bull's death in 1890.

Papers and photographs from James Mooney are in the collections of the National Anthropological Archives, Department of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution.

James Mooney was born on February 10,1861, in Richmond, Indiana, son of Irish Catholic immigrants.

James Mooney became a self-taught expert on American tribes by his own studies and his careful observation during long residences with different groups.

James Mooney compiled a list of Native American tribes that totaled 3,000 names.

James Mooney became recognized as a national expert on the American Indian.

James Mooney largely accepted the goal of Indian assimilation as outlined by reformers of the era.

James Mooney took the time to observe various Native American tribes in the way they lived on a daily basis.

James Mooney wanted to learn and to teach other Americans about their culture.

James Mooney published several books based on his studies of Native American tribes.

James Mooney provides a preface with a historical survey of comparable millenarian movements among other American Indian groups.

James Mooney visited Wovoka, the Ghost Dance prophet, at his home in Nevada.

James Mooney traced the movement of the Ghost Dance from place to place, describing the ritual and recording the distinctive song lyrics of seven separate tribes.

James Mooney worked with two other calendar keepers, Settan, or Little Bear; and Ankopaingyadete, meaning "In the Middle of Many Tracks", and commonly known as Anko.

James Mooney was a respected religious leader in his later years.

James Mooney spent much time with the Cherokee, by then removed to Indian Territory.

This, among with most, if not all of James Mooney's works, is considered dispassionate and matter-of-fact, which is why his works are found in the Bureau of American Ethnology.

James Mooney married Ione Lee Gaut on September 28,1897, in Washington, DC, and had six children.

James Mooney died of heart disease in Washington, DC, on December 22,1921.

James Mooney was buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Washington, DC.