Hello all--I am passing this query on from a colleague

I am analyzing the coffin burial of a child that was disturbed by an bulldozer in 1950 on a north side terrace of the Clark Fork River, in Missoula.  Lines of evidence regarding ethnicity are conflicting, with biological evidence indicating Euro-American and funerary objects appearing more typical of a Native American burial (rawhide pouch, tanned hide remnants) along with a leather coin purse that held some beads (no longer in the collection) and a leather shoe.  Contextual evidence suggests the burial took place between 1864 (founding of Missoula) and 1873, when a hospital was built next door to the location of the burial.

My feeling is that it would be unlikely to find a tanned hide and a leather pouch, traditional to the local tribes, in a Euro-American burial.  My best guess is that the child is of mixed ancestry.  I would like to check my feelings about this with some better evidence.  What did Euro-Americans in the West bury their children with in the mid-to-late 19th century?  Did they tend to include objects, or not?  Was this specific to different ethnic groups?

In addition to burial goods, typical clothing for white children of the day would be helpful to know, and what kind of blankets they used.  I found one quote from Granville Stuart in 1862 talking about how civilization had arrived and one of the repercussions, along with shaving, was that blue flannel shirts replaced buckskins.  It's not much, but it gives a picture of the trends introduced with the expansion of commerce along the new Bozeman and Mullan roads.

Thanks for your help,
Sally

Sally Thompson, Ph.D.
Acting Curator of Collections & NAGPRA Specialist
Department of Anthropology
The University of Montana
Missoula, MT  59812
406-243-5525 or 542-8795 (home)
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