Alice Cunningham Fletcher's Tenuous Legacy

In the 1880s, a woman from the East Coast fascinated by the culture of the Plains tribes set out to record their music. At the same time, she championed a policy that would destroy Native American ways of life in the West.

     Read more about Alice Cunningham Fletcher in my article on OZY and check out my sources and more images below. 

     After starting her career a socialite and public lecturer, Alice Fletcher was fascinated with Plains tribes, and went to go camp with the Sioux to learn more. Once she heard Native American music, she dedicated herself to recording and transcribing what she heard, and publishing it. She needed the help of Francis La Flesche, the son of an Omaha chief who could help her with translations. 

Alice Fletcher, right. (Public Domain)

Francis La Flesche (Public Domain).

     Historians debate how much was Fletcher's work and how much was La Flesche's, with many people believing La Flesche did the work, but because he was an American Indian, was unable to put his name as the sole or co-author. 
     At the same time, Fletcher was hired by the government to divide up tribal lands in a policy called allotment. Fletcher (and many others) believed that the tribes would be able to hold onto land and get better education and opportunity if individuals held land. This ended up destroying the community life and culture of many Plains tribes. While people like Fletcher may have had good intentions, the consequences were terrible. "In general, these friends (including Fletcher) were culturally ignorant and had no land dispossession intentions," Professor Denny Smith told me. "But the resulting land theft and impoverishment from allotment is also their responsibility," he added.

From Indian Games and Dances with Native Songs, 1915.

From A Study of Omaha Indian Music, 1893.

     Forty of Alice Fletcher and Francis La Flesche's recordings are held by the Library of Congress and accessible here. The Smithsonian Institution holds the papers of Fletcher and La Flesche, and has made Fletcher's 1881 diary available online. 
     You can read more about the Omaha music, Fletcher, and La Flesche at the Library of Congress's website, or in Joan T. Mark's book A Stranger in her Native Land:  Alice Fletcher and the American Indians.  Fletcher's books are in the public domain, and a list of where they are available online can be found here.