William Jones (anthropologist) facts for kids

William Jones (1871–1909) was an important Native American scholar. He was a member of the Fox nation. His other name was Megasiáwa, which means Black Eagle.

William Jones was born in Oklahoma on March 28, 1871. He went to several schools, including Hampton Institute and Phillips Academy. He then studied at Harvard. In 1904, he earned his PhD from Columbia University. This made him the first Native American to get a PhD in anthropology. Anthropology is the study of human societies and cultures. He was also one of the first people to get a PhD in linguistic anthropology, which focuses on language and culture.

Jones was partly Fox by birth. However, his Fox grandmother raised him from when he was one until he was nine. He became an expert in Algonquian languages. These are a group of Native American languages. He was especially known for collecting many texts in these languages. In 1908, he worked at the Field Museum. He traveled to the Philippines to study different cultures there. Sadly, he died on March 29, 1909, during his fieldwork in the Philippines.

William Jones: Early Life and Education

William Jones was born to Henry Clay Jones and Sarah (Penny) Jones. He had a mixed background, including Fox, Welsh, and English heritage. His mother, Sarah, passed away when he was a baby. Because of this, his grandmother, Kitiqua, took care of him.

Kitiqua's father, Wa-shi-ho-wa, was Jones's great-grandfather. He taught William about the traditions, language, and customs of their Fox ancestors. This early learning was very important for William.

When he was ten, William went to an Indian school in Newton. After some years there, he worked as a cowboy. At 18, he went to Hampton Institute. He was a very good student there.

College and Advanced Studies

After Hampton, William Jones went to Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. In 1896, he started at Harvard. While at Harvard, he wrote for and edited the Harvard Monthly magazine. He earned his bachelor's degree from Harvard.

He then continued his studies at Columbia University. He received a special scholarship and later became an assistant in anthropology. During this time, Jones explored and studied the Sauk and Fox tribes. He earned his PhD from Columbia in 1904. After that, he began studying the northern Algonquian tribes.

William Jones also wrote short stories about Native Americans and the American West. He wrote articles for magazines and gave many lectures. His work helped people learn more about Native American cultures and languages.

Publications by William Jones

• Jones, William, "Frederic Remington's Pictures of Frontier Life”, The Harvard Monthly, Vol. 27 No. 5, February 1899, 186–190.
• Jones, William, “An Episode of the Spring Round-Up”, The Harvard Monthly, Vol. 28 No. 2, April 1899, 46–53.
• Jones, William, “Anoska Nimiwina”, The Harvard Monthly, Vol. 28 No. 3, May 1899, 102–111.
• Jones, William, “Lydie”, The Harvard Monthly, Vol. 28 No. 5, July 1899, 194–201.
• Jones, William, “Chiky”, The Harvard Monthly, Vol. 29 No. 2, November 1899, 59–65.
• Jones, William, “In the Name of His Ancestor”, The Harvard Monthly, Vol. 29 No. 3, December 1899, 109–115.
• Jones, William, “The Heart of the Brave”, The Harvard Monthly, Vol. 30 No. 3, May 1900, 99-106.
• Jones, William, “A Lone Star Ranger”, The Harvard Monthly, Vol. 30 No. 4, June 1900, 154–161.
• Jones, William, “Episodes in the Culture-Hero Myth of the Sauks and Foxes [The Culture-Hero Tradition of the Sauk and Fox]”, Journal of American Folk-Lore, Vol. XIV, October–December, 1901, 225–239.
• Jones, William, “Some Principles of Algonquian Word-Formation”, American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. VI, no. 3, Supplement, 1904. This is Jones' doctoral thesis at Columbia.
• Jones, William, “The Algonkin Manitou [The Concept of the Manitou]”, Journal of American Folk-Lore, Vol. XVIII, July–September, 1905, 183–190.
• Jones, William, “Central Algonquin”, Annual Archaeological Report, Toronto, Canada, 1905.
• Jones, William, “Ojibwa ethnographic and linguistic field notes”, Archival material at unspecified location, either American Museum of Natural History, Carnegie Institute, Smithsonian, or Field Museum, 1903–1905.
• Jones, William, “An Algonquin Syllabary”, Boas Anniversary Volume (New York, G.E. Stechert),1906, 88–93.
• Jones, William, “Mortuary Observances and the Adoption Rites of the Algonkin Foxes of Iowa”, Congrès International des Américanistes, Quebec, 1906, 1907.
• Jones, William, “Fox Texts”, Publications of the American Ethnological Society, Leyden, E.J. Brill, Vol. I, 1907, 383 pages.
• Jones, William, “Notes on the Fox Indians”, Journal of American Folk-Lore, vol. 24, April–June 1911.
• Jones, William, “Algonquian (Fox), an Illustrative Sketch”, Handbook of American Indian Languages, Bureau of American Ethnology (Boas), Bulletin 40, Pt. 1, 1911, 735–874.
• Jones, William, and Truman Michelson. Kickapoo tales. Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1915.
• Jones, William, and Truman Michelson. “Ojibwa texts collected by William Jones”. Publications of the American Ethnological Society, Vol. VII—Part I. Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1917.
• Jones, William, and Truman Michelson. “Ojibwa texts collected by William Jones”. Publications of the American Ethnological Society, Vol. VII—Part II. Leyden: New York: G.E. Stechert & Co., Agents, 1919.
• Fisher, Margaret Welpley, “William Jones’ ‘Ethnography of the Fox Indians’”, doctoral dissertation, Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 125, Philadelphia, 1939.  This is based on Jones’ secret, sealed manuscript, edited by Fisher. “The Iowa Foxes initiated him into many ancient mysteries of their religion, which have never been disclosed to a white man. Jones committed to paper an account of these, with sketches, diagrams and the full interpretation which probably no other man could have supplied. The document he then sealed. It will not be opened until the older Indians have gone to their fathers, taking their lore with them.” Rideout, p. 47
• Jones, William, “The Diary of William Jones: 1907-1909, Robert F. Cummings Philippine Expedition”, Dumabato, Isabela Province, Luzon, Philippines, The Field Museum of Chicago.
• Overholt, T. W., Callicott,  J. B., & Jones, W. "Clothed-in-fur, and other tales: an introduction to an Ojibwa world view." Washington, D.C., University Press of America, 1982.