645. Spier, Leslie, Wayne Suttles, and Melville J. Herskovits. "Comment on Aberle's Theory of Deprivation." Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 15, 1959: 84-88.
Critique of Aberle's (1962: see item 2) relative deprivation theory. Aberle has the Ghost Dance in particular depend upon circumstances which, so far as we know, are contingent. There is no doubt that deprivation strongly effected the later phases of the movement, but there are no grounds for having its origin depend on this factor. The Prophet Dance, a clear antecedent, is known to have existed in the plateau before there was any significant contact with whites.
Return to Indexes