Clyde Ellis, associate professor of history and 2004-05 University Distinguished Scholar, will speak at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center’s 28th annual Plains Indian Seminar in Cody, Wyo., Sept. 30-Oct. 3.
Ellis’ talk is titled “‘Enormous Crowds Attracted by the War Dances’: Craterville Park, the American Indian Exposition, and the Beginnings of Southern Plains Powwow Culture.” His talk is taken from his most recent book, “A Dancing People: Powwow Culture on the Southern Plains,” published in 2004. The book was a finalist for the 2004 Western Writers of America contemporary non-fiction prize and the 2004 Oklahoma Center for the Book Non-Fiction Prize, and has been described as “a landmark synthesis and defining moment in the modern era of Plains studies.”
Each year, the Buffalo Bill Historical Center invites about a dozen leading scholars and Native people who specialize in Plains Indian histories and cultures to speak about their work. This is the third time in four years Ellis has been invited to present at the seminar.
Ellis is currently writing an ethnography and history of the Indian hobbyist movement in the United States and in Europe.