American anthropologist, ethnohistorian and archaeologist (1933?2012)
Roderick Sprague III
(February 18, 1933 – August 20, 2012)
[2]
was an American
anthropologist
, ethnohistorian and historical
archaeologist
, and the Emeritus Director of the Laboratory of Anthropology at the
University of Idaho
in
Moscow
, where he taught for thirty years. He had extensive experience in environmental impact research, trade beads, aboriginal burial customs, and the
Columbia Basin
area.
Sprague was president of the
Society of Bead Researchers
from 2004-2007.
[3]
In addition to his work in the traditional anthropological fields, he also collaborated with Professor
Grover Krantz
in an attempt to apply scientific reasoning to the study of
Sasquatch
.
Education
[
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]
Sprague received both his bachelor's and master's degrees in
anthropology
from
Washington State University
in
Pullman
, serving in the
U.S. Army
in between. He received his Ph.D in 1967 from the
University of Arizona
in
Tucson
.
As a graduate student in 1964 at Washington State University, he was the field supervisor of a dig at the Palus burial site in
Lyons Ferry, Washington
when one of only a few known Jefferson
Peace Medals
was discovered.
Additionally, his dissertation, "Aboriginal burial practices in the plateau region of North America" (1967) is considered one of the best writings on the topic.
Career
[
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]
Sprague's career was varied and took him in different directions. He conducted excavations in the
Pacific Northwest
,
Alaska
, and the
Canadian Maritime
on
Prince Edward Island
; and research in the
American Southwest
and
Inner Mongolia
. Much of his research was on burial practices and historical archaeology, with a special interest in glass and ceramic trade beads and buttons. He conducted burial research at the request of ten different American Indian tribal governments. Sprague was an early advocate of the importance of
repatriation
in archaeological and anthropological excavations, long before the enactment of the
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
.
[4]
Sprague served many roles in the
Society for Historical Archaeology
: on the Board of Directors from 1970?71, secretary-treasurer from 1971?1974, member of the Editorial Advisory Board since 1977, Book Review Editor from 1977 to 1997, Archivist from 1987 to 1998, as President in 1976 and 1990 and as Parliamentarian from 1984 to 2008.
He was a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Idaho in Moscow for thirty years, until his retirement in 1997.
Sprague, along with Dr. Deward E. Walker, founded the scholarly journal
Northwest Anthropological Research Notes
in 1966, called the
Journal of Northwest Anthropology
since 2001.
Awards
[
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]
Sprague was the first member of
The Society for Historical Archaeology
to be awarded both the
J. C. Harrington Medal in Historical Archaeology
and the Carol Ruppe Distinguished Service Award.
[5]
Personal life
[
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]
In retirement, Sprague lived in Moscow with his wife Linda, who also holds degrees in anthropology. He had four children.
Published works
[
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]
- Burial Terminology: A Guide For Researchers
(Lanham: AltaMira Press, 2005,
ISBN
0-7591-0841-2
)
- Excavations at the Warren Chinese Mining Camp Site
, with
Michael Striker
, Moscow: Alfred W. Bowers Laboratory of Anthropology, University of Idaho, 1993.
- A Preliminary Bibliography of Washington Archaeology
(Pullman: Washington State University, 1967)
- The Material Culture of Steamboat Passengers - Archaeological Evidence from the Missouri River
(New York: Springer, 1999,
Annalies Corbin
0306461684)
- A Bibliography of Trade Beads in North America
, with Karlis Karklins. Promontory Press, 1987. 0969276109
- The Descriptive Archaeology of the Palus Burial Site
, Lyons Ferry, Washington, Pullman: Washington State University, 1965. B0007HGKL4
Among his published works on
Sasquatch
:
- The Scientist Looks at the Sasquatch
(Moscow: University Press of Idaho, 1977, with anthropologist
Grover Krantz
)
- The Scientist Looks at the Sasquatch II
(Moscow: University Press of Idaho, 1979, also with Grover Krantz,
ISBN
0-89301-061-8
)
References
[
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]
- ^
"Roderick Sprague, Ph.D. - Curriculum Vitae"
. Walker Research Group. July 24, 2009
. Retrieved
September 15,
2009
.
- ^
"Obituaries: Dr. Roderick Sprague III"
.
Lewiston Tribune
. August 22, 2012.
- ^
Karklins, Karlis (1 January 2012).
"In Memoriam: Roderick Sprague, 1933-2012"
.
BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers
.
24
(1): 3?6.
ISSN
0843-5499
. Retrieved
22 May
2022
.
- ^
Associated Press.
“American Indian remains scheduled for ritual reburial”
, ‘’
San Diego Union Tribune
’’, 2006-05-30, Retrieved on 2008-07-29.
- ^
Society for Historical Archaeology.
“Awards of the Society for Historical Archaeology”
Archived
2009-05-31 at the
Wayback Machine
, ‘’
Society for Historical Archaeology
’’, Retrieved on 2008-07-29.
External links
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