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Inequality Amidst Nutritional Abundance: Native Americans on the Great Plains

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2010

Richard H. Steckel
Richard H. Steckel*
Affiliation:
Professor, Department of Economics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210. E-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

The heights of Plains nomads collected by Franz Boas varied by 9 centimeters, following an inverted U-shape by latitude, a pattern also found among Union Army soldiers born east of the Plains. To understand tribal differences, I bring new explanatory variables to the table in the study of historical heights: proxies for effort prices in hunting and gathering food, including biomass, rainfall estimated from tree rings, and tribal area, as well as proximity to trails used by western settlers and movement to reservations. Collectively, these variables explain a substantial share of the systematic variation in average height across tribes.

Type
ARTICLES
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 70 , Issue 2 , June 2010 , pp. 265 - 286
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 2010

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