| Scope and method of study. The purpose of this study is to examine the life of Mose YellowHorse, a Pawnee Indian who played professional baseball for nearly a decade and specifically for two years, in 1921 and '22, with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Using traditional Pawnee storytelling sessions as the structural basis for the text, YellowHorse's life is examined through the genres of poetry, creative non-fiction, critical essay, and oral narratives (as shared with me by Pawnee elders). In addition, numerous cartoons (from the Arkansas Gazette, The Sporting News, and the Dick Tracy comic strip), newspaper articles, letters, tribal documents, and photographs all complement aspects of both YellowHorse's baseball career and his life. Though the study in no way seeks an exhaustive, detailed account of YellowHorse's life, it does seek an exhaustive understanding of the impact of his life on both baseball and the Pawnee community.;Findings and conclusions. The memory of both YellowHorse's baseball accomplishments and his impact within the Pawnee community are commemorated in the many oral narratives told by Pawnee elders. Many people, both Indians and non-Indians, remember YellowHorse as a man who overcame the obstacles of alcoholism and became an active member within the Pawnee community. One of the most dramatic manifestations of YellowHorse's importance can be found at his headstone, which reads: "FIRST FULLBLOOD INDIAN IN MAJOR LEAGUES PITTSBURGH PIRATES 1921--22." Though YellowHorse died over thirty years ago and left no wife, children, or journal, members of various cross-cultural communities continue to remember him. In the years since his death, he has been inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame (1971), the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame (1994), and within the last two years the Pawnee Nation dedicated a ball field in his memory. |
