[1] Murie's father was a Scottish immigrant who became a captain in Major Frank North's U.S. Army Pawnee scout battalion,[1] which patrolled the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and Wyoming, protected the construction of the transcontinental railroad from raids, and safeguarded smaller settlements throughout the Plains.
Many anthropologists greatly benefited from Murie's connection to Pawnee tribal members and his knowledge of English.
In a letter to Alice Fletcher in 1898, Murie writes, "I have managed to get the Skee dee madicial [sic] man – a priest to stop with me tonight so he can give me lodge legend.
"[11] In the mid-1890s, Murie worked with Alice Fletcher from the Peabody Museum of Harvard University to transcribe and translate Pawnee cultural materials, including songs.
In January 1899, the American Anthropologist published the ceremony for changing a person's name performed by a Chauci Pawnee priest who was the friend of the Omaha chief Joseph La Flesche.
[13] Anthropologist George Dorsey was a curator of anthropology at the Field Museum between 1899 and 1915 and focused on the tribes of the Plains Indians between 1901 and 1907, including the Pawnee, Arapaho, and Cheyenne.
[3] In Monsters of Contact: Historical Trauma in Caddoan Oral Traditions (2018),[14] Van de Logt address how Murie's family relationships as well acculturation through schooling and religion affected his collaboration with Dorsey like Warden.
"[11] Dorsey hired Murie, Hunt, and Warden to collect cultural information and objects from the Pawnee and Arapaho tribes.
[16] Chamberlain utilized Murie's data to show how this document depicted stars of religious and ritual significance for the Skidi Pawnee.
[16] The National Anthropological Archives currently houses a Pawnee star chart with a two-page explanation from James Murie written on June 24, 1911.
[7] The second volume focuses on the South Bands, including the Pitahawirata, Chawi, and Kitkahahki, which Murie created for the Bureau of American Anthropology.
[18] This two-volume work was supposed to be published by the Smithsonian in 1921, but the length of the manuscript delayed publication until 60 years later in 1981.
[13] In these pamphlets, Linton often copied descriptions of Pawnee ceremonies verbatim from field notes produced by George Dorsey and James Murie.
[18] The Field Museum Anthropological Archives also holds Murie's "Pawnee Ethnographic and Linguistic Notes” from his work with Dorsey which are largely unpublished.