James Verne Dusenberry
# James Verne Dusenberry

James Verne Dusenberry (April 7, 1906 – December 16, 1966) was a well educated and publicly acclaimed scholar. He is best known for his writings on and the relationships he built with many of the various Montana tribes throughout his lifetime.

## Early life

Verne Dusenberry was born in Corning, Iowa on April 7, 1906. When Dusenberry was very young his family moved to Montana. His interest in Native Americans grew and he soon became well acquainted with the surrounding tribes of Montana from an early age. In 1937 he was adopted by a Pend d'Oreille chief and was given the name "Many Grizzly Bears". After working his way through college and dealing with tuberculosis, he landed a job located on the Flathead Indian Reservation.

Dusenberry was married at one time and had a daughter named Lynn Dusenberry, who was very involved with her father's research. She too, was well acquainted with the Montana Native tribes and assisted him with his book.

## Influence

Robert M. Pirsig was a personal friend and one of Dusenberry's supportive colleagues in the Montana State College English Department. Dusenberry appeared as a pivotal thematic figure in Pirsig's book Lila: An Inquiry into Morals. Pirsig said that "Verne was misunderstood and underestimated both as a person and as a scholar" and that he hoped that the publication of Lila "helps to set the record straight."

## Publications

* The Montana Cree, A Study in Religious Persistence (1962)
* Ceremonial Sweat Lodge of the Gros Ventre Indians (1962)
* The Significance of the Sacred Pipes to the Gros Ventre of Montana (1961)
* Notes on the Material Culture of the Assiniboine (1960)
* An Appreciation of James Willard Schultz (1960)
* Vision Experience of a Pend d'Oreille Indian (1959)
* Gaberiel Nattau's Soul Speaks (1959)
* Indians and the Pentecostals (1958)
* Waiting for a Day that Never Comes (1958)
* The Development of Montana's Indians (1957)
* Horn in the Ice (1956)
* Montanans Look at their Indians (1955)
* The Northern Cheyenne (1955)
* The Rocky Boy Indians (1954)
* Chief Joseph's Flight Through Montana (1952)
