Dakota and Lakota materials, ACLS collection
Culture:
Date: 1838-1938 (bulk 1930s)
Contributor: Deloria, Ella Cara | Boas, Franz, 1858-1942 | Burlin, Natalie Curtis, 1875-1921 | Bushotter, George, 1860-1892 | Densmore, Frances, 1867-1957 | Dorsey, James Owen, 1848-1895 | Herzog, George, 1901-1983 | Pond, Gideon H. (Gideon Hollister), 1810-1878 | Pond, Samuel W. (Samuel William), 1808-1891 | Riggs, Stephen Return, 1812-1883 | Walker, Luke C. | Tiger, Annie | Deloria, Vine, Sr., 1901-1990 | Schmidt, George | Standing Bull | Heḣákawį (Mrs. Andrew Knife) | Rabbit, White, Mrs. | Vlandry, Emma | White Face, Mrs. | Long Wolf | Fire Thunder, Angelique | Fire Thunder, Edgar | Ten Fingers, Asa | Eagle, Johnson | Robertson, W. M. | Bad Wound, Robert | Bissonette, Fred | Station, Philip | Day, David | LastHorse, Joe | Sword, George | Amos | Frazier, Joseph | Paints-Yellow, Joseph | Standing Holy | Old Bull | Ghost Bear | Robinson, Philip | Matthews, G. Hubert | Seytter, Emil
Subject: Education | Ethnography | Games | Hunting | Humor | Linguistics | Minnesota--History | Missions | Music | North Dakota--History | Personal names | Politics and government | Religion | Social life and customs | South Dakota--History | Warfare
Type: Text
Genre: Autobiographies | Calendars | Censuses | Correspondence | Dictionaries | Drawings | Speeches | Stories | Vocabularies
Extent: 7500+ pages, 3300+ slips; 2 notebooks
Description: The Dakota and Lakota materials in the ACLS collection consist of a very large and diverse set of materials, and are located in the "Dakota" section of the finding aid, which provides a detailed listing of all contents. The vast majority of these materials were composed and assembled by Ella Deloria during the 1930s, both recorded from contemporary speakers and from various historical manuscript sources, which were sent to Franz Boas. The bulk of Deloria's materials are stories and speeches in typewritten manuscript form, with a transcription in the original language, followed by a literal word-for-word translation, then a free translation in English, and a section of footnotes commenting upon the original text and translation decisions. Some of her manuscripts occasionally lack one or more of these sections. These texts cover a wide range of topics, from traditional narratives, historical accounts, autobiographical stories, descriptions of games, customs, ceremonies, etc., and speeches, often concerning political affairs and economic conditions from the late-19th century to the 1930s. Names of numerous speakers are also given in the manuscripts themselves. Some of these materials were published, but most were not. Note that Deloria identifies the language recorded by using the terms "Teton" for Lakota language, and "Santee" and "Yankton" to indicate Eastern and Western dialects of Dakota language. The collection also includes a much smaller amount of material by Boas and others, primarily consisting of linguistics notes and musical analysis. A full list of places where the material was recorded has not yet been assembled.
Collection: ACLS Collection (American Council of Learned Societies Committee on Native American Languages, American Philosophical Society) Mss.497.3.B63c