Haudenosaunee materials, Samuel George Morton Papers
Culture:
Tutelo includes: Yesan
Haudenosaunee includes: Iroquois, Onkwehonwe
Language: English
Date: 1835-1836
Subject: Grave robbing | Human remains | Phrenology | Skulls | Funeral rites and ceremonies | Antiquities | Archaeology
Type: Text
Genre: Correspondence
Extent: 4 items
Description: Letter discussing grave robbing of Indigenous ancestors' remains. Three letters from Hildreth regarding the opening of "the Mingo sepulchre," the human remains and artifacts he discovered, and his sending of a Mingo and Turtillo (Tutelo?) skull to Morton; he included a full description of the sepulchre in his account of a visit to the Falls of the Cuyahoga. Letter from Townsend tells a story related to him by a trader, Mr. Birnie, that a party of Iroquois Indians on Smoky River in the Rockies in 1822 told him they had recently seen a huge mastodon-like animal, but denied ever having heard of such a beast before. Bones have recently been discovered of such a beast on Peace River, which connects with the Smoky.
Collection: Samuel George Morton Papers Mss.B.M843