Guide to the Indigenous Materials at the American Philosophical Society

Description: Materials relating to Speck's study of Penobscot language, history, and culture, and his preparation of his book Penobscot Man. This includes several folders of Speck's field notes, notes organized around specific topics (including data not used in Speck's published works), copies and drafts of lectures and essays, correspondence, etc. Topics include Penobscot social organization, calendar system, house furnishings, hunting morality, animal lore, religion, art, sayings, alphabet, counting and measuring, canoe-making, face-painting, texts with interlineal translations, and "Bird Lore of the Northern Indians" (a faculty public lecture at the University of Pennsylvania). Additionally, significant correspondence concerns the preparation, expenses, dissemination, and reception of his Penobscot publications. Other topics of correspondence include Ethel Gandy's monograph on Penobscot art; names of chiefs and their clans; "clown" performances outside of the southwest among the Penobscot, Iroquois [Haudenosaunee], Abenaki, and Delaware; place names; the relationship of Penobscot-Mohegan and Mahican; a comparison of Zuni-Navajo and Red Paint; Tutelo. There is a particularly large folder of Speck's miscellaneous Penobscot notes containing both a variety of notes and correspondence from Penobscot consultants as well as non-Native colleagues. These include letters from Roland E. Nelson (Needahbeh, Penobscot) concerning drum for exhibit; letters from Nelson, Franz Boas, John M. Cooper, William B. Goodwin, E. V. McCollum, and J. Dyneley Prince, all concerning Penobscot Man; Clifford P. Wilson concerning moosehair embroidery; Edward Reman concerning Norse influence on Penobscot; Carrie A. Lyford concerning moose-wool controversy and Ann Stimson's report; Ann Stimson, letter of thanks; Henry Noyes Otis concerning genealogy of Indians named Sias on Cape Cod (Speck marked this Penobscot); Princess Pretty Woman (Passamaquoddy) concerning her dress (apparently at the Penn Museum); Dorothy Ranco (Penobscot) concerning Princess Pretty Woman's dress; Roland W. Mann, concerning site of Indian occupancy according to Penobscot tradition; Ryuzo Torii, letter of introduction. Other miscellaneous items include a 5-page transcript of agreements between Indians of Nova Scotia and the English, August 15, 1749; 2 pages, transcript of agreement of July 13, 1727 (letter of transmittal, Lloyd Price to Miss MacDonald, September 24, 1936); Ann K. Stimson, Moose Wool and Climbing Powers of the American Mink; miscellaneous field notes on topics like songs, kinship, totem, medicine, and social units; and 4 pages of Penobscot words and their cultural use.

Collection:Frank G. Speck Papers (Mss.Ms.Coll.126)

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Political organization among the Kanienkehaka [Mohawk] of Southern Quebec, 1890s to 1920s

Culture:

Mohawk includes: Kanienʼkehá꞉ka

Haudenosaunee includes: Iroquois, Onkwehonwe

Language:English | Mohawk

Date:1997

Subject:Politics and government | Québec (Province)--History | Religion | Social life and customs

Type:Sound recording

Genre:Interviews

Extent:7 audiocassettes (5 hr., 16 min.) : DIGITIZED

Description: Oral history interviews in English conducted at Kahnawake, Quebec, in October 1997, focused on political organization, social movements, socio-political political developments in Kahnawake in the late 19th- and early 20th-century, including the opposition of the establishment of an order of teaching nuns on the reserve, the Council of Tribes (or Thunderwater Movement,) and the re-establishment of the Longhouse in Kahnawake in the 1920s. (NOTE: This material has been digitized and can be accessed online for free by users not physically at the APS Library through a login and password. Please see our Audio Access Page for information on how to request these materials.)

Collection:Political organization among the Kanienkehaka [Mohawk] of Southern Quebec, 1890s to 1920s (Mss.Rec.261)

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Seneca materals, Elisabeth Tooker Papers

Culture:

Seneca includes: Onöndowága

Haudenosaunee includes: Iroquois, Onkwehonwe

Language:English | Seneca

Date:1958-1982

Contributor:Evaneshko, Veronica | Fenton, William N., (William Nelson), 1908-2005 | Sundown, Arnold | Sundown, Corbett | Tooker, Elisabeth, 1927-2004

Subject:Kinship | New York (State)--History | Social life and customs | Religion | Politics and government

Type:Still Image | Text

Extent:.5 linear feet

Description: The Seneca materials in the Eilsabeth Tooker papers are found in most sections of the finding aid. The majority of the Seneca material relates to Tonawanda and can be located by searching for that name. In Series I, see correspondence with William Fenton, Corbett Sundown, and others. There may be additional relevant material in other correspondence folders. Series II includes issues of Tonawanda Indian Community News from 1972 to 1973. Series III contains numerous drafts of works by Tooker relating to Tonawanda history and social life. Series V contains 6 folders of Tooker's field notes from Tonawanda from 1958-1972. (Some of this material may be restricted due to cultural sensitivity or privacy concerns.) Also found in Series V are genealogies collected and revised by Tooker in July 1966 and then revised again by Veronica Evaneshko in January 1973. Additional related research notecards are found in Series VII. Series VI contains a cabinet card of Ely S. Parker’s sister, Caroline Parker Mountpleasant, a Seneca of the Wolf Clan.

Collection:Elisabeth Tooker Papers (Mss.Ms.Coll.84)

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Seneca materials, Anthony F. C. Wallace Papers

Culture:

Seneca includes: Onöndowága

Haudenosaunee includes: Iroquois, Onkwehonwe

Language:English

Date:1798-1977, bulk 1941-1977

Contributor:Wallace, Anthony F. C., 1923-2015 | Deardorff, Merle H., 1890-1971 | Cornplanter, Jesse J.

Type:Still Image | Text

Extent:52 folders

Description: The Anthony F. C. Wallace Papers are a vast collection of materials relating to Wallace's work at the intersection of anthropology, psychology, and history. Though further research might yield more results, approximately 52 folders of items directly pertaining to the Seneca have been identified. Seneca materials can be difficult to disentangle from the plethora of items relating to the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) and to Wallace's work on indigenous religions and cultural revitalization more generally. Researchers should therefore also see the Wallace Papers entries for the Haudenosaunee and Tuscarora and consult the finding aid for a detailed discussion of Wallace's career and for an itemized list of the collection's contents. Of the materials explicitly linked to the Seneca, many relate to Wallace's ongoing study of Seneca history and culture. This interest was the basis of several publications, most notably the landmark book "Death and Rebirth of the Seneca" (1970) as well as many articles on Handsome Lake, religion, and cultural revitalization. Such items can be found in Series I. Correspondence, Series II. Research Notes and Drafts, Series XI. Maps, and Series XII. Graphics. Of particular note is Wallace's lengthy correspondence (located in both Series I and II) with historian Merle H. Deardorff regarding Seneca history and culture. There is also some correspondence with Jesse Cornplanter. Other relevant correspondence files include those of the American Philosophical Society, Dwight Lewis Chamberlain, Norma Cuthbert, Vine Deloria, Bob Gabor, Charles Garrad, Randy Gorske, Barbara Graymont, N. Perry Jemison, Randy Alan John, Gertrude Kurath, Weston La Barre, Franklin O. Loveland, Charles Lucy, Nancy Lurie, Ernest Miller, Oscar Nephew, the New York State Library, Arthur Caswell Parker, Arthur Piepkorn, V. R. Potmis, Egon Renner, Mrs. Douglas Snook, Frank Speck, William Sturtevant, Shirley Vanatta, Paul A. W. Wallace, and Susan Williams. Other materials from Wallace's personal scholarship and interests include 3 folders of field notes from Cold Spring in 1951-1952; one folder of items relating to the Kinzua Dam controversy; five folders on the Oh-he-yoh-noh Newsletter of the Allegany Indian Reservation; several copies of and extracts from primary and secondary sources; copies of relevant articles and other and drafts of "Death and Rebirth of the Seneca" and other works. There are also original drawings by Jesse Cornplanter, copies of portraits of Seneca chiefs Cornplanter and Red Jacket, images of "The Chief Red Jacket" and "Squaw of Seneca and Papoose" from the New York Historical Society and a photo of Sarah Pierce of the Allegany Reserve (from Frank Speck) in Series XII. Graphics. Other materials relate to Wallace's work as a researcher and expert witness on behalf of Native American land claims, and include dockets, trial memoranda, and maps relating to "Seneca Nation of Indians and Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians vs. the United States." These can be found in Series IX. Indian Claims.

Collection:Anthony F. C. Wallace Papers (Mss.Ms.Coll.64a)

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Seneca materials, Frank G. Speck Papers

Culture:

Seneca includes: Onöndowága

Haudenosaunee includes: Iroquois, Onkwehonwe

Language:English | Seneca

Date:1921-1949

Type:Still Image | Text

Extent:16 folders

Description: Materials relating to Speck's interest in Seneca language, history, and culture. Several folders contain correspondence, including one with six letters from Jesse Cornplanter to Speck and others on topics such as his religious beliefs and changes in the way of life; praising Speck; pay for Native consultants; sending Christmas greetings; and husk faces. Other correspondence includes letters from Charles E. Congdon concerning Coldspring Longhouse ceremonies, use of stick and post in dance, Tonawanda and Cattaraugus medicines, congratulating Speck on his Iroquois (1945), describing Alleghany ceremonials, and giving a sketch of the arrangement of participants; from James M. Luongo concerning Seneca and other specimens; from Clara Redeye transmitting a 1941 picture of four generations and sending dolls; from Spencer F. William, a Seneca writer seeking work; from Evangeline Clark sending thanks for reprints, which she had sent to Suffolk University; from Merle H. Deardorff concerning consultant Clayton White, Pennsylvania place names, Speck (1942), and a lengthy discussion of the practices of Handsome Lake adherents; and from Speck to Deardorff concerning an Iroquois conference at Allegany. Other folders contain William N. Fenton's Seneca ceremonial calendar from Coldspring, 131 pages of organized, detailed field notes on ceremonies; Congdon's 4-page essay comparing the religion of Handsome Lake with Judaism and Greco-Roman spirits; Clayton White's description of the one-year death feast; Clayton White's description of a False Face Dance at Coldspring Long House, taken for Deardorff; Speck's miscellaneous notes containing words and two letters from Sherman Redeye to Speck concerning corn-husk masks; Speck's notes on the Oklahoma Seneca with an outline of ceremonials and a chart, with special attention to dances and funerary practices; and Ferdinand Isserman's student paper "Mythology of Seneca Indians." Some of these materials may be restricted due to cultural sensitivity.

Collection:Frank G. Speck Papers (Mss.Ms.Coll.126)

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Seneca materials, Halliday Jackson journal, 1814

Culture:

Seneca includes: Onöndowága

Haudenosaunee includes: Iroquois, Onkwehonwe

Language:English

Date:1810-1814

Contributor:Jackson, Halliday, 1771-1835

Type:Text

Genre:Microfilms | Drafts | Journals

Extent:2 items

Description: Materials compiled by Pennsylvania Quaker missionary Halliday Jackson. First item is titled "Civilization of the Indian tribes from the times of Penn to 1809" and consists of two drafts of a chronologically ordered account of relations between Pennsylvania Quakers and their Native neighbors, with special emphasis on the Seneca. An account of Native manners and customs is included in the first draft; a Seneca vocabulary is appended to the second draft. [See also Jackson (1830a); Snyderman (1957): 568.] The second item is a journal dated to 1814 containing "Some account of a visit paid to the Friends residing at Tunessassa and Cattaraugus and to the Indians residing at those places" and describing meetings with Indians, observations on social change resulting from missionary activities and white contact, and other references to the Native peoples of western New York [Haudenosaunee]. Originals in possession of Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Collection:Halliday Jackson journal, 1814 (Mss.Film.631b)

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Seneca materials, William Fenton audio collection

Culture:

Seneca includes: Onöndowága

Haudenosaunee includes: Iroquois, Onkwehonwe

Language:English | Seneca

Date:1941, 1945, 1948, 1950, 1951, 1954, 1956, 1962

Type:Sound recording

Genre:Interviews | Songs | Speeches

Extent:13 hr., 27 min.

Description: The Seneca materials in the William Fenton audio collection are located in Series 1, 3, 5-7, and 11 of the finding aid. Most pertain to songs and ceremonies at Allegany, Tonawanda, and Grand River. Other noteworthy material includes an interview with Chauncey Johnny John on Seneca place names on the Allegheny River in Series 6. Recordings relating to ceremonial matters may be restricted due to cultural sensitivity considerations.

Collection:William Fenton audio collection (Mss.Rec.138)

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Seneca materials, William N. Fenton papers

Culture:

Seneca includes: Onöndowága

Haudenosaunee includes: Iroquois, Onkwehonwe

Language:English | Seneca

Date:Bulk 1930s-1990s

Type:Text | Still Image | Sound recording

Extent:15+ linear feet

Description: Seneca materials make up the majority of the Fenton papers and can be found throughout all sections of the collection. Series I contains correspondence with numerous people on Seneca matters. Noteworthy Seneca correspondents include Simeon Gibson, Clara Redeye, Sherman Redeye, and other individuals such as those listed above. The largest body of material is in Series V, which includes Fenton's notebooks and other documentation from field work at Allegany, Cattaraugus, Tonawanda, and Grand River, beginning in the 1930s through late in his career. This section also includes extensive card files on "Materia Medica" or ethnobotanical information, and Seneca place names. Series VI consists of over 1000 photographs, the majority of which are from Seneca communities in the 1930s-1950s. Series VII contains one audio recording of Seneca songs. Series VIII includes additional field notes and other materials derived mainly from his 1930s fieldwork. Significant portions of these materials may be restricted due to cultural sensitivity, as Fenton's materials frequently pertain to areas of sacred traditional knowledge.

Collection:William N. Fenton papers (Mss.Ms.Coll.20)

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Seneca songs and stories

Culture:

Seneca includes: Onöndowága

Haudenosaunee includes: Iroquois, Onkwehonwe

Language:English | Seneca

Date:1959-1963

Subject:Medicine | Rites and ceremonies | Social life and customs

Type:Sound recording

Genre:Autobiographies | Interviews | Songs | Stories

Extent:4 sound tape reels (4 hr., 16 min.)

Description: Seneca dance songs recorded at Allegany territory and at Six Nations of the Grand River. Also includes a story, personal narratives, and interview discussions about sickness, medicine, witchcraft, and related Seneca ceremonies and customs. Portions of the recording collection pertaining to ceremonial matters are designated as culturally sensitive or potentially culturally sensitive and are restricted.

Collection:Seneca songs and stories (Mss.Rec.139)

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Some account of my journey to the Seneca Nation of Indians, and residence amongst that people, 1798-1799

Culture:

Seneca includes: Onöndowága

Haudenosaunee includes: Iroquois, Onkwehonwe

Language:English

Date:1798-1799

Contributor:Jackson, Halliday, 1771-1835

Subject:Missions | Religion | New York (State)--History | Social life and customs | Politics and government

Type:Text

Genre:Journals | Diaries | Travel narratives

Extent:181 pages

Description: This manuscript, entitled “An account of my journey to the Seneca Nation of Indians, and residence amongst that people,” was compiled by Halliday Jackson, a Quaker missionary, during his yearlong residence with the Seneca Nation in New York. Jackson's chronicle is well-written, detailed, and often fascinating. It includes descriptions of daily life, weather, customs, and minutes of councils. Another copy of this journal, worded differently, was edited by Anthony F. C. Wallace and published in Pennsylvania History 19 (1952): 177, 325.

Collection:Some account of my journey to the Seneca Nation of Indians, and residence amongst that people, 1798-1799 (Mss.970.3.J25)