Guide to the Indigenous Materials at the American Philosophical Society

Description: This volume contains extracts of Benjamin Smith Barton's "New Views of the Origin of the Tribes and Nations of America" (Philadelphia, 1797), with additions by Peter S. Du Ponceau. The bulk of the volume is comprised of word list of 54 words with equivalents listed in a range of 50-70 languages. While Barton listed no authority, Du Ponceau cited sources. Languages with words listed include Chitimacha, Atakapa, Cherokee, Osage, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Nottoway, Kansa, Omaha, Dakota, Pawnee, Nanticoke, Gros Ventres, Miami, Mi'kmaq, Seminole, Quapaw, Yuchi, Delaware, Ojibwe, Shawnee, Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, Oneida, Tuscarora, Natches, Wyandot, Creek, Mahican, Mohegan, and many others. The word list includes the terms for God, heaven, and sky, as well as various terms relating to kinship, parts of the body, weather, and more. The volume also includes notes on sounds of the Otomi (Othomi) observations on declension; observations about the Omaha, Kansa, Oto, Arkansas, and Missouri languages; and notes on symbol and sound. Also includes a newspaper clipping of a review (in German) of Barton's "New Views" that appeared in "Göttingische Anzeigen von gelehrten Sachen," June 17, 1799.

Collection:A comparative vocabulary of Indian languages (Mss.497.B28)

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A vocabulary in the Mingo tongue taken from the mouth of William Sack, a Canistogo Indian. . . and memorandum book

Culture:

Susquehannock includes: Conestoga

Mingo

Haudenosaunee includes: Iroquois, Onkwehonwe

Language:English | Susquehannock | Tuscarora | Mohawk | Seneca

Date:1757, 1764-1771

Contributor:Sack, William | Tāyāhaōndeate ("Indian Peter")

Subject:Pennsylvania--History | Linguistics | Seven Years' War, 1756-1763 | Trade

Type:Text

Genre:Notebooks | Vocabularies

Extent:1 vol., 8 p. (vocabulary); 58 p. (memorandum book)

Description: Notebook with memorandum book, Fort Augusta, 1757-1771. Reference is made to Edward Shippen, Jr.; includes 6 pages of vocabulary identified as "Mingo", which may be Susquehannock or Seneca, then 1 page each of Tuscarora and Mohawk numerals; all copied in Indian vocabularies (Mss.497.In2). Memorandum book carries list of obligations, November 1764 - May 4, 1771. The vocabulary was taken from William Sack, a Conestoga Indian, in January 1757 at Fort Augusta in the midst of the Seven Years' War. Sack would later become a controversial figure in Pennsylvania history. The Paxton Boys claimed he was a murderer and used his presence in the Conestoga's camp as pretext for their assault on the Conestoga Indians. The manuscript then changes to the financial transactions of an unknown individual running from 1764 to 1771, although some evidence suggests that Edward Burd kept this memorandum book and vocabulary. This section runs 58 pages. It does not appear to containing any information on Indigenous languages, but may potentially contain information relevant to research Indigenous and settler interactions during this period.

Collection:A vocabulary in the Mingo tongue taken from the mouth of William Sack, a Canistogo Indian. . . and memorandum book (Mss.497.3.V852m)

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Cayuga materials, Floyd G. Lounsbury Papers

Culture:

Tuscarora includes: Ska:rù:rę'

Seneca includes: Onöndowága

Culture:

Shawnee

Nottoway includes: Cheroenhaka

Mohawk includes: Kanienʼkehá꞉ka

Haudenosaunee includes: Iroquois, Onkwehonwe

Hopi

Catawba includes: Iswa

Cayuga includes: Gayogohó:no

Cherokee

Bororo

Date:1862; 1913-1996

Type:Text | Sound recording

Description: The Haudenosaunee materials in the Lounsbury Papers are vast in scope ranging from ceremonial recordings in Series VII to secondary sources in Series II to Lounsbury's own linguistic work among the Haudenosaunee (see notes on Mohawk, Cayuga, Seneca, Oneida, and Onondaga materials). The correspondence, in Series I, includes notes by Marius Barbeau on six Iroquoian language varieties, a recording of the Condolence Ceremony recited by George Thomas, Gordon Day's work on Iroquois place names in Vermont, William Fenton's work on Iroquois-Cherokee linguistic relations, a manuscript of Mary Haas' comments on FGL's "Iroquois-Cherokee Linguistic Relations," George Harnell's work on Iroquois culture, Gunther Michelson's work on Iroquois place names, James Pendergast's study of longhouse construction and LaSalle's 1669-1670, Morris Swadesh's notes on the Caughnawaga Iroquois in Brooklyn, NY, Elisabeth Tooker on Iroquois cosmology, a manuscript of Iroquois grammar by Carl Voeglin, William Wykoff's study of Iroquois prehistory.

Collection:Floyd G. Lounsbury Papers (Mss.Ms.Coll.95)

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Indian songs in Seneca dialect, in syllables, and other rituals

Culture:

Seneca includes: Onöndowága

Language:English | Seneca

Date:1916-1951

Contributor:Cornplanter, Edward, 1856-1918 | Cornplanter, Jesse J. | Fenton, William N., (William Nelson), 1908-2005 | Pierce, George

Subject:Dance | Music

Type:Text

Genre:Correspondence | Transcriptions

Extent:72 leaves

Description: Songs transcribed by Jesse Cornplanter from manuscripts of his father, Edward Cornplanter, and George Pierce; also from mernory. Occasional notes in English give tempo behavior of dancers, sources, etc. Four letters: Cornplanter to William N. Fenton, October 11 and 26, 1951; Fenton to Cornplanter, October 18 and 30, 1951, 1 page each. This item is restricted due to potential cultural sensitivity.

Collection:Indian songs in Seneca dialect, in syllables, and other rituals (Mss.497.3.C813)

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Interviews concerning the paintings of the Seneca artist Ernest Smith

Culture:

Seneca includes: Onöndowága

Haudenosaunee includes: Iroquois, Onkwehonwe

Language:English | Seneca

Date:1973

Contributor:Smith, Ernest | Collamer, Jeanette | Fenton, William N., (William Nelson), 1908-2005

Type:Sound recording

Genre:Interviews | Stories

Extent:11 sound tape reels (29 hr., 41 min.)

Description: Interviews and discussions with the Seneca artist Ernest Smith on his paintings of Seneca customs, stories, ceremonies, crafts, food preparation, and other traditional ways. Smith was a Seneca from the Tonawanda Reservation in New York state. The paintings were done in the 1930s and are presently in the Rochester Museum and Science Center in Rochester, New York. The recordings were made by William N. Fenton and his student, Jeanette Collamer, in 1973 at the museum in Rochester. The paintings are referred to on the recordings by the museum's catalog numbers for the paintings. Some of the paintings do not have assigned titles. Sound quality is fair overall, with severe distortion and prominent background noise on the final tape. Some of the recordings are restricted due to potential cultural sensitivity.

Collection:Interviews concerning the paintings of the Seneca artist Ernest Smith (Mss.Rec.126)