Guide to the Indigenous Materials at the American Philosophical Society

Description: These materials were compiled by various anthropologists: Edward Sapir, Franz Boas, Alex Thomas, and Frank Williams. Sapir (ca. 1920) collected and annotated a series of Nootka ethnographic and legendary texts (600 pages of materials), initially intended as a third volume of Sapir and Swadesh, Nootka Texts (1939). Boas (ca. 1900-1913) contributed Nootka vocabularies and grammatical notes (100 slips and 100 pages). Thomas obtained Nootka texts for the collection (ca. 1910-1920). Originals at the National Museum of Canada, Ottawa.

Collection:Nootka ethnographic and linguistic materials (Mss.Film.687)

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Nuu-chah-nulth materials, ACLS collection

Culture:

Tla-o-qui-aht includes: Clayoquot

Toquaht

Tseshaht

Uchucklesaht

Ucluelet includes: Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ

Nuu-chah-nulth includes: Nootka, Nutka, Aht, Westcoast

Pentlatch includes: Puntlatch, Puntledge

Mowachaht

Muchalaht

Kyuquot includes: Ka:'yu:'k't'h'

K'ómoks includes: Comox

Hupacasath includes: Hupač̓asatḥ, Opetchesaht

Huu-ay-aht

Ehattesaht

Hesquiaht

Cheklesahht includes: Che:k:tles7et'h'

Ahousaht

Language:English | Nuu-chah-nulth

Date:1895-1952 (bulk 1910-1914, 1931-1935)

Type:Still Image | Text

Extent:5600+ loose pages, 66,000+ slips, 29 notebooks

Description: The Nuu-chah-nulth materials in the ACLS collection consist of a large body of various materials primarily collected by Franz Boas, Edward Sapir, George Hunt, and Morris Swadesh. The majority of the content pertains to Hupacasath and Tseshaht people in the Alberni Valley area, with the exception of the Hunt materials, which were recorded in the Yuquot area, Mowachaht territory. All of these materials are found in the "Nootka" section of the finding aid, which contains a full, detailed listing. The Boas materials consist of a lexicon of 1500+ word slips dating from the 1890s (item W2a.3). Hunt's "Nootka Tales" (item W2a.5) consist of large body of traditional stories written in English and later typed up by Sapir with additional notes. Sapir's materials comprise the bulk of this section overall. See especially his extremely voluminous "Miscellaneous Nootka material" (item W2a.18), the final item in the "Nootka" section, for which a detailed table of contents is available upon request. This set of materials includes 24 field notebooks with extensive stories (some unpublished or untranslated) and ethnographic notes, as well of 80 folders of typed up notes from the notebooks, arranged into categories. It also includes some photographs, censuses of Nuu-chah-nulth "bands" (1920-1921), and 10 folders notes derived by Sapir (and Swadesh?) from "NW Coast Sources and Archives," pertaining to the region more broadly, including information on Coast Salish culture and history. Finally, Swadesh's materials in this section include some additional ethnographic and linguistic field work, as well as extensive bodies of linguistic analysis of materials recorded by Sapir and himself. Brief passages on Comox and Pentlatch in Sapir's notes in loose folders. Detailed guide available upon request.

Collection:ACLS Collection (American Council of Learned Societies Committee on Native American Languages, American Philosophical Society) (Mss.497.3.B63c)

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Nuu-chah-nulth materials, Phillips Fund Collection

Culture:

Nuu-chah-nulth includes: Nootka, Nutka, Aht, Westcoast

Language:Ditidaht | English | Nuu-chah-nulth

Date:1970, 1972, 1991-1998, 2000-2005; 2015

Subject:British Columbia--History | Folklore | Linguistics | Rites and ceremonies | Social life and customs

Type:Text | Sound recording

Extent:733 pages, 1 USB flash drive

Description: The Nuu-chah-nulth materials in the Phillips Fund collection consist of several items. Materials in this collection are listed alphabetically by last name of author. See materials listed under Bessell, Davidson, Harkin, Kim, Klokeid, Nakayama, Wojdak, and Woo.

Collection:Phillips Fund for Native American Research Collection (Mss.497.3.Am4)

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Oaxaca materials, Field notebooks and anthropometric data

Culture:

Zapotec includes: Zapoteco, Zapoteca

Pochutec includes: Pochuteco

Chatino includes: Kitse Cha'tño

Language:Chatino, Western Highlands | Pochutec | Spanish

Date:1912

Subject:Folklore | Linguistics | Music | Oaxaca (Mexico : State)--History

Type:Text

Extent:1 notebook

Description: The Oaxaca materials in the Boas Field Notebooks and Anthropometric Data collection consist of 1 notebook from 1912. This notebook contains vocabularies, including names of speakers from whom they were elicited, and some dates and place names, for "Pochutla" (Pochutec), and Chatino. "[Santiago] Yeitepec" is listed in one Chatino word list, so the specific language may be Western Highlands Chatino. (65 pages) Folkloristic texts and songs in Spanish. The origin of these stories, such as if they are translations of indigenous stories, is not given. (33 pages) Notes on varieties of Zapotec. (2 pages)

Collection:Franz Boas early field notebooks and anthropometric data (Mss.B.B61.5)

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Ojibwe materials, Alfred Irving Hallowell Papers

Culture:

Ojibwe includes: Ojibwa, Chippewa, Ojibway

Anishinaabe includes: Anishinaabeg, Anishinabe, Nishnaabe, Anishinabek

Language:English | Chippewa | Ojibwa, Northwestern

Date:1932-1949

Type:Text | Cartographic | Still Image

Description: The Ojibwe materials in the A. Irving Hallowell Papers are extensive. Hallowell focused on three regions of Ojibwe territory: Berens River in north, central Canada (Pikangikum, Pauingassi, Poplar River; Little Grand Rapids First Nations) and Lac du Flambeau in Wisconsin. Hallowell was particularly interested in psychological anthropology. Both the Berens River and Lac du Flambeau materials in Series V, for example, includes ethnographic information on taboos, incest regulations, Rorschach tests, dreams, and acculturation. Hallowell's interests in traditional knowledge are represented by descriptions of the practice of the Midewiwin religion; traditional stories about Wisakedjak and Tcakabec/Chakabesh, Memegwesiug, Windigos, and Thunderbirds. Of particular interest in the Lac du Flambeau materials are hundred of pages of family biographies in Series V and photographs with the names of community members in Series VI, Subseries B. Of particular interest in the Berens River materials are maps of traditional hunting grounds, a diagram of Ojibwe cosmology, an autobiography by Hallowell's collaborator Chief William Berens, 29 folders of "Saulteaux Indians--Myths and Tales" all in Series V. There are hundreds of photographs from the region, with many community members identified, and all digitized, in Series VI, Subseries A. The correspondence, in Series I, includes Robert Ritzenhaler's description of a shaking tent ceremony by Ojibwe in Wisconsin; a detailed account of Joseph Fiddler's trial for murdering a windigo in the folder labled Royal Canadian Mounted Police; papers sent by Morton Teicher detailing incidents of windigo in Canada (50+ pages); a letter from Frances Densmore describing a shaking tent ceremony; and several letters from Chief William Berens providing information about Ojibwe people in the photographs in Series VI.

Collection:Alfred Irving Hallowell Papers (Mss.Ms.Coll.26)

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Ojibwe materials, C. F. Voegelin Papers

Culture:

Seneca includes: Onöndowága

Penobscot

Ojibwe includes: Ojibwa, Chippewa, Ojibway

Potawatomi includes: Pottawotomi, Neshnabé, Bodéwadmi

Anishinaabe includes: Anishinaabeg, Anishinabe, Nishnaabe, Anishinabek

Date:circa 1925-1967, bulk circa 1940-1941

Type:Text

Genre:Correspondence | Notes | Notebooks | Stories | Essays

Extent:32 folders

Description: Several items relating to the Ojibwe (Ojibwa, Chippewa) language have been identified in the C. F. Voegelin Papers. They are located in both Subcollection I and Subcollection II. In Subcollection I, they include relevant correspondence with John N. Seaman (regarding Chippewa fieldwork in Michigan and consultants Mr. Maidler [Medler?] and Charlie David) and a partial letter with Ojibwe text in the Unidentified folder; 6 boxes of Ojibwe notecards, 1 box of Seneca, Ojibwe and Penobscot notecards, and 2 folders of Ojibwe notes (mostly vocabulary and linguistic, but one slip notes addresses of consultants Nicholas Plain of Sarnia and Elijah Pinnance of Walpole Island--there is also, unexpectedly, a bibliography for sources on Arawakan languages at the end of Ojibwa #4) in Series II. comparative vocabularies of Ojibwe and Potawatomi ("Pottowatomi") in Series V. Research Notes Subseries V-A: Language Notes; unbound Eastern Ojibwe texts ("The Walpole Island" and others) in Series V. Research Notes, Subseries V-B: Text; and 24 folders of Ojibwe notebooks in Series VI. Notebooks. Contents of the Blackfoot and Ojibwe notebooks in this series were described in detail by Richard A. Rhodes in 1988. Blackfoot and Ojibwe notebooks are arranged in the order of Rhodes' list, a photocopy of which is filed in the first Blackfoot folder. In general the Ojibwe notebooks are full of vocabulary words and phrases on all kinds of topics, notes on various parts of speech, notes on dialects, texts both with and without English translations, etc. Several consultants are named, of which Angeline Williams is the most prominent [see Odawa entry for more on Angeline Williams]. At least some of these materials appear to be associated with the Linguistic Institute and might be the work of students. Materials in Subcollection II include correspondence with Leonard Bloomfield (letters written in Ojibwe, with some interlinear English translation) and John N. Seaman (regarding field work with Chippewa speakers in Oscoda, Michigan, including Dan Naganigan and his wife and Mrs. Silas) in Series I. Correspondence. Series II. Research Notes, Subseries III. Macro-Algonquian contains 19 folders of Ojibwe materials collected from Leonard Bloomfield, Angeline Williams, Andrew Medler, Dan Nakanikan and Mrs. John B. Silas, including dozens of texts and stories and Bloomfield's Vocabularies and notes on topics such as prefixes and suffixes and sentence structure [see finding aid for titles of texts and stories]. There are also Ojibwe examples in at least 6 folders ("Č and K," "L and M," "N and P," " Š and T," "Θ and ?" and "Specimens of Central Algonquian") of the many Comparative Algonquian notebooks in the same subseries (i.e., Macro-Algonquian). Finally, there is "Correspondence in Ojibwa: Charles F. Voegelin and Leonard Bloomfield" in Series III. Works by Voegelin, Subseries I: General works; and "Ojibwe grammar" by Leonard Bloomfield and "The Chippewa Noun System" by John N. Seaman in Series IV. Works by Others.

Collection:C. F. Voegelin Papers (Mss.Ms.Coll.68)

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Ojibwe materials, Frank G. Speck Papers

Culture:

Seneca includes: Onöndowága

Ojibwe includes: Ojibwa, Chippewa, Ojibway

Naskapi includes: ᓇᔅᑲᐱ, Iyiyiw, Skoffie

Innu includes: Montagnais, Mountaineer

Haudenosaunee includes: Iroquois, Onkwehonwe

Cree includes: Nēhiyaw, Cri

Anishinaabe includes: Anishinaabeg, Anishinabe, Nishnaabe, Anishinabek

Language:English | French

Date:1927-1949

Type:Text

Genre:Notes | Correspondence | Reviews | Stories | Maps

Extent:14 folders

Description: Materials relating to Speck's study of Ojibwe language, history, and culture. Includes 15 pages of Tamagami [Temagami First Nation] myths and five texts in English; 21 pages of Matagama Ojibwe [Mattagami First Nation] notes, including a 2-page phonetic key, a letter from Speck to Samuel (i.e., James) Miller of Gogama requesting ethnographic and map data, 2 maps (one of Mattagami hunting territories), typed reading notes, and a sketch of a play for Mattagama Otcipwe [sic]; a Christmas circular letter telling the story of a Chippewa [Ojibwe] boy returning home for Dance; a copy of Speck's favorable review of Sister Bernard Coleman, "Decorative designs of the Ojibwa of northern Minnesota" [Printed, Speck (1949).]; and a brief popular account on Ojibwe hunting territories by Speck, refuting Roosevelt (1889-1896), who had denied that Indians have a sense of property, along with two pages of notes. Also includes several folders of correspondence, including correspondence with A. I. Hallowell in which Hallowell describes a field trip to the Berens River Saulteaux, Sweet Grass Cree (mentions attitude of Cree to Leonard Bloomfield), and Cold Lake Chipewyan, festivals, etc., and a letter from Speck to Hallowell with pencilled responses of Hallowell to questions asked; letters from D. H. Learmouth, a factor for Hudson's Bay Company at Waswanippi, recounting his experiences in adjudicating Matagama land inheritance and providing ethnographic data sought by Speck from Samuel (i.e., James) Miller of Gogama and data on hunting territories; letters from James E. Holden concerning unsuccessful attempts to purchase baskets at Nipigon; letters from J. Allan Burgesse regarding the Matagama Ojibwe and enclosing a drawing of a "flesher"and a list of hunting territories and biographical information on owners; a letter from Robert Solenberger concerning Tonawanda [Seneca] and Chippewa [Ojibwe] women who make baskets and giving their addresses; a letter from B. W. Thayer concerning Ojibwe beadwork found during a Minnesota field trip; a letter from Henry Woodman discussing the decline of crafts among Bear Island Indians (Temagami); a letter from Prentice Gilbert Downes about the circumboreal region, disucssing his visit to Naskapi near Davis Inlet, to Cree, and to Chippewas, along with 2 pages of notes (Speck?) in French-English, discussing changes in Indian culture; and a letter from Speck to Chief Mitchele Buckshot in Maniwaki, Quebec requesting buckskin and beadwork.

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

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Ojibwe materials, James M. Crawford Papers

Culture:

Ojibwe includes: Ojibwa, Chippewa, Ojibway

Anishinaabe includes: Anishinaabeg, Anishinabe, Nishnaabe, Anishinabek

Language:English | Ojibwe

Date:Undated

Contributor:Crawford, James M. (James Mack), 1925-1989

Subject:Linguistics | Anthropology | Folklore | Warfare

Type:Text

Genre:Notes | Stories | Translations

Extent:1 folder

Description: Materials relating to James M. Crawford's interest in and study of the Ojibwe (sometimes Ojibwa) language. These materials are located in an undated folder in Series IV-D. Research Notes & Notebooks--Other, and consist of about 50 sheets of handwritten notes and outlines. Topics include sounds, morphology, and categories of inflection, but the majority of sheets comprise one set (numbered 1-44) that break a story down in Ojibwe on the left with English translation on the right. The story involves a young man who, fasting for a vision, dreamt of a mirror. Later in life, the mirror came to his aid by rendering him invisible when an enemy war party attacked him, allowing him to defeat the enemy warriors nearly single-handedly.

Collection:James M. Crawford Papers (Mss.Ms.Coll.66)

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Okanagan Salish stories and songs

Culture:

Syilx includes: Okanagan, Okanogan

Language:Okanagan (nsyilxcən) | Chinook Jargon | English | French

Date:1961, 1966, 1971

Subject:Linguistics | Folklore | Music | Religion | British Columbia--History

Type:Sound recording

Genre:Stories | Prayers | Songs | Conversations | Vocabularies

Extent:2 sound tape reels (2 hr., 4 min.) : DIGITIZED

Description: Syilx (Okanagan Salish) stories with English free conversation on dialectical variations in Okanagan and borrowing from French and English; elicitation sessions covering animal names, fish names, body parts, and words containing fricatives; Catholic hymns in Okanagan and Chinook. Recorded in Penticton, Spectacle Lake, and head of Okanagan Lake, British Columbia, in 1961, 1966, and 1971. Project report, letter to APS Librarian, and detailed tape contents available in Phillips Fund Collection (Mss.497.3.Am4). (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:Okanagan Salish stories and songs (Mss.Rec.101)