Guide to the Indigenous Materials at the American Philosophical Society

Description: The Kwakwaka'wakw materials in the ACLS collection are located predominantly in the "Kwakiutl" section of the finding aid, which contains a full listing of all materials (other relevant sections are "Northwest Coast", "Bella Bella (Heitsuk)", and item AfBnd.4 in "Non-American and non-linguistic material"). Some of the larger individual sets of materials listed within this section also have their own specific tables of contents (available upon request) detailing their often highly diverse contents. Overall, the vast majority of the material is made of of 1) manuscripts sent to Boas by George Hunt from the 1890s to the 1930s, frequently in both Kwak'wala and English, covering a very broad range of Kwakwaka'wakw history, culture, languages, customs, and traditions; and 2) field work materials recorded by Boas and Boas' own analyses of material sent by Hunt, covering a similar range of topics. Additional materials by other individuals focus especially on linguistic and ethnographic matters. Also see the guide entry "Kwakiutl materials, Franz Boas Papers" for information on the correspondence between Boas and Hunt, which gives additional context to the materials in the ACLS collection.

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

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Kwakwaka'wakw materials, Franz Boas Papers

Culture:

Wiwekam

Wiweqayi

Tłatłasikwala

Nak'waxda'xw includes: Nakoaktok, Nakwoktak, Nakwaxda'xw

Namgis includes: Nimkish, Nimpkish

Kwakwaka'wakw includes: Kwakiutl

K'ómoks includes: Comox

Dzawada'enuxw includes: Tsawataineuk

Gopinuxw

Gusgimukw includes: Koskimo

Gwa'sala

Gwatsinuxw includes: Quatsino

Gwawa'enuxw

Da'naxda'xw

A'wa'etłala

Language:English | German | Kwak'wala

Date:1885-1942

Type:Text

Genre:Correspondence

Extent:1 linear foot

Description: This collection contains the bulk of correspondence between Franz Boas and his professional colleagues, though there are also other Boas collections in the library. The correspondents listed above contain some correspondence related to the culture or language listed in this entry. The largest correspondence is that of George Hunt, which took place from 1894-1933 and runs around 1000 pages. A full index for this correspondence is available upon request, and includes cross references to the locations (in other APS collections) of fieldwork and other materials referred to in the letters. Other correspondences primarily about Kwakwaka'wakw matters are that of the Cadwalladers, Dan Cranmer, John Fillmore (concerning the transcription of Boas' cylinder recordings of Kwakiutl songs), Alfred I. Hall, and C. J. Nowell. In the finding aid listings for some of these correspondents, the individual letters pertaining to this culture or language will be identified by a subject heading, though for some correspondents this indexing has not yet been completed. Some letters may contain only brief mentions of work being conducted in relation to the topic. Some additional correspondences in this collection that have not yet been indexed may also contain additional material.

Collection:Franz Boas Papers (Mss.B.B61)

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Malecite words pertaining to natural history

Culture:

Wolastoqiyik includes: Wəlastəkwewiyik, Malecite, Maliseet

Wabanaki includes: Wabenaki, Wobanaki

Abenaki includes: Abnaki

Language:English | Maliseet-Passamaquoddy

Date:1959

Contributor:Paul, Peter Lewis, 1902-1989

Subject:Botany | Hunting | Linguistics

Type:Sound recording

Genre:Elicitation sessions | Vocabularies

Extent:1 sound tape reel (1 hr., 11 min.) : DIGITIZED

Description: Linguistic field recordings made at Woodstock Reserve, New Brunswick, Canada, in June 1959. A reading of Malecite words and their English equivalents for multiple varieties and groupings of animals and plants, fish, dwellings, canoes and other water craft, hunting & fishing, and numbers & measures. The final 6 minutes of the recording consist of a reading from from Joseph Laurent's "New Familiar Abenakis and English Dialogues" (St-Francis, Quebec, 1884). (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:Malecite words pertaining to natural history (Mss.Rec.34)

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Maliseet materials, Frank G. Speck Papers

Culture:

Wolastoqiyik includes: Wəlastəkwewiyik, Malecite, Maliseet

Wabanaki includes: Wabenaki, Wobanaki

Language:Abenaki, Eastern | Delaware | English | Maliseet-Passamaquoddy

Date:1916-1949 (bulk 1916, 1945‐1948)

Contributor:Adney, Edwin Tappan | Speck, Frank G. (Frank Gouldsmith), 1881-1950 | Webster, J. Clarence

Type:Still Image | Text

Extent:0.25 linear feet

Description: Maliseet materials in the Frank Speck Papers include vocabulary lists, unpublished notes from Speck's work on hunting territories, a comparative analysis between Maliseet and Lenape ("Delaware") conceptions of the Celestial Bear, and notes on Maliseet dance and songs. Of particular value is a map depicting Maliseet villages along the St. John's River. This material is found primarily in the “Malecite” section of Subcollection I, Series I, Research Material, section III: Northeast, with additional materials in correspondence series, photographs, and maps. Some Maliseet information may be located among Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, or other materials from the same region. Note: most entries in this collection use the spelling "Malecite."

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

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Maliseet materials, Frank Siebert Papers

Culture:

Wolastoqiyik includes: Wəlastəkwewiyik, Malecite, Maliseet

Wabanaki includes: Wabenaki, Wobanaki

Penobscot

Language:Maliseet-Passamaquoddy | English | Abenaki, Eastern | Innu-aimun

Date:1907; 1914-1917; 1934-1935; 1971-1991

Type:Text

Genre:Grammars | Stories

Description: The Maliseet materials in the Siebert Papers consist primarily of secondary sources in Series IV and VII . Siebert's work can be found in Series V. Of special interest are a collection of Maliseet tales from 1914 collected by William Mechling.

Collection:Frank Siebert Papers (Mss.Ms.Coll.97)

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Mi'kmaq materials, Frank G. Speck Papers

Culture:

Wolastoqiyik includes: Wəlastəkwewiyik, Malecite, Maliseet

Wabanaki includes: Wabenaki, Wobanaki

Passamaquoddy includes: Peskotomuhkati

Mi'kmaq includes: Micmac

Cherokee

Beothuk

Language:English | Mi'kmaq

Date:1909-1949

Contributor:Speck, Frank G. (Frank Gouldsmith), 1881-1950 | Butler, Eva L. | Mechling, William Hubbs, 1888-1953 | Barlow, Steve

Type:Text

Extent:8 folders

Description: Materials relating to Mi'kmaq history, language, and culture. Includes Speck's field notes on topics such as wampum, hunting territories, Cape Breton texts, Newfoundland traditions, the Passamaquoddy, etc., as well as a map with names of Bear River Band members and one piece of birch bark with pictographs inscribed; Speck's miscellaneous notes and correspondence on topics such as consultants, specimens, hieroglyphics, linguistics, fieldwork, Mi'kmaq and Cherokee, and the Mi'kmaq mission newspaper; a text on Mi'kmaq dance with interlinear translation, notes, and a musical score; 10 pages of linguistic notes and vocabulary collected along the Miramichi River, along with 6 pages of typed copy by John Witthoft; correspondence with Mechling concerning linguistic research on the Mi'kmaq, Malecite [Malecite-Passamaquoddy], and Oaxaca languages, Mi'kmaq burials, and historic materials on Beothuk and Mi'kmaq; a brief article on a traveler's account of the Mi'kmaq in 1822; an incomplete article or set of reading excerpts taken after 1922 by Speck from John G. Millais (1907); and extracts concerning the sweat house taken by Butler from the Jesuit Relations.

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

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Naskapi materials, Frank G. Speck papers

Culture:

Naskapi includes: ᓇᔅᑲᐱ, Iyiyiw, Skoffie

Innu includes: Montagnais, Mountaineer

Language:English | Innu-aimun | Naskapi

Date:1910s-1940s

Type:Moving Image | Still Image | Text

Genre:Correspondence | Maps | Photographs

Extent:1.5 linear feet; 500+ photographs; 10+ maps; 1 film

Description: The Innu and Naskapi materials in the Frank Speck Papers are extensive and found to some degree in most sectionsn of the finding aid. The majority of these materials are identified by Speck as "Montagnais-Naskapi," though they include materials relating to Innu peoples from throughout Québec and Labrador, particularly the communities in the area of Lac St-Jean (Mashteuiatsh; usually given as "Lake St. John" by Speck), St-Augustin (usually "St. Augustine" in Speck); and Naskapi communities in northern and central Labrador. The main body of field work manuscript material is found in Subcollection I, Series II, especially items II(3B1a) through II(4B13). In Series III and IV, there are approximately 500-600 photographs and lantern slides from these communities. Series V contains approximately 12 maps pertaining to Speck's research into hunting territories and place names. In Subcollection II, Series I, see correspondence from Beston, Cooper, Gusinde, Myers, Sapir, and especially the voluminous correspondence with Richard White, a trader in Labrador who provided Speck with extensive information on the Naskapi peoples of the region for decades. In Series II, there are numerous works by Speck, including draft versions of "Naskapi, the Savage Hunters of the Labrador Peninsula." Finally, in Series IV, there is a brief silent film consisting of footage taken of various Innu peoples, including Joseph Kurtness, doing various activities, such as skinning and preparing hides, and singing.

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

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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, Charles E. Fiero Papers

Culture:

Ojibwe includes: Ojibwa, Chippewa, Ojibway

Anishinaabe includes: Anishinaabeg, Anishinabe, Nishnaabe, Anishinabek

Language:English | Oji-Cree (ᐊᓂᔑᓂᓂᒧᐏᐣ) | Ojibwa, Northwestern | Ojibwe | Ojibwa, Western

Date:1957-2017

Type:Text | Sound recording | Cartographic

Extent:2.75 linear feet

Description: Almost all of the Charles E. Fiero Papers reflect varieties of Ojibwe/Anishinaabemowin. Fiero, a missionary linguist, is best known within the field for creating the double-vowel orthography. Series I (the bulk) contains manuscripts, while Series II contains a small volume of digital media that has yet to be transferred. The collection represents fieldwork originally done between 1957 and 1993 (bulk 1957-1970s), chronologically arranged by date of first fieldwork, and contains many retranscriptions and reanalyses by Fiero from subsequent decades, illustrating his understanding of the material. The fieldnotes mostly comprise lexica and texts, and individual folders typically contain detailed background information. Fieldwork was mostly conducted in Ontario. Place names include: Berens River, Deer Lake, Pauingassi, Pikangikum, Poplar Hill, Red Lake, White Earth, Cat Lake, Doghole Bar, Fort Hope, Grassy Narrows, McDowell Lake, North Spirit Lake, and Pickle Lake.

Collection:Charles E. Fiero Papers (Mss.Ms.Coll.187)