Guide to the Indigenous Materials at the American Philosophical Society

Description: Letters from Moravian missionary, historian, and linguist John Gottlieb Ernestus Heckewelder, mostly to Peter Stephen du Ponceau with one to Caspar Wistar. Some of the replies from Du Ponceau are copied in the letter books of the Historical and Literary Committee. Heckewelder most frequently wrote of the publications he was working on or revising, particularly his Account of the Indian nations (1819), Narrative (1820), Heckewelder (1821), a Mohican (Mohegan) vocabulary, remarks on a Swedish-Delaware vocabulary, etc., some of which were to be published or republished by the American Philosophical Society. Many letters thus revolve around the research, writing, and publishing processes, including Heckewelder's responses to du Ponceau's edits and suggestions; his own edits, additions, lists of errors, etc.; his concern that errors by the typesetter could bring criticism on linguistic portions; new information and discoveries, such as the finding of a Maqua (Haudenosaunee) manuscript in the Moravian Archives; negative reviews and criticisms of his work, like an objectionable review in the North American Review (1819), a review in the Westchester Village Record disputing the role of Delaware as women, and William Darby's disagreement about Heckewelder's account of the killing of Native people by Williamson and his men; more positive responses to his work, like an honorary membership in the Massachusetts Peace Society for his Account (1819); translation of his work into German and other languages; and his insistence that the American Philosophical Society imprimatur appear on the title page, because as a Moravian he could not publish anything on his own relating to the Society of the United Brethren. Heckewelder repeatedly touched on Native languages and matters of linguistics: among other things, he referred to the Native vocabularies he himself had collected; a Swedish-Delaware catechism and dispute over "r" or "l" sound; difficulties in hearing Indian languages properly; difficulties in writing Native American languages; comparisons between his own findings and linguistic materials and scholarship published by others (of whom he was often critical); several examples of Delaware or Lenape words, roots, paradigms, gender, usage, etc.; and comparions of Delaware to other Native languages like Ojibwe, Shawnee, Natick, and Narragansett. Heckewelder's letters reveal him to be well-read and immersed in a network of similarly-minded scholars trading information and forwarding books and articles. Specific works by others mentioned include the Steiner article in Columbian Magazine (September 1789); a Pickering-Du Ponceau Dencke's version of St. John's Epistles in Delaware; Zeisberger's Bible translation and Life of Christ; Poulson's paper relating Welsh to Powhatan (which Heckewelder deems incorrect on the basis that Powhatan was Delaware); Pickering's essay on a uniform Orthography and spelling; Eliot's Bible translation; a paper by Zeisberger on Delaware being made men again (#865) and Zeisberger's replies (#341) to 23 queries of Barton (#1636); Loskiel's history (Heckewelder notes general verification in Loskiel for specific incidents and believes that the absence of certain incidents in Loskiel's history is the result of missionary discretion); works by Barton (he criticizes Barton for seeking speedy answers to questions of Indian origins, and for thinking Delaware and Iroquois related); and various publications of the Historical and Literary Committee. Heckewelder also wrote about "Indian affairs" such as the Jefferson-Cresap dispute (over Logan speech and affair); Benton's resolution concerning the Christian Indians and Moravian land; the speech of a Delaware at Detroit, 1781; and Heckewelder's role in the Washington City Society for Civilizing the Indians. Ethnographic topics include Native American names, place names, childbirth, swimming, friendship, treatment of captives, derivation of "papoose," names of trees and rivers, and various anecdotes. Other individuals mentioned include Rev. Schulz, Butrick, Colonel Arent Schyler De Peyster, Captain Pipe, Vater, Hesse, Gambold, John Vaughan, Charles Thomson, Thomas Jefferson, Deborah Norris Logan, Mitchill, Daniel Drake, Abraham Steiner, Noah Webster du Ponceau's brother, etc. Heckewelder's letter to Wistar regarding the Naked Bear traditions was printed (except last paragraph) in the Transactions of the Historical and Literary Committee of the American Philosophical Society 1: 363.

Collection:John Gottlieb Ernestus Heckewelder letters, 1816-1822, to Peter Stephen Du Ponceau (Mss.497.3.H35o)

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Ditidaht materials, ACLS collection

Culture:

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

Ditidaht includes: Nitinat

Language:Ditidaht | English

Date:1931-1932, 1935

Contributor:Haas, Mary R. (Mary Rosamond), 1910-1996 | Jasper | Peter, Chief | Sapir, Edward, 1884-1939 | Swadesh, Morris, 1909-1967

Subject:British Columbia--History | Ethnography | Linguistics | Place names

Type:Text

Genre:Grammars | Maps | Notebooks | Stories | Vocabularies

Extent:14 notebooks and approximately 6700 slips

Description: The Ditidaht materials in the ACLS collection are found in the "Nitinat" section of the finding aid. The bulk of the material consists of field notebooks (item W2b.2, "Nitinat field notebooks") recorded by Mary Haas and Morris Swadesh primarily from Chief Peter (Batlisqawa) and his son Jasper of Port Renfrew in 1931. The notebooks include numerous texts of traditional stories, histories, autobiographical stories, and other content including place names, vocabularies, and grammatical notes. A full table of contents of these notebooks is available. An extensive lexical file of over 6700 terms, derived from these field notebooks, is also found in this collection as item W2b.1, "Nitinat lexical file". See the Ditidaht materials in the Mary Rosamond Haas Papers (Mss.Ms.Coll.94) for additional notebooks and photographs recorded during this fieldwork.

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

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English-Lenni Lenape and Lenni Lenape-English dictionary

Culture:

Lenape includes: Lenni-Lenape, Delaware

Date:1859-1860

Contributor:Henry, Mathew Schropp, 1790-1862

Type:Text | Cartographic

Genre:Dictionaries | Maps | Place names

Extent:1 dictionary (820 p.); 8 maps

Description: A completed dictionary, based on various printed authorities (Zeisberger, Heckewelder, etc.). Contains a separate dictionary of place names organized by states. Maps of portions of Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, and New York. Maps beyond Lenape territory may contain Powhatan, Susquehannock, Mohegan-Pequot, Quiripi-Unquachaog, Carolina Algonquian, and Pamlico place names.

Collection:English-Lenni Lenape and Lenni Lenape-English dictionary (Mss.497.33.H39)

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General linguistics materials, Floyd G. Lounsbury Papers

Culture:

Shawnee

Ponca

Menominee includes: Menomini, Mamaceqtaw

Kiowa includes: Ka'igwu

Ho-Chunk includes: Winnebago, Hoocąk

Cheyenne

Language:English

Date:1885; 1936-1981

Type:Text | Cartographic

Description: The General Linguistics material in the Lounsbury collection can be found in Series II. It includes a broad array works ranging from archeoastronomy to maps to lectures presented by Lounsbury on the history of linguistics. Many of the items are secondary sources.

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

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Haudenosaunee materials, Floyd G. Lounsbury Papers

Culture:

Shawnee

Nottoway includes: Cheroenhaka

Mohawk includes: Kanienʼkehá꞉ka

Haudenosaunee includes: Iroquois, Onkwehonwe

Hopi

Cayuga includes: Gayogohó:no

Cherokee

Catawba includes: Iswa

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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Haudenosaunee materials, Selected materials, 1676-1930, on Indian linguistics

Culture:

Mohawk includes: Kanienʼkehá꞉ka

Haudenosaunee includes: Iroquois, Onkwehonwe

Language:French | Mohawk

Date:1755; 1847

Contributor:De Lorimier, Jean-Baptiste, 1786-1845

Type:Text

Genre:Microfilms | Vocabularies | Correspondence | Essays

Extent:3 items

Description: Part of a collection comprised of religious and linguistic materials in various Native American languages. Many were written by Jesuit missionaries of New France. These particular items include an unattributed 1847 letter, in French, on the etymology of some Personal names; a word list obtained at Sault St. Louis, with a note on provenance, attributed to de Lorimier, possibly the French-Haudenosaunee interpreter and agent Jean-Baptiste de Lorimier or one of his relations; and the 1755 "Livre des prieres, cantiques, et himnes en langue hyroquois telles qu'on se sont maintenant a la Mission du Lac des Deux Montagnes," containing various notes added to an original manuscript on plain chant, carols, articles preliminary to the peace of Versailles in 1783, description of a serpent killed at Chateau Ste. Anne, recipes, remedies, etc. Originals in Laval University, Seminaire de Quebec.

Collection:Selected materials, 1676-1930, on Indian linguistics (Mss.Film.453)

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Hopi and Tewa recordings

Culture:

Tewa

Rarámuri includes: Tarahumara

Hopi

Huichol includes: Wixáritari

Language:English | Hopi | Tewa

Date:1964-1965

Type:Sound recording

Genre:Interviews | Stories

Extent:14 sound tape reels (28 hr.)

Description: The recordings include names of plants, birds, reptiles, and other animals (including domesticated); costumes (including Kachina); Migration legend; place-names; kinship terms; numerals; weaving; pottery; Hopi, Huichol, and Tarahumara belts; medicine man; etc. Informants include: Frank Capella (Hopi and Tewa), Grace Chapella (Tewa), Ralph Charlie (Hopi?), George Cochase (Hopi and Tewa), Jim Kewanwytewa (Hopi), Donald Mahkewa (Tewa), Nettie Masayumptewa (Hopi?), Edmund Nequatewa (Hopi), Garnet Pavatea (Hopi?), Frank Sehma (Hopi), Henry Sheldon (Hopi), Annette Silas (Hopi), Albert Sinquah (Hopi), Dennis Sinquah (Hopi and Tewa), David Tawameiniwa (Hopi?), Joe Tevenyouma (Hopi?), Barton Wright (Hopi?), and Margaret Wright (Hopi?). Some materials in this collection may be designated as culturally sensitive and not reproducible.

Collection:Hopi and Tewa recordings (Mss.Rec.104)

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Huastec materials, William O. Bright Papers

Culture:

Huastec includes: Téenek, Wastek, Huasteco, Huaxtec, Wasteko

Language:Huastec | English | Spanish

Date:2003

Contributor:Edmonson, Barbara | Bright, William, 1928-2006

Subject:Linguistics | Place names

Type:Text

Genre:Correspondence | Vocabularies

Extent:1 folder

Description: William Bright conversed with Barbara Edmonson on basic Wastek linguistics, loanwords from Spanish, and the meanings of Wastek place names (Series 1).

Collection:William O. Bright Papers (Mss.Ms.Coll.142)

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Hupa materials, ACLS collection

Culture:

Hupa includes: Natinixwe, Na:tinixwe, Natinook-wa, Na:tini-xwe, Hoopa

Language:English | Hupa

Date:1901-1908, 1923, 1927

Contributor:Goddard, Pliny Earle, 1869-1928 | Sapir, Edward, 1884-1939

Type:Text | Cartographic

Genre:Field notes | Grammars | Notebooks | Sketches | Maps

Extent:40 notebooks, 80 loose pages, approximately 5,000 slips, and 11 folders

Description: The Hupa materials in the ACLS collection consist of a very large amount of linguistic material, located primarily in the "Hupa" section of the finding aid. There are two main sets of material. The earliest materials are two sets notebooks, numbering around 29 notebooks altogether, recorded by Goddard in 1901-1908 (items Na.3 and Na20a.2). These include texts with interlinear translations, historical accounts, vocabulary lists, grammatical notes, and ethnographic notes. Pome, Kato, Wailaki, Sinkyone, Tolowa, and Nongatl. There is also a large body of materials recorded by Sapir in the 1920s (items Na20a.4 and Na20a.5), consisting of 11 notebooks with texts, interlinear translation, and other linguistic notes; a lexical file containing 5000+ word slips, derived from the texts in the field notebooks; and 11 folders of typed-up ethnographic notes on myths, doctors and medicine, birth, puberty, marriage and death, omens, material culture, villages and houses, names, cosmography and geography; warfare. Images include a map of Humboldt County, California and pencil sketches of decorative patterns.

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

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Inuit materials, Franz Boas Personal and Professional Papers

Culture:

Inuit includes: Inuk, Eskimo (pej.), ᐃᓄᐃᑦ

Language:English | German | Inuktitut, Eastern Canadian

Date:1883-1884

Contributor:Boas, Franz, 1858-1942 | Comer, George | Weike, Wilhelm, 1859-1917

Subject:Linguistics | Nunavut--History | Place names | Social life and customs

Type:Text

Extent:1 linear foot

Description: The Inuit materials in the Franz Boas Professional Papers consist of approximately 11 folders, 3 diaries, 2 sketchbooks, and numerous maps and illustrations. Most of this material surrounds Boas' first fieldwork trip of his career to Baffin Island ("Baffinland") in 1883-1884. Under "Boas, Franz," most of this materials are labelled under "Arctic Expedition" or "Baffinland." These include Boas' diaries and sketchbooks, as well as typed translations of them. See also materials listed under "Weike, Wilhelm" for the diary of Boas' assistant during the expedition. The correspondence file for "Comer, George" contains additional information, as may other correspondence files.

Collection:Franz Boas Personal and Professional Papers (Mss.B.B61p)