Guide to the Indigenous Materials at the American Philosophical Society

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Cree materials, ACLS collection

Culture:

Cree includes: Nēhiyaw, Cri

Date:1925; Circa 1935; 1948; 1949;

Type:Text

Genre:Abstracts | Autobiographies | Correspondence | Drawings | Stories

Extent:830 pages

Description: The Cree materials in the ACLS collection are Plains Cree materials predominantly from Saskatchewan and are located in the "Cree" section of the finding aid. "Plains Cree texts, "Series Two: Syllabary Texts from Sweet Grass Reserve"" (item A1.1) recorded by Harry Achenam of Sweetgrass Reserve (and previously attributed to Leonard Bloomfield), contains 67 unpublished stories written in Cree syllabics. The other primary materials are several items (64-68 and 70) by Edward Ahenakew, written in English, concerning his family's genealogy, methods for tanning leather and building canoes, accounts of medicine practices and conjuring, and stories of little people, Wetikoo (or Wihtigo, Windigo), and other non-human beings. Many of these stories were given by various consultants such as Chief Starblanket of Ahtahkakoop, Jerry Constant, James Moostoos, and Susan Moostoos.

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

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Cree materials, Miscellaneous Manuscripts Collection

Culture:

Cree includes: Nēhiyaw, Cri

Language:English | Cree, Swampy

Date:April 15, 1872; April 30, 1945; October 1, 1948

Contributor:Young, Egerton Ryerson, 1840-1909 | Ahenakew, Edward

Type:Text

Genre:Vocabularies | Correspondence | Essays

Extent:3 items

Description: Young's "Rossville Mission Indian vocabularies," Cree vocabulary collected at the Rossville Mission near Norway House, Manitoba. Ahenakew's "The Cree Indians' theology," discusses various Cree conceptions of Muneto; describes attempt to acquire personal Muneto; mentions sun dance for Thunderbird. Letter from Ahenakew to Paul A. W. Wallace, transmits genealogy of his family and information on Skunkskin. Hopes to write on Metawiwin societies, mentions Tar Blanket and Susukwamoos as high in Metawiwin. People at Ahenakew's reserve have been Christian for four generations; has to travel to get ethnographic information.

Collection:Miscellaneous Manuscripts Collection (Mss.Ms.Coll.200)

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Cupeño materials, William O. Bright Papers

Culture:

Cupeño includes: Kuupangaxwichem

Date:ca.1959-1975

Contributor:Bright, William, 1928-2006 | Carillo, Fr. J. M. | Nolasquez, Roscinda | Galloway, Anne

Subject:Linguistics | Language study and teaching | California--History | Religion

Type:Text

Genre:Newspaper clippings | Books | Grammars | Vocabularies

Extent:0.25 linear feet

Description: William Bright's small Cupeño collection consists of publications on Cupeño lexica, newspaper clippings collected during the 1960s, a history of a Californian mission (Series 2), and a comparative Takic language lexical slip file (Series 5).

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

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Dakota and Lakota materials, ACLS collection

Culture:

Oceti Sakowin includes: Očhéthi Šakówiŋ, Sioux

Lakota

Dakota includes: Dakȟóta

Language:Dakota | English | Lakota

Date:1838-1938 (bulk 1930s)

Type:Text

Extent:7500+ pages, 3300+ slips; 2 notebooks

Description: The Dakota and Lakota materials in the ACLS collection consist of a very large and diverse set of materials, and are located in the "Dakota" section of the finding aid, which provides a detailed listing of all contents. The vast majority of these materials were composed and assembled by Ella Deloria during the 1930s, both recorded from contemporary speakers and from various historical manuscript sources, which were sent to Franz Boas. The bulk of Deloria's materials are stories and speeches in typewritten manuscript form, with a transcription in the original language, followed by a literal word-for-word translation, then a free translation in English, and a section of footnotes commenting upon the original text and translation decisions. Some of her manuscripts occasionally lack one or more of these sections. These texts cover a wide range of topics, from traditional narratives, historical accounts, autobiographical stories, descriptions of games, customs, ceremonies, etc., and speeches, often concerning political affairs and economic conditions from the late-19th century to the 1930s. Names of numerous speakers are also given in the manuscripts themselves. Some of these materials were published, but most were not. Note that Deloria identifies the language recorded by using the terms "Teton" for Lakota language, and "Santee" and "Yankton" to indicate Eastern and Western dialects of Dakota language. The collection also includes a much smaller amount of material by Boas and others, primarily consisting of linguistics notes and musical analysis. A full list of places where the material was recorded has not yet been assembled.

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

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Delaware materials, John Gottlieb Ernestus Heckewelder letters, 1816-1822, to Peter Stephen Du Ponceau

Culture:

Shawnee

Powhatan

Ojibwe includes: Ojibwa, Chippewa, Ojibway

Mohican includes: Mahican, Muhhekunneuw

Mandan includes: Nueta

Narragansett

Lenape includes: Lenni-Lenape, Delaware

Haudenosaunee includes: Iroquois, Onkwehonwe

Cherokee

Creek

Language:English | German | Delaware

Date:1816-1822

Contributor:Heckewelder, John Gottlieb Ernestus, 1743-1823

Type:Text

Genre:Correspondence

Extent:0.5 linear feet, circa 115 items

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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Dene Thá materials, Selected materials, 1676-1930, on Indian linguistics

Culture:

Dene Thá includes: Slave, Slavey

Language:French | Slavey, South

Date:1930

Contributor:Gouy, Père Edouard

Subject:Linguistics | Dene languages | Missions | Religion | Canada--History

Type:Text

Genre:Microfilms | Dictionaries | Translations

Extent:192 pages

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. This particular item is a French-Slavey dictionary attributed to Father Edouard Gouy. This dictionary was mimeographed in 15 copies in 1931. From original in possession of Angus Sherwood, Norman Wells, North West Territories, Canada.

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

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Doctrina christiana

Culture:

Maya

Kaqchikel includes: Cakchiquel, Cakchikel, Kaqchiquel

Language:Kaqchikel | Latin | Spanish

Date:circa 1692

Contributor:Gálvez, Mariano, 1794-1862

Subject:Guatemala--History | Linguistics | Religion

Type:Text

Genre:Essays | Grammars | Prayers

Extent:1 volume, 110 leaves

Description: Consists of Catholic texts in the Kaqchikel language, including statement of doctrine, catechism, confessional, brief religious discourses. Also includes a grammar of the Kaqchikel language, which was translated into English by Daniel G. Brinton in APS Proceedings 21 (1884): 345. Donor, Academia de Ciencias de Guatemala, through Mariano Gálvez, 1836.

Collection:Mayan Language Texts, 1553-1727 (Mss.497.43.V42)

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Frank Gouldsmith Speck Cherokee Collection

Culture:

Cherokee

Language:English | Cherokee

Date:1880-1932

Subject:Botany | Ethnography | Medicine | Religion | Linguistics

Type:Text

Extent:22 items

Description: The Frank Speck Cherokee Collection consists of diaries, accounts, and medicinal texts in Cherokee (syllabary) collected by Will West Long and Morgan Calhoun, accompanied by notes by Speck and John Witthoft. These include several diaries kept by Long (mostly 1904-1917), records of the Gadugi (a Cherokee mutual aid group), accounts, records of births and deaths at Big Cove, and material collected on Cherokee botany collected by James Mooney in 1887. Several of the items contain information on Cherokee medicine, including formulae and curing charms. Many of these items have been designated as culturally sensitive and may not be reproduced, nor photographed in the Reading Room.

Collection:Frank Gouldsmith Speck Cherokee Collection (Mss.572.97.Sp3L)

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General indigenous materials, Alfred Irving Hallowell Papers

Culture:

Yurok includes: Pueleekla’, Puliklah

Yuki includes: Huchnom

Séliš includes: Salish, Flathead

Pomo

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

Miwok

Mojave includes: Mohave, Aha Macav

Maya

Maidu

Kwakwaka'wakw includes: Kwakiutl

Ktunaxa includes: Kootenai, Kootenay, Kutenai, Tonaxa

Makah includes: Kwih-dich-chuh-aht, Qʷidiččaʔa·tx̌

Inca

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

Dene includes: Athabaskan, Athapascan, Athabascan, Athapaskan

Hopi

Chukchi includes: Chukchee, Чукчи, ԓыгъоравэтԓьат

Cahuilla includes: Ivilyuqaletem, ʔívil̃uqaletem, Táxliswet

Atikamekw includes: Têtes-de-Boules, Têtes de Boules, Tete de Boule

Language:English

Date:1920-1958

Contributor:Hallowell, A. Irving (Alfred Irving), 1892-1974

Type:Text

Description: Materials from a wide range of indigenous cultures around the world are scattered throughout Series V of the A. Irving Hallowell Papers. Hallowell was interested in comparative ethnology on a number of topics including Bear Ceremonialism, textiles, artistic representations of Native people, basketry, kinship, pre-history, the development of language, family and marriage, nets and netting, etc. Much of this material constitutes Hallowell's reading notes on secondary sources and his research for very broad-based studies of humanity. Geographic regions represented in Series V include Australia, Africa, Pacific Islands, Polar regions California, Northwest coast, Southwest, and Southeast. The correspondence, in Series I, includes a very interesting, brief description of Franz Boas' first visit to the Kwakwaka'wakw community of Fort Rupert by the daughter of George Hunt in a folder labled Ronald Rohmer. There is also a letter from Edward Sapir detailing Nuu-chah-nulth bear hunting and face painting as well as sketches of netting needles.

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

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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)