Guide to the Indigenous Materials at the American Philosophical Society

Description: There are a few items in the Frank G. Speck Papers currently identified as relating to Indian boarding schools. In the collection guide, under Subcollection 1, Series 1, in Section XIII, "Miscellaneous," see item XIII(22H), "Haskell Institute Roster." This document lists Native students at the Haskell Institute boarding school in 1939-1940, giving name, age, address, and tribe. (The tribes of the students included are listed above at the top of this entry.) In Section IV, "Southeast," see item IV(15H3), "Yuchi miscellaneous notes," which contains a letter from Ann Rolland (Haskell Institute), to Speck, April 6, 1941, as well as items under "C. Houma (Louisiana)" that relate to mission schools. In Subcollection I, Series II, Biographical Material, see letters (listed alphabetically by author) from Leona E. Giger and Ann Rolland, both students at Haskell in the early 1940s. Also see letter from "Redge" and Gladys Laulin regarding Chippewa boy returning home for dances. In Series III, Photographs, there is an undated photograph [#10-14(a)] from the Shingwauk Indian Residential School. See also school-related photos in folders "Creek #3," "Eskimo [Inuit] (Labrador) #4," "Houma #1," #2, #7, and #8, "Pamunkey #6," and "Penobscot: People #2." In Series IV, Lantern Slides, there are slides of Native and Black students at the Hampton Institute. More boarding school-related material may be identified in the collection with further research.

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

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Ojibwe materials, Frank G. Speck Papers

Culture:

Seneca includes: Onöndowága

Ojibwe includes: Ojibwa, Chippewa, Ojibway

Naskapi includes: ᓇᔅᑲᐱ, Iyiyiw, Skoffie

Haudenosaunee includes: Iroquois, Onkwehonwe

Innu includes: Montagnais, Mountaineer

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)