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 Professional Papers

Culture:

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

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

Kwakwaka'wakw includes: Kwakiutl

Gusgimukw includes: Koskimo

Gwawa'enuxw

Haida includes: X̱aayda, X̱aadas, X̱aad, X̱aat

Language:English | Kwak'wala

Date:undated, and 1920-1942

Contributor:Boas, Franz, 1858-1942 | Cranmer, Dan | Hunt, George | Hunt, George, Mrs. | Gi'galas

Type:Text

Extent:12+ folders; 4 notebooks

Description: The Kwakwaka'wakw materials in the Franz Boas Professional Papers consist of numerous folders containing Kwakwaka'wakw stories (some by George Hunt), notes on songs (much of it by the Namgis chief, Dan Cranmer), ethnographic and historical information, and linguistic notes on the Kwak'wala language. See items listed under "Boas, Franz -- Kwakiutl," for some materials, including those by Dan Cranmer. Under "Hunt, George - Kwakiutl," there are notebooks and texts, including 6 texts in Boas's hand in Kwak'wala with English interlinear translation. These includes "Host Speech for great great feast," two texts on "Supernatural Experience" and marriage told by Mrs. George Hunt, and Hë'mănis told by Gi'galas (Gwawa'enuxw), with revised version written by George Hunt. Finally, see the folder labeled "Kwakiutl material (on names)," which contains lists of names of plants, birds, specific people, positions, coppers, and other matters, primarily provided by Dan Cranmer.

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

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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

K'ómoks includes: Comox

Kwakwaka'wakw includes: Kwakiutl

Kwagu'ł

Kwikwasutinuxw

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)