Guide to the Indigenous Materials at the American Philosophical Society

Description: Artist Antonio Zeno Shindler worked at the Smithsonian Institution from after the Civil War until the turn of the 20th century, specializing in ethnographic subjects. He was responsible for printing or taking a large number of photographs of American Indians exhibited there in 1869. The 95 studio portraits in the Shindler Collection were part of a suite of 301 images that comprised the first photographic exhibition at the Smithsonian, and that are documented in the catalogue Photographic Portraits of North American Indians in the Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution (1867). The individuals depicted were members of delegations sent to Washington during the years 1852, 1857-1858, and 1867-1869 from the following nations: Cherokee, Cheyenne, Chippewa (Ojibwe), Choctaw, Dakota Sioux (Brule, Miniconjou, Sans Arc, Santee, Sisseton, Two-Kettle, Yankton), Osage, Pawnee, Ponca, Potawatomi, Sac and Fox, Seminole, and Ute. Shindler printed the earlier photographs (mostly taken by the McClees Gallery) and was photographer for the later delegations. See the finding aid for more information. All of the photographs in this collection have been digitized and are in the APS Digital Library.

Collection:A. Zeno Shindler American Indian Photograph Collection (Mss.970.1.Sh6)

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Abenaki materials, Alfred Irving Hallowell Papers

Culture:

Wolastoqiyik includes: Wəlastəkwewiyik, Malecite, Maliseet

Wabanaki includes: Wabenaki, Wobanaki

Penobscot

Innu includes: Montagnais, Mountaineer

Haudenosaunee includes: Iroquois, Onkwehonwe

Abenaki includes: Abnaki

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

Language:English | Abenaki, Western | French | Abenaki, Eastern

Date:1914-1930

Type:Still Image | Text

Extent:1 linear foot

Description: The Abenaki materials in the Hallowell Papers are mostly located in Series V, Research Files, in folders labled "Abenaki" and Series VI, Photographs, Subseries E "St. Francis Abenaki Album." These include linguistic, ethnographic, ethnobotanical, ceremonial knowledge, information on political organization, and historical materials. Of particular interest are a sketch of Abenaki history from 1600-1930 accompanied by detailed notes from secondary sources on 17th century Abenaki history. The linguistic materials include an analysis of how the language changed after contact with Catholic missionaries, Abenaki vocabulary related to body parts, Abenaki phonetics, and religious, medical, and kinship terminology. The ethnobotanical materials include a manuscript labled "Identity of animals and plants," and information concerning herbal medicine and its practitioners. There is a wealth of ethnographic materials that include drawings of pipes, descriptions of games, basketry and birch bark mats. There are descriptions of Abenaki music and diagrams of dances, as well as detailed descriptions of hunting techniques. Some of the genealogical materials contain lists of community members names and descriptions of marriage. Interspersed throughout the folders labled "Abenaki" in the Research Files are interlinear translations of stories such as "Man who could Find Lost Objects," "Woman and Bear Lover" and numerous other stories. The materials on hunting include topics such as the use of snow shoes, preparation of moose hide, and techniques and drawings of trapping. The collections contain important information designation hunting territories and family names. Four folders contain detailed informaiton on kinship terms. Two folders on Measurements and Genealogical data contain lists of names. The folders labled "Linguistics" in Series V contain scattered information about Abenaki grammar. In Series VI, of 160 photographs taken at St. Francis, Odanak in the Centre-du-Québec region. The Abenaki people in the photographs are identified, in most cases, and also include depictions of traditional dress, buildings, clothing, baskets, and a wide variety of material culture. The correspondence, in Series I, includes letters from Théophile Panadis; Gordon Day describing his collection of stories, recordings, vocabularies, and hunting territories. Henry Lorne Masta, one of Hallowell's Abenaki consultants, writes about culture and language. Additional correspondents may contain other Abenaki-related information.

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

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Algonquian materials, Alfred Irving Hallowell Papers

Culture:

Wampanoag includes: Wôpanâak

Wolastoqiyik includes: Wəlastəkwewiyik, Malecite, Maliseet

Wabanaki includes: Wabenaki, Wobanaki

Passamaquoddy includes: Peskotomuhkati

Penobscot

Menominee includes: Menomini, Mamaceqtaw

Naskapi includes: ᓇᔅᑲᐱ, Iyiyiw, Skoffie

Mashpee includes: Mattachiest, Cummaquid

Mi'kmaq includes: Micmac

Muscogee includes: Muskogee, Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek

Lenape includes: Lenni-Lenape, Delaware

Innu includes: Montagnais, Mountaineer

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

Algonquin

Language:English | Abenaki, Eastern

Date:1920-1940

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

Type:Still Image | Text

Description: The materials from Algonquian speaking cultures is quite extensive, though scattered, in the A. Irving Hallowell Papers. One of the strengths is Hallowell's very fine black and white portraits of indigenous peoples located in Series VI, Subseries F, which includes images of Mashpee, Mohegan, Montagnais, Naskapi, Womponowag, Nipissing, Atikamekw, Series V contains some generalized materials such "Algoquian Cross Cousin Marriage," Speck's studies of northern Algoquian hunting territories, and Algonquin mythology and history. The folders entitled "Eastern Woodlands" in box 26 contain more culturally specific materials such as a Penobscot vocabulary list, Innu and Naswkapi material culture, and Delaware religions and ceremonies, although many of these are quite brief. The correspondence, in Series I, includes a letter from John Swanton discussing bear ceremonialism in Muscogee culture. George Herzog's correspondence includes Penobscot and Maliseet scores of war dance songs. There is also a letter from Jeffrey Zelitch, dated 1969, describing traditional ceremonies on the Lakota Rosebud reservation just before the American Indian Movement begins. George Spindler's lettter to describes a Medicine Lodge ceremony among the Menomini.

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

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Anathan-Jacobs Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Collection

Culture:

Stoney includes: Nakoda

Secwépemc includes: Shuswap

Ojibwe includes: Ojibwa, Chippewa, Ojibway

Métis

Kainai includes: Káínaa, Blood

Cree includes: Nēhiyaw, Cri

Dakota includes: Dakȟóta

Anishinaabe includes: Anishinaabeg, Anishinabe, Nishnaabe, Anishinabek

Blackfeet includes: Blackfoot, Niitsítapi, Siksika, Siksikaitsitapi

Language:English

Date:1905-1910

Contributor:Jacobs, Norman Leonard, 1885-

Type:Still Image | Text

Genre:Correspondence | Photographs

Extent:1 linear foot

Description: Norman Leonard Jacobs was an engineer and surveyor with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway in Canada. The collection consists of his correspondence with Bessie Frank (later Anathan), an acquaintance from Pittsburgh. Jacobs wrote of daily life in Canadian cities like Winnipeg and Edmonton, interactions with First Nations, and daily hardships encountered in the field (extreme cold, snowblindness, and lack of food), but also spoke of his work with pride and enthusiasm. In addition to the letters, Jacobs wrote twenty-eight pages of a "Diary of a Tenderfoot." Also included in the collection are two photobooks and various loose photographs, which display various aspects of camp life, details of work sites and the Canadian landscape, and First Nations peoples. Some of the photographs are extremely faded. Native peoples mentioned include Ojibwe, Blackfoot, Cree, "Surteau" (likely Saulteaux),"Bloods" (Kainai), "Stonies" (Nakoda, or "Stoney"), as well as Native people at Tete Jaune Cache who are likely Simpcw. The images include family groups; men, women, and children fishing; men (some apparently hired by Jacobs or his company to act as guides and carriers in the field) working with an infant in a cradleboard; Ojibwe graves; tepees [tipis]; "Sioux" warriors; a sweat bath; horse races; individuals like Joe KaeKwitch, Chief Handorgan, Chief Wingard, Muskowken, etc. Most of these materials have been digitized and are available through the APS's Digital Library. Also see the finding aid for more background information on Jacobs and detailed itemized lists for both Series I. Correspondence and Series II. Graphic Materials.

Collection:Anathan-Jacobs Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Collection (Mss.SMs.Coll.13)

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Ayoquesco Zapotec

Culture:

Zapotec includes: Zapoteco, Zapoteca

Language:English | Zapotec, Ayoquesco

Date:1970

Contributor:MacLaury, Robert E., 1944-

Type:Still Image | Text

Genre:Theses | Photographs

Extent:230 pages

Description: From 1968-1970, the anthropologist Robert E. MacLaury conducted fieldwork on Zapotec (Oto-Manguean) language and ethnography at Santa Maria Ayoquesco de Aldama, Oaxaca. His masters thesis based on that research, "Ayoquesco Zapotec: Ethnography, Phonology, and Lexicon," was accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a master's degree in anthropology at the University of the Americas in 1970. Includes eighty black and white photocopy photographs of Zapotec Indians in Santa Maria Ayoquezco de Aldama, Oaxaca, Mexico from 1968-1970. Taken by MacLaury while conducting fieldwork for his thesis, the images reflect the social life and customs of the people, including clothing, utensils, daily activities and dwellings. See finding aid for related material.

Collection:Ayoquesco Zapotec (Mss.497.4.M22)

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Bedouin materials, ACLS collection

Culture:

Bedouin

Language:German

Date:1933

Contributor:Lange, Gertrud, 1879-

Subject:Clothing and dress

Type:Text

Genre:Sketches | Watercolors | Theses | Illustrations

Extent:60 sketches; 196 pages

Description: The only Bedouin materials in the ACLS collection are two related items, 52a and 52b: "Die Trachten des vorderen Orients". This is a thesis submitted to the University of Hamburg about clothing in North Africa and the Middle East, including Bedouin clothing as well as Turkic and Persian, with color sketches.

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

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Colonial gender discourse and the Delaware Indians; 1991

Culture:

Lenape includes: Lenni-Lenape, Delaware

Haudenosaunee includes: Iroquois, Onkwehonwe

Language:English

Date:1991

Contributor:Lowe, Joan L.

Type:Text

Genre:Theses

Extent:86 pages

Description: This senior thesis for honors in American History was submitted to the University of Pennsylvania in 1991. Lowe's advisors were Anthony F. C. Wallace and Edward C. Carter III. The author was inspired by Peggy Reeves Sanday and Carroll Smith-Rosenberg to develop a feminist perspective in her study of history, and approaches the "Delaware as women" trope accordingly to argue that Delawares adopted a "European gender discourse" that "contributed to the erosion of Delaware Indian culture." Lowe focuses on laying out the background of the "Delaware as women"problem; analyzing morality (particular sexual mores), gender roles, and the use of the word "petticoats" in the context of Delaware culture; the position of the Delawares in relation to the Haudenosaunee; land disputes and agreements; the fur trade; religion, particularly Moravian missionaries and native prophets; and politics. Gift of Joan L. Lowe.

Collection:Colonial gender discourse and the Delaware Indians; 1991 (Mss.970.3.L948c)

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Count Paolo Andreani journals, 1783?-1791

Culture:

Tuscarora includes: Ska:rù:rę'

Seneca includes: Onöndowága

Oneida includes: Onyota'a:ka

Onondaga includes: Onöñda'gega'

Mohawk includes: Kanienʼkehá꞉ka

Haudenosaunee includes: Iroquois, Onkwehonwe

Language:Italian

Date:1790

Contributor:Andreani, Paolo, 1763-1823

Type:Text

Genre:Microfilms | Diaries | Travel narratives | Transcripts | Translations

Extent:118 pages

Description: Count Paolo Andreani was an aeronaut, physicist, naturalist, and traveler. This is a translation of his travel diaries from originals owned by Count Antonio Sormani Verri, of Milan. Includes Frammenti de Diario, a fragment of a diary kept on a trip to Britain, circa 1783-1784; Viaggio da Milano a Parigi, journal of a voyage from Milan to Paris, 1784; Viaggi di un gentiluomo milanese, Giornale, typed transcriptions of the travels of a gentleman from Milan, containing notes on the Iroquois [Haudenosaunee] Indians, 1790; Giornale de Filadelfia a Quebec, journal from Philadelphia to Quebec, 1791; and, journal of a trip through New York state (including visits to Albany, the reservations of the Haudenosaunee, Saratoga, and the Shaker community at New Lebanon), 1790. Of particular importance are his comments on the Haudenosaunee, from Albany to the Haudenosaunee, pages 32-85, especially pages 45-85, which is copied in a typed transcript by Count Antonio Sormani Verri, 15 pages. Discusses the Oneida: dress, physical type, government, religion; discusses Tuscarora and Onondaga; comments on language of Mohawks. Vocabularies, sentences of Onondaga, Oneida, and Seneca.

Collection:Count Paolo Andreani journals, 1783?-1791 (Mss.Film.604)

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Elisha Kent Kane Papers

Culture:

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

Language:English

Date:circa 1850-1857

Contributor:Kane, Elisha Kent, 1820-1857

Type:Still Image | Text

Extent:.5 linear feet

Description: Philadelphia-born adventurer Elisha Kent Kane is perhaps best remembered for his involvement in both the First and Second Grinnell Expeditions (1850-1851 and 1853-1855, respectively) in search of lost Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin. The Elisha Kent Kane Papers also deal with Kane's other travels (to China, Africa, Mexico, etc.) as well as his rather scandalous personal life. During his time in the Arctic, Kane observed local Inuit peoples, and as an incessant doodler he created hundreds of images as well as textual records. Kane's observations of Inuits are located primarily in Series IV. Bound Volumes and Series V. Graphics. Series IV includes a notebook, a letterbook (with sketches, including images of Inuits kayaking), a logbook, a notebook of specimens located in the Arctic, a meteorological journal, and a diary from the First Grinnell Expedition, and two volumes of notebooks (with meteorological observations and sketches) from the Second Grinnell Expedition. Series V contains over 200 sketches, watercolors, silhouettes, maps, and engravings of Inuits of Baffin Bay drawn by Kane during both arctic expeditions. Primarily from the first trip, images include portraits of individuals in native attire, landscapes, dwellings, hunting tools, kayaks, and encampments. As noted above, Kane's log and notebooks are also dotted throughout with sketches. Of note in the Graphics series is a watercolor of an Inuit boy netting auks. Kane's published works, "The United States Grinnell expedition in search of Sir John Franklin (1853)" and "Arctic explorations: the second expedition…(1857)," include engravings of all his original drawings. These images are referenced in the sketch file, the finding aid contains a detailed inventory, and some have been digitized and are part of the APS Digital Library. There might also be some Inuit-related material in Series I. Correspondence and Series III. George W. Corner, Notes on Elisha Kent Kane. Corner prepared a biography of Kane, and this series includes copies of letters and documents relating to Kane and his expeditions held in other libraries, as well as some of Corner's notes and drafts of writings on Kane, including a copy of A.F.C. Wallace, "An interdisciplinary approach to mental disorder among the Polar Eskimos of Northwest Greenland."

Collection:Elisha Kent Kane Papers (Mss.B.K132)

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Etats-Unis d'amerique

Culture:

Seminole includes: Yat'siminoli

Oneida includes: Onyota'a:ka

Mohawk includes: Kanienʼkehá꞉ka

Lenape includes: Lenni-Lenape, Delaware

Haudenosaunee includes: Iroquois, Onkwehonwe

Language:French

Date:circa 1837

Contributor:Roux de Rochelle, 1762-1849

Type:Still Image | Text

Genre:Books | Sketches | Engravings

Extent:2 volumes

Description: These two bound volumes contain a published first edition, 1837, of Jean Baptiste Gaspard Roux de Rochelle's Etats-Unis D'Amerique (History of the United States of America), a Frenchman's take on American history and culture, and a companion volume of original sketches used for the 96 engraved plates. Many of the images--of American scenes and history--in the second volume appear to be based on the work of de Bry and other artists. Some are in color. There are 27 original drawings of Native Americans and 27 steel engravings of the same. They depict indigenous people, primarily from the, in native attire hunting, fishing, playing, mourning, warring, eating, cooking, and celebrating. Some illustrations accompanying the early text are based on Theodore De Bry's engravings of John White's watercolor drawings of Roanoke in 1585. The later historical text is accompanied by illustrations of Oneidas, Mohawks, and Delawares conferring or warring with Europeans. There are also sketches of petroglyphs, pottery, wampum, and headgear. Illustrators and engravers include Vernier, Branche, and Milbert. Some images have been digitized.

Collection:Etats-Unis d'amerique (Mss.917.3.R76)