Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology Search this
Extent:
245 Linear feet ((376 boxes and 10 map drawers))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1878-1965
Summary:
The records in this collection embody the administrative functions of the Bureau of American Ethnology from 1879 to 1965. The collection consists of correspondence, card files, registers, official notices, annual and monthly work reports, research statements, research proposals, grant applications, personnel action requests, notices of personnel action, meeting minutes, purchase orders and requisitions, property records, biographical sketches, resolutions, newspaper clippings, reviews of publications, drafts of publications, circulars, programs, pamphlets, announcements, illustrations, cartographic materials, photographic prints, photographic negatives, bibliographies, and reprinted publications.
Scope and Contents:
The records in this collection embody the administrative functions of the Bureau of American Ethnology from 1879 to 1965. The collection consists of correspondence, card files, registers, official notices, annual and monthly work reports, research statements, research proposals, grant applications, personnel action requests, notices of personnel action, meeting minutes, purchase orders and requisitions, property records, biographical sketches, resolutions, newspaper clippings, reviews of publications, drafts of publications, circulars, programs, pamphlets, announcements, illustrations, cartographic materials, photographic prints, photographic negatives, bibliographies, and reprinted publications.
Correspondence comprises the bulk of this collection. A significant portion of this correspondence originates from the Bureau's duty to field inquiries regarding North American aboriginal cultures and respond to requests relating to the duplication of BAE library and archival materials. Inquiries and requests, received from all parts of the world, were submitted by colleagues, museum curators and directors, students, professors, amateur archaeologists, government agents, military officials, Smithsonian Institution officials, artists, and members of the general public. Other correspondence reflects the Bureau's day-to-day operations and internal affairs. Subjects discussed in this correspondence include research projects, field expeditions, annual budgets, personnel matters, the acquisition of manuscripts, the disbursement of specimens, and production of BAE publications. Correspondence is occasionally accompanied by announcements, circulars, programs, pamphlets, photographs, drawings, diagrams, bibliographies, lists, newspaper clippings, and maps. Also among these records are the card files and registers of incoming and outgoing correspondence maintained by early BAE administrative staff. For a list of correspondents, see the appendix to this finding aid, available in the NAA reading room.
The majority of illustrations, artwork, and photographs that appear in this collection are associated with BAE publications, including BAE Annual Reports, BAE Bulletins, Contributions to North American Ethnology and Smithsonian Institution, Miscellaneous Collection. Maps located among the collection originate, by and large, from BAE field expeditions and research projects. BAE staff also amassed great quantities of newspaper clippings that concerned BAE research or points of interest. Of particular note are three scrapbooks comprised of clippings that relate to "mound builders" and the work of the BAE's Division of Mound Explorations.
Also worthy of note are the various records relating to the 1903 investigation of the BAE. Records related to the investigation highlight the Smithsonian Institution's longstanding dissatisfaction with the internal management of the BAE, its concerns over the BAE's loose relationship with the parent organization, and displeasure with the manner in which BAE scientific research was developing. Other materials of special interest are the various administrative records covering the period 1929 to 1946 and 1949 to 1965. The majority cover personnel matters; however, others justify the work of the BAE and bear witness to growing concerns that the BAE would eventually be absorbed by the Department of Anthropology within the United States National Museum.
Arrangement:
The collection has been arranged into the following 12 series: (1) Correspondence, 1897-1965; (2) Cooperative Ethnological Investigations, 1928-1935; (3) Miscellaneous Administrative Files, 1929-1946; (4) Miscellaneous Administrative Files, 1949-1965; (5) Records Concerning the Photographic Print Collection, 1899-1919; (6) Records Concerning Employees; (7) Fiscal Records, 1901-1902 and 1945-1968; (8) Records Relating to the 1903 Investigation of the BAE; (9) Property Records and Requisitions; (10) Clippings; (11) Publications; (12) BAE Library Materials, Pamphlets and Reprints
Administrative History:
The Bureau of Ethnology was established by an act of the United States Congress on March 3, 1879, but it was largely the personal creation of the geologist and explorer Major John Wesley Powell. His earlier explorations of the Colorado River and Grand Canyon formed the basis of the Geographical and Geological Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region. While exploring the area, Powell became alarmed at what he perceived to be the decline of the aboriginal way of life due to rapid depopulation. In a letter to the Secretary of the Interior, he warned that "in a few years, it will be impossible to study…Indians in their primitive condition, except from recorded history" (Hinsley). He urged swift government action; the result of which was the appropriation of $20,000 (20 Stat. 397) to transfer all documents relating to North American Indians from the Department of Interior to the Smithsonian Institution and its Secretary's appointment of Powell as director of the newly established Bureau of Ethnology, a position he held until his death in 1902. In 1897, its name was changed to the Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE) to underscore the limits of its geographical reaches.
Under Powell, the BAE organized the nation's earliest anthropological field expeditions, in which the characteristics and customs of native North Americans were observed firsthand and documented in official reports. Images of Indian life were captured on photographic glass plate negatives, and their songs on wax cylinder recordings. Histories, vocabularies and myths were gathered, along with material objects excavated from archaeological sites, and brought back to Washington for inclusion in the BAE manuscript library or the United States National Museum.
The fruits of these investigations were disseminated via a series of highly regarded and widely distributed publications, most notably BAE Annual Reports, BAE Bulletins, and Contributions to North American Ethnology. BAE research staff also responded routinely to inquiries posed by colleagues, government agencies, and the general public on matters ranging from artwork to warfare. Moreover, the BAE prepared exhibits on the various cultural groups it studied not only for the Smithsonian Institution, but also for large expositions held nationwide.
In 1882 Powell, under instruction of Congress, established the Division of Mound Explorations for the purpose of discovering the true origin of earthen mounds found predominately throughout the eastern United States. It was the first of three temporary, yet significant, subunits supported by the Bureau. Cyrus Thomas, head of the Division, published his conclusions in the Bureau's Annual Report of 1894, which is considered to be the last word in the controversy over the mounds' origins. With the publication of Thomas' findings, the Division's work came to a close.
The course of BAE operations remained largely the same under Powell's successors: W.J. McGee (acting director) 1902; William Henry Holmes, 1902-1910; Frederick W. Hodge, 1910-1918; J. Walter Fewkes, 1918-1928; Matthew W. Stirling, 1928-1957; Frank H.H. Roberts, Jr., 1957-1964; and Henry B. Collins (acting director), 1964-1965. However, following a 1903 internal investigation of the Bureau's administrative activities, Smithsonian officials called for a broader scope of ethnological inquiry and greater application of anthropological research methodologies. The BAE responded in 1904 by expanding agency activities to include investigations in Hawaii, the Philippines, and the Caribbean.
The BAE extended its geographical reaches once again, in the 1940s, to include Central and South America. In 1943, the Institute of Social Anthropology (ISA) was established as an independent subunit of the Bureau for the purpose of developing and promoting ethnological research throughout the American Republics. The findings of ISA-sponsored investigations were published in the six volume series, Handbook of South American Indians (BAE Bulletin 143). Julian H. Steward, editor of the Handbook, was appointed director of ISA operations and held the position until 1946 when George M. Foster assumed responsibility. The ISA was absorbed by the Institute of Inter-American Affairs in 1952, thus terminating its relationship with the BAE.
In 1946 the BAE assumed partial administrative control of the recently established River Basin Surveys (RBS), its third and final autonomous subunit. The purpose of the RBS was to salvage and preserve archaeological evidence threatened by post-World War II public works programs, more specifically the rapid construction of dams and reservoirs occurring throughout the country. Excavations conducted under the RBS yielded considerable data on early North American Indian settlements, and subsequent deliberations on this data were published as reports in various BAE Bulletins.
In 1965, the BAE merged administratively with the Smithsonian Institution's Department of Anthropology to form the Office of Anthropology within the United States National Museum (now the Department of Anthropology within the National Museum of Natural History). The BAE manuscript library, also absorbed by the Department of Anthropology, became the foundation of what is today the National Anthropological Archives (NAA).
In its 86 year existence, the BAE played a significant role in the advancement of American anthropology. Its staff included some of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries' most distinguished anthropologists, including Jeremiah Curtain, Frank Hamilton Cushing, J.O. Dorsey, Jesse Walter Fewkes, Alice Cunningham Fletcher, Albert H. Gatschet, John Peabody Harrington, John N.B. Hewitt, William Henry Holmes, Ales Hrdlicka, Neil Judd, Francis LaFlesche, Victor and Cosmo Mindeleff, James Mooney, James Pilling, Matilda Coxe Stevenson, Matthew Williams Stirling, William Duncan Strong, and William Sturtevant. The BAE also collaborated with and supported the work of many non-Smithsonian researchers, most notably Franz Boas, Frances Densmore, Gerard Fowke, Garrick Mallery, Washington Matthews, Paul Radin, John Swanton, Cyrus Thomas, and T.T. Waterman, as well as America's earliest field photographers such as Charles Bell, John K. Hillers, Timothy O'Sullivan, and William Dinwiddie. Several of its staff founded the Anthropological Society of Washington in 1880, which later became the American Anthropological Association in 1899. What is more, its seminal research continues to be drawn upon by contemporary anthropologists and government agents through the use of BAE manuscripts now housed in the NAA.
Sources Consulted:
Hinsley, Curtis. Savages and Scientists: The Smithsonian Institution and the Development of American Anthropology, 1846-1910. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1981.
McGee, WJ. "Bureau of American Ethnology." The Smithsonian Institution, 1846-1896, The History of its First Half-Century, pp. 367-396. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1897.
Sturtevant, William. "Why a Bureau of American Ethnology?" Box 286, Functions of the BAE, Series IV: Miscellaneous Administrative Files, 1948-1965, Records of the Bureau of American Ethnology, National Anthropological Archives.
Related Materials:
Additional material relating to BAE administrative affairs and research projects can be found among the National Anthropological Archives' vast collection of numbered manuscripts. Too numerous to list in this space, these include official correspondence, monthly and annual work reports, fiscal records, field notes, personal diaries, expedition logs, catalogues of specimens, vocabularies, historical sketches, maps, diagrams, drawings, bibliographies, working papers and published writings, among various other material. Most of these documents are dispersed throughout the numbered manuscript collection as single items; however, some have been culled and unified into larger units (e.g., MS 2400 is comprised of documents relating to the Division of Mound Explorations). Artwork and illustrations produced for BAE publications are also located among the NAA's numbered manuscript collection as well as its photograph collection (e.g., Photo Lot 78-51 and Photo Lot 80-6).
Photographs concerning BAE research interests can be found among the following NAA photographic lots: Photo Lot 14, Bureau of American Ethnology Subject and Geographic File ca. 1870s-1930s; Photo Lot 24, BAE Photographs of American Indians 1840s to 1960s (also known as the Source Print Collection); Photo Lot 60, BAE Reference Albums 1858-1905; and Photo Lot 85, BAE Miscellaneous Photographs 1895 to 1930. Other photographic lots include portraits of BAE staff and collaborators, namely Photo Lot 33, Portraits of Anthropologists and others 1860s-1960s; Photo Lot 68, Portraits of John Wesley Powell ca. 1890 and 1898; and Photo Lot 70, Department of Anthropology Portrait File ca. 1864-1921.
Additional materials in the NAA relating to the work of the BAE can be found among the professional papers of its staff, collaborators and USNM anthropologists. These include the papers of Ales Hrdlicka, John Peabody Harrington, Otis Mason, J.C. Pilling, Matthew Williams Stirling, and William Duncan Strong. Documents relating to the work of the BAE can be found among the records of the River Basin Surveys (1928-1969) and the Institute of Social Anthropology (1941-1952).
Records related to this collection can also be found in the Smithsonian Institution Archives (SIA). SIA accession 05-124 includes information regarding the 1942 transfer of six audio recordings related to the Chumash Indian language from the Bureau of American Ethnology to the National Archives, nine pages of Chumash translations, and "The Story of Candalaria, the Old Indian Basket-Maker." The Fiscal and Payroll Records of the Office of the Secretary, 1847 to 1942 (Record Unit 93), includes voucher logs, disbursement journals and daybooks of money paid out to the BAE from 1890 to 1910. BAE correspondence can also be found among the Records of the Office of the Secretary (Record Unit 776, accession 05-162). The Papers of William Henry Holmes, second director of the BAE, are also located among the SIA (Record Unit 7084).
Accession records concerning artifacts and specimens collected by the BAE are located in the registrar's office of the National Museum of Natural History.
Related collections can also be found at the National Archives and Records Administration. RG 57.3.1, the Administrative Records of the United States Geological Survey, includes register of applications for BAE ethnological expositions conducted between 1879-1882. RG 75.29, Still Pictures among the Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, includes 22 photographs of Arapaho, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Comanche, Navajo, and Apache Indians taken by William S. Soule for the BAE during 1868-1875. RG 106, Records of the Smithsonian Institution, includes cartographic records (106.2) relating to Indian land cessions in Indiana created for the First Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1881 (1 item); a distribution of American Indian linguistic stock in North America and Greenland, by John Wesley Powell, for the Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, ca. 1887 (1 item); a distribution of Indian tribal and linguistic groups in South America, 1950 (1 item); the Indian tribes in North America, for Bulletin 145, Bureau of American Ethnology, 1952 (4 items). Sound Recordings (106.4) include songs and linguistic material relating to the Aleut, Mission, Chumash, and Creek, gather by the BAE in 1912, 1914, 1930-41. Some include translations (122 items).
Provenance:
The Records of the Bureau of American Ethnology were transferred to the Smithsonian Office of Anthropology Archives with the merger of the BAE and the Department of Anthropology of the National Museum of Natural History in 1965. The Smithsonian Office of Anthropology Archives was renamed the National Anthropological Archives in 1968.
Restrictions:
The Records of the Bureau of American Ethnology are open for research.
Access to the Records of the Bureau of American Ethnology requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact repository for terms of use.
Citation:
Records of the Bureau of American Ethnology, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Also letter to Frederick W. Hodge, with emendations to the manuscript. San Francisco, California. April 27, 1905. Autograph letter signed. 1 page. Includes discussion of "Current Tribal names that are Ambiguous. "Ute, Paiute, Shoshoni, Bannock, Snake; and sections on Gabrielino, Serrano, Luiseno, San Juan Capistrano, Agua Caliente, Cahuilla, Santa Barbara, Monachi, Kawaiisu, Tubatulabal.
Title page of manuscript carries A. note S. : F. W. H. [Hodge]: "This material has been extracted for the Dictionary of Tribes ["Handbook of American Indians," Bureau of American Ethnology-Bulletin 30, Washington, 1907, 1910] by Dr Swanton."
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Tintypes
Chromolithographs
Lithographs
Prints
Pages
Photographs
Newspapers
Woodcuts
Place:
Mexico
Taos Pueblo (N.M.)
California
Oregon
Fort Davis (Tex.)
New Mexico
Fort Snelling (Minn.)
Arizona
Texas
San Juan Pueblo (N.M.)
Zuni (N.M.)
Kansas
Colorado
Date:
circa 1863-1900
Summary:
Scrapbook entitled "Our Wild Indians in Peace and War: Surveys, Expeditions, Mining and Scenery of the Great West," compiled by James E. Taylor, possibly as a source for his own illustrations.
Scope and Contents:
Scrapbook entitled "Our Wild Indians in Peace and War: Surveys, Expeditions, Mining and Scenery of the Great West," compiled by James E. Taylor, possibly as a source for his own illustrations. The album includes photographs (mostly albumen with three tintypes), newsclippings, wood engravings, and lithographs, some of which are reproductions of Taylor's own illustrations and paintings. Photographs depict American Indians, US Army soldiers and scouts, historical sites, forts, and scenery. Some were made on expeditions, including the Hayden and Powell surveys, and created from published stereographs. Many of Taylor's illustrations are signed, and some are inscribed with dates and "N. Y." The scrapbook also includes clippings from newspapers and other written sources relating to illustrations and photographs in the album.
Biographical Note:
James E. Taylor (1839-1901) was an artist-correspondent for Leslie's Illustrated Weekly Newspaper from 1863-1883. Born in Cincinatti, Ohio, he graduated from Notre Dame University by the age of sixteen. Taylor enlisted in the 10th New York Infantry in 1861 and the next year was hired by Leslie's Illustrated newspaper as a "Special Artist" and war correspondent. In 1864 he covered the Shenandoah Valley campaign, and was later one of the illustrator-correspondents at the 1867 treaty negotiations at Medicine Lodge, Kansas. He soon earned the moniker "Indian Artist" because of his vast number of drawings of American Indians. In 1883 Taylor retired from Leslie's to work as a freelance illustrator. Colonel Richard Irving Dodge used Taylor's drawings to illustrate his memoir, "Our Wild Indians: Thirty-three Years' Personal Experience among the Red Men of the Great West" (1882).
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 4605
Related Materials:
The National Anthropolgical Archives holds additional photographs by photographers represented in this collection (including original negatives for some of these prints), particularly in Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 37, Photo Lot 60, Photo Lot 87.
Additional photographs by Whitney, Gardner, and Barry held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 80-18.
Julian Vannerson and James E. McClees photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 4286.
Pywell photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 4498.
O'Sullivan photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo lot 4501.
Additional Hillers photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 83-18 and Photo Lot 87-2N.
Provenance:
Donated or transferred by John Witthoft from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, April 14, 1961.
Indians of North America -- Northwest Coast of North America Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Field notes
Vocabulary
Date:
1940, 1942
Scope and Contents:
This subseries of the Alaska/Northwest Coast series contains Harrington's Galice / Applegate field notes. They represent his work with informant Hoxie Simmons (abbreviated Hox.) on at least two occasions. The bulk of the work was accomplished during a visit to Siletz, Oregon made in early 1940, undoubtedly at the suggestion of Melville Jacobs (listed as Jacobs in the notes). A lesser amount of data were collected on Harrington's return to the area in the spring or early summer of 1942 to work with speakers of other southwest Oregon Athapascan languages. An unidentified individual referred to as "Harrison" (possibly a Chetco speaker) was also present at some of the sessions.
The material is highly miscellaneous, consisting of a short vocabulary with scattered notes on the linguistic relationship of neighboring languages and the location of tribal boundaries. Limited biographical information is provided for Simmons and for other native speakers of Oregon languages. The vocabulary, covering mostly tribenames and natural history terms, is principally in Galice (Gal.) with some Applegate (ApI.) and a few Chasta Costa (Chast., Chasta., Costa.) equivalences. Some words were elicited from Simmons for comparison with the Upper Umpqua (U.U.) terms Harrington had just recently obtained from John Warren at Grand Ronde. At a later date Harrington annotated certain pages with comparisons from Navajo and Carrier data which he got from a Navajo speaker named Adolph Dodge Bitanny (Bit.) and from his co-worker on northern Athapascan, Robert W. Young (Y.).
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
Indians of North America -- Northwest Coast of North America Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Field notes
Vocabulary
Maps
Place:
Siletz Indian Reservation (Or.)
Rogue River (Klamath County-Curry County, Or.)
Illinois River (Or.)
Oregon
Date:
1933
Scope and Contents:
This subseries of the Alaska/Northwest Coast series contains Harrington's Takelma research. His linguistic, ethnographic, and biographical notes contain information from Frances Johnson, Molly Orcutt, and, to a lesser extent, Aneti Scott. Vocabulary consists primarily of animal names, with descriptions of animals and comments on their range and habits. There are many annotations regarding pronunciation, comparisons between forms in various dialects, and several references to myths. Much of the data from Johnson was elicited for comparison with vocabulary she had provided years earlier for Edward Sapir's (1922) study of Takelma. There are smaller sections covering tribe names, material culture, and miscellaneous vocabulary. Considerable biographical information on the residents of the Siletz area and elsewhere is included.
There are also notes that reflect information recorded separately from Frances Johnson and Molly Orcutt on trips to the Rogue and Illinois Rivers area in Oregon. Harrington also obtained an appreciable amount of data from whites he interviewed. George and Evelyn Baker traveled with him and the Indian women from Siletz. White residents they met along the way include Mr. Crow, Mr. Holst, Mr. Emanuell, Miss Savage, Mr. Lyman, J. T. Tuffs, and Mr. Murphy. Harrington's preferred method of operation was to take several people on sidetrips with his linguistic informant to places with which these people were familiar. He noted car mileage from the starting point and recorded the specific location of each important place, its various names in Takelma and English, its history, and past or present significance to Indians and whites. Sketch maps were made of some areas with the assistance of a number of the informants. Much of the placename data were rechecked upon return to Siletz. Among the Takelma lands covered are places along the Rogue River, the south fork of the Umpqua River, Grants Pass, Table Rock, Jacksonville, Gold Hill, Ashland, Medford, Cow Creek, and Galice Creek. The outlying regions around the Klamath River and Coos Bay are also mentioned.
Biographical / Historical:
After recording Shasta and Konomihu in northern California during the early fall of 1933, John P. Harrington crossed the state border into Oregon to work on Takelma. He worked first with Frances Johnson (referred to as Frances, Fr., Frz., F.J., Phr.), an elderly native of a village on Jump-off-Joe Creek, who had worked with Edward Sapirt at Siletz Reservation in the summer of 1906. He began interviewing her in October and then took her on a placename trip to former Takelma territory on November 2nd through the 4th.
After his return to the Siletz area, Harrington worked with two other people. On November 5th he spoke with Aneti (Mrs. Spencer) Scott, a bedridden woman in her eighties. She gave him vocabulary in her native Applegate as well as words in Takelma which she had learned from her first husband, Evans Bill. Molly Orcutt (sometimes referred to as Orton, abbreviated as Molly, Moy., Mo.), mentioned as a speaker of the Table Rock Dialect, also gave him considerable linguistic data. On November 13th through the 19th Harrington again returned to the original tribal lands to record placenames from her. It appears that Harrington made a final check on the tribenames and placenames he had obtained with Aneti and Orcutt in Siletz before returning to California.
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
Indians of North America -- California Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Field notes
Vocabulary
Maps
Place:
California
Date:
1926, 1942
Scope and Contents:
This subseries of the Northern and Central California series contains John P. Harrington's research on Wiyot, Yurok, and Mattole. Throughout his notes, Wiyot is abbreviated Sul. for Sulaatlak and, rarely, Wiy. Yurok is abbreviated Yur. or Trin[idad] lang[uage], and Mattole is abbreviated M. or B[ear] R[iver] Mat. The Wiyot vocabulary consists of thirteen pages of numbers and terms for counting obtained during an interview with Amos Riley at Indianola on March 5, 1926. The name for Eel River is given and there are several references to two other Wiyot speakers, Jerry and Birdie James. The comparative vocabulary section consists of lexical items semantically arranged. The majority of the terms are Wiyot forms given by Birdie James and Amos Riley, although some equivalences in Yurok from James and in Mattole from Theodore Prince are interspersed. A variety of vocabulary is given, with tribenames and placenames being the most numerous. The data in these last two categories are particularly detailed and include etymologies, references to Indian trails, a few rough sketch maps, and comments on names excerpted from several secondary sources (Reichard 1925; Nomland and Kroeber 1936). Another set of files is composed of comments from Yurok and Wiyot speakers on published placename data from T. T. Waterman (1920) and Llewellyn L. Loud (1918). The first section, labeled "C. W. on Wat.," contains comments by Charlie Williams on tribenames and placenames given in the text and on associated maps (Rectangles A, B, H. I, J, K) in Waterman's "Yurok Geography." While most of the locations discussed are in the region of the Klamath River mouth, places in Tolowa, Wiyot, and Hupa territory are also mentioned. Unmarked forms are presumably Yurok names from Williams. His data were partially checked over with Birdie James, who gave both Yurok and Wiyot terms. A few comments were added by Orick Bob. The second section of rehearings is keyed to Rectangles H, I, J, and K in Waterman. Many of the placenames treated are in the Redwood Creek area near the home of Yurok speaker Orick Bob. Bob also volunteered a few terms for animals and tribes. The third section features comments of Birdie James on placenames given by Waterman, and by Loud in his "Ethnogeography and Archaeology of the Wiyot Territory." Harrington also utilized a number of maps (Belcher 1921; U. S. C. & G. S. 1940) in his work. A brief compilation of miscellaneous vocabulary found with the placename data appears at the end. To serve as a questionnaire for his work with Isaac Duncan and Johnny Jackson, Harrington gleaned placenames from Goddard's "The Bear River Dialect of Athapascan" and Nomland's "Sinkyone Notes" and "Bear River Ethnography." Many of the Mattole terms he obtained are unlabeled, making it difficult at times to determine who provided the data. Most of the placenames are from the Bear River and Mattole River regions; in addition there are a limited number from the Eel River area and beyond. Stories, miscellaneous vocabulary, and biographical notes are also included. A small section of miscellaneous notes appears at the end of the field data. Included are biographical notes on the informants and others, notes from the Hupa speaker, Dusky, a few observations by Harrington on the phonetics of the languages, general information on Gladys A. Reichard's work, and notes from a conversation with C. F. Voegelin regarding Yurok, Nootka, and Algonquian.
Supplemental material consists of copies which Harrington made of
Alfred L. Kroeber's field data. One set of notes, labeled "Yurok (collected by A. L. Kroeber, copied by J.P.H.)" consists of words and
phrases. The second group is preceded by an explanatory note which
refers to a Kroeber letter of 1906. Harrington copied vocabulary items
from a series of Kroeber's notebooks onto separate slips for further
analysis. Only sample pages of these files have been filmed to show
Harrington's format; the original field notes are located at the Bancroft
Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Biographical / Historical:
During his work on Karok in the spring of 1926, John P. Harrington recorded a brief vocabulary in Wiyot from Amos Riley of Indianola, California. It was not until sixteen years later that he returned to the area to make a more thorough study of that language and the related Yurok. He simultaneously recorded a lesser amount of Mattole data for comparison with other languages of the Northwest Coast and California which he had been recording.
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
Indians of North America -- California Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Field notes
Vocabulary
Place:
California -- History
Date:
1939
Scope and Contents:
This subseries of the Northern and Central California series contains Harrington's research on Coast Miwok.
The majority of the data obtained from Julia Elgin and Marion Miranda consists of comments on the names of old village sites recorded by Samuel A. Barrett (1908). Harrington used extracts from the chapter on Moquelumnan (Miwokan) as a basis for eliciting data from Elgin, then reviewed her information with Miranda. The arrangement of the placenames follows that used by Barrett in his sections on western and southern dialects (pages 303-314).
A little miscellaneous vocabulary and several pages giving biographical information on the informants and on other Miwok are also included. On one page, reference is made to a word seen on the flyleaf of Henry W. Henshaw's San Rafael vocabulary (1888). A partial copy of that manuscript was found elsewhere in the notes, although none of the vocabulary itself was reheard.
In addition to linguistic data, Harrington obtained historical and ethnographic information while in the Coast Miwok region. His major source was Rose Gaffney of Salmon Creek. She provided him with details on the natural history of the area, the lives of the residents and various historical events. Harrington was particularly interested in accounts of Russian influence in the area. While on sidetrips with Gaffney, he made a number of sketch maps of such sites as Fort Ross. Interfiled with his field data are extracts from "The Russians in California" (1933). This section of notes also includes records of Harrington's brief interviews with Mr. Shields of Marshall and Mrs. E. S. Karlson, introduced to him by Rose Gaffney in Sebastopol. As in the linguistic notes, a number of references are made to Isabelle Kelley's' field work in the area.
Biographical / Historical:
The early summer of 1939 found Harrington in San Francisco, California, attending the World's Fair. His proximity to Miwok and Maiduan territory prompted him to work briefly on those languages. Interviews concerning Coast Miwok took place during several weeks in mid-June; the dates June 15, 16, and 25 are specifically mentioned.
Harrington worked with Julia Elgin, a speaker of the Marin dialect, and Marion (Mariano) Miranda, who provided both Bodega and "Nicaseno" [Marin?] forms, and a few Pomo terms. Information of a nonlinguistic nature was furnished by Gib Elgin, Julia's husband; Rose and Bill Gaffney, at whose house Harrington stayed; Mrs. E. S. Karlson of Sebastopol; and Mr. Shields of the Marshall hotel and post office.
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
Indians of North America -- California Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Field notes
Vocabulary
Narratives
Manuscripts
Place:
California
Date:
1922
Scope and Contents:
This subseries of the Northern and Central California series contains Harrington's research on Achomawi, Atsugewi, Wintu, and Yana. Materials include his notes on Achomawi, Atsugewi, Wintu and Yana vocabulary; notes on Atsugewi grammar; records relating to placenames; stories and myths; and ethnographic and biographical notes.
The first section consists of Achomawi vocabulary. Vocabulary provided by James Hawkins consist of words in the Big Bend or Madessi dialect of Achomawi. Glosses and notes on pronunciation are accompanied by cognates in Atsugewi, Wintu, and Yana. A few comments from Clara Grant were probably added by Harrington on a separate occasion. Copies of miscellaneous Achomawi terms given by Mrs. Hank Haley as equivalences of her husband's Yana vocabulary (see below) are filed following the excerpts from Hawkins. Typed and handwritten copies of lexical items from William Halsey are also included. The original notes from which the latter were extracted have not been located.
Notes on Atsugewi ("Hat Creek") vocabulary and grammar were provided by Clara Grant, Grace and Alec Brown, Captain Jack and Dave Brown, and the group "at Rod[erick]'s." Semantic categories in the notes include geographical terms, plants, animals, and material culture. The grammar files contain additional miscellaneous vocabulary, such as the words for colors and numbers, lists of pronouns, and examples of verbs used in various short sentences.
The Yana vocabulary was obtained from Kate Snooks, Albert Thomas, and Hank Haley and his wife. The vocabulary covers placenames, tribenames, names of plants and animals, terms for material culture, age-sex terms, and numerous phrases and short sentences. Achomawi cognates and a few Atsugewi equivalences from Mrs. Haley are scattered throughout. A small set of Yana linguistic data is from Walter Moody. Harrington also excerpted a little data from his work with the Halseys and Captain Jack and Dave Brown for cross-filing with the Yana.
The subseries also contains a considerable amount of material on Atsugewi placenames. Some were recorded during trips he took with Alec and Grace Brown and Sam Williams. Logs of their travels include descriptions of geographical features and sites, numerous sketch maps, notes on scenic photographs, and anecdotes. Other placenames were provided for regions which Harrington did not visit in person. Much of the data was rechecked with Alec Brown, who provided detailed information on the pronunciation and etymologies of the various placenames.
Textual materials collected by Harrington include an epic-length Achomawi creation myth related by William Halsey. The myth was recorded only in English; a few Pit River terms were given for specialized vocabulary, such as the names of mythological figures and the words of songs. He also obtained a series of short Atsugewi texts from Dave Brown and Captain Jack and Yana text from Hank Haley. In most cases the original handwritten recording of each story is followed by a typed, reworked version. As with the Achomawi myths, the shorter texts are written in English with the addition of a few native terms.
The miscellaneous ethnographic and biographical notes include biographical information on residents of the Pit-River-Hat Creek region. Also included are a detailed description of the manufacture and use of various traps and a few brief remarks of ethnographic interest.
Harrington was not always consistent in the way in which he referred to the languages that he recorded. He used the terms Achomawi (Ach.) and Pit River (Pitr., Pit., Pr., P.) interchangeably. Similarly, he shifted between Atsugewi (Ats.) and Hat Creek (Hatcr., Hc., H.). Yana vocabulary was most frequently marked Noser (Nosu, Nos, Nos.) and sometimes Yana (Y.). Wintu forms were labeled "Win."
Biographical / Historical:
For approximately one month in 1922, from mid-May to mid-June, John P. Harrington did fieldwork in the area of Pit River, Montgomery Creek, and Hat Creek in northern California.
The primary Achomawi speaker with whom he worked was James Hawkins, a twenty-one-year-old speaker of the Big Bend dialect who also knew Atsugewi and a little Wintu and Yana. Harrington acquired some vocabulary and a significant corpus of textual material in English from William Halsey, a doctor of the Madessi band.
For Atsugewi he primarily worked with Clara Grant, who provided a sizable "Hat Creek" (Atsugewi) vocabulary as well as the equivalent forms in Achomawi and Yana. Alec Brown and his wife, Grace, were present at these sessions. Lesser amounts of linguistic data were obtained in the interview at the ranch of Roderick Buckskin, son of the Atsugewi chief Buckskin Jack. The participants were probably Buckskin, Holiday Brown, Sypes Taylor, and Sam Williams. Alec and Grace Brown and Williams also furnished a great deal of data on local placenames, as did Captain Jack; Dave Brown; and his wife, Sarah.
Separate Yana vocabularies were acquired from Kate Snooks, Albert Thomas and Walter Moody. A sizable Yana word list with Pit River equivalents was obtained from Mrs. Hank Haley, who also reheard the forms given by the others.
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
Indians of North America -- California Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Field notes
Vocabulary
Maps
Place:
California
Date:
1916, 1933-1934
Scope and Contents:
This subseries of the Southern California/Basin series contains John P. Harrington's Tubatulabal research.
The vocabulary section contains vocabulary elicited from Angela Lozada in 1916, along with biographical information. Her husband, Juan Lozada confirmed an occasional term. There are a few Kitanemuk and "Tejoneno" (Yokuts) equivalences. There are also animal terms provided by Estevan Miranda in 1934. Some Kitanemuk and "Tulareno" (tu.) equivalences are included.
The grammar section consists of Harrington's reading notes on C.F. Voegelin's "Tubatulabal Grammar," although he organized them according to his own grammatical outline. Most of the notes indicate the page in Voegelin from which they were copied.
Linguistic and ethnographic notes consist of information from Miranda, Pedro Villareal (Old Pedro), Bernabe, and Isabelle Meadows. The latter three provided nonlinguistic information. The notes range over such subjects as myths, tribenames, names and relationships of persons, and reminiscences. There is a reference to a painted cave in Painted Rock Canyon. Equivalences occur in Kitanemuk and "'omo-mi-l."
His placename notes are from trips taken in 1933. Harrington was accompanied by Miranda, Petra Canada and Petra Nicolas on the trips. He kept a mileage log and recorded a running account of placenames with linguistic and ethnographic elaborations, names of persons, and sketch maps of some locations. He interviewed Luciana Benkowa who spoke Tubatulabal and "Tulareno" (Yokuts). Nonlinguistic informants included Pedro Villareal and Bernabe and there are references to the deceased Costanoan woman Omesia. Their itinerary took them through Cameron, Tehachapi, Caliente, Bakersfield, Maricopa, Poso, California Hot Springs, Isabella, Kernville, Fairview, and Weldon.
The subseries also contains notes from separate conversations with T. T. Waterman; C.F. Voegelin; and an unidentified couple, most likely Voegelin and his wife, Erminie. The three conversations loosely touch on the subject of comparative phonetics.
Biographical / Historical:
John P. Harrington's first Tubatulabal vocabulary was elicited from Angela Lozada in December 1916. Lozada and her husband, Juan, were Kitanemuk Indians working with Harrington in the Kitanemuk language as well as Tubatulabal. She came from a Kitanemuk, Serrano, and Tubatulabal background, but claimed to be least fluent in Tubatulabal.
In 1933 and again in the latter half of 1934, Harrington was based mainly in Santa Ana, but also worked out of Los Angeles and the Bakersfield area. At that time and along with fieldwork among many other southern California tribes, Harrington accumulated linguistic and ethnographic information from his principal Tubatulabal informant, Estevan Miranda (Est., Est. M., Esteban). Another informant, Luciana Benkowa, described Miranda's dialect as "Tulareno" rather than Tubatulabal. He was a "regular Poso Creek Indian." Harrington also noted that 'omo-mi-I (Om.) was the language of Miranda's antecedents who, he wrote, lived around Rio Chiquito and Rio Grande. Miranda was in his eighties in 1933.
Two elderly women, Petra Canada (Kennedy) and Petra Nicolas (Nikolds, Petra Mi., Petra Mir.), accompanied Harrington and Miranda on several placename trips covering an area generally between Mojave and the Sequoia National Forest. Isabelle Meadows, a Costanoan associate of Harrington's, was frequently present.
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
This subseries of the Northeast/Southeast series contains Harrington's Creek, Seminole, Alabama, Koasati, and Choctaw research. These include original field notes in Creek and Seminole Harrington took from John Thompson on April 22, 1940, most of which were corrected by Haas on the same date. Another larger group of terms were extracted from Haas' typewritten unpublished manuscript (ca. 1938 -1940) and filed one term to a page in random order. There are no linguistic comments by Harrington. A still larger section labeled "Haas Orthography" contains occasional comments by Harrington. Presumably this section also stems from a then unpublished manuscript by Haas. The majority of his comparative linguistic notes involve Haas and Thompson, with Harrington sitting in as a third party. Choctaw equivalences are based on Byington (1915). A few Koasati and Alabama terms are included. Some notes apparently reflect conversations between Harrington and Haas, with some emphasis on phonetics and ethnohistory. The interview with Sylvestine presumably was brief--it yielded only a few general comments on Alabama placenames. There is a section on the etymology of the name Alabama. Harrington copied various versions from Hodge's "Handbook" (1907) and added some original annotations as well as comments from Haas, Thompson, and Sylvestine. Also in this subseries are two pages of random terms, undated, and no source given. Three Choctaw words were apparently taken from Allen Wright's Chahta Leksikon, a Choctaw in English Definition (1880). The subseries also contans excerpts from conversations Harrington had with Edward Sapir.
Biographical / Historical:
While on a Delaware language field trip centered around Bartlesville, Oklahoma, in April 1940, John P. Harrington evidently found time to be present when the linguist Mary R. Haas interviewed Creek speaker John Thompson. She also commented on notes Harrington took directly from Thompson, and she shared with him information from her unpublished manuscript of Creek vocabulary. He also interviewed James Feagin Sylvestine, a patient at the Shawnee Sanitorium in Oklahoma and an excellent Alabama speaker. Harrington also frequently consulted Cyrus A. Byington's, A Dictionary of the Choctaw Language (1915) and Frederick W. Hodge's "Handbook of the American Indians North of Mexico" (1907).
Indians of North America -- Southern states Search this
Genre/Form:
Field notes
Vocabulary
Manuscripts
Collection Citation:
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
This subseries of the Northeast/Southeast series contains materials pertaining to the area as a whole and those which are too limited in scope to constitute a full subseries in themselves. The files includes reading notes on Henry Clyde Shetrone's The Mound-Builders (1930), signed with the initial B. Notes in an accompanying folder suggest that they may have come to Harrington from Franz Boas. There is also a single remark from John R. Swanton on Ofo and one on Tunica, and the brief mention of a "slender string."
Indians of North America -- Southern states Search this
Collection Citation:
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
This subseries of the Notes and writings on special linguistic studies series contains material that supplement Harrington's Northern and Central California field notes. There are materials on Wiyot/Yurok/Mattole; Nisenan/Northern Sierra Miwok; Southern Pomo/Central Sierra Miwok; Plains Miwok; Karok/Shasta/Konomihu; Chimariko/Hupa; Wailaki; Achomawi/Atsugewi/Wintu/Yana; Yana/Achomawi/Wintu/Chimariko; Costanoan; Esselen; Salinan; and Yokuts. The files include notes Harrington collected from the field, covering linguistic, botanical, biographical, geographical, and ethnographic topics; notes from rehearings; notes and drafts from his papers; notes on his travels and activities; and notes from secondary sources, including field notes from Alfred Kroeber and other colleagues and notes on Sir Francis Drake's travels in California. Some of his botanical notes include scientific identifications and comments by botanist C. V. Morton of the National Herbarium. The Karok section contains labels for Karok baskets housed in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution's Department of Anthropology.
There are also some general and miscellaneous materials, notes relating to collections of artifacts, notes relating to mission records, notes from conversations, notes from secondary sources, and notes and writings collected from others. Miscellaneous material includes lists of possible informants for a number of California languages, bibliographic references, notes on boats, a list of captions for Harrington's paper "Chainfern and Maidenhair, Adornment Materials of Northwestern California Basketry," a tracing of a map labeled "Plano de la Mision San Jose, 1824," additional references to that mission, and a text. The papers contain references to the Hupa, Maidu, and Yurok tribes. Notes on artifacts pertain to collections held by others, including the George Heye collection of artifacts for the Modoc, Klamath, Pomo, Tolowa, Hupa, and Yurok tribes. Notes from conversations includes interviews with Cora DuBois, C. Hart Merriam, Carl F. Voegelin, and T.T. Waterman. Notes from his meeting with Dr. J.W. Hudson are the most extensive. The last file in the subseries consists of notes from a meeting with Ruth Underhill on January 10, 1941, and a notebook which Harrington evidently obtained from her at that time. The notebook contains class notes from a course on Maidu which Underhill had taken at Columbia University in 1932 with Hans Jorgen Uldall. Included are information on phonetics and grammar and a number of texts.
Local Numbers:
Accession #1976-95
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Topic:
Language and languages -- Documentation Search this
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
