Cry of the thunderbird: the American Indian's own story edited and with an introduction and commentary by Charles Hamilton. With paintings by George Catlin and sketches by American Indian artists
Garrick Mallery (1831-1894) was an ethnologist with the Bureau of American Ethnology who focused primarily on Native American sign language and pictography. This collection reflects Mallery's research interests and methods. Much of the collection is comprised of correspondence and notes relating to sign language and pictography and is organized chiefly by either the cultural or geographic region to which the material belongs. Bound volumes of several of his publications are included, along with annotated draft copies from collaborators. In the case of Mallery's work on pictography, the collection includes several oversize items including original works and reproductions.
Scope and Contents:
This collection contains Garrick Mallery's research and writings as a BAE ethnologist and is largely comprised of correspondence and preparatory materials for publications on Native American sign language and pictography. The geographic scope of the material is chiefly the present-day United States and Canada, though other areas of the world are represented less comprehensively. Correspondence and research notes include verbal descriptions of signs, sometimes with illustrations included. Bound volumes of Mallery's publications are included, along with annotations from collaborators. In addition, this collection includes notecards, drawings, illustrations, photographs, articles, and art objects. Art objects (mostly oversize) deal chiefly with Dakota winter counts and other artifacts.
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged into 3 series: 1) Research Notes, undated; 2) Materials on Sign Language, 1843-1849, 1873-1894; 3) Materials on Pictographs and Petroglyphs, 1849-1902, undated
Biographical Note:
Garrick Mallery (1831-1894) was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and practiced law in Philadelphia from 1853 until the outbreak of the American Civil War. While serving in the army, he became interested in Native American sign language and pictography, perhaps while performing his duties in frontier areas. After retiring from the military in 1879, Mallery was appointed to the newly created Bureau of American Ethnology as one of its first ethnologists. In his work with the Bureau, Mallery pioneered the study of sign language and pictographs, examining them as a universal human phenomenon with a direct link to spoken language.
In his work, Mallery collected and examined sign language vocabulary from Native American groups throughout the U.S. and Canada and regularly solicited contributions from collaborators. He also related his findings to examples from the wider world, comparing the formation of Native American signs to those in other areas by hearing individuals and by the deaf. Mallery completed several publications on the topic throughout the 1880s, notably Introduction to the Study of Sign language Among the North American Indians (1880), A Collection of Gesture- Signs and Signals of the North American Indians (1880), and "Sign-language among North American Indians Compared with that Among other People and Deaf-mutes," which appeared in the BAE 1st Annual Report (1881).
While most widely known for his work with sign language, Mallery also undertook extensive research into Native American pictography. Like his work with sign language, he both conducted original research and solicited assistance from collaborators. He was especially interested in the representational images in Dakota winter counts and petroglyphs in the United States and throughout the world.
Sources Consulted
Fletcher, Robert. "Garrick Mallery, President of the Philosophical Society of Washington, in 1888." In Brief Memoirs of Colonel Garrick Mallery, U.S.A., Who Died October 24, 1894, 3-8. Washington: Judd & Detweiler, 1895.
1831 -- Born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on April 25
1850 -- Graduates Yale College
1853 -- Earns LL. B. from the University of Pennsylvania Admitted to the Pennsylvania bar
1853-1861 -- Practices law in Philadelphia
1861 -- Enters the volunteer army of the United States
1862 -- Severely wounded in the battle of Peach Orchard, Virginia Captured and held prisoner at Libby prison in Richmond, Virginia
1866 -- Completes service with volunteer army of the United States Accepts commission in regular army of the United States
1870 -- Marries Helen W. Wyckoff
1879 -- Retires from the United States army due to disability Appointed to the Bureau of American Ethnology
1880 -- Publishes Introduction to the Study of Sign-Language Among the North American Indians as Illustrating the Gesture-Speech of Mankind and A Collection of Gesture-Signs and Signals of the North American Indians With Some Comparisons
1881 -- Publishes "Sign Language Among North American Indians, Compared with that Among Other Peoples and Deaf-Mutes"
1894 -- Dies after a short illness in Washington, D.C., on October 24
Related Materials:
See MS 2322 A collection of gesture-signs and signals of the North American Indians for more of Garrick Mallery's work on sign language.
Provenance:
MS 2372 was transferred from the Bureau of Ethnology Archives 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:
Manuscript 2372 is open for research.
Access to Manuscript 2372 requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Topic:
Language and languages -- Documentation Search this
INV 08742601. Two Strikes identified as the artist by Garrick Mallery. Two inscriptions in different hands. First reads: "This is [Mr.?] Two Strike he has kill this many man he is one of the Chifes [sic]." Second reads: "Two Strike - killed twelve men, and led 4 war parties (at different times)." Graphite and colored pencil. Fig. 547, "Picture Writing of the American Indians" by Garrick Mallery, 10th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology for 1888-89, Washington DC 1893.
Collection Restrictions:
Manuscript 2372 is open for research.
Access to Manuscript 2372 requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Manuscript 2372, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Bound drawing book containing 19 pages of drawings in graphite, ink, and watercolor on recto surfaces; one small sketch and one page of inscriptions on verso. Four leaves (probably blank) removed at back of volume. The drawings represent a count of the years from 1700 to 1879 with 12 additional pages representing longer periods of years from 900 to 1700.
Good produced this version of his winter count in a book provided by William H. Corbusier in 1880. Corbusier sent the winter count and associated interpretations to Col. Garrick Mallery of the Bureau of American Ethnology.
Biographical / Historical:
Battiste Good's Lakota name was Wapostangi ((Wa-Po-Ctan-Xi)), or Brown Hat. He was Sicangu Lakota (Brulé Sioux) born in 1821.
Collection Restrictions:
Manuscript 2372 is open for research.
Access to Manuscript 2372 requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Manuscript 2372, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
United States. Works Progress Administration Search this
Extent:
1 Poster
Container:
Folder 2
Type:
Archival materials
Graphic Materials
Posters
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
MS 4883 Posters from the Indian Court in the Federal Building at the Golden Gate International Exposition, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The collection consists of Richard Sanderville's translations of Blackfeet materials held by the Bureau of American Ethnology. The translations were dictated by Sanderville and written down by John G. Carter between June 13 and June 18, 1934. Most of the translated material is held by the NAA in other collections. The collection includes translations of:
Sitting Bull's Autobiographies (see MS 1929-a and MS 1929-b)
Wind River petroglyphs (see Bureau of American Ethnology Annual Report 10, Figure 97)
Madison River grave writings (unknown; no longer in NAA collections);
Roman Nose drawings (see MS 1303);
Cloud Shield and American Horse winter counts (see MS 2372, Series 3.4);
Petroglyphs in Black Hills (in this collection; 7 photographs and drawings).
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Biographical Note:
Richard Sanderville (1866-1951), also known as Chief Bull, Bull Head, and Richard Sandoval, was born about 1866 in Fort Benton, Montana. He graduated from the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania. Sanderville worked for the Blackfeet agency as a farmer, carpenter, and translator. In the summer of 1934, Sanderville visited the Bureau of American Ethnology and provided translations and other information about collection materials relating to the Blackfeet.
John Galen Carter was an attorney who worked with cases mainly involving the government and Indian Affairs.
Local Numbers:
NAA MS 4444
Related Materials:
The National Anthropological Archives holds other material created by Richard Sanderville at the BAE in the summer of 1934 in MS 3359, MS 4076, MS 4078, and MS 4080.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Genre/Form:
Works of art
Drawings
Photographs
Pictographs
Citation:
Guide to MS 4444 Blackfoot picture writings translated by Richard Sanderville, 1934, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Rock art of the Montana High Plains an exhibition organized by Stuart and Betty Lu Conner for the Art Galleries, University of California, Santa Barbara, April 6-May 16, 1971
42 Drawings (visual works) (graphite, colored pencil, and ink; laminated, 24 x 36.25 inches)
Culture:
Minneconjou Lakota (Minniconjou Sioux) Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Drawings (visual works)
Works of art
Ledger drawings
Pictographs
Maps
Place:
Montana
North America
Date:
1881
Scope and Contents:
The collection consists of forty-two (42) drawings made by Red Horse at the request of Dr. Charles E. McChesney. The drawings served as illustrations to accompany Red Horse's account of the Battle of the Little Big Horn, which McChesney recorded in support of Garrick Mallery's study of Plains sign language. The drawings are numbered 0-41 (Number 27 is now missing). The collection also includes a one-page note about the drawings by McChesney and a newspaper article about the collection.
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Biographical Note:
Red Horse was a chief of the Miniconjou division of the Lakota. He fought in the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn, and in 1881 he gave one of the few detailed accountings of the event.
Dr. Charles E. McChesney was an Army physician based at Fort Bennet, Dakota Territory in 1881.
Local Numbers:
NAA MS 2367-a
OPPS NEG 46999 A-K
OPPS NEG 47000 A-L
OPPS NEG 47001 A-K
OPPS NEG 72-3915 CN-72-3955 CN
Publication Note:
Map and Numbers 5, 8, 12, 16, 27 (now missing), 30, 32, 39, and 41 were published in:
Mallery, Garrick. "Picture Writing of the American Indians," Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology 10. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1893. Plates 39-48.
Related Materials:
The National Anthropological Archives also holds:
MS 2367-b Red Horse's Account of the Battle of the Little Big Horn, Montana, June 25, 1876, in Gesture-Signs, to illustrate the Syntax of the Sign-Language of the North American Indians.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Topic:
Little Big Horn, Battle of the, Mont., 1876 Search this
Genre/Form:
Works of art
Ledger drawings
Pictographs
Maps
Citation:
MS 2367-a Red Horse pictographic account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution