The William Lipkind papers relate to Lipkind's fieldwork among the Indigenous Brazilian communities of Mebêngôkre (Kayapó/Cayapo) and Karajá (Caraja), as well as his work with the Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) in Nebraska. The papers comprise field notebooks, vocabularies, manuscripts and correspondence, photographs, and sound recordings.
The field notebooks contain ethnographic and linguistic documentation of the Caraja, Cayapo, and Winnebago communities. Additional linguistic documentation is present in card files of Winnebago and Mandan vocabularies, as well as a draft manuscript on the Winnebago language.
Other files include a draft manuscript of a Ponca dictionary by James Owen Dorsey, and Lipkind's reading notes relating to Grundzüge der Phonologie by N.S. Trubetzkoy.
Photographs are comprised of lantern slides and small photographic prints (which appear to be mostly of the same images as the lantern slides). The sound recordings are vinyl copies of wax cylinders held at the University of Indiana's Archives of Traditional Music.
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 As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today.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:
William Lipkind (1904-1974) Was an anthropologist and author of children's books. He received a master's degree in English literature from Columbia University before returning for a PhD in Anthropology under Franz Boas and Ruth Benedict.
Lipkind's first fieldwork was among the Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) community in Nebraska in 1936, on which he based his doctoral dissertation. From 1937-1939 Lipkind conducted fieldwork among the Karajá (Caraja) and Mebêngôkre (Kayapó/Cayapo) communities in Brazil, and was a part of a cohort of Columbia anthropology graduate students all working in Brazil around the same time, including Ruth Landes, Charles Wagley, George Donahue, and Buell Quain.
Following a number of years teaching at Ohio State University and working for the Federal Government, Lipkind turned to writing children's literature, winning a Caldecott medal in 1951.
Related Materials:
The Archives of Traditional Music at Indiana University Bloomington holds the original wax cylinders of Caraja and Cayapo songs.
The Elmer L. Andersen Library at the University of Minnesota holds the William Lipkind (Will) papers, which relate to Lipkind's work as a children's author.
Restrictions:
Access to the William Lipkind papers requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Citation:
William Lipkind papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
