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.
