These records document the governance and programmatic activities of the Museum of the American Indian/Heye Foundation (MAI) from its inception in 1904 until its sublimation by the Smithsonian Institution in 1990. The types of materials present in this collection include personal and institutional correspondence, individual subject files, minutes and annual reports, financial ledgers, legal records, expedition field notes, research notes, catalog and object lists, publications, clippings, flyers, maps, photographs, negatives and audio-visual materials. These materials span a varied range of subjects relating to the activities of the museum which are more fully described on the series level.
Scope and Contents:
These records document the governance and programmatic activities of the Museum of the American Indian/Heye Foundation (MAI) from its inception in 1904 until its sublimation by the Smithsonian Institution in 1990. The types of materials present in this collection include personal and institutional correspondence, individual subject files, minutes and annual reports, financial ledgers, legal records, expedition field notes, research notes, catalog and object lists, publications, clippings, flyers, maps, photographs, negatives and audio-visual materials. These materials span a varied range of subjects relating to the activities of the museum which are more fully described on the series level.
Arrangement:
The MAI, Heye Foundation records have been arranged into 21 series and 50 subseries:
Series 1: Directors, 1908-1990 (1.1: George Gustav Heye, 1863-1962, 1.2: Edwin K. Burnett, 1943-1960, 1.3: Frederick Dockstader, 1950-1976, 1.4: Alexander F. Draper, 1972-1977, 1.5:Roland W. Force, 1963-1990, 1.6: George Eager, Assistant Director, 1977-1990)
Series 2: Board of Trustees, 1916-1990 (2.1: Board of Trustee Minutes, 1916-1990, 2.2: Individual Board Correspondence, 1943-1990, 2.3: Subject Files, 1917-1990)
Series 3: Administrative, 1916-1989 (3.1: Subject Files, 1904-1991, 3.2: Personnel, 1956-1991, 3.3: Legal, 1900-1989, 3.4: Task Force, 1976-1986, 3.5: George Abrams, 1980-1991)
Series 4: Financial, 1916-1990 (4.1: Ledgers, 1900-1962, 4.2: Correspondence, 1905-1985, 4.3: Subject Files, 1916-1990)
Series 5: Expeditions, 1896-1973Series 6: Collectors, 1872-1981Series 7: Registration, 1856-1993Series 8: Collections Management, 1937-1988Series 9: Curatorial, 1963-1990 (9.1: Curatorial Council, 1973-1990, 9.2: Gary Galante, 1979-1991, 9.3: Mary Jane Lenz, 1974-1994, 9.4: James G. E. Smith, 1963-1990, 9.5: U. Vincent Wilcox, 1968-1984, 9.6: Anna C. Roosevelt, 1973-1988)
Series 10: Exhibits, 1923-1991 (10.1: MAI Exhibits, 1923-1990, 10.2: Non-MAI Exhibits, 1937-1991)
Series 11: Public Programs, 1935-1990Series 12: Publications, 1904-1994 (12.1: Annual Reports, 1917-1989, 12.2: Publications by MAI, 1904-1990, 12.3: Publications by Other Sources, 1881-1990, 12.4: Administration, 1920-1988, 12.5: Archival Set of Official Publications, 1907-1976)
Series 13: Public Affairs, 1938-1991Series 14: Development, 1927-1991 (14.1: Administration, 1979-1990, 14.2: Donors, 1978-1990, 14.3: Fundraising, 1973-1990, 14.4: Grants, 1970-1990, 14.5: Subject Files, 1976-1990)
Series 15: Other Departments, 1914-1990 (15.1: Archives, 1914-1990, 15.2: Conservation, 1972-1989, 15.3: Education, 1921-1990, 15.4: Indian Information Center, 1977-1989, 15.5: Museum Shop, 1947-1989, 15.6: Photography, 1918-1990, 15.7: Physical Anthropology, 1919-1956)
Series 16: Huntington Free Library, 1926-1991Series 17: Museum Relocation, 1969-1992 (17.1: Subject Files, 1979-1990, 17.2: American Museum of Natural History, 1980-1987, 17.3: Dallas, Texas, 1984-1987, 17.4: Smithsonian Institution, 1979-1990, 17.5: U.S. Custom House, 1977-1990, 17.6: Other Locations, 1974-1987)
Series 18: MediaSeries 19: PhotographsSeries 20: Miscellaneous, 1837-1990Series 21: Oversize, 1873-1972 (21.1: Maps, 1873-1975, 21.2: Miscellaneous, 1884-1982)
History of the Museum of the American Indian/Heye Foundation:
The Museum of the American Indian/Heye Foundation was established by wealthy collector George Gustav Heye in 1908. Heye began collecting American Indian artifacts as early as 1897 and his collection rapidly increased over the next several years. Based in New York, Heye bought collections and documentary photographs, sponsored expeditions, and traveled and collected items himself. In addition, once MAI was established he sponsored numerous expeditions across the Western Hemisphere, including North American, Canada, South America and Central America.
From 1908 to 1917 Heye housed his artifacts on temporary loan at the University of Pennsylvania's University Museum, Pennsylvania, in lofts on East 33rd Street in New York City, and at other depositories. In 1917, the collections moved from his apartment to their permanent museum location at Audubon Terrace, at 155th Street and Broadway in New York City. The museum, containing ethnographic and archaeological collections from North, Central and South America, opened to the public in 1922. Less than ten years later, Heye completed a storage facility in the Pelham Bay area of the Bronx, known as the Research Branch. Heye served as Chairman of the Board and Museum Director until his death in 1957. After growing concern about the financial and other management of the collections came to a head, the museum became part of the Smithsonian Institution in 1989 and in 1994 opened exhibit space in the U.S. Customs House at Bowling Green near New York City's Battery Park. The Cultural Resources Center in Suitland, Maryland later opened in 1999 and the main Washington, DC museum opened in 2004.
Please visit the following links for more information about the history of the museum; History of the Collection, Collections Overview, and Significance of the Collection. Moreover, for information about how the museum currently cares for and exhibits the collection, please see the Conservation department and recent entries regarding Exhibitions and Conservation on the NMAI Blog. In addition, see portions of the NMAI Archive Center's collections highlighted in the SIRIS Blog.
Related Materials:
In 2004, the Huntington Fee Library, once part of the MAI/Heye Foundation, was transferred to the Cornell University Library Rare Book and Manuscript Collection. While this collection mainly contained books, it also contained a significant amount of archival materials. The Huntington Free Library's Native American Collection contains outstanding materials documenting the history, culture, languages, and arts of the native tribes of both North and South America, as well as contemporary politics and human rights issues are also important components of the collection. Further information about the collection and links to finding aids can be found here: rmc.library.cornell.edu/collections/HFL_old.html.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Rights:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish or broadcast materials from the collection must be requested from the National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Museum of the American Indian/Heye Foundation Records, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
This collection contains materials documenting George Conner (Tse-da-ha; Osage) and his time as a student at the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania. The collection contains 3 photographs of Conner circa 1884-1896, as well as Carlisle Indian School booklets and correspondence circa 1900-1914.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged in 5 folders.
Biographical / Historical:
George Conner, also known as Tse-dah-ha (Buffalo Hide), was born on the Osage Reservation in Kansas in 1870. His parents were Wah-kon-tah Shinka (Little Doctor) and Le-ah-tsa, both of the Little Osage tribe. Le-ah-tsa was the daughter of Wa-caba-shinka (Little Bear) who was the Principal Chief of the Little Osage.
Kansas Militia killed George's father on a return hunting trip shortly after George was born. George's mother married William Conner (Oh-hunka-moie) and approximately five years later, she was also killed. William Conner played a prominent role in reformulating the Osage government in the new Oklahoma Reservation and helped write the first Osage Nation Constitution.
William sent George to live with his Aunt Margaret "Maggie" Lawrence on her ranch west of Grainola. He attended Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania from 1885-1890 and was re-admitted in 1896 and stayed until 1899. During his last years at Carlisle, George assisted with the physical education of fellow students including exercise drills using 3.5-pound Spaulding Indian clubs, a set of which he brought home (now held in NMAI's collection). He also assisted with coaching younger boys in baseball and other athletics at Carlisle. While at Carlisle the second time, he learned harness making and saddle repair. He also participated in Carlisle's "outing" program, which placed student on neighboring Pennsylvania farms in the summer.
Upon return to the Osage Reservation at age twenty-nine, George moved from his boyhood home on the Lawrence ranch to the Osage Nation capital, Pawhuska. There he opened a harness shop and met his wife Lillian House, a matron at the Osage Girl's school. They had five children Letha, Adelia, Victor, Lester, and Don. George served as the Osage National Council Secretary for a number of years.
George and his step-father William also got involved with Osage resistance to the U.S. Government's Allotment Act, otherwise known as the Dawes Act of 1887. This law was designed to open up remaining Indian land in the West to white settlement, by dividing large reservations among the tribal members. Each would receive a small parcel and then U.S. made the remaining "surplus" land available for settlement. The Osage opposed this and William, George, and the tribe worked collectively for nearly two decades to prevent the reservation from allotment. In 1906, U.S. Congress passed the Osage Allotment Act, making the Osage one of the last tribes in Oklahoma to accept allotment. The tribe was also able collectively to retain the mineral rights of the reservation.
George and Lillian moved from Pawhuska, started farming west of Grainola, Oklahoma, and remained on the farm the rest of their lives. George died in 1936 at the age of 66 years old.
[Biography written by Dr. Joe L. Conner (George Conner's grandson) in 2012 and edited by E. Moazami (NMAI Assistant Head Archivist) in 2018.]
Related Materials:
The Archives and Special Collections at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania also holds collections related to the school.
Separated Materials:
The museum also purchased two objects with this collection: a Carlisle Indian School uniform owned and worn by George Conner and a set of exercise jugggling pins used by Conner when he assisted with physical education at Carlisle (object #s 268789 and 268790).
Provenance:
This collection was purchased by the museum in 2012.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); George Conner Carlisle Indian School collection, NMAI.AC.250; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
The National Congress of American Indian (NCAI), founded in 1944, is the oldest nation-wide American Indian advocacy organization in the United States. The NCAI records document the organization's work, particularly that of its office in Washington, DC, and the wide variety of issues faced by American Indians in the twentieth century. The collection is located in the Cultural Resource Center of the National Museum of the American Indian.
Scope and Contents:
The records of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) reflect the operations of its Washington, DC, headquarters and, in particular, the activities and responsibilities of its executive director. The papers primarily cover the period 1943 to 1990, although some documents pre-dating NCAI are present. The bulk of the material relates to legislation, lobbying, and NCAI's interactions with various governmental bodies. A large segment also concerns the annual conventions and executive council and executive committee meetings. Finally, the records also document the operations of the NCAI, including personnel, financial, and fundraising material. Materials found throughout the collection include letters, memoranda, handwritten notes, speeches, press releases, newspaper clippings, publications, minutes of meetings, transcripts, reports, agenda, programs, financial records, legislative materials, photographs, and sound recordings.
Arrangement:
The National Congress of American Indians records are arranged in 21 series:
Series 1 -- : NCAI Conventions and Mid-Year Conferences
Series 2 -- : Executive Council and Executive Committee Files
Subseries 4.1: Individual Tribes, Bands and Reservations
Subseries 4.2: Intertribal Organizations
Subseries 4.3: Special Issues
Subseries 4.4: Miscellaneous Tribal Files
Series 5 -- : Records of Indian Interest Organizations
Subseries 5.1: Other Indian Organizations
Subseries 5.2: Non-Indian Support Groups
Subseries 5.3: General Indian Interest Groups
Series 6 -- : NCAI Committees and Special Issue Files
Subseries 6.1: Alaskan Natives
Subseries 6.2: Policy Conference
Subseries 6.3: Religious Freedom and Related Cultural Concerns
Subseries 6.4: Hunting and Fishing Rights
Subseries 6.5: Natural Resources and Indian Water Rights
Subseries 6.6: Nuclear Waste
Subseries 6.7: Solar Bank
Subseries 6.8: AIMS [American Indian Media Surveillance] Committee
Subseries 6.9: HCR 108 and Federal Termination Policies
Subseries 6.10: Emergency Conference of 1954
Subseries 6.11: Jurisdiction --NCAI Commission and Federal Legislation
Subseries 6.12: Law Enforcement
Subseries 6.13: Litigation Committee
Subseries 6.14: Annual Litigation Conference
Subseries 6.15: Trail of Broken Treaties Impact Survey Team
Subseries 6.16: Block Grants
Subseries 6.17: Health and Welfare
Subseries 6.18: Self-Determination and Education
Subseries 6.19: National Conference on Federal Recognition
Subseries 6.20: Economic and Reservation Development
Series -- 7: United Effort Trust (UET)
Subseries 7.1: NCAI and NTCA Joint Committee
Subseries 7.2: Issues
Subseries 7.3: Legislation
Subseries 7.4: News Releases
Subseries 7.5: Indian Organizations
Subseries 7.6: Inter-Tribal Organizations
Subseries 7.7: Non-Indian Organizations
Subseries 7.8: Tribes
Series 8 -- : Attorneys and Legal Interest Groups
Subseries 8.1: Attorneys
Subseries 8.2: Legal Interest Groups
Subseries 8.3: Legal Services
Series 9 -- : Federal Indian Policy and Legislation Files
Subseries 9.1: American Indian Policy Review Task Force
Series 10 -- : Bureau of Indian Affairs
Series 11 -- : State and Local Government Organizations
Series 12 -- : Census
Series 13 -- : General Alpha-Subject Files
Series 14 -- : Records of Charles E. "Chuck" Trimble
Series 15 -- : Records of Suzan S. Harjo (Closed to researchers while undergoing review)
Subseries 15.1: Indian Claims: Eastern Land Claims (Closed to researchers while undergoing review)
Subseries 15.2: Indian Claims: Statute of Limitations (Closed to researchers while undergoing review)
Subseries 15.3: Conference on -- The Indian Reorganization Act - An Assessment and Prospectus Fifty Years Later -- (Closed to researchers while undergoing review)
Subseries 15.4: Inter-American Indian Institute (IAII) (Closed to researchers while undergoing review)
Subseries 15.5: Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) (Closed to researchers while undergoing review)
Subseries 15.6: Institute of the American West (IAW) (Closed to researchers while undergoing review)
Subseries 15.7: Common Cause (Closed to researchers while undergoing review)
Subseries 15.8: Office Files (Closed to researchers while undergoing review)
Series 16 -- : Fund Raising
Subseries 16.1: Gifts, Bequests, and Contributions
Subseries 16.2: Foundations
Subseries 16.3: General --Arrow and NCAI Fund
Series 17 -- : Business and Financial Records Files
Subseries 17.1: Personnel
Series 18 -- : "Give-Away" Files
Series 19 -- : Publications
Subseries 19.1: -- News/Sentinels -- and -- Sentinel Bulletin
Subseries 19.2: Other Publications
Series 20 -- : Photographs
Series 21 -- : Audio and Film Recordings
Biographical / Historical:
The National Congress of America Indians, which describes itself as the oldest and largest American Indian and Alaskan Native organization in the United States, was founded on November 16, 1944, in Denver, CO. NCAI was intended to serve as a link between individual tribal councils and the United States government, by defining and helping to crystallize Indian thought on the administration of Indian affairs. The Congress also aimed to educate the general public about Indians, preserve Indian cultural values, protect treaty rights with the United States, and promote Indian welfare.
At the first convention, delegates representing fifty tribes ratified the constitution and by-laws, drafted resolutions determining the direction of NCAI policy, and elected the organizations' first officers, with Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Napoleon B. Johnson (Cherokee) as president. The officers, as well as eight elected council members, formed the Executive Council. The Council chose the Executive Director; Ruth Muskrat Bronson (Cherokee) was the organization's first director, from 1944-1948. "Persons of Indian blood" could join the organization either as individuals or as groups. In 1955, however, the constitution was revised to restrict group membership to recognized tribes, committees, or bands, and to make the Executive Council chosen by tribal representatives. These changes gave control of the organization to governing bodies of organized tribes, rather than individuals. A further amendment that year created a five-member Executive Committee, headed by the president, which had all the powers of the Executive Council between council meetings.
Conventions have been held annually in the fall since the formation of the NCAI in 1944. Since 1977, mid-year conferences have been held in May or June of each year, to allow more frequent and thorough discussion of issues. The resolutions passed at these conventions are the basis for all policy of the Executive Committee and Executive Director between meetings. The conventions are also used for informational sessions and meetings of standing and special committees of NCAI. One or two-day workshops may also be held on special topics or Congressional issues of particular concern.
NCAI created a tax-exempt arm in 1949 to accept charitable contributions and apply for grants, the NCAI Fund, which soon changed its name to ARROW, Inc. By 1957, however, ARROW had split off to become an independent organization, and NCAI started a new arm, again called the NCAI Fund. In the coming decades, the NCAI Fund would obtain grants from sources including the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of Veteran Affairs, Indian Health Service, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Ford Foundation, humanities councils and others, which they used for conferences, workshops, publications, and other projects.
In its early years, NCAI fought for the recognition of land claims of Alaska natives, the enfranchisement of Arizona and New Mexico Indians, the equitable settlement of tribal land claims, and the right of Indians to select their own attorneys. The NCAI lobbied vigorously for an Indian Claims Commission Bill, which became law in August 1946. NCAI's lobbying efforts on behalf of this act set the pattern for the organization's future role in legislative matters: keeping member tribes abreast of proposed legislation and ascertaining their views, and maintaining a presence in Congress through lobbying and testimony.
Beginning in 1954, the threat of termination pushed NCAI into a period of increased activity. Although some tribes were ready to terminate their relationship with the federal government, much of Indian Country felt threatened by the government's new stated policy. NCAI therefore organized an Emergency Conference of American Indians for February 1954 to protest this new termination policy. An agreement was forged at the conference between the NCAI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs to work together toward slowly liquidating the BIA. The termination period of the 1950s and 1960s, while challenging, saw NCAI increase in confidence and political acumen.
During the 1960s, a number of other activist Indian groups sprang up and began to dilute the singular influence which NCAI had commanded. Newer, more militant groups often considered themselves at odds with NCAI, which was increasingly perceived as conservative. As the number of Indian advocacy groups grew in the 1960s and 1970s, however, NCAI actively partnered with other organizations, particularly the National Tribal Chairmen's Association (NTCA) and Native American Rights Fund (NARF), on a variety of projects.
Charles E. "Chuck" Trimble (Oglala Dakota) served as Executive Director of NCAI in 1972 until 1977, when he resigned to lead the United Effort Trust, a project designed to fight white backlash to Indian rights. NCAI spent most of the next two years trying to find another permanent director. In 1979, Ronald P. Andrade (Luiseno-Diegueno) joined NCAI and unfortunately found a group that was demoralized and underfunded. He was able to return the organization to good health but left in 1982. Si Whitman (Nez Perce), his successor, remained at NCAI for less than a year.
Suzan Shown Harjo (Cheyenne-Creek) became director of NCAI on May 1, 1984. Prior to taking this postions, she had served as Congressional Liaison for Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior during the Carter administration and as legislative liaison for the Native American Rights Fund, as well as working for NCAI during the mid-1970s. Harjo was also an active and published poet, as well as a frequent speaker at events around the country. The National Congress of American Indians was particularly active on Capitol Hill while Harjo was director, advocating for government-to-government status, the Tribal Government Tax Status Act of 1983, repatriation legislation, and economic development programs, among other issues. Harjo was herself very involved in the establishment of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC.
The NCAI Fund was very successful in receiving grants during this period, although they were chronically short of operating funds. Some of their most active projects during this period were the Indian and Native Veterans Outreach Program (INVOP), Inter-generational Health Promotion and Education Program (IHPEP), Environmental Handbook and related educational seminars, Solar Bank, nuclear waste disposal and transportation information sessions, and voter registration.
For years, NCAI's operating expenses had been funded by the Ford Foundation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). In 1985, the director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, opposing the use of Federal monies to support outside organizations, began to block the payment for services due to the NCAI. This created a financial crisis from which the NCAI did not recover during Harjo's tenure, and it became the major issue for which she was not rehired in October 1989.
Following the 1989 Annual Convention, Wayne Ducheneaux (Cheyenne River Sioux) became President of NCAI and A. Gay Kingman (Cheyenne River Sioux) was appointed Executive Director. Their first efforts were focused on recovering the financial well-being of the organization, which meant that less attention was devoted to issues in Congress. One of the successful projects NCAI pursued during the next two years was organization and presentation of the Indian pre-conference of the White House Conference on Library and Information Science, which was held in early 1991.
The National Congress of American Indians is still active today, continuing its work of lobbying, support for tribal governments, and advocacy for American Indian issues.
Related Materials:
Other collections at the NMAI Archives Center that include information on the National Congress of American Indians include:
Arrow, Inc., and the American Indian Tribal Court Judges records, 1949-1999 (NMAI.MS.013)
James E. Curry papers, 1935-1955 (NMAI.MS.015)
National Tribal Chairmen's Association records, 1971-1978 (NMAI.MS.014)
Helen L. Peterson papers, 1944-1992 (NMAI.MS.016)
Reuben Snake papers, 1971-1996 (NMAI.MS.012)
Provenance:
The National Congress of American Indians designated the National Anthropological Archives (NAA) as its official repository in 1976. This collection was received by NAA in four accessions between 1976 and 1991. It was transferred from NAA to the National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center in 2006.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Rights:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish or broadbast materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Topic:
Indians of North America -- Government relations -- 1934- Search this
Indians of North America -- Politics and government Search this
Indians of North America -- Social conditions -- 20th century Search this
Indians of North America -- Legal status, laws, etc. Search this
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Collection Title, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
The Thomas Henry Tibbles papers include documents that span Tibbles career as a journalist and lecturer on Indian rights from the 1870s until his death in 1928. Of particular note are the documents related to his work on the Standing Bear vs. George Crook Habeas Corpus trial. This includes articles, essays and talks written by Tibbles as well as copies of a lecture given by Susette LaFlesche Tibbles. Notable correspondents include; Robert Clarkson, Joseph Cook, General George Crook, Robert N. Price and William Jennings Bryan. Examples of materials related to the Ponca land case and Standing Bear trial include reports from the Ponca Relief commitee, a petition from the Ponca people, minutes from the Council Concerning Ponca Land Right and additional documents and writings sent out by Tibbles to gain support from both the church and politicians. Also included in these papers are several drafts of Buckskin and Blanket Days, Tibbles' autobiography that was written in 1905 and published in 1957. There is a significant amount of correspondence between Chester Barris, grandson to Tibbles, and publishing houses between 1939 and 1956 in the search for a willing publisher. There is also correspondence between Barris and his aunt Theadora "Dora" Cogswell who worked on editing the manuscript. Cogswell conducted a large amount of research on the historicity of the events described by Tibbles and her notes are included in the collection. The photographs in this collection include portraits of the Tibbles/LaFlesche family as well as portraits of freinds and aquaintances. These include photographs of Edward Everett Hale, General George Crook, Governor Benjamin Butluer, Wendall Phillips, Thomas Watson, William Jennings Bryan and Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged into three series. Series 1: Subject Files and Series 2: Buckskin and Blanket Days are both arranged alphabetically. Series 3: Photographs is subdivided into three subseries; Subseries 3A: T.H. Tibbles Portaits, arranged chronologically, Subseries 3B: Family and Friends and Subseries 3C: Presentation Portraits to Bright Eyes, both arranged alphabetically.
Biographical / Historical:
Thomas Henry Tibbles was born May 22, 1840, near Athens, Ohio to parents William and Martha (nee Cooley) Tibbles. In 1856, at the age of 16, Tibbles fought with anti-slavery Free-Staters in the Bleeding Kansas conflicts under James Henry Lane. Lane's troops disbanded the same year and Tibbles went on to study at Mt. Union College in Alliance, Ohio from 1858-1861. During the Civil War Tibbles served as a scout and newspaper correspondent in Missouri and Kansas and continued newspaper work until 1871 when he became a circuit preacher. Between 1874 and 1879, Tibbles worked on the staffs of various newspapers in Omaha, Nebraska eventually reaching the post of assistant editor of the Omaha Daily Herald. It was during his time at the Herald that Tibbles was instrumental in bringing the case of Standing Bear and the Ponca Indian people before the United States District Court at Fort Omaha. Standing Bear, along with thirty other Poncas, had returned to their home in Nebraska after being forcibly removed to Indian Territory 1878. They were being detained at the Omaha Reservation on an order from the Secretary of the Interior and Tibbles began to circulate the story of the plight of the Ponca to major newspapers gathering the support of the public. Eventually Tibbles had attorneys John L. Webster and A.J. Poppleton help Standing Bear petition the court with a writ of habeas corpus. On April 30, 1879 Judge Elmer Dundy declared that an Indian is a person within the law and that the Ponca were being held illegally, setting Standing Bear and the Ponca free. Following the trial, Tibbles continued to report on violations against Native American rights. Tibbles was a witness to the aftermath of the massacre of Native Americans at Wounded Knee in 1891, and reported this tragedy to the world. From 1893-1895, he worked as a newspaper correspondent in Washington D.C. On returning to Nebraska, Tibbles became editor-in-chief of The Independent, a weekly Populist Party newspaper. He was the Populist Party nominee for Vice President of the United States in 1904. Though unsuccessful in this campaign Tibbles continued to write on Populist issues as well as editing The Investigator from 1905-1910 and returning to the Omaha World Herald from 1910 to his retirement.
Tibbles had two children with his first wife, Amelia Owen whom he married in 1861. Eda, born in 1868 in Kansas City, married Herbert Bates in 1894 and May, born in 1870 in Danville Iowa, married Allen Barris in 1891. Amelia died of peritonitis in 1879. On June 29, 1882, Tibbles married Susette "Bright Eyes" LaFlesche (Omaha), daughter of Joseph "Iron Eye" LaFlesche. Susette LaFlesche worked closely alongside Tibbles during the Standing Bear's trial in her role as chief interpreter. Together, LaFlesche, Tibbles and Standing Bear carried out a successful lecture tour in England and Scotland in 1886-1887 speaking on issues of Indian rights. LaFlesche became well known as an eloquent writer and orator. Following her death in 1903 she was eulagized in the US Senate and was later inducted into the Nebraska Hall of Fame. Tibbles remarried for a final time in 1907 to Ida Belle Riddle. She remained by Tibbles side until his own death in 1928.
During his career, Tibbles wrote three books which included Ponca Chiefs (1880), which was written under the pen name "Zylyff", Hidden Power (1881) and The American Peasant (1892). Tibbles had also composed his memoirs titled Buckskin and Blanket Days which were eventually published in 1957 through the efforts of his grandson Chester Barris.
Related Materials note:
The dress of Susette "Bright Eyes" LaFlesche, wife to Tibbles, was also donated by Vivien Barris in 1984 and is a part of NMAI's Ethnology object collection. It has catalog number 25/2192.
Separated Materials:
The photographs have been moved to cool storage.
Provenance:
Thomas Henry Tibbles papers were originally donated to the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation in 1960 by Vivien Barris, wife of Tibbles's grandson Chester Barris.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Rights:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish or broadbast materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Topic:
Habeas corpus -- United States -- Cases Search this
Ponca Indians -- Legal status, laws, etc. Search this
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Thomas Henry Tibbles papers, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
The Leuman Maurice Waugh collection contains papers, photographs, and film holdings that were created by Waugh during his dental research expeditions to indigenous communities in Newfoundland and Labrador in eastern Canada and in Arctic Alaska.
Scope and Contents:
The Leuman Maurice Waugh collection contains materials created and compiled by Dr. Leuman Waugh during his research expeditions to Arctic Alaska and the Newfoundland and Labrador regions of Eastern, Canada circa 1909-1963. During these trips, Waugh studied the dental health of Indigenous communities in the region and treated patients.
The collection contains materials that were created and collected by Waugh during his research trips and include raw dental data and community census information; professional and personal correspondence; clippings, articles, and essays; reports and lectures; logistics and trip planning documents; postcards; journals; and sketches and drawings, among other materials.
The collection also contains over 4,000 photographs and 80 16mm film reels that were shot by Waugh during his research trips and document his work with Indigenous communities in Alaska and eastern Canada.
Arrangement note:
Waugh's original order was disturbed over the years after his death and during transfer from the Waugh family to the Rankin Museum. NMAI archivists elected to arrange the collection chronologically.
The records are organized in the following series: I. Dental study data and logistics, II. Correspondence, III. Writings, IV. Realia and ephemera, V. Press clippings and public relations materials, VI. Maps and other oversized materials.Chronological arrangement.
Biographical/Historical note:
Born on March 6, 1877 in New Dundee, Ontario, Canada, Leuman Maurice Waugh, moved to Rochester, New York, with his family at the age of nine. He acquired his love for photography in Rochester, which always attributed as the "Kodak city." Following in his father's dentistry footsteps, Waugh attended the University of Buffalo, from which he received his D.D.S. in 1900. He took post-graduate studies in Histology, Bacteriology, and Pathology at Buffalo's School of Medicine, and within two years was appointed Professor of Histology and Embryology at his alma mater. In 1912, Waugh pioneered the design of a unit-type x-ray machine for use at the dental chair, which was later studied and adopted by large dental apparatus manufacturers. By the time he left Buffalo in 1914 to specialize in the infant field of orthodontics in New York City, he had served as Professor of Special Pathology and Officer of the Governing Faculty at the university.
In 1915, Waugh served on the Organization Committee of the Columbia Dental School and shortly thereafter became its Secretary of the Dental Faculty, and sequentially Secretary of the Administrative Board and Professor of Histology and Embryology. In 1921 he was appointed Professor and Director of the Orthodontic Division of the school, and later served as Associate Director, Acting Director and Associate Dean. Waugh's affiliation with Columbia lasted through 1945. He served as Director of the American Board of Orthodontics from 1949 to 1953, and was asked to serve as Secretary-Chairman of the Orthodontia section of the American Association of Dental Schools in 1930, and as President in 1935. Waugh married Helen "Esty" Marshall, and had a son, Donald (also a dentist), and a daughter, Dorothy.
An active member of the Explorer's Club and Commodore of the Yachting Department of the New York Athletic Club, Waugh volunteered to undertake Alaskan studies on caries research among the Inuit for the U.S. Public Health Service. In 1929, the Health Service appointed Waugh Dental Director (Reserve) at the rank of Colonel. Waugh was apparently inspired by a lecture he heard as a student in 1908 from Dr. Ales Hrdlicka, Smithsonian Curator of Physical Anthropology at the Institute of Dental Pedagogics, on the dental conditions of human populations. Waugh privately carried out a Labrador study between 1921 and d1927 over the course of five summers. Under the sometimes-partial aegis of the U.S. Public Heath Service, Waugh also studied twelve Alaskan Inuit communities between 1929 and 1938. He was the first dental officer in the U.S. Public Service ever assigned to the Coast Guard Cutter Northland's cruise area of the Bering Sea and Alaska Arctic regions. During his trips, Waugh compiled data on the teeth, mouth, and diet of indigenous communities. In addition, he took many photographs and films of both dental subjects and indigenous communities.
Waugh's son, Donald, accompanied him on his 1935 expedition up the Kuskokwim River (Alaska) in their custom designed and built 29 foot yacht Nanuk Mi-kin-inni (Polar Bear Cub). In 1936, Waugh was appointed to a position with the Alaska Health Service by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior via the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. This position allowed him to further his studies of tooth decay throughout Alaska and the Bering Sea region. Waugh's 1937 expedition included three dentists (one a biochemist), a physician and a nurse, and involved extensive air travel in small planes.
A popular lecturer and prolific writer, Waugh continued to advocate for the health of the northern indigenous communities he visited long after his trips ended. He spent the remainder of his professional career at Columbia University, where he rose from Professor of Orthodontia (1923-19435) to (concurrently) Chief of Orthodontia and Director of the Department of Orthodontics. Waugh continued to be active in professional organizations well after his retirement, until a few years before his death at his home in Betterton, Maryland, on May 6, 1972.
Related Archival Materials note:
The National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution hold twenty Waugh photographs which located in the Division of Physical Anthropology Photograph Collection #NAA2223a. NAA also has Waugh material in the Henry Bascom Collins, Jr. Papers, #NAA3131. The Archives and Special Collections at the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library, Columbia University holds the School of Dental and Oral Surgery Records, 1892, 1915-1976 as well as the School of Dental and Oral Surgery, Historical Collection, 1892-1989.
Provenance:
The National Museum of the American Indian purchased the Waugh collection in 2001 from the Rankin Museum of American and Natural History in Ellerbee, N.C.
Restrictions:
Access restricted. Researchers should contact the NMAI Archivist for an appointment to access the collection.
Access restricted. Some dental records may be restricted from access, reproduction, or publication under personal health information privacy provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. Researchers should contact the NMAI Archies Center 301-238-1400 or nmaiarchives@si.edu for an appointment to access the collection.
Rights:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish or broadbast materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiarchives@si.edu.
This collection contains 207 photographs documenting U.S. Allotting Agent Ralph Aspaas (1876-1939), his work, his family, and his travels around the United States southwest circa 1900-1915. The bulk of the materials in this collection depict scenes from the Jicarilla Apache Reservation in New Mexico and the Tohono O'odham (Papago) in Arizona. The photographs may have been shot by Aspaas or his brother Hans Aspaas (1873-1968).
Arrangement:
This collection is organized into three series: Jicarilla Apache Reservation, Tohono O'odham (Papago) Reservation, and Colorado, Utah, and unidentified locations.
Biographical / Historical:
Ralph Aspaas served as an Allotting Agent for the United States Indian Service (now the Bureau of Indian Affairs). He was first assigned to the Jicarilla Apache reservation from circa 1900 to 1910 and then to the Tohono O'odham reservation from circa 1912 to 1915. As an Agent, he allotted land within these reservations to individual tribal members and for tribal community use. Born in 1876, Aspaas married schoolteacher Allie Maud Ward (1881-1959) on July 15, 1905. Together they had six children- Ralph Ward Aspaas (1906-1972), Carl Henry Aspaas (1908-1975), Max Herndon Aspaas (1911-1971), Ellanette Aspaas (b. 1913), Helen Marie Aspaas (1920-2012), and Ruth Louise Aspaas (1922- 1966). By 1920 Ralph was working as a farmer and rancher in Breen, La Plata County, Colorado. He died on September 30, 1939 in Colorado.
Separated Materials:
The nitrate negatives are stored at the National Anthropological Archives.
Provenance:
Gift of Helen R. Aspaas, 2006.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Thursday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Rights:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish or broadcast materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Topic:
Indians of North America -- Southwest -- Photographs Search this
Indians of North America -- Arizona -- Photographs Search this
Indians of North America -- New Mexico -- Photographs Search this
Indians of North America -- Social life and customs Search this
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Ralph Aspaas collection, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
