Reverend James Owen Dorsey (1848-1895) was a missionary and Bureau of American Ethnology ethnologist who conducted extensive research on Siouan tribes and languages.The papers of James Owen Dorsey comprise mostly ethnographic and linguistic materials on various tribes of the Siouan language family as well as tribes from Siletz Reservation in Oregon. These materials include texts and letters with interlineal translations; grammar notes; dictionaries; drawings; and his manuscripts. In addition, the collection contains Dorsey's correspondence, newspaper clippings, his obituaries, and reprints.
Scope and Contents:
This collection contains James O. Dorsey's research and writings as a BAE ethnologist, as well as his earlier work as a missionary among the Ponca. The vast majority of the collection pertains to his research on Siouan-Catawban languages, including the Dakota and Dhegiha languages, Chiwere, Winnebago, Mandan, Hidatsa, Tutelo, Biloxi, and Catawba. His research on Athapascan, Kusan, Takilman, and Yakonan languages from his field work at Siletz Reservation are also present, as well as some notes on the Caddoan languages. Dorsey's research files include linguistic and ethnological field notes, reading notes, stories and myths, vocabularies, drawings, and unpublished and published manuscripts. The collection also contains Omaha, Ponca, Quapaw, and Biloxi dictionaries that he compiled and materials relating to his work editing Steven Riggs' Dakota-English Dictionary. Additional noteworthy materials in the collection are Teton texts and drawings from George Bushotter and drawings by Stephen Stubbs (Kansa), Pahaule-gagli (Kansa), and George Miller (Omaha). The collection also contains Dorsey's correspondence, newspaper clippings, obituaries, and his collection of reprints.
Arrangement:
The collection is organized into 6 series: 1) Siouan; 2) Siletz Reservation; 3) Caddoan; 4) General Correspondence; 5) Personal Papers; 6) Miscellaneous & Reprints.
Biographical Note:
Reverend James Owen Dorsey (1848-1895) was a missionary and Bureau of American Ethnology ethnologist who conducted extensive research on Siouan tribes and languages.
Dorsey was born on October 31, 1848 in Baltimore, Maryland. He exhibited a talent for languages at an early age. At age 6 he learned the Hebrew alphabet and was able to read the language at age 10. In 1867 Dorsey attended the Theological Seminary of Virginia and was ordained a deacon of the Protestant Episcopal Church in 1871. In May of that year, Dorsey traveled to the Dakota Territory to serve as a missionary among the Ponca. Plagued by ill health, Dorsey was forced to end his missionary work in August 1873. By that time, however, he had learned the Ponca language well enough to converse with members of the tribe without an interpreter.
Dorsey returned to Maryland and engaged in parish work while continuing his studies of Siouan languages. His linguistic talents and knowledge of these languages attracted the attention of Major John Wesley Powell. Powell arranged for Dorsey to work among the Omaha in Nebraska from 1878 to 1880 to collect linguistic and ethnological notes. When the Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE) was established in 1879, Powell recruited Dorsey to join the staff.
As an ethnologist for the BAE, Dorsey continued his research on Siouan tribes. His studies focused on languages but also included Siouan personal names, folklore, social organization, religion, beliefs, and customs. He conducted fieldwork among the Tutelo at Six Nations on Grand River in Upper Canada (1882); the Kansa, Osage, and Quapaw in Indian Territory (1883-1884); the Biloxi at Lecompte, Rapides Parish, Louisiana (1892); and again with the Quapaw at the Quapaw Mission (1894). He also worked with Native Americans that visited DC, including George Bushotter (Teton), Philip Longtail (Winnebago), Samuel Fremont (Omaha), and Little Standing Buffalo (Ponca). He also spent time at Siletz Reservation in 1884 to collect linguistic notes on the Athapascan, Kusan, Takilman, and Yakonan stocks.
In addition to his research, Dorsey helped found the American Folklore Society and served as the first vice-president of the association. He also served as vice-president of Section H of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
At the age of 47, Dorsey died of typhoid fever on February 4, 1895.
Sources Consulted
1st-16th Annual Reports of the Bureau of American Ethnology. 1881-1897.
Hewitt, J.N.B. 1895. "James Owen Dorsey" American Anthropologist A8, 180-183.
McGee, W.J. 1895. "In Memoriam." Journal of American Folklore 8(28): 79-80.
1848 -- Born on October 31 in Baltimore, Maryland.
1871 -- Ordained a deacon of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
1871-1873 -- Served as a missionary among the Ponca in Dakota Territory.
1878-1880 -- Conducted fieldwork among the Omaha in Nebraska.
1879 -- Joined the staff of the Bureau of American Ethnology.
1882 -- Conducted fieldwork among the Tutelo at Six Nations on Grand River in Upper Canada.
1883-1884 -- Conducted fieldwork among the Kansa, Osage, and Quapaw in Indian Territory.
1887 -- Worked with George Bushotter to record information regarding the language and culture of the Dakota.
1884 -- Conducted fieldwork at Siletz Reservation.
1892 -- Conducted fieldwork among the Biloxi at Lecompte, Rapides Parish, Louisiana.
1894 -- Conducted fieldwork among the Quapaw at the Quapaw Mission in Indian Territory.
1895 -- Died of typhoid fever on February 4th at the age of 47.
Restrictions:
The James O. Dorsey Papers are open for research. Access to the James O. Dorsey Papers requires an appointment
Rights:
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Topic:
Language and languages -- Documentation Search this
Manuscript 4800 James O. Dorsey papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
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Creation of this finding aid was funded through support from the Arcadia Fund.
Digitization and preparation of additional materials for online access has been funded also by the National Science Foundation under BCS Grant No. 1561167 and the Recovering Voices initiative at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.
According to the Third annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology, Dorsey "collected vocabularies of the Pani, Arikara, Kaddo, Kichai, and Wichita languages, to be used by the Director for comparison purposes." This series contain those notes as well as vocabulary from other Caddoan languages, notes on social structure, the names of Caddoan language tribes, and a letter from Henry Henshaw. The vocabulary that Dorsey collected was likely used in his work on Indian synonomy.
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The James O. Dorsey Papers are open for research. Access to the James O. Dorsey Papers requires an appointment
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Collection Citation:
Manuscript 4800 James O. Dorsey papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
Creation of this finding aid was funded through support from the Arcadia Fund.
Digitization and preparation of additional materials for online access has been funded also by the National Science Foundation under BCS Grant No. 1561167 and the Recovering Voices initiative at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.
Letter encloses 37 slips, comparisons of 35 Adai (Adahi) terms with terms in 6 other Caddoan languages.
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The James O. Dorsey Papers are open for research. Access to the James O. Dorsey Papers requires an appointment
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Collection Citation:
Manuscript 4800 James O. Dorsey papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
Creation of this finding aid was funded through support from the Arcadia Fund.
Digitization and preparation of additional materials for online access has been funded also by the National Science Foundation under BCS Grant No. 1561167 and the Recovering Voices initiative at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Search this
Indians of North America -- Southern States Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Field notes
Date:
1918-1921, 1939
Scope and Contents:
This subseries of the Plains series consists of John P. Harrington's research on the Caddo, Pawnee, Wichita, and Comanche languages. Harrington accumulated a total of forty-two pages of original notes on Caddo, Pawnee, and Wichita. The information was taken in 1918 and 1921 in Anadarko, Oklahoma, and in Washington, D.C. Although linguistically unrelated, six pages of Comanche terms, also collected in 1918 in Anadarko, follow the Caddoan material.
The Caddo vocabulary consists of six pages of animal and miscellaneous terms obtained from Joe Edman on June 22,1918, at Anadarko, Oklahoma. A two-page copy of the animal terms (former B.A.E. ms. 4136) were given by Harrington to J. R. Swanton, who later deposited them in the B.A.E. archives naming Harrington as the collector (n.d.). The Pawnee section contains semantically arranged vocabulary of only a few words in each of ten categories, and fifteen pages of grammatical notes. Correspondence indicates that the information was recorded in Washington on February 18 to 21,1918, from James Murie, who was not paid for his time. Murie also provided additional random information in January 1921. There are also short typed extracts from Sapir and Boas. The Wichita files consists of six pages of grammatical notes emphasizing the pronouns and thirty-four cards dealing with numerals were given by Harrington to J. R. Swanton, who later deposited them in the B.A.E. archives (n.d.) (former B.A.E. ms. 4136pt.). He also recorded twenty-one pages of grammar and vocabulary from Eben Rose and John Haddon, June 1918, at Anadarko, Oklahoma. There is also a small selection of secondary Wichita material from Swanton.
The Comanche notes comprise six pages of random terms from Herbert Yernipcut taken on June 21, 1918, at Anadarko, Oklahoma, and three pages of miscellaneous vocabulary. There are two pages of names of Comanche Indians whose portraits were in one of DeLancey Gill's albums, obtained from a person identified only as Millet, and dated May 10, 1924. A letter dated May 26, 1924, from Comanche Albert Attock requests pictures of Chief Quanah Parker and Peyote Chief Blind Man.
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.
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Robert Rankin papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
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Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Wenner-Gren Foundation.
Digitization and preparation of sound recordings for online access has been funded through generous support from the Arcadia Fund.
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Robert Rankin papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
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Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Wenner-Gren Foundation.
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Robert Rankin papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
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Robert Rankin papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
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Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Wenner-Gren Foundation.
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Robert Rankin papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
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Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Wenner-Gren Foundation.
Digitization and preparation of sound recordings for online access has been funded through generous support from the Arcadia Fund.
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Robert Rankin papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
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Robert Rankin papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
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Robert Rankin papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
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Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Wenner-Gren Foundation.
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Robert Rankin papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
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Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Wenner-Gren Foundation.
Digitization and preparation of sound recordings for online access has been funded through generous support from the Arcadia Fund.
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Robert Rankin papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
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Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Wenner-Gren Foundation.
Digitization and preparation of sound recordings for online access has been funded through generous support from the Arcadia Fund.
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Robert Rankin papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
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Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Wenner-Gren Foundation.
Digitization and preparation of sound recordings for online access has been funded through generous support from the Arcadia Fund.
Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
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Robert Rankin papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Wenner-Gren Foundation.
Digitization and preparation of sound recordings for online access has been funded through generous support from the Arcadia Fund.
Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Computer disks are currently restricted due to preservation concerns.
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Collection Citation:
Robert Rankin papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Wenner-Gren Foundation.
Digitization and preparation of sound recordings for online access has been funded through generous support from the Arcadia Fund.
