These papers reflect the professional lives of Alice Cunningham Fletcher (1838-1923), an ethnologist with the Peabody Museum of Harvard and collaborator with the Bureau of American Ethnology, and Francis La Flesche (1856-1923), an anthropologist with the Bureau of American Ethnology. Due to the close professional and personal relationship of Fletcher and La Flesche, their papers have been arranged jointly. The papers cover the period from 1874 to 1939. Included in the collection is correspondence, personal diaries, lectures, field notes and other ethnographic papers, drafts, musical transcriptions, publications by various authors, maps and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
These papers reflect the professional lives of Alice Cunningham Fletcher (1838-1923), an ethnologist with the Peabody Museum of Harvard University and collaborator with the Bureau of American Ethnology, and Francis La Flesche (1856-1923), an anthropologist with the Bureau of American Ethnology. Due to the close professional and personal relationship of Fletcher and La Flesche, their papers have been arranged jointly. The papers cover the period from 1874 to 1939. Included in the collection is correspondence, personal diaries, lectures, field notes and other ethnographic papers, drafts, musical transcriptions, publications by various authors, maps and photographs.
The papers have been divided into three general categories: the papers of Alice Cunningham Fletcher, the papers of Francis La Flesche, and the ethnographic research of Fletcher and La Flesche. The first two categories represent personal and professional materials of Fletcher and La Flesche. The third section holds the majority of the ethnographic material in the collection.
Of primary concern are Fletcher and La Flesche's ethnological investigations conducted among the Plains Indians, particularly the Omaha and Osage. Fletcher's Pawnee field research and her allotment work for the Bureau of Indian Affairs among the Omaha, Nez Perce, and Winnebago are represented in the collection. A substantial portion of the ethnographic material reflects Fletcher and La Flesche's studies of Native American music. Much of the correspondence in the papers of Fletcher and La Flesche is rich with information about the situation of Omaha peoples in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Also included in the collection are documents related to Fletcher's work with the Archaeological Institute of America and the School for American Archaeology. Additionally, substantial amounts of Fletcher's early anthropological and historical research are found among her correspondence, lectures, anthropological notes, and early field diaries. La Flesche's literary efforts are also generously represented.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into the following 3 series: 1) Alice Cunningham Fletcher papers, 1873-1925; 2) Francis La Flesche papers, 1881-1930; 3) Papers relating to the anthropological research of Alice Fletcher and Francis La Flesche, 1877-1939.
Series 1: Alice Cunningham Fletcher papers is divided into the following 10 subseries: 1.1) Incoming correspondence, 1874-1923 (bulk 1882-1923); 1.2) Outgoing correspondence, 1873-1921; 1.3) Correspondence on specific subjects, 1881-1925; 1.4) Correspondence between Fletcher and La Flesche, 1895-1922; 1.5) Publications, 1882-1920; 1.6) Organizational records, 1904-1921; 1.7) General anthropological notes, undated; 1.8) Lectures, circa 1878-1910; 1.9) Diaries, 1881-1922; 1.10) Biography and memorabilia, 1878-1925.
Series 2: Francis La Flesche papers is divided into the following 6 subseries: 2.11) General correspondence, 1890-1929; 2.12) Correspondence on specific subjects, 1881-1930; 2.13) Publications, 1900-1927; 2.14) Literary efforts, undated; 2.15) Personal diaries, 1883-1924; 2.16) Biography and memorabilia, 1886-1930.
Series 3: Papers relating to the anthropological research of Alice Fletcher and Francis La Flesche is divided into the following 12 subseries: 3.17) Alaska, 1886-1887; 3.18) Earth lodges, 1882, 1898-1899; 3.19) Music, 1888-1918; 3.20) Nez Perce, 1889-1909; 3.21) Omaha, 1882-1922; 3.22) Osage, 1896-1939; 3.23) Pawnee, 1897-1910; 3.24) Pipes, undated; 3.25) Sioux, 1877-1896; 3.26) Other tribes, 1882-1922; 3.27) Publications collected, 1884-1905, undated; 3.28) Photographs, undated.
Biographical / Historical:
Alice Cunningham Fletcher (1838-1923) was an ethnologist with the Peabody Museum of Harvard and collaborator with the Bureau of American Ethnology. Francis La Flesche (1856-1923) was an anthropologist with the Bureau of American Ethnology.
Chronology of the Life of Alice Cunningham Fletcher
1838 March 15 -- Born in Havana, Cuba
1873-1876 -- Secretary, American Association for Advancement of Women
1879 -- Informal student of anthropology, Peabody Museum, Harvard University
1881 -- Field trip to Omaha and Rosebud Agencies
1882 -- Assistant in ethnology, Peabody Museum, Harvard University
1882 -- Helped secure land in severalty to Omaha Indians
1882-1883 -- Begins collaboration with Francis La Flesche on the Peabody Museum's collection of Omaha and Sioux artifacts
1883-1884 -- Special Agent, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Omaha Agency
1886 -- Bureau of Education investigation of Alaskan native education
1887-1888 -- Special Disbursing Agent, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Winnebago Agency
1889-1892 -- Special Agent for allotment, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Nez Perce Agency
1890-1899 -- President, Women's Anthropological Society of America
1891-1923 -- Mary Copley Thaw Fellow, Peabody Museum, Harvard University
1892-1893 -- Department of Interior consultant, World's Columbian Exposition
1896 -- Vice-President, Section H, American Association for the Advancement of Science
1897 -- Collaborator, Bureau of American Ethnology
1899-1916 -- Editorial board, American Anthropologist
1900 -- Published Indian Story and Song from North America
1901-1902 -- Advisory committee, Anthropology Department, University of California at Berkeley
1903 -- President, Anthropological Society of Washington
1904 -- Published The Hako: A Pawnee Ceremony with James Murie
1908-1913 -- Chair, Managing Committee of School of American Archaeology
1911 -- Honorary Vice-President, Section H, British Association for Advancement of Science
1911 -- Published The Omaha Tribe with Francis La Flesche
1913 -- Chair Emeritus, Managing Committee of School of American Archaeology
1915 -- Published Indian Games and Dances with Native Songs Arranged from American Indian Ceremonials and Sports
1923 April 6 -- Died in Washington, D.C.
Chronology of the Life of Francis La Flesche
1857 December 25 -- Born on Omaha Reservation near Macy, Nebraska
1879 -- Lecture tour, Ponca chief Standing Bear
1881 -- Interpreter, Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
1881-1910 -- Clerk, Bureau of Indian Affairs
1891 -- Informally adopted as Fletcher's son
1892 -- LL.B., National University Law School
1893 -- LL.M., National University Law School
1900 -- Published The Middle Five: Indian Boys at School
1906-1908 -- Marriage to Rosa Bourassa
1910-1929 -- Ethnologist, Bureau of American Ethnology
1911 -- Published The Omaha Tribe with Alice Fletcher
1921 -- Published The Osage Tribe, Part One
1922 -- Member, National Academy of Sciences
1922-1923 -- President, Anthropological Society of Washington
1925 -- Published The Osage Tribe, Part Two
1926 -- Honorary Doctor of Letters, University of Nebraska
1928 -- Published The Osage Tribe, Part Three
1932 -- Published Dictionary of the Osage Language
1932 September 5 -- Died in Thurston County, Nebraska
1939 -- Posthumous publication of War Ceremony and Peace Ceremony of the Osage Indians
Related Materials:
Additional material related to the professional work of Fletcher and La Flesche in the National Anthropological Archives may be found among the correspondence of the Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE) and the records of the Anthropological Society of Washington.
Sound recordings made by Fletcher and La Flesche can be found at the Library of Congress. The National Archives Records Administration hold the Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), including those relating to allotments in severalty for the Nez Perce by Alice Fletcher. The Nebraska Historical Society has diaries, letters and clippings regarding the La Flesche family, including correspondence of Francis La Flesche and Fletcher. The Radcliffe College Archives holds a manuscript account of Alice Fletcher's four summers with the Nez Perce (1889-1892). Correspondence between Fletcher and F. W. Putnam is also located at the Peabody Museum Archives of Harvard University.
Separated Materials:
Ethnographic photographs from the collection have been catalogued by tribe in Photo Lot 24.
Glass plate negatives from the collection have been catalogued by tribe in the BAE glass negatives collection (Negative Numbers 4439-4515).
Provenance:
The papers of Alice Cunningham Fletcher and Francis La Flesche have been received from an undocumented number of sources. Portions of Fletcher's ethnographic papers were donated to the archives by Mrs. G. David Pearlman in memory of her husband in 1959.
Restrictions:
The Alice Cunningham Fletcher and Francis La Flesche papers are open for research.
Access to the Alice Cunningham Fletcher and Francis La Flesche papers requires an appointment.
Information obtained from Pauline, a Tonto-Apache woman married to Richard Dickens, a Mohave-Apache man living at McDowell, Arizona; and Ralph Naltway, Carlisle School, Class 1891, of San Carlos.
Local Numbers:
NAA MS 1747
Local Note:
Manuscript document
Topic:
Language and languages -- Documentation Search this
Citation:
Manuscript 1747, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Field notes
Dictionaries
Manuscripts
Narratives
Vocabulary
Date:
1908-circa 1949
Scope and Contents:
This subseries of the Southwest series contains Harrington's Tewa research. The files include field notes, vocabulary, linguistic and ethnographic notes, a dictionary, records of rehearings, texts, writings, and miscellanous notes.
His field notebooks contain grammar, vocabulary, placenames, names of persons, relationship terms, and material culture; texts concerning Qwiqumat, other myths, and ethnohistory of early Southwest tribes, pueblos, clans, and religion; copies of the San Ildefonso census; and other miscellaneous ethnographic information.
The vocabulary section of the Tewa files include a group of slips identified as Rio Grande vocabulary with some Santa Clara terms specified as such. There is a wide variety of terms, and animal and plant vocabularies were marked by Harrington "A" and "P" respectively (former B.A.E. MS 4678pt.) with some linguistic insertions. The information was collected during the early period. There is also a small file of Spanish loanwords in Tewa that Harrington copied from Eduardo Cata's material.
His linguistic and ethnographic notes contain a few pages each of over twenty topics such as dances, estufas (kivas), pottery, societies, religion, superstitions, Tewa trails, and Tewa origins (former B.A.E. MS 4704pt.). Barbara Freire-Marreco collaborated in the accumulation of some of the material, most of which came from the many informants who contributed to the early notes. Some linguistic material is interspersed. There is a handwritten copy of the Nambe census of 1911, a description and rough sketches of the Black Mesa of San Ildefonso, and several references to Jemez, Spanish Cochiti, Spanish Hopi, Taos, Zuni, and Sia.
A collection of linguistic and ethnographic terms remains in slipfile form (former B.A.E. MS 4704pt.). Some are in various Tewa dialects such as Nambe, San Ildefonso, San Juan, and Santa Clara. A few Taos comparisons are included. The largest group is related to animal parts and animal activities. Ethnographic information includes such topics as snakes, estufas, officers and government, plants, pottery, shrines, and societies. A small group is credited to Barbara Freire-Marreco.
The dictionary (former B.A.E. MS. 4704pt.) was arranged by Cata in June 1927 from his field notes taken during the early period. Part is in alphabetic order, part is devoted to adjectives provided by Julian Martinez, and part covers adverbs from Santiago Naranjo. A second group is also arranged in alphabetic order but no sources are identified. Some related nonlexical and bibliographical material is interspersed.
There are also materials from rehearings Harrington conducted with Santiago Naranjo in 1911, Eduardo Cata in 1927, and David Dozier and "O" in 1948-1949. Harrington and Cata developed a linguistic treatment of notes based on an unpublished dissertation on New Mexico Spanish by Aurelio H. Espinosa. Together they reworked geographic terms from Harrington's "The Ethnogeography of the Tewa Indians." Other miscellaneous rehearings with Cata were more grammatically oriented. Dozier and "O" provided substantial material on San Juan/Hano comparisons, although some of the notes may have been accumulated during a February 1946 visit to Albuquerque, where Harrington interviewed Mr. Shupla, a Hano speaker. This meeting may have resulted also in his proposed article "Hano . . . Same Word as Tano."
In the text section are three myths given by Juan Gonzales on September 1, 2, and 3, 1908 at the camp near the Stone Lions, rendered in Tewa and English with some linguistic notes. Also in both languages is an Ignacio Aguilar story recorded on September 23, 1909. Some stories probably obtained between 1908 and 1909 are in English only. Not all are complete and the continuity of some is broken due to repetitive material and interspersed corrections. There are two short Nambe myths. Eduardo Cata supplied thirteen texts in addition to the three published in 1947. These are in Tewa, most with either interlinear or parallel English translations. Harrington used pencils of different colors to insert orthographic corrections and later annotations. Whether the texts were obtained in 1927 when Cata was in Washington or during the 1940s is uncertain.
Harrington's writing files contain notes and drafts for his unpublished and published writings. There are substantial notes accumulated for "A Brief Description of the Tewa Language" (1910) (former B.A.E. MS 4704pt.). Harrington's notes contain more extensive phonetic and morphological information than the final publication. Notes probably recorded in 1910 for "Ethnogeography" and "Ethnobotany" are intermixed and largely disorganized, although substantial in number (former B.A.E. MS 4704pt.). Additional information and some relevant correspondence for "Ethnogeography" is included (former B.A.E. mss. 3801 and 4704pt.), as well as some notes Harrington excerpted in 1946 from this publication. Drafts and notes for "Three Tewa Texts" include insertions of additional information provided by David Dozier and "O." There are also five sets of drafts for proposed articles. "Ablaut in the Tewa Language of New Mexico" (1912) is an elaboration of the phonetic material used in "A Brief Description of the Tewa Language." "Some Aspects of Tewa Indian Placenames" was written in 1920. Undated are "Hano, Indian Pueblo of Arizona, the Same Word as Tano" (former B.A.E. MS 4521pt.), "Santa Fe at Northern Edge of Tano Country," and "The Tewa Pueblos."
Among the writing files are also materials relating to "Phonetics of the Tewa Language," submitted or sold by Eduardo Cata to the B.A.E. (former MS 4704pt.). The title page, bill of sale, and notes in Harrington's handwriting, and some possibly in Cata's are on file. Informants Mr. and Mrs. "O" also contributed information. There are also two unpublished articles on Tewa tones that Harrington co-authored with David Dozier--"Tewa Tones" and "The 3 Tone Accents and the 1 Non-tone Accent of Tewa."
Also in this subseries are miscellaneous notes, mainly from the early period. Some of the information came from Ignacio Aguilar. There is a small selection of Jemez, Ute, and Taos equivalences. Also included are a diagram of Tewa color symbolism (former B.A.E. ms. 1790), a reproduction of a San Juan Pueblo religious painting, and a very short bibliography.
Biographical / Historical:
John P. Harrington's study of the Tewa languages began in July 1908 under the auspices of the School of American Archaeology (S.A.A.) in Santa Fe, and his interest in the Tewa Indians continued into the late 1940s. Accumulation and organization of notes fall generally into three time frames. The early period can be dated between 1908 and 1916 when Harrington worked first for the Museum of New Mexico as assistant curator, then for Edgar Lee Hewett of the S.A.A., and, from December 1914, as ethnologist for the Bureau of American Ethnology. Six of his publications are based on the notes from this period. In October 1910 he spent several weeks on a tour of Tewa country securing placenames from large numbers of informants. The principal informants for the entire early period are Ignacio Aguilar and Santiago Naranjo (also called "Jim").
Dating from a middle period in 1927, Harrington worked closely with Eduardo Cata in Washington. Cata was described by Harrington as an educated San Juan Tewa Indian. With the exception of one short period (from February to July 1946), Harrington was in Washington from early 1942 until April 1949. During this third period he published "Three Tewa Texts" (1947) based on stories from Cata. The texts may have been received from Cata during the middle period, but the notes represent a rehearing in the 1940s with David Dozier and an informant identified only as "0." Harrington knew David Dozier's father and in May 1944, he wrote self-introductory letters to the son, a fluent speaker of the Santa Clara dialect, who was then in the Indian Service. Harrington also reworked and reorganized much of his grammatical information during these years in Washington. Notes indicate that he may have planned to publish a Tewa grammar.
Other Tewa speakers that Harrington worked with include Bert Fredericks, Manuel Vigil, Bernardo Sanchez, Joe Horner, Desiderio Naranjo, and Alfredo Montoya.
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.
This subseries of the Southwest series within the John P. Harrington papers contains general and miscellaneous materials. Certain notes in this subseries encompass the Southwest as an entity; others constitute small files of miscellany which do not relate directly to the preceding sets of field notes. Few precise dates are assigned to this section of material as it is based on information accumulated over an indefinite period of time.
One section contains archaeological field notes relating to Elden Pueblo. In 1926 Harrington was called to assist J. W. Fewkes at the excavation of ruins at Elden Pueblo near Flagstaff, Arizona. This set of files comprises the journal entries which Harrington made on an almost daily basis between May 27 and August 27, 1926. There are two sets of notes--the original handwritten ones and a typed copy which was submitted to Fewkes on November 10, 1926 (former B.A.E. MS 6010). The journal contains brief notes, sketches of pits and artifacts, references to photographs, and names of associates; there are no significant linguistic or ethnographic data.
The subseries also contains a comparative list of Taos, Picuris, Isleta, Tewa (San Juan), and Tanoan numerals, based mainly on Harry S. Budd's B.A.E. MS 1028. There are also notes on pueblo basket-making from his interviews with Dr. and Mrs. Colton and Mr. Gladwin (B.A.E. MS 2291) , as well as an account of an Indian scout (Yavapai) working for the U.S. Cavalry. In addition, there is an assortment of notes on photographs, bibliography, and a large chart of pronouns.
Harrington's writings are also present. These include preliminary drafts and notes for "The Southwest Indian Languages" and "The Sounds and Structure of the Aztecan Languages." Most of the information was evidently extracted from notes on hand at the time. Harrington mentioned James Johnson and Edward Hunt, both of whom spoke Acoma-Laguna and worked with him in July and August of 1944. Tom Polacca's son gave Hopi data. There are also a partial draft, notes, and bibliography for an article titled "Indians of the Southwest" (1942). Material relating to unpublished writings includes notes for a review of Mary Roberts Coolidge's The Rain-Makers (1929). An undated draft and notes on "The Southern Athapascan" are also included.
A group of original field notes from Harrington's collaborators were left in his possession; in particular, a group of handwritten slips taken between December 10, 1912, and April 6, 1913, were found in an envelope addressed to Harrington. Barbara Freire-Marreco evidently sent them from Polacca, Arizona, to Harrington in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The content is mainly grammatical, with vocabulary items and ethnographic material interspersed. The language has not been identified. A second set of notes consists of cards and a typed list, evidently compiled by Junius Henderson. The data include animal terms in Hopi (Moki), Pima, and Walapai.
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.
Relating to personal and place names of the Iroquois.
From The Four kings of Canada : being a succinct account of the four Indian princes lately arrived from North America; with a particular description of their country, their strange and remarkable religion, feasts, marriages, burials, remedies for their sick, customs, manners, constitution, habits, sports, war, peace, policy, hunting, fishing, utensils belonging to the savages, with several other extraordinary things worthy observation, as to the natural or curious productions, beauty, or fertility of that part of the world. [London? : s.n.], 1891 (London : Reprinted by J.E. Garratt)
Freire-Marreco, Barbara W. (Barbara Whitchurch), 1879-1967 Search this
Extent:
5 Copy prints
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Copy prints
Photographs
Date:
circa 1950-1962
Scope and Contents note:
Copies of photographs depicting Barbara Freire-Marreco Aitken, her husband Robert, Elizabeth Yates, and their home.
Biographical/Historical note:
Barbara Whitchurch Friere-Marreco Aitken (1879-1967) was a British anthropologist who worked with Pueblo Indians in the American Southwest.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot R91-5
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Notes and vocabularies compiled by Freire-Marreco can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in MS 2624-b, MS 2118, MS 3803, and MS 1747.
Correspondence from Freire-Marreco can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in MS 4558, the John P. Harrington Papers, and the Bureau of American Ethnology General Correspondence.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
This copy collection has been obtained for reference purposes only. Contact the repository for terms of use and access.
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Citation:
Photo Lot R91-5, Photographs of Barbara Freire-Marreco Aitken, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
