Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Introduction:
The focus for the 1975 Native Americans program was the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy: the Mohawk, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, and Tuscarora, tribal groups whose government had been in effect for hundreds of years and served as a model for our federal system. The Grand Council of the Iroquois Confederacy directly influenced the creation of the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution of the U.S. Never before had the Native American Festival presentation been so closely interrelated to American history.
The Grand Council was discussed in workshops in the Learning Center where a history in photographs was on display. Members of the Iroquois are a major force in the lacrosse industry - from creating sticks to providing the athletes. Lacrosse was played in competition in the Native Americans area daily, and lacrosse stick making was part of the craft demonstrations along with silversmithing, wood and bone carving, basketry, and beadwork. Iroquois singing and dancing took place daily. Friday evenings, visitors were invited to participate in social dancing. The friendship dance, round dance, rabbit dance and stomp dance were demonstrated.
Native American food that was demonstrated and sampled included fry bread, corn and sassafras tea. Festival presentations traced the role of maize from crop through harvest; from food preparation in soups and breads, to the use of husks by craftspeople in toys, dolls and ceremonial masks.
In the Learning Center participants from various other Eastern Indian tribes recounted their influence on European settlers, beginning in 1620 when the Wampanoag tribe welcomed the Pilgrims (greeting them in English), provided food for them during the first difficult winter on the New England coast, and then shared the first Thanksgiving. Narragansett representatives spoke about the architectural contributions and history of their people. The Passamaquoddy from Maine, known for their intricate quill work and importance to the early settlers as trappers and fishers, also discussed their role in American history.
Other Native Americans who participated in discussions were from the Shinnecock tribe of Long Island, New York; Indian Mountain Lookout Intertribal Native Americans, New York; the Lumbee, Haliwa and Coharie from North Carolina; Catawba from South Carolina; Tunica-Biloxi of Louisiana; Chippewa of Wisconsin; and Potowatomi of Michigan. These participants were all members of the Coalition of Eastern Native Americans (CENA), an organization whose purpose is to identify and assist in the socio-economic and organizational development of Eastern Native Americans. CENA includes non-reservation, urban and federally recognized tribes and groups.
Lucille Dawson served as program coordinator, assisted by Thomas Kavanagh. The multi-year program was shaped by the Native Americans Advisory Group, including Alfonso Ortiz, Louis Bruce, Dell Hymes, Rayna Green, Clydia Nahwooksy, William Sturtevant, and Barre Toelken.
Participants:
Six Nations, Iroquois participants
Cayuga
Sam Crogan, lacrosse player
Alisa Mike, dancer
Nancy Poodry, bead worker
Bill Printup, lacrosse player
Dean Printup, lacrosse player
Elwood Printup, lacrosse player
Gene Printup, lacrosse player
Elizabeth Silversmith, cook
Mohawk
Mary Adams, basket maker
Mike Adams, basket maker
Elwood Greene, silversmith
David Hill, lacrosse player
Stanley Hill, bone carver
Woody Hill, dancer
Allan Jock, dancer
Marshall Joseph, wood carver
Isabelle Skye, cornhusk worker
Beatrice Thomas, dancer
Russell Thomas, dancer
Margaret Terrence, basket maker
Cam Wilson, bone carver
Marge Wilson, cook
Wanda Wilson, dancer
Oneida
Irving Chrisjohn, cornhusk worker
Mrs. Chrisjohn, cornhusk worker
Onondaga
Paula Babcock, dancer
Kevin Hill, lacrosse player
Martin Jimmerson, dancer
Angie Miller, dancer
Huron Miller, singer, discussant, Buffalo, New York
Barry Powless, dancer
Irving Powless, Sr., 1906-1985, discussant
Irving Powless, Jr., discussant
Nancy Powless, dancer
Jacob Skye, dancer
Perry Williams, dancer
Debbie Williams, dancer
Ruby Williams, dancer
Guy Williams, dancer
Tim Williams, dancer
Seneca
Herbert Buck, singer
Lydia Buck, dancer
Sadie Buck, dancer
Herb Dowdy, 1919-1990, singer
Fidelia George, dancer
Helen Harris, dancer
Linda Harris, dancer
Steve Harris, dancer
Elijah Harris, dancer
Diosa Hill, dancer
Marty Jamerson, dancer
Darwin John, dancer
Edith John, cook
Coleen Johnny John, dancer
Kevin Johnny John, dancer
Mike Johnny John, dancer
Richard Johnny John, singer
Vera Miller, cook, bead worker
Ken Poodry, cradleboard maker
Eddie Scott, dancer
Elmer Shongo, 1929-1985, dancer, cook
Corbett Sundown, 1909-1992, discussant
Lloyd Thomas, 1946-, dancer
Marlene Thomas, dancer
Hazel Thompson, dancer
Phillip Thompson, dancer
Tuscarora
Joe Chrysler, lacrosse player
Orzey Cusick, lacrosse stick maker
Emma Greene, cook
Alvis Hewitt, 1931-1999, cook manager
Rick Hill, discussant
Nina Jacobs, dancer
Phillip Jacobs, lacrosse player
Bob Patterson, lacrosse player
Kevin Patterson, lacrosse stick maker
John Patterson, lacrosse stick maker
Helen Printup, cook
Mary Rickard, lacrosse stick maker
Ellene Rickard, lacrosse stick maker
Noreen Shongo, cook
Ron Smith, lacrosse player
Wilmer Wilson, 1925-2002, discussant
Coalition of Eastern Native Americans Participants
Aroostook Association
Terry Polchies, discussant
Catawba
Roger Trimnal, discussant
Chippewa
Dalores Baimbridge, discussant
Elizabeth Cadotte, discussant
Haliwa
Linda Lynch, discussant
Archibald Lynch, discussant
Hassanamisco
Louise Wilcox, discussant
Indian Mountain Lookout Inter-Tribal Native Americans
Asenith D. Vogt, discussant
Lumbee
Arlene Locklear, 1952-1979, discussant
June Sampson, discussant
W.J. Strickland, discussant
Micmac
Tom Battiste
Mohegan
Virginia Daamon, discussant
Narragansett
Alberta Wilcox, discussant
Mary Brown, discussant
Potawatomi
Joe Winchester, discussant
Leroy Wesaw, 1925-1994, discussant
Shinnecock
Eva Smith, discussant
Alice Franklin, discussant
Tunica Biloxi
Rose Marie Pierite, 1900-1987
Wampanoag
Komi Oweant Haynes, 1958-, discussant
Collection Restrictions:
Access by appointment only. Where a listening copy or viewing copy has been created, this is indicated in the respective inventory; additional materials may be accessible with sufficient advance notice and, in some cases, payment of a processing fee. Older papers are housed at a remote location and may require a minimum of three weeks' advance notice and payment of a retrieval fee. Certain formats such as multi-track audio recordings and EIAJ-1 videoreels (1/2 inch) may not be accessible. Contact the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections at 202-633-7322 or rinzlerarchives@si.edu for additional information.
Collection Rights:
Copyright and other restrictions may apply. Generally, materials created during a Festival are covered by a release signed by each participant permitting their use for personal and educational purposes; materials created as part of the fieldwork leading to a Festival may be more restricted. We permit and encourage such personal and educational use of those materials provided digitally here, without special permissions. Use of any materials for publication, commercial use, or distribution requires a license from the Archives. Licensing fees may apply in addition to any processing fees.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1975 Festival of American Folklife, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
Portraits of Native American artists, craftspeople, activists, and leaders from Stephen Gambaro's photography exhibits: "The Indian, the Animal, and the Land," 1976; "Indian Artists," 1977; and "Shadows Caught: Images of Native Americans," 1984.
Individuals pictured include: Brummett Echohawk, Pawnee; Archie Blackowl, Cheyenne; Bert Seabourn, Cherokee; LaDonna Harris, Comanche; W. Richard West, Sr., Southern Cheyenne; Ada Deer, Menominee; George Watchetaker, Comanche; King Kuka, Blackfeet; Earl Biss, Crow; Larry J. DesJarlais Jr., Turtle Mountain Chippewa; Encarnacion Pena, San Ildefonso; Valjean McCarty Hessing, Choctaw; Allan Hauser, Apache; Victor H. Runnels, Oglala; Sarah McCray, Navajo; Marian Wolf, Kiowa; Dwight Billedeaux, Blackfeet; Elsie Peshlakai, Navajo; Johnny Tiger Jr., Muscogee; John Kaskaske, Kickapoo; Linda Russell, Apache-Pawnee; Stephen Gonyea, Onondaga Iroquois; Naomi and Kathy Gonyea, Seneca Iroquois; and John, Eric, and Tanya Parker, Choctaw.
Biographical/Historical note:
Stephen Gambaro is a professional photographer and former Chief of Rehabilitation Services for the Washington, DC, government. He and his wife, a Cherokee sculptor, operate an Native American art gallery in DC. Gambaro's photographs largely depict Native friends, artists, and craftsmen whom his gallery represents, as well as his travels to Native communities around the United States.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 80-37, NAA ACC 84-19
Location of Other Archival Materials:
The exhibition catalog for "Indian Artists" in 1977 was donated with parts of this collection in 1980. It has been relocated to the National Anthropological Archives Reference Files.
Additional photographs by Stephen Gambaro can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot R80-33.
Jose Encarnacion Pena's painting entitled "Spotted Pumpkin Dance," collected by Gambaro for the "Shadows Caught" exhibit, can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in MS 7429.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Citation:
Photo lot 80-37, Stephen Gambaro photographs of Native American artists and public figures, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina
Date:
1932-1958
Summary:
These are the papers of Washington, D.C. attorney James E. Curry, whose legal career included work both as a government attorney and in his own private practice. The bulk of the papers reflect his private practice in the area of Indian affairs.
Scope and Contents:
The material in the collection includes documents relating to many aspects of Curry's career but most of it relates to his work with Indian tribes and the National Congress of American Indians. For the most, the collection is made up of such materials as letters exchanged with government officials, Indians, and other attorneys; copies of legal documents; published government documents; notes; and clippings and other printed materials. Of particular significance is a subject file relating to Indian affairs. It includes material concerning affairs of Alaskan natives and the Aleut (Akutan, Pribilof Islands), Apache (including Fort Sill, Jicarilla, Mescalero, San Carlos White Mountain), Arapaho (Southern), Assiniboine (Fort Belknap, Fort Peck), Bannock (including Fort Hall), Blackfeet, Caddo, Catawba, Cherokee (Eastern), Cheyenne (Northern, Southern), Chickahominy, Chickasaw, Chippewa (including Lac Courte Oreilles), Choctaw, Cochiti, Cocopa, Coeur d'Alene, Colville, Comanche, Creek, Croatan, Crow, Dakota (Big Foot, Cheyenne River, Crow Creek, Devil's Lake, Flandreau, Fort Totten, Lower Brule, Mdewakanton, Oglala, Rosebud, Santee, Sisseton-Wahpeton, Standing Rock, Yankton), Delaware, Eskimo (including Gambell, Kiana), Flathead, Fox, Haida (including Kasaan), Havasupai, Hopi, Iroquois (Caughnawaga, Seneca, St. Regis), Isleta, Jemez, Kalilspel, Kansa (Kaw), Kickapoo, Kiowa, Klamath, Kutenai, Laguna, Lummi, Maricopa (Gila River, Salt River), Menominee, Missouria, Mohave (Fort Mohave), Mohave Apache (Fort McDowell), Muckleshoot, Navaho, Nez Perce, Niska, Nooksak, Omaha, Osage, Oto, Papago, Paiute (Fallon, Fort McDermitt), Moapa, Pyramid Lake, Shivwits, Walker River, Yerington), Pima (Gila River, Salt River), Potowatomi, Quinaielt, San Felipe, San Ildefonso, San Juan, Santa Ana, Santa Clara, Sandia, Sauk, Seminole (Florida, Oklahoma), Seneca, Seri, Shawnee (Eastern), Shoshoni (including Fort Hall), Sia, Spokan, Stockbridge, Taos (Pyote clan), Tesuque, Three Affiliated Tribes (Mandan, Arikara, and Hidatsa), Tillamook, Tlingit (including Angoon, Craig, Juneau, Kake, Ketchikan, Klawak, Klukwan, Taku, Wrangell), Tsimshian (Metlakatla), Umatilla, Ute (including Uintah-Ouray), Walapai, Washo, Wesort, Winnebago, Wyandot, Yakima, Yaqui, Yavapai, Yuma, and Zuni. There are also materials relating to Curry's work with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and National Congress of American Indians, and material that reflects his interest in conditions and events in given locations (often filed by state) and in organizations with interest in Indians. The material relating to Curry's work in Puerto Rico has been deposited in the Archivo General de Puerto Rico, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriquena, in San Juan.
Arrangement note:
The James E. Curry Papershave been arranged into 6 series: (1) Daily Chronological Files, 1941-1955; (2) Subject Files Regarding Indian Affairs, bulk 1935-1955; (3) Miscellaneous Files Regarding Indian Affairs, bulk 1947-1953; (4) Non-Indian Affairs, n.d.; (5) Puerto Rico Work, 1941-1947; (6) Miscellany, undated.
Biographical/Historical note:
James E. Curry was trained in law in Chicago and practiced in that city from 1930 until 1936, serving part of that time as secretary of the local branch of the American Civil Liberties Union. From 1936 to 1938, he was an attorney with the United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs, being largely involved with matters of credit affecting Indians. From 1938 to 1942, he continued service with the Interior Department but worked in several capacities involving the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration, the department's Consumers' Counsel Division, and the Puerto Rico Water Resources Authority.
In 1945, Curry returned to Washington and set up private practice, also maintaining for a time an office in Puerto Rico. In Washington, he became the attorney for the National Congress of American Indians and from that time until the 1950s his practice increasingly involved representation of American Indian tribes, mostly in claims against the federal government. In this work, for a time, he was involved in business relations with a New York Law firm that included Henry Cohen, Felix Cohen, and Jonathan Bingham.
He also often worked closely with lawyers who lived near the tribes he represented, William L. Paul, Jr., of Alaska, for example. This aspect of his practice--representing Indian tribes--was largely broken up during the early 1950s when the Commissioner of Indian Affairs began to use his powers to disapprove contracts between Curry and the tribes. In 1952 and 1953, his official relationship with the National Congress of American Indians was also ended. After this, while Curry continued until his death to act as a consultant in Indian claims with which he had earlier been involved, his career and life developed in a different direction.
Related Materials:
Additional material relating to James E. Curry can be found in the records of the National Congress of American Indians, also located at the National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center.
Provenance:
The Curry papers were originally donated to the National Anthropological Archives by James E. Curry's daughter Mrs. Aileen Curry-Cloonan in December 1973. In 2007 The Curry papers were transferred from the National Anthropological Archives to the National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center along with several other records concerning American Indian law and political rights.
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.
Genre/Form:
Notes
Letters
Clippings
Legal documents
Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); James E. Curry papers, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Beauchamp, page 417, records that the photograph was procured by Horatio Hale in September 1871. He quotes a note by Horatio Hale on the back of the photograph used in his article: "This picture represents the chiefs of the Six Nations, on their reserve near Brantford in Canada, explaining their wampum belts. (Sept. 14, 1871). These chiefs were [left to right]: (1) Joseph Snow (Hahriron), Onondaga chief; (2) George H. M. Johnson (Deyonhehgon), Mohawk chief and government interpreter. Son of Number 4; (3) John Buck (Skanawatih), Onondaga chief and wampum keeper: (4) John Smoke Johnson (Sakayenkwaraton), Mohawk chief and speaker of the council; (5) Isaac Hill (Kawenenseronton), Onondaga chief and fire keeper; (6) Seneca Johnson (Kanonkeredawih), Seneca chief."
All are seated except John Smoke Johnson. All are holding wampum belts and all are wearing contemporary occidental dress, except that Seneca Johnson is wearing a turban-like headgear, probably a finger-woven sash, wrapped around his head.
Biographical / Historical:
Photographer: James N. Edy, Brantford, Ontario.
Local Numbers:
NAA INV.9384300
OPPS NEG.961 C 2
Local Note:
Original cabinet photo by James N. Edy, Brantford, Ontario is owned by Musee du Seminaire, Quebec (Album 6-G, page 109). This cabinet has the notations by Hale on the reverse. Beauchamp's quotation above varies slightly--Indian names are added, the exact day in September noted and name of #6 is rearranged. Copy of Hale's notation is in photo information file. Xerox copy of cabinet provided by W. C. Sturtevant.--PJF 7/78
These papers consist of research materials collected and used by Professor Carol Herselle Krinsky for her book Contemporary Native American Architecture: Cultural Regeneration and Creativity.
Scope and Contents:
These papers consist of research materials collected and used by Professor Carol Herselle Krinsky for her book Contemporary Native American Architecture: Cultural Regeneration and Creativity. This book discusses the connection between trends in modern architecture and native culture, as well as how culture has been revived through architecture, and how existing structures are altered to better reflect the native culture they serve. These materials include correspondence, newspaper clippings, interview transcripts, and photographs. News clippings in this collection include articles in German.
Arrangement:
The Carol H. Krinsky Papers are divided into two main series based on the original order established by Dr. Krinsky.
Series 1, Tribes (1964-2004) [Boxes 1-4]
Series 2, Subject Files (1967-2004)
[Boxes 5-7]
Biographical / Historical:
Carol Herselle Krinsky is a professor of Fine Arts at New York University. She received a BA from Smith College in 1957, a M.A. from the NYU Institute of Fine Arts in 1960, and a PhD from NYU in 1965. Professor Krinsky has received many honors and awards throughout her career including the Miess Publication Award from the College Art Association (1985), the National Jewish Book Award (1986), a Merit of Distinction from the International Center for Holocaust Studies (1987), a Golden Dozen Teaching Award from NYU (1990) and; the Brunner Research Award from the New York City Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. She has also been named a Senior Fulbright Scholar.
Previous publications have included Synagogues of Europe, Rockefeller Center, and Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Dr. Carol Herselle Krinsky on March 3, 2004.
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 materials from the collection must be requested from the NMAI Archivist. The Archives has no information on the status of literary rights for the work of others found in these papers; researchers are responsible for determining any question of copyright.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Carol H. Krinsky Papers, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
The collection consists of a copy of a studio portrait of Onondaga, Mohawk, and Seneca Chiefs with wampum belts, made on September 14, 1871, for Horatio Hale. Includes Joseph Snow (Hahriron), Onondaga Chief; George H. M. Johnson (Deyonhehgon), Mohawk chief, government interpreter and son of John Smoke Johnson; John Buck (Skanawatih), Onondaga chief and hereditary keeper of the wampum; John Smoke Johnson (Sakayenkwaraton), Mohawk chief and speaker of the council; Isaac Hill (Kawenenseronton), Onondaga chief and fire keeper; John Seneca Johnson (Kanonkeredawih), Seneca chief.
Biographical/Historical note:
Horatio Emmons Hale (1817-1896) was an American-Canadian philologist, ethnologist, author, and businessman who studied Native American languages. He published the Iroquois Book of Rites in 1883, which documented the history and rituals of the Iroquois Confederacy based on interpretations of the group's wampum belts. In September 1871, he requested that six Iroquois chiefs, with whom he had worked on the wampum belts, come to the Brantford, Ontario, studio of James N. Edy, where this photograph was made.
Hale later sent the photograph to his colleagues with variations on the following inscription: "The wampum belts were explained to me on the reserve, at the residence of Chief G. H. M. Johnson; and at my request the chiefs afterwards came with me to Brantford, where the original photograph . . . was taken.--H. Hale, Clinton, Ont." The photograph from which this copy print was made originally belonged to J. N. B. Hewitt.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 86-58
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Additional James N. Edy photographs can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in MS 4751 and the BAE historical negatives.
Vocabularies and correspondence by Horatio Hale can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in MS 7235, MS 7236, MS 4558, MS 772-c, MS 4797, MS 4800, MS 7439, MS 7440, MS 7441, MS 3436, MS 1072, the Bureau of American Ethnology Letters Received, and the J.C. Pilling Papers.
Photo Lot 86-58, Copy of James N. Edy photograph of Chiefs of the Six Nations explaining their wampum belts, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The Frank Kenjockety and Louis B. Newell Native American Entertainers collection includes ephemera, documents and photographs from two prominent Native American [entertainers] Frank Kenjockety (Cayuga), also known as "Chief Strong Fox" and Louis Belmont Newell, also known as "Rolling Thunder". Kenjockety's collection contains photographs, ephemera and a small amount of personal records from his career as a circus troupe leader and lecturer from 1909-1940. Newell's collection contains ephemera from his career as a traveling Medicine Man and entertainer including remedy and ointment packaging as well as broadsides and flyers.
Scope and Contents:
The Native American Entertainers collection includes ephemera, documents and photographs from two prominent Native American entertainers, Frank Kenjockety, also known as "Chief Strong Fox" and Louis Belmont Newell, also known as "Rolling Thunder". Kenjockety's collection contains photographs, ephemera and a small amount of personal records from his career as a circus troupe leader and lecturer from 1909-1940. Newell's collection contains ephemera from his career as a traveling Medicine Man and entertainer from the 1880's until the 1930's. This includes remedy and ointment packaging as well as broadsides and flyers.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged in two series; Series 1: Frank Kenjockety "Chief Strong Fox", and Series 2: Louis Belmont Newell "Chief Rolling Thunder". Series 1 contains three subseries by material type and is arranged alphabetically.
Biographical / Historical:
This collection of Native American Entertainers materials was put together by Crown Collectibles, a privately held historical research company based out of Richmond Virginia.
Frank Kenjockety was born in 1871 to Jesse and Sarah Kenjockety on Cattaraugus Territory, Seneca Nation and made his home in Salamanca, New York. He was head of the Cayuga Tribe of the Iroquois Federation. In the early 1900's he formed a vaudeville troupe called "Kenjockety' s Hippodrome and Wild West Show". They traveled by train and played at state fairs, carnivals and with other traveling circuses. In the late 1920's Frank Kenjockety took the name "Chief Strong Fox". He became nationally known as an "Indian Chief Lecturer" and his troupe was billed as "Real American Indians in Costume- Direct from the U.S. Government Indian Reservation". Their performances included "Ceremonial Rites, Singing, War Dance, Medicine Dance, Feather Dance, Prayer Song, Famous Adoption Form and lectures on the part the American Indian had played in the history of the United States". Kenjockety's wife, Leona, and daughter, Mabel, also traveled as performers with the troupe. Mabel first appeared on horseback as a child and went on to become a trick rider. While on tour in December 1915, the train on which they were traveling ran head-on into another train that was mistakenly switched on the same track. Mr. Kenjockety survived, but many in his company perished. Undaunted by the tragedy, he rebuilt his company and continued to perform. He and his troupe continued to play fairs, school assemblies and circuses and went on at least two world tours. In 1937, they traveled on the steamer ship "Bremen". Correspondence in 1941 reveals that their popularity had waned and apparently the troupe disbanded around that time. Chief Strong Fox was also well known for the "lectures" he gave on Native American History. He became popular with school and other groups (Rotary Club, etc.) throughout New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, and often "adopted" some of his Caucasian audience as members of his tribe. He received many letters from school officials praising his talks on Indian history and customs to be of"educational value". Kenjockety passed away in 1944.
Known to his family as Belmont and to the public as Chief Rolling Thunder, Louis Belmont Newell was born around 1858 to Thomas Newell and Marie Parsons of Indian Island, Old Town, Maine. Newell appears to have married several times and his first daughter Blanche was born to Victoria Tahamont around 1886. It is around this time that Newell is first referred to as Chief Rolling Thunder and that his company, the Kiowa Medicine Company, begins touring. The show was comprised of "moral" entertainment and lectures given on the customs, habits, manners and religion of tribes. Newell would also sell "traditional Kiowa" medicines and give out health guides. It is uncertain when the company was actually formed and though Newell claimed that he was a descendent of the First Chief Medicine Man of the Kiowa Nation, Teet-Toot-Sah, this was most likely just for his public image. It is much more likely that his parents were Penobscots from Maine. Newell married Louisa Stump of Iroquois descent in 1891. Louisa was an expert shot and travelled with the Kiowa Medicine Company for some time. In 1894, Newell married his fourth wife Jeanne "Jennie" Congleton who served as business manager for the Kiowa Medicine and Vaudeville Company for many years. Newell died December 1, 1933 and was buried in Randolph, NY. More information on L.B. Newell has been compiled by descendants of Newell and can be found on Ne-Do-Ba, a geneological website for the Wabanaki people.
Separated Materials:
Along with the archival materials, five additional objects were purchased and are a part of the NMAI Ethnology collection. They have catalog numbers 26/5414 through 26/5418 and include outfits supposedly worn by Frank Kenjockety "Chief Strong Fox" and his wife Leona Kenjockety.
All of the photographs in this collection are located in cool storage and arranged in folders by their catalog numbers.
Provenance:
This collection was purchased in 2005.
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.
Traveling theater -- United States -- 20th century Search this
Genre/Form:
Ephemera
Scrapbooks
Broadsides
Photographs
Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Frank Kenjockety and Louis B. Newell Native American Entertainers collection, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Gives the names or titles of the various officers and the duties required of them. Written with ink, and probably executed many years ago, as indicated by the paper and ink.
Contents: Notes on Dekanawida text; Hiawatha; notes on the League; notes to Seneca League traditions; translation by Hilton M. Hill, Seneca, official interpreter of the Six Nations Agency, Brantford; "down fended" explained; Mohawk Owachira and clans, 1932; Oneida titles (Jacob Hess, 1930); notes to texts, Charles, 1917 (1928); insert in the law of the woman chief, English; ascendancy of War Chiefs; Procedure by R. Davey, Cayuga chief, 1925-6. Also Principles of the League, text, typed, 19 pages.
Before the Indian Claims Commission : the Six Nations, the Seneca Nation of Indians, the Cayuga Nation, the Oneida Nation, the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma, the Oneida Nation of New York, the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin, petitioners, v. the United States of America, defendant / Paul G. Reilly, Ely M. Aaron, Howard D. Moses [attorneys of record]
Title:
Before the Indian Claims Commission : docket no. 84
