Indians of North America -- Great Plains Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Volumes
Ledger drawings
Date:
bulk ca. 1903-1904
Scope and Contents:
Notes and drawings by Native artists relating to heraldry, as Mooney termed tipi and shield designs. Also some myths and linguistic data from these and other Plains tribes. The manuscript is a compilation of materials created over a period of years, assembled under the current number by the BAE archivist. Bound volumes (since disbound for lamination) were placed under this manuscript number; loose notes and drawings on the same topics were primarily assembled under manuscript number 2538.
Biographical / Historical:
James Mooney (1861-1921) was a self-taught ethnologist. He was employed by the Bureau of American Ethnology from 1885 until his death. In this capacity, he worked extensively among the Cherokee and Kiowa. Among the Kiowa his studies focused on pictorial calendars, the peyote religion, and heraldry, the term he used to refer to the designs on shields and painted tipis. In the course of his study of Kiowa and Cheyenne heraldry, he commissioned illustrations of shield and tipi designs, as well as miniature shields and tipis. For additional biographic information on James Mooney see: Christopher Winters, General Editor, International Dictionary of Anthropologists, Garland Publishing, 1991. Neil M. Judd, The Bureau of American Ethnology - A Partial History, University of Oklahoma Press, 1967. L.G. Moses, The Indian Man - A Biography of James Mooney, University of Nebraska Press, 1984.
Local Numbers:
NAA MS 2531
OPPS NEG 57,508-A---521-A
OPPS NEG 71-3046-A
OPPS NEG 71-3046
OPPS NEG 72-1801 CN-1818 CN
Local Note:
The John M. Seger Referred to in Vol VIII (and also in Mooney's peyote files) was a teacher of agricultural methods. Walter Campbell edited his autobiography, "Early Days among the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians," Univ. of Okla. press. Genevieve Seger, his daughter, lives at Geary, Okla.; she may be a trustee of the Okla. Historical Soc. --Information from Althea Bass, here May 1959.
Mrs. J. H. Bass (Althea Bass) here May 6, 1959, thinks that the "Paul" referred to occasionally in Vols. III, IV, and V may be Paul Boynton, an interpreter who spoke both Cheyenne and Arapaho. His family still lives at El Reno. His father had something to do with the Agency. Paul Boynton is mentioned in one of the letters in Mooney corresponence for 1902-06 (Smithsonian Institution - Bureau of American Ethnology correspondence files.)
Date written on several pages by Mooney; almost certainly drawings done by same artist at same time and place as Ms. 2531, Vol. 10, identified by Mooney as "Drawn by Nakoim' eno = Bear Wings/alias Charles Murphy, Cheyenne Cantonment, Okla."
