The papers of Aleš Hrdlička, curator in the Division of Physical Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, United States National Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, offer considerable insight into the development of physical anthropology in the first half of this century. The papers include honors bestowed on Hrdlička, autobiographical notes, correspondence with many of the leading anthropologists of the day, anthropometric and osteometric measurements and observations (forming most of the collection), extensive photographs of Hrdlička's field work, manuscripts, research materials, and "My Journeys" (essentially a diary Hrdlička kept of his field work). In addition, there is material of a personal nature. The papers date from 1875 to 1966, but the bulk of the materials date from 1903 to 1943, the time of Hrdlička's career at the USNM.
Scope and Contents:
This collection is comprised of both professional and personal materials. The professional material includes honors bestowed on Hrdlička, autobiographical notes, correspondence with many of the leading anthropologists of the day, anthropometric and osteometric measurements and observations (forming most of the collection), extensive photographs of Hrdlička's field work, manuscripts, research materials, and "My Journeys" (essentially a diary Hrdlička kept of his field work). The personal material primarily consists of correspondence with his first wife (Marie Dieudonnée Strickler) and other family members, but there are also financial records. The papers date from 1875 to 1966, but the bulk of the materials date from 1903 to 1943, the time of Hrdlička's career at the United States National Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Hrdlička investigated all major questions confronting physical anthropologists of his day (the fossil record of early humans, the arrival of humans in the Americas, human variation, evolution, and eugenics) and made valuable contributions in all these areas. Hrdlička's interests in the establishment of physical anthropology as a distinct and important field, the welfare of the Czech people, early hominids, and variation within the human species are all documented in the collection as are the services he performed for various United States government agencies. He pursued field studies in many different parts of the world, but there are relatively few field notes as such among his papers. There is instead the edited journal "My Journeys," photographs, and physical anthropological forms. There is also relatively little material on his administrative involvement in the USNM. There is no material from Hrdlička's time at the Pathological Institution of the New York State Hospitals; after he resigned, fire destroyed the anthropological records Hrdlička collected as a member of the staff. There are materials in the collection which contradict, or at least complicate, many long-held criticisms of Hrdlička, particularly claims that he was racist and opposed feminist ideas. The collection contains materials of interest to genetic research, including anthropometric measurements, hair clippings and fingerprints.
There are a few items in the collection which are dated earlier than the collection's date span. These are publication dates, and the folders containing the items have been dated accordingly, but they have not affected the dates of the series or collection. There are also a few items which are dated after Hrdlička's death. These dates reflect the fact that the collection was added to by the Department of Physical Anthropology after Hrdlička's death and have been taken into account when formulating dates for the series and collection.
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged in 37 series:
(1) Miscellaneous Personal Papers, 1875-1940
(2) Early Personal Correspondence, 1883-1919
(3) Correspondence, 1885-1953
(4) News Clippings and Printed Matter, 1893-1953
(5) Financial Papers, 1910-1943
(6) Journeys to the Southwestern United States and Mexican Indians, 1898-1919
(7) Journeys to the Dakota, Chippewa, Kickapoo, and Shawnee, 1916-1917
(11) Journey to Egypt, Europe, and Russia, 1908-1909
(12) Journey to South America, 1910, 1910-1912
(13) Journey to the Far East, 1920, 1900-1930
(14) Journey to Australia, Java, India, South Africa, and Europe, 1924-1925
(15) Anthropometric Measurements of Indians Taken at the United States National Museum, 1904-1905, most undated
(16) Bone Studies, 1893-1929, most undated
(17) Old Americans, 1914-1930
(18) Children Who Run on All Fours, 1928-1936
(19) Early Man Studies, 1906-1930
(20) European Ethnic History, 1908-1938
(21) Miscellaneous Research Notes, 1887-1930
(22) Manuscripts of Writings, 1901-1944, most undated
(23) Writings by Other Authors, 1877-1942
(24) Anthropometry, undated
(25) "From My Journeys", 1898-1938
(26) -- American Journal of Physical Anthropology -- , 1918-1931
(27) American Association of Physical Anthropologists, 1924-1931
(28) International Congress of Americanists, 1900-1928
(29) Institute of Population, 1942
(30) Department of Anthropology, 1914-1943
(31) Lecture Notes, 1920-1932
(32) Maps and Charts, 1900-1932
(33) Miscellany, 1895-1954
(34) Index Cards, 1899-1948
(35) Bibliographic Index, undated
(36) Physical Anthropology Folios, undated
(37) Photographs, 1887-1944
Biographical Note:
Aleš Hrdlička was born in Bohemia in 1869 and came to America when he was thirteen. As a young man, he was trained in medicine at New York's Eclectic Medical College and the New York Homeopathic Medical College, receiving degrees from each. His first professional work was as a private practitioner, but he gave that up in 1894 when he joined the staff of the New York State Hospital for the Insane at Middletown. There, in addition to other duties, he began studies of the physical characteristics of inmates. This set in motion developments that would eventually lead him to become one of the world's most prominent anthropologists who has sometimes been referred to as "the founder of physical anthropology in America."
In 1896, in preparation for a research appointment with the Department of Anthropology in the Pathological Institute of the New York State Hospitals, Hrdlička went to Paris and studied with Leon Manouvrier. After his return to America, he worked for a short period with the Pathological Institute and came into contact with G.S. Huntington of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. Hrdlička arranged and studied Huntington's large collection of skeletal material, thus gaining knowledge of a well-documented collection representing largely normal persons of European ancestry. He came to the attention of Frederic Ward Putnam, of the American Museum of Natural History, who arranged for his first anthropological field studies.
It was thus that Hrdlička became a member of the Hyde Expeditions to the American Southwest and northern Mexico. In 1898, he traveled to Mexico with Carl Lumholtz to study the Tarahumaras, Huichols, and neighboring tribes. In subsequent years, he returned to Mexico and the Southwest alone and studied physical characteristics and medical conditions of several American Indian tribes. With this experience and examinations of the Trenton and Lansing skeletal material for Putnam, Hrdlička came fully into the world of anthropology. In 1903, he was appointed head of the newly formed Division of Physical Anthropology in the United States National Museum.
While in his position at the Smithsonian, Hrdlička returned to the Southwest for studies of Pima and Apache children in 1905 and, in the following year, traveled to Florida to examine allegedly ancient remains of man. In 1908, he worked among a number of Indian tribes, including the Menominee, Oglala Dakota, Quinailt, Hupa, and Mohave, in a study of tuberculosis among them. In 1909, he traveled to Egypt with an expedition of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in order to study living Egyptians and to examine remains of Egypt's past population. The following year took him to Argentina, Peru, and Mexico. In the first of these, he again examined allegedly ancient remains of man. In Peru, he made a large collection of skeletal material near Trujillo, at Pachamac, and in the Chicama Valley.
From 1912-1914, Hrdlicka undertook a physical anthropological exhibit for the Panama-California Exposition in San Diego and, for this, traveled to eastern Siberia, Mongolia, Peru, and Florida. He also examined fossil remains of man in Europe and directed field work of other anthropologists in South and East Africa, St. Lawrence Island in Alaska, the Philippines, eastern Siberia, and the Ukraine. In 1915, for the Department of Justice, he assessed the racial makeup of Chippewas on the Leech Lake and White Earth reservations in Minnesota and also studied Dakota Indians. In 1917, his field work was directed toward white American families with longtime residence in the United States. In 1918, he carried out a survey of ancient sites in eastern Florida for the Bureau of American Ethnology. In 1920, he traveled to Hawaii, Japan, Korea, and Manchuria in connection with an appointment to lecture at the Peking Union Medical College. As director of the American School for Prehistoric Studies in France, he again studied fossil remains of man in Europe in 1922 and 1923. In 1925, he carried out work in India, Ceylon, Java, Australia, South Africa, and Europe. In 1927, he was again in Europe to deliver the Huxley Memorial Lecture before the Royal Anthropological Society in Great Britain. Between 1929 and 1938, he traveled frequently to Alaska to carry on an anthropological survey. In 1939, he traveled to Russia and Siberia.
Beginning with much of the skeletal collection of the Army Medical Museum, which had been transferred to the Smithsonian in 1898 before he was appointed there, Hrdlička amassed a bone collection that included, among many other specimens, the Huntington collection, casts of fossil remains of man, and a large and diverse North American collection. He also gathered a large collection of human brains. Over three hundred publications resulted from his study of this material, his field work, and his study of specimens in other museums. In addition, he was involved in many other activities. For United States government agencies, he provided services ranging from examinations of human remains for law enforcement officials to providing information and opinions concerning national origins and traits that were needed to interpret laws and form foreign policy. During World War II, he also advised government officials on policies to be pursued with certain national groups following the war.
In 1918, Hrdlička founded the American Journal of Physical Anthropology and remained its editor until 1942. In 1928, he was the major force behind the organization of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists and served as its president from 1928 to 1932. He was also president of the Anthropological Society of Washington in 1907, the American Anthroplogical Association from 1925 to 1927, and the Washington Academy of Sciences from 1928 to 1929. He was chairman of Section H of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1918 and secretary of the Committee on Anthropology of the National Research Council in 1917. From the 1920s to the 1940s Hrdlicka was a member of the American Eugenics Society and prepared exhibits for various eugenics congresses. In addition, Hrdlička was a member of the American Philosophical Society and the National Academy of Sciences. He represented the Smithsonian at several international gatherings of scholars, including meetings of the International Congress of Americanists.
Chronology
1869 March 29 -- Alois Ferdinand Hrdlička (Aleš Hrdlička) born in Humpolec, Bohemia
1882 September -- Emigrated to New York City
1888 -- While stricken with typhoid, met M. Rosenbleuth, a physician who arranged for Hrdlička to enroll at the Eclectic Medical College of New York City
1892 -- Enrolled in the New York Homeopathic Medical College and Hospital Published first article, "Scheme of Examination (Medical)," Publications of the Eclectic Medical College Graduated first in his class from the Eclectic Medical College
1894 -- Graduated first from his class from the Homeopathic Medical College Became research intern at the State Homeopathic Hospital for the Insane in Middletown, New York, where he began his studies in physical anthropology Passed state board examination (allopathic)
1895 -- Joined staff of the Pathological Institute of the New York State Hospitals as associate in anthropology
1896 -- Studied anthropology under Leon Manouvrier in Paris
1896 August 6 -- Married Marie Stickler (Dieudonnée)
1898 March-July(?) -- Accompanied Carl Lumholtz on his expedition to northern Mexico, sponsored by the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), and visited the Tarahumara, Huichol, and Tepecan Indians
1899 Spring -- Resigned from the Pathological Institute to take charge of physical and medical anthropological research on the Hyde Expeditions of the AMNH to the southwestern United States
1899 August -- Hyde expedition for the AMNH to Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, to excavate the site of Pueblo Bonito and to conduct somatological surveys among the Indians; visited Grand Gulch caves in southern Utah; included visits to the Navahos and southern Utes
1900 -- Hyde expedition for the AMNH to New Mexico, Arizona, and southern Colorado to conduct somatological surveys among the Indians; included visits to the Apaches, Yumas, and Pueblo Indians
1902 January-September -- Hyde expeditions for AMNH to southwestern Arizona, New Mexico, and northern Mexico to conduct somatological surveys; included visits to the Tepecanos, Papagos, Opatas, Pimas, Yaquis, Mayos, Huichols, Otomis, Tepehuanes, Maricopas, Yumas, Yavapais, Paiutes, Walapais, and Havasupais
1902 October-December -- Hyde expedition for the AMNH to Mexico for Hrdlička to complete his somatological investigations; included visits to the Tepehuanes, Coras, Huichols, "Nahuas," "Aztecs," and Tarascans
1903 May 1 -- Became assistant curator in charge of the new Division of Physical Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, at the United States National Museum, Smithsonian Institution
1905 -- Expedition under the auspices of the Bureau of American Ethnology to Arizona and New Mexico to complete the observations on the tribes of this region; Hrdlička especially studied Apache and Pima Indian children
1906 February -- Expedition to western Florida to investigate remains of alleged ancient man
1907 -- President of the Anthropological Society of Washington
1908 -- Expedition to Indian schools and reservations in Wisconsin, Washington, California, Arizona, and South Dakota to study tuberculosis for a report to the International Congress of Tuberculosis
1908 December - 1909 May -- Traveled to Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Hungary, Bohemia, Russia, Poland, and Germany to examine human skeletal remains from an excavation in Egypt by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and to study peoples of the Near East
1910 March 28 -- Promoted to curator in the Division of Physical Anthropology
1910 April-September -- Attended the 17th International Congress of Americanists in Buenos Aires and Mexico City Traveled to Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, and Panama
1912 -- Planned and directed seven expeditions for the physical anthropology exhibit at the Panama-California Exposition held at San Diego in 1915; expeditions included Hrdlička to Siberia and Mongolia and later to Peru; Riley D. Moore to St. Lawrence Island, Alaska; Philip Newton to the Philippine Islands; Vojtech Suk to Africa; Stanislaw Poniatowski to eastern Siberia; Kazimir Stolyhwo to the Birusa caves in Siberia and to the Ukraine; and Jindřich Matiegka to Bohemia
1912 May-Summer -- Traveled to London to attend 18th International Congress of Americanists Traveled to Siberia and Mongolia for the Panama-California Exposition
1912 September -- Traveled to Geneva for the 14th International Congress of Prehistoric Anthropology and Archaeology
1913 January-April -- Expedition to Peru as part the effort for the Panama-California Exposition
1914 November 18 - 1915 January 18 -- Attended Panama-California Exposition
1915 May -- Research for the Department of Justice at the White Earth and Leech Lake reservations in Minnesota to determine non-Indian mixture among Chippewas
1915 December -- Served as General Secretary for the 19th International Congress of Americanists held in Washington
1916 Fall -- Traveled to Florida to examine remains of supposed ancient man
1917 March-July -- Served as Secretary on the Committee on Anthropology of the National Research Council
1917 Summer -- "Old American" research at Yale University, Harvard University, and the University of Virginia and in Tennessee
1917 August -- Sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, traveled to Oklahoma to visit the Shawnee Agency in eastern Oklahoma and the Kickapoo Indians in McCloud to search for adequate samples of pure blood Indians
1918 -- Elected to the American Philosophical Society Served as Chairman of Section H of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Founded the American Journal of Physical Anthropology and became its long-time editor Surveyed prehistoric sites on the southwest coast of Florida
1918 October 8 -- Death of his wife Marie
1920 -- Anthropometry published by the Wistar Institute Elected an honorary fellow of the Royal Anthropological Society of Great Britain
1920 Summer -- Married Mina (Vilemina) Mansfield
1920 January-May -- Visited Japan, Korea, Manchuria, northern China, Mongolia, and Hawaii Lectured at Peking Union Medical College in China
1920 Fall -- Visited Minnesota Chippewa (at the White Earth Reservation?) to help the Department of Justice setter the question of mixed and pure bloods among the Chippewa
1921 -- Elected to the National Academy of Sciences
1922 -- Visited Spain, France, Germany, Moravia, and England Awarded honorary Sc.D. degree from the University of Prague Chairman of the American delegation to the 20th International Congress of Americanists in Rio de Janiero
1923 -- Served three and one-half months as Director of the American School in France for Prehistoric Studies Visited England, Holland, Belgium, France, Germany, Bohemia, Austria, Croatia, and Italy
1925 -- The Old Americans published by Williams and Wilkins Co.
1925 March-October -- Traveled to Australia, Java, India, South Africa, and Europe on a trip sponsored by the Buffalo [New York] Society of Natural Science to obtain cranial measurements of Australian aborigines and Tasmanians, to investigate the Rhodesian Man site in South Africa, to survey the field of early man, and to collect data to support his hypothesis about the peopling of the Earth
1925-1926 -- President of the American Anthropological Association
1926 -- Awarded honorary Sc.D. degree from University of Brno and D.Nat.Sc. degree from Brunn University
1926 May-September -- First fieldwork in Alaska: reconnaissance down the Yukon River to its mouth, around the Bering Sea and through the Bering Strait along the Alaskan coast to Point Barrow
1927 -- Received Huxley Memorial Medal and gave Huxley Lecture on "the Neanderthal Phase of Man" before the Royal Anthropological Society of Great Britain
1928 -- Helped found the American Association of Physical Anthropologists (AAPA)
1928-1929 -- President of the Washington Academy of Sciences
1928-1932 -- Served as first president of the AAPA
1929 -- Fieldwork in Alaska: surveyed the Yukon River from Tanana to its mouth, to St. Lawrence and the Diomede Islands, to Cape Prince of Wales, up to Point Barrow and back to Unalaska Awarded honorary Sc.D. degree from Charles University, Prague
1930 -- Published The Skeletal Remains of Early Man, Vol. 83 Smithsonian Miscellaneous collections Published "Anthropological Survey in Alaska," Forty-sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, pp. 21-374
1930 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: surveyed the Kuskokwim River from Bethel down river to Apogak and up river to Stony River
1931 -- Children Who Run on All Fours published by McGraw-Hill Book Co.
1931 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: excavated at Our (Jones) point site, trial excavations at Chief's Point and other sites, and a survey of Kodiak Island
1932 -- Kober Foundation lecturer of Georgetown University
1932 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: excavated at Our (Jones) Point site, trial excavations at Chief's Point and other sites, and a survey of Kodiak Island
1934 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: excavated at Our (Jones) Point site and surveyed Cooks Inlet sites and the mainland opposite the Our Point site
1935 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: excavated at Our (Jones) Point site
1936 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: excavated at Our (Jones) Point site and surveyed the Dutch Harbor caves, some of the Aleutian Islands, and the mummy cave on Kagamil Island
1937 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: surveyed the Aleutian Islands and Commander Islands
1938 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: surveyed the Aleutian Islands, Dutch Harbor caves, and Commander Islands
1939 April 4 -- Testimonial dinner given by the American Association of Physical Anthropologists in honor of his 70th birthday
1939 April-June -- Recuperated in London hospital after suffering a coronary occlusion
1942 March 31 -- Retired from curatorship at United States National Museum, becoming an associate in anthropology
1942 December -- Resigned as editor of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology
1943 -- Alaska Diary published by Cattell Press
1943 September 5 -- Died of heart attack
1944 -- Anthropology of Kodiak Island published by Wistar Institute
1945 -- The Aleutian and Commander Islands and Their Inhabitants published by Wistar Institute
1969 -- Tenth Anthropological Congress of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences dedicated to Hrdlička in the 100th anniversary year of his birth
Selected Bibliography
1908 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. Physiological and Medical Observations Among the Indians of Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico. Bulletin 34, Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1908.
1912 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. Early Man in South America. Bulletin 52, Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1912.
1919 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. Physical Anthropology: Its Scope and Aims. Philadelphia: The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, 1919.
1920 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. Anthropometry. Philadelphia: The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, 1920.
1925 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. The Old Americans. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins Co., 1925.
1930 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. The Skeletal Remains of Early Man. Vol. 83, Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. City of Washington: The Smithsonian Institution, 1930. Hrdlička, Aleš. Anthropological Survey in Alaska. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1930.
1931 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. Children Who Run on All Fours, and Other Animal-like Behaviors in the Human Child. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1931.
1943 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. Alaska Diary, 1926-1931. Lancaster, PA: The Jacques Cattell Press, 1943.
1944 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. Anthropology of Kodiak Island. Philadelphia: The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, 1944.
1945 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. The Aleutian and Commander Islands and Their Inhabitants. Philadelphia: The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, 1945.
Related Materials:
Additional material in the National Anthropological Archives relating to Aleš Hrdlička can be found in the papers of William Louis Abbott, Henry Bascom Collins, Herbert William Krieger, and Frank Spencer; records of the American Anthropological Association, Bureau of American Ethnology, Department of Anthropology of the United States National Museum (National Museum of Natural History), Science Service, Anthropological Society of Washington, and the United States Army Medical Museum (anatomical section, records relating to specimens transferred to the Smithsonian Institution); and glass negatives of Indians collected by the Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution illustrations.
Additional related photographs can be found in Photo Lot 8, Division of Physical Anthropology collection; Photo Lot 9, Photographs of Indians for the Panama-California Exposition, San Diego; Photo Lot 24, Bureau of American Ethnology, United States National Museum photographs of American Indians; Photo Lot 70, Department of Anthropology portrait file; Photo Lot 78, Miscellaneous negatives; Photo Lot 97, Division of Ethnology collection ("USNM" Collection); Photo Lot 73-26B, Aleš Hrdlička photographs relating to the Panama-California Exhibition; Photo Lot 73-26G, Miscellany; Photo Lot 77-48, Group portraits of International Congress; Photo Lot 79-38, Division of World Archeology collection; Photo Lot 83-41, Division of Physical Anthropology collection of photographs of human bones; and Photo Lot 92-46, Anthropology lantern slides.
Related films can be found in the Human Studies Film Archive under the accession numbers HSFA 1982.2.1, 1982.2.2, 1986.12.1, and 2015.13.1.
Hrdlička's extensive collection of reprints is maintained in the Division of Physical Anthropology.
Frank Spencer's doctoral dissertation "Aleš Hrdlička, M.D., 1869-1943: A Chronicle of the Life and Work of an American Physical Anthropologist" (1979) is the only book length biography of Hrdlička. The Frank Spencer papers, 1836-1999, are available at the NAA and contain original correspondence between Hrdlička and his first wife, Marie Strickler; his childhood report card from 1869; copies of family photos obtained from Lucy Miller, Hrdlička's niece; and an audio recording of Hrdlička speaking at Wistar Institute.
Further material may be found in the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
The University of Alaska Anchorage holds diaries relating to Hrdlička's Expeditions to Alaska in 1936, 1937, and 1938 in the Alan G. May papers. The finding aid for this collection is avialable online at https://archives.consortiumlibrary.org/collections/specialcollections/hmc-0690/ and a trascription of May's diaries from the expeditions is available online at https://scholarworks.alaska.edu/handle/11122/11850
Provenance:
Hrdlička bequeathed his papers to the Smithsonian Institution. The Division of Physical Anthropology maintained them until they were deposited in the National Anthropological Archives in the 1960s. Some papers have come into the collection since then, most recently in 2018. These new accretions came to the collection through Donald Ortner, David Hunt, T. Dale Stewart, the Department of Anthropology, and the University of Alaska.
Restrictions:
The Aleš Hrdlička papers are open for research.
Access to the Aleš Hrdlička papers requires an appointment.
Aleš Hrdlička papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
The Repatriation Office, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, provided funds for the arrangement and description of the Aleš Hrdlička papers
"Week of the Old West" at Galleries Lafayette, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Commerce. With Fred Stevens (Grey Squirrel), Navajo Sand Painter; Mrs. Fred Stevens, Navajo weaver; Lauren Pahsatopah, Osage; Darrell Wildcat, Euchee-Pawnee; Blue Sky Eagle (Wilbert Edward) Hunt.
Collection Restrictions:
Literary property rights to unpublished portions of the collection have been given to the public.
The Wolf Robe Hunt Papers are open for research. Access to the Wolf Robe Hunt Papers requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Wolf Robe Hunt papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Department of Commerce tour with Montie Montana, Jr.; Jones Wallace Benally, Navajo Hoop Dancer; Michael Anthony Tafoya, White Cloud; Dennis Alan Tafoya, White Cloud; Donna Rae Stading.
Collection Restrictions:
Literary property rights to unpublished portions of the collection have been given to the public.
The Wolf Robe Hunt Papers are open for research. Access to the Wolf Robe Hunt Papers requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Wolf Robe Hunt papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
For "America Week" at Myer Emporium, with Jones Benally, Navajo Hoop Dancer; Pamela Kay Chibon (Walking Among the Flowers), Michael Tafoya, White Cloud; Daryle Ann Lindley and Montie Montana, Jr.
Collection Restrictions:
Literary property rights to unpublished portions of the collection have been given to the public.
The Wolf Robe Hunt Papers are open for research. Access to the Wolf Robe Hunt Papers requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Wolf Robe Hunt papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Photographs from an album compiled by Christian Barthelmess for a fellow soldier, O.S. Gordon. The bulk of the images relate to American Indians and the United States army and include studio portraits; images of dwellings and camps; cowboys; Zuni and Navajo performing daily activities; Cheyenne and Zuni dances; a Cheyenne travois; fishing and hunting parties; and American Indian scouts for the army. There are also scenic views of Colorado, Zuni Pueblo, Santa Fe, Custer (Little Bighorn) Battlefield, Camp Proctor, and Forts Merritt and Keogh. The collection also includes some images from Germany, including images of a German singing club and the Bavarian town of Klingenberg on the Main. One photograph was made by W. J. Carpenter, a Colorado photographer.
Biographical/Historical note:
Christian Barthelmess (1854-1906) was born in Bavaria and immigrated to the United States in the early 1870s. Enlisting in the U.S. Army in 1876, he directed military bands and was an official army photographer. Barthelmess retired from the Army in 1903, but remained post photographer for Fort Keogh until his death in 1906.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot R87-1
Reproduction Note:
Copy negatives made by Smithsonian Institution, 1989.
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Additional photographs by Barthelmess can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in MS 4423, Photo Lot 24, and the BAE historical negatives.
The Dr. Kenneth J. LaBudde Department of Special Collections at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University hold photographs by Barthelmess.
The Montana Historical Society Archives holds the Barthelmess Family Papers, 1926-1971, including a series relating to Christian Barthelmess.
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.
Photo Lot R87-1, Copies of Christian Barthelmess photographs of American Indians and United States Army, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
50 Stereographs (circa 50 printed stereographs, halftone and color halftone)
1,000 Stereographs (circa, albumen and silver gelatin (some tinted))
239 Prints (circa 239 mounted and unmounted prints, albumen (including cartes de visite, imperial cards, cabinet cards, and one tinted print) and silver gelatin (some modern copies))
96 Prints (Album :, silver gelatin)
21 Postcards (silver gelatin, collotype, color halftone, and halftone)
Photographs relating to Native Americans or frontier themes, including portraits, expedition photographs, landscapes, and other images of dwellings, transportation, totem poles, ceremonies, infants and children in cradleboards, camps and towns, hunting and fishing, wild west shows, food preparation, funeral customs, the US Army and army posts, cliff dwellings, and grave mounds and excavations. The collection also includes images of prisoners at Fort Marion in 1875, Sioux Indians involved in the Great Sioux Uprising in Minnesota, the Fort Laramie Peace Commission of 1868, Sitting Bull and his followers after the Battle of the Little Bighorn, and the aftermath of the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890.
There are studio portraits of well-known Native Americans, including American Horse, Big Bow, Four Bears, Iron Bull, Ouray, Red Cloud, Red Dog, Red Shirt, Sitting Bull, Spotted Tail, Three Bears, and Two Guns White Calf. Depicted delegations include a Sauk and Fox meeting in Washington, DC, with Lewis V. Bogy and Charles E. Mix in 1867; Kiowas and Cheyennes at the White House in 1863; and Dakotas and Crows who visited President Warren G. Harding in 1921. Images of schools show Worcester Academy in Vinita, Oklahoma; Chilocco Indian School; Carlisle Indian Industrial School; Haskell Instittue, and Albuquerque Indian School.
Some photographs relate to the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, 1876; World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, 1893; Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, 1903; and Centennial Exposition of the Baltimore and Ohio Railraod, 1876. Expedition photographs show the Crook expedition of 1876, the Sanderson expedition to the Custer Battlefield in 1877, the Wheeler Survey of the 1870s, Powell's surveys of the Rocky Mountain region during the 1860s and 1870s, and the Hayden Surveys.
Outstanding single views include the party of Zuni group led to the sea by Frank Hamilton Cushing; Episcopal Church Rectory and School Building, Yankton Agency; Matilda Coxe Stevenson and a companion taking a photographs of a Zuni ceremony; John Moran sketching at Acoma; Ben H. Gurnsey's studio with Indian patrons; Quapaw Mission; baptism of a group of Paiutes at Coeur d'Alene Mission; court-martial commission involved in the trial of Colonel Joseph J. Reynolds, 1877; President Harding at Sitka, Alaska; Walter Hough at Hopi in 1902; and Mrs. Jesse Walter Fewkes at Hopi in 1897.
Biographical/Historical note:
George V. Allen was an attorney in Lawrence, Kansas and an early member of the National Stereoscope Association. Between the 1950s and 1980s, Allen made an extensive collection of photographs of the American West, mostly in stereographs, but also including cartes-de-visite and other styles of mounted prints, photogravures, lantern slides, autochromes, and glass negatives.
Photo Lot 90-1, George V. Allen collection of photographs of Native Americans and the American frontier, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Lantern slides
Place:
Montezuma Castle National Monument (Ariz.)
Casa Grande (Ariz.)
Date:
circa 1871-1913
Scope and Contents note:
The collection includes hand-colored glass lantern slides collected by Dr. Carlos Montezuma and used for his lectures on Native American rights. Many of the photographs are portraits, some made at Ft. McDowell and Fort Apache. Other images show schools, reservations, dwellings, Charles Dickens (a Yavapai store owner), Montezuma's Castle, Casa Grande, and scenic views. A special series includes photographs made during a 1913 hunting and sightseeing trip that he organized, probably including photographs made by Montezuma's guests, John T. McCutcheon and Charles B. Gibson.
Some of the images were made by Charles (Carlos) Gentile, the photographer and benefactor of Montezuma in his early years. There are also several by Father Peter Paulus Prando and John N. Choate, and one portrait each by Napoleon Sarony and Matthew Brady. Otherwise, the photographers are unidentified.
Biographical/Historical note:
Carlos Montezuma (1866-1923, also called Wassaja) was an Native American activist and physician. He was Yavapai, though he often identified himself as Apache. He was captured by Pima Indians at a young age and sold in 1871 to Italian-immigrant and pioneer photographer Carlo (or Charles) Gentile, who adopted the child and took him to New York. Montezuma graduated from the University of Illinois (1884) and received his MD from the Chicago Medical College (1889). He developed a friendship with Richard Henry Pratt, head of the Carlisle Indian School, and took a post as reservation physician for the Bureau of Indian Services. During this time he developed an opposition to BIA policies and became an Native American advocate, speaking out against reservations. He gave numerous lectures on Native Americans at institutions around the United States, helped organize the Society of American Indians, and published a personal newsletter entitled Wassaja (1916-1922). In 1896, Montezuma established a medical practice in Chicago. He died in Arizona in 1923.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 73
Varying Form of Title:
Carlos Montezuma-Doris Collester Collection of Lantern Slides
General note:
The handwriting on the slides has been identified as that of Dr. Carlos Montezuma by John Larner, the editor of Montezumaʹs papers. Information in this catalog record has been taken from Cesare Marino, Solving the Mystery: The Carlos Montezuma-Doris Collester Collection of Lantern Slides in the NAA : Report of Background Research and Interview with Mrs. Doris Collester, Donor of the Carlos Montezuma Collection of Hand-tinted Lantern Slides to the Smithsonian Institution, conducted in Williamstown, West Virginia, August 2013.
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Correspondence from Montezuma is held in the National Anthropological Archives in the records of the Bureau of American Ethnology.
Carlos Montezuma's papers are held in the Newberry Library, Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections; Arizona State University Libraries, Charles Trumbull Hayden Library; and University of Arizona Libraries, Special Collections.
Herman J. Viola photograph collection relating to Star Hawk Pow Wow, American Indian Cultural Resources Training Program, and acquisition trips for NAA
Creator:
Viola, Herman J. (Herman Joseph), 1938- Search this
Names:
American Indian Cultural Resources Training Program Search this
Smithsonian Institution, Department of Anthropology, National Anthropological Archives, Native American Cultural Resources Training Program Search this
Photographs made by Herman J. Viola, depicting the 1973 Institute of American Indian Art meeting, Wolf Robe Hunt and his Acoma pottery, the transfer of Blue Eagle collection from Mae Abbott home to National Anthropological archives, and the 1974 Star Hawk Pow Wow in Watonga, Oklahoma. Additionally, there are photographs of NAA staff and the 1974 Acee Blue Eagle reception at NAA, possibly made by Viola. The collection also contains some photographs of Wounded Knee taken by Rev. Salvatore Genete, and copies of official portraits of Governor Aquillar of San Ildefonso Pueblo made by Harry B. Neufeld. There are also National Archives photographs of Chinese Boxer Rebellion prints, and Young watercolors and Alden sketches of American landscapes.
Much of the collection consists of portraits of participants in the NAA's American Indian Cultural Resources Training Program made by Smithsonian photographers, including Victor Krantz. These individuals include: Harry Walters, Navajo; Anna Walters, Otoe-Pawnee; George Sutton, Southern Arapaho; Sarah Yazzie, Navajo; Rubie Sootkis, Norther Cheyenne; David Fanman, Cheyenne; Augustine Smith, Navajo; Lorraine Bigman, Navajo; Jim Jefferson, Southern Ute; Rose Marie Pierite Gallardo, Tunica-Biloxi; George Horse Capture, Gros Ventre; Violet Zospah, White Mountain Apache; Gloria Anderson, Mille Lacs; Wenonah Silva, Wampanoag; Claire Lamont, Oglala; George Wasson, Coos-Coquille; Virginia Martin, Yakama; Gary Roybal, San Ildefonso; Richard Ground, Sihasapa; Almeda Baker, Hidatsa; June Finley, Hidatsa; Lida Young Wolf, Hidatsa; Christine Webster, Menominee; Rose Marie Roybal, Puyallup; Vivienne Jake, Kaibab-Paiute; Kim Yerton, Hupa; Dean Jacobs, Ojibwa; Lois Nowlin, Shawnee; Bonita McCloud, Nisqually; Gloria Maude Blackbird Cheswalla, Osage; Emily Peake, Ojibwa; Gordon McLester, Oneida; Mary Seth, Nez Perce; Bill Tohee, Oto-Missouria; Frank LaPena, Wintu; Juanita McQuistion, Wyandot; Carson Waterman, Seneca; Elton Stumbling Bear, Kiowa Apache; Patrick Chief Stick, Chippewa-Cree; Lynne Walks-on-Top, Spokane; Ethelyn Garfield, Paiute; Nora Dauenhauer, Tlingit; Caroline B. Jones, Tulalip; Grace F. Thorpe, Sauk and Fox; Dixie Lee Davis, Yavapai; Lynn D. Pauahty, Kiowa; David Lee Harding, Ojibwa; Robert V. Bojorcas, Klamath; Patty Leah Harjo, Seneca-Cayuga; Steven DeCoteau, Clallam; Robert Van Gunten, Ojibwa; Danny K. Marshall, Steilacoom; Meredith P. Flinn, Makah; Rhonda Hulsey, Chickasaw; Betty J. Brown, Choctaw; Vernon Calavaza, Zuni; Jack Bowen Jr., Upper Skagit; and Harry William Jr., Pima.
Biographical/Historical note:
Herman Joseph Viola is a historian of Native Americans who was director of the National Anthropological Archives from 1972-1989 and founding editor of Prologue: The Journal of the National Archives. In 1973, he launched the American Indian Cultural Resources Training Program, designed to encourage Native Americans to become professional archivists, librarians, curators, and historians through research and internships at the NAA.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 74-17
Location of Other Archival Materials:
The National Anthropological Archives holds Viola's papers from 1980-1981.
Records relating to the American Indian Cultural Resources Training Program can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in the Records of the National Anthropological Archives.
Photo lot 74-17, Herman J. Viola photograph collection relate to Star Hawk Pow Wow, American Indian Cultural Resources Training Program, and acquisition trips for NAA, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The collection consists of photographs relating to Native Americans, which were submitted to the copyright office of the Library of Congress in and around the early 20th century. Many of the photographs are studio portraits as well as photographs made as part of expeditions and railroad surveys. It includes images of people, dwellings and other structures, agriculture, arts and crafts, burials, ceremonies and dances, games, food preparation, transportation, and scenic views. Some of the photographs were posed to illustrate literary works, including Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Hiawatha, while others depict paintings or other artwork.
Collection is organized alphabetically by copyright claimant.
Biographical/Historical note:
The collection was formed from submissions made to the Library of Congress as part of the copyright registration process. In 1949, arrangements were made to allow the Bureau of American Ethnology to copy the collection and some negatives were made at that time, largely from the Heyn and Matzen photographs. The project was soon abandoned, however, as too large an undertaking for the facilities of the BAE. In 1957-1958, arrangements were begun by William C. Sturtevant of the BAE to transfer a set of the photographs from the Library of Congress to the BAE.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 59
Provenance:
In 1965, the Bureau merged with the Smithsonian's Department of Anthropology to form the Smithsonian Office of Anthropology, and in 1968 the Office of Anthropology Archives transformed into the National Anthropological Archives.
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 59, Library of Congress Copyright Office photograph collection of Native Americans, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Robinson, Franklin A., Jr., 1959- (actor) Search this
Container:
Box 10, Folder 4
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1944
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but negatives and audiovisuial materials are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Some papers of living persons are restricted. Access to restricted portions may be arranged by request to the donor. Gloves required for unprotected photographs. Viewing film portions of the collection and listening to LP recording requires special appointment. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
The Archives Center does not own exclusive rights to these materials. Copyright for all materials is retained by the donor, Franklin A. Robinson, Jr.; permission for commercial use and/or publication may be requested from the donor through the Archives Center. Military Records for Franklin A. Robinson (b. 1932) and correspondence from Richard I. Damalouji (1961-2014) are restricted; written permission is needed to research these files. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
The Robinson and Via Family Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Sponsor:
Preservation of the 8mm films in this collection was made possible, in part, by a grant from the National Film Preservation Fund.
This collection consists of three scrapbooks dating from 1903 to 1955 containing mostly newspaper clippings which document the career of California artist Carl Oscar Borg, particularly his work as art director for Hollywood films.
Scope and Content Note:
The collection consists of three scrapbooks compiled by Borg, and after his death by his widow, Lily Borg Elmberg. These contain newspaper clippings from the U.S. and Sweden, documenting Borg's lifelong career as a painter and printmaker since his arrival in Los Angeles in 1903. One scrapbook, 1925-1938, highlights his role as supervising art director for the1926 silent film, The Black Pirate starring actor Douglas Fairbanks. Also included are articles about his years working in the silent movie industry (1925-1928) as the art director of films, Black Pirate, The Gaucho, The Night of Love, The Magic Flame, Two Lovers, and The Iron Mask.
Arrangement:
Volumes are divided into three main categories: I. Los Angeles Years (1903-1935), II. Silent movies and trip to Sweden (1925-1938), and III. Sweden and Santa Barbara years (1935-1955). The dates of a number of the newspaper clippings and exhibition catalogs found in the scrapbooks overlap. In addition, Scrapbook I, 1903-1935, is in fragile condition and should be handled with care.
Biographical Note:
Self taught Swedish-American artist Carl Oscar Borg (1879-1947) began his career as a sign painter in New York. He emigrated to the United States from Stockholm, Sweden in 1901, settling in Los Angeles in 1903 where he became active in the emerging Los Angeles art community. He became the protogé of Phoebe Apperson Hearst (mother of William Randolph Hearst) whose support and endorsement enabled him to study in Europe. He established himself as a serious artist after World War II working in the fields of print, film and painting, enabling him to secure a place among the Los Angeles artistic elite. Borg specialized in painting the Southwestern Hopi and Navajo Indians. He also painted mariners and the seal hunting scenes which took place in Channel Island near Santa Barbara. He was a member of the National Academy of Design, the National Academy of Arts, the Sociéte Internationale des Beaux Arts (Paris) and the prestigious Salmagundi Club. He traveled to Sweden in 1939, remaining there until the end of World War II. Upon his return to California, he settled in Santa Barbara where he remained until his death in 1947.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 1998 by Helen Laird, who received the papers from Borg's widow, Lily Borg Elmberg in preparation for a biography on Carl Oscar Borg.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Patrons must use microfilm copy.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Introduction:
A woman hums songs to a child. Three old ladies sing as they pick choke-cherries or cactus buds, husk corn, or dig camas root. A woman's high-pitched lu-lu-lu-lu rises over the men's voices at the end of an honoring song for returned veterans. "Chorus girls" back up the men's lead song at the drum during a war dance. The pulsating, driving hand-drum beats and magic-making songs women sing at a stick game. The woman whose songs make the Sun Dance circle right. These are the voices of Native women. Like the drum whose heartbeat is that of a woman, these women and their songs are at the heart of Indian Country. But unlike the drum, their songs and voices are rarely heard beyond their communities.
Along with the first of two recordings made available on Smithsonian/Folkways (Heartbeat: Voices of First Nations Women, SF 40415) the two-week presentation at the 1995 Festival and its accompanying program book essay were part of an effort to present an overview of music by Native women - traditional, new, innovative, and little known. Included were traditional women's songs from tribes in the United States and Canada as well as material usually sung by men and recently taken up by women. The recording, essay, and festival program also emphasized fresh material, Native women's music that merged traditional music with many styles of popular American music.
Very little women's music is known and appreciated, even by those who value and know Native American music. People may see Native women dancing when public performances take place, whether they are on stage or in a community setting. Still, men's dancing dominates the public arena. Because much of Native women's traditional singing occurs in a private setting associated with family, clan, ceremonial, or work activities, those who are unfamiliar with these traditions rarely see or hear women sing. Thus the common perception is that women have little presence or significance in the performance and preservation of Native musical traditions. A few tribal or regional collections have included women's singing and instrumental music. Recordings by contemporary Indian women musicians like Buffy Sainte-Marie first received favorable attention in the late 1960s. Since then, the ranks of such women have grown.
In recent years, particularly in the Northern Plains, changes are also underway with respect to the place of women at the drum, previously seen by most as an exclusively male domain. Increasingly, women describe being called to the drum, to sit at the drum, to be the drumkeeper in the way that men have talked about it. Increasingly, powwow singing in the Northern Plains has brought the advent of mixed drum groups and - as demonstrated at the Festival - all-female groups.
All these ways of singing and music-making exist among Native women. Much of the old music exists today, joined by newer ways. As Festival audiences could experience at the 1995 Festival, Native women's music is vital and dynamic, very much a part of the process through which Native peoples are preserving and revitalizing Native life and culture.
Rayna Green and Howard Bass were Curators, and Arlene Reiniger was Program Coordinator.
Heartbeat: The Voices of First Nations Women was produced in collaboration with the Division of Cultural History at the National Museum of American History, with support from The Recording Industries Music Performance Trust Funds, the Smithsonian Educational Outreach Fund, the American Encounters Project, the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Museum of American History, the John Hammond Fund for the Performance of American Music, and the Smithsonian Institution Special Exhibition Fund.
Presenters:
Barry Bergey, Olivia Cadaval, Harold Closter, Judith Gray, Orin Hatton, Charlotte Heth, Marjorie Hunt, Phil Minthorn, Betsy Peterson, Alice Sadongei, Gwen Shunatona, Tom Vennum, Jr.
Participants:
ASSINIBOINE-NAKOTA SINGER-SONGWRITER
Georgia Wettlin-Larsen, vocals, hand drum, rattles, River Falls, Wisconsin
IROQUOIS WOMEN'S SOCIAL DANCE
SIX NATIONS WOMEN SINGERS -- SIX NATIONS WOMEN SINGERSSadie Buck, vocals, water drum, Six Nations Reserve, Ontario, CanadaCharlene Bomberry, vocals, rattles, Six Nations Reserve, Ontario, CanadaBetsy Buck, vocals, rattles, Six Nations Reserve, Ontario, CanadaPat Hess, vocals, rattles, Six Nations Reserve, Ontario, CanadaJanice Martin, vocals, rattles, Six Nations Reserve, Ontario, CanadaMary Monture, vocals, rattles, Six Nations Reserve, Ontario, Canada
KIOWA SINGERS
Mary Ann Anquoe, 1931-2002, vocals, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Dorothy Whitehorse DeLaune, vocals, hand drum, Anadarko, Oklahoma
Anita Anquoe George, vocals, hand drum, Sapulpa, Oklahoma
Gigi Horse, vocals, Washington, D. C.
MAKAH SONGS & DANCE
Melissa Peterson, vocals, hand drum, rattles, Makah Reservation, Neah Bay, Washington
Samantha Della, vocals, dance, Makah Reservation, Neah Bay, Washington
MALISEET-PASSAMAQUODDY DRUM
THE WABUNOAG SINGERS -- THE WABUNOAG SINGERSMargaret Paul, Fredericton, New Brunswick, CanadaAlma Brooks, Fredericton, New Brunswick, CanadaConnie LaPorte, Fredericton, New Brunswick, CanadaJoan Milliea-Caravantes, Fredericton, New Brunswick, CanadaAlice Claire Tomah, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
MOHAWK SINGER-SONGWRITER
ElizaBeth Hill, vocals, guitar, Ohsweken, Canada
NAVAJO SINGER-SONGWRITERS
Geraldine Barney, vocals, flute, guitar, Tohatchi, New Mexico
Sharon Burch, vocals, guitar, Fairfield, California
CRYING WOMAN SINGERS -- CRYING WOMAN SINGERSCelina Jones, Fort Belknap Reservation, MontanaJackie Blackbird, Fort Belknap Reservation, MontanaToni Blue Shield, Fort Belknap Reservation, MontanaCora Chandler, Fort Belknap Reservation, MontanaChristina Jones, Fort Belknap Reservation, MontanaRamona Smith, Fort Belknap Reservation, MontanaGarrett Snell, Fort Belknap Reservation, MontanaRochelle Strike, Fort Belknap Reservation, MontanaSandra Wuttunee, Fort Belknap Reservation, Montana
RED EAGLE SINGERS, WIND RIVER RESERVATION, WYOMING -- RED EAGLE SINGERS, WIND RIVER RESERVATION, WYOMINGColleen Shoyo, Wind River Reservation, WyomingClaudenise Hurtado, Wind River Reservation, WyomingChardell Shoyo, Wind River Reservation, WyomingEvalita Shoyo, Wind River Reservation, WyomingLaMelia Shoyo, Wind River Reservation, WyomingBernadine Stacey, Wind River Reservation, Wyoming
PLAINS BIG DRUM
LITTLE RIVER SINGERS -- LITTLE RIVER SINGERSJohn Fitzpatrick, Washington, D.C.Bernard Covers Up, Washington, D.C.Gene Elm, Washington, D.C.Jerry Gipp, Washington, D.C.Roger Iron Cloud, Washington, D.C.
POMO SONG TRADITIONS
Bernice Torres, vocals, hand drum, rattles, Sebastopol, California
SEMINOLE SINGER AND STORYTELLER
Betty Mae Jumper, 1923-, vocals, Hollywood, Florida
SOUTHERN PLAINS SONGS
Gwen Shunatona, Pawnee-Otoe, vocals, Washington, D. C.
TRADITION-BASED CONTEMPORARY SONGS
ULALI -- ULALIPura Fe, Cherokee-Tuscarora, vocals, rattles, hand drum, Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaJennifer Kreisberg, Cherokee-Tuscarora, vocals, rattles, hand drum, Hartford, ConnecticutSoni Moreno-Primeau, Aztec-Maya, vocals, rattles, hand drum, Staten Island, New York
WARM SPRINGS AND WASCO SONG TRADITIONS
Mary Ann Meanus, vocals, hand drum, Warm Springs, Oregon
YUPIK SONG TRADITIONS
Elena Charles, 1918-, vocals, hand drum, Bethel, Alaska
Mary Stachelrodt, vocals, hand drum, Bethel, Alaska
ZUNI CEREMONIAL DANCE AND SONG
OLLA MAIDENS -- OLLA MAIDENSCornelia Bowannie, vocals, hand drum, frog box, Zuni Reserve, Zuni, New MexicoLoretta Beyuka, dance, Zuni Reserve, Zuni, New MexicoJoy Edaakie, dance, Zuni Reserve, Zuni, New MexicoArliss Luna, vocals, hand drum, frog box, Zuni Reserve, Zuni, New Mexico
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: 1995 Festival of American Folklife, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
Carriers of Culture: Living Native Basket Traditions
Collection Creator:
Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Introduction:
Across North America and throughout the Hawaiian Islands, Native people are engaged in artistic activities deeply rooted in the everyday and ceremonial traditions of their communities. In the face of dwindling or inaccessible natural resources, loss of elders and their specialized knowledge, the profusion of cheap mass-produced goods, and the use-it-and-throw-away attitude of so many, Native artists are nevertheless gathering natural materials and weaving them into objects of beauty and profound meaning. The 2006 Festival program examined the contemporary state of Native weaving in the United States and the ways in which Native baskets - and their makers - are "carriers of culture."
One of the most important developments in indigenous basket weaving was the formation of Native weaving organizations over the previous fifteen years, bringing together weavers from diverse places to identify and examine problems, build a sense of shared experiences, foster communication and networking, share knowledge and skills, and begin to develop strategies to address some of the most critical issues they face. At local and regional gatherings held by these organizations and at workshops or symposia hosted by other supportive agencies, basket weavers began to find common voice as they articulated their concerns and experiences. At the Festival, visitors could listen to those voices while admiring the work of skilled eyes and hands.
The 2006 Festival program reflected the long-term involvement of numerous Native people and provided an unprecedented opportunity to examine contemporary issues across tribal and geographical lines. It also presented a timely opportunity to reflect on recent efforts by Native basket weavers and others to address these issues; the ways in which weaving traditions continue to be passed on; and the meaning weaving has for artists as people and as members of distinct tribal or Native communities. Most importantly, through demonstrations and discussions at the Festival and in the artists' own words, weavers themselves shared these perspectives first hand with Festival visitors.
For Native baskets to continue to be "carriers of culture" for Native traditions, there are still many challenges to overcome - challenges that were identified and discussed by the weavers themselves. The ever-changing natural and built landscape in the United States is leading to loss of plants essential to weaving. As more land moves into private ownership, weavers encounter increasingly limited access to traditional gathering sites. Non-native land management practices continue to affect the health of plant materials and of weavers themselves. Undoubtedly, other challenges to the continuity of the traditions of living Native basketry in the United States will also emerge. While much progress is being made to revitalize the basket traditions in many Native communities, there are other Native communities where basketry is in rapid decline. This means not just fewer baskets, but the irreplaceable loss of an array of indigenous knowledge linked to the art and a diminution of the diversity and richness of our American experience.
As Festival visitors learned, Native baskets were not antiquated containers or artifacts of a past life; they are very much a part of contemporary Native life and identity. Native baskets truly are "carriers of culture": they embody the knowledge of those who have gone before, those who have respect and reverence for the natural world and the plants that form their baskets, and those who have shared their knowledge with others to keep the chain of indigenous knowledge unbroken.
C. Kurt Dewhurst, Marjorie Hunt, and Marsha MacDowell were Curators, with Arlene Reiniger as Program Coordinator, Betty Belanus as Family Activities Area Coordinator, and Mary Monseur as Marketplace Native Basketry Consultant. Curatorial Advisors were: Jennifer Bates, Salli Benedict, Sally Black, Sheree Bonaparte, Peggy Sanders Brennan, Sue Coleman, Sue Ellen Herne, Sara Greensfelder, Elaine Grinnell, Terrol Dew Johnson, Sabra Kauka, Gloria Lomehaftewa, Fred Nahwooksy, Jennifer Neptune, Theresa Parker, Bernadine Phillips, Teri Rofkar, Robin McBride Scott, Theresa Secord, Tatiana Lomehaftewa Slock, and Laura Wong-Whitebear.
The program was produced in collaboration with the National Museum of the American Indian and Michigan State University Museum. Major support came from the National Museum of the American Indian, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Smithsonian Women's Committee on the occasion of its 40th anniversary. Additional Funding came from Alaska State Council on the Arts, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Michigan State University All-University Research Initiation Grant, Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs, Onaway Trust, Hawai'i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, Fund for Folk Culture, Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund, and the Cherokee Nation.
Researchers:
Researchers and consultants
Brian Bibby, Dawn Biddison, Deborah Boykin, Peggy Sanders Brennan, Tina Bucavalas, Vernon Chimegalrea, Sue Coleman, Marit Dewhurst, Betty DuPree, Carol Edison, Lynn Martin Graton, Sara Greensfelder, Theresa Harlan, Suzi Jones, Amy Kitchener, Jim Leary, Dayna Bowker Lee, Elizabeth Lee, Molly Lee, Richard March, Kathleen Mundell, Jennifer Neptune, Laura Quackenbush, Karen Reed, Teri Rofkar, Elaine Thatcher, Theresa Secord, Malia Villegas, Lois Whitney, Robin K. Wright
Research Assistants
Beth Donaldson, Marie Gile, Je'Keia Murphy
Presenters:
Howard Bass, Betty Belanus, Salli Benedict, Barry Bergey, Peggy Brennan, Schroeder Cherry, C. Kurt Dewhurst, Amy Echo-Hawk, Carol Edison, Rayna Green, Elaine Grinnell, Emil Her Many Horses, Marjorie Hunt, Sabra Kauka, Jared King, Keevin Lewis, Marsha MacDowell, Diana N'Diaye, Helen Maynor Scheirbeck, Pamela Woodis, Laura Wong-Whitebear
Ganessa Bryant, 1982-, Penobscot, Princeton, Maine
Jeremy Frey, 1978-, Passamaquoddy, Princeton, Maine
George Neptune, 1988-, Passamaquoddy, Princeton, Maine
Molly Neptune Parker, 1939-, Passamaquoddy, Indian Township, Maine
Northeast - Mohawk
Linda Cecilia Jackson, 1954-, St. Regis Mohawk, Akwesasne, New York
Sheila Ransom, 1954-, St. Regis Mohawk, Akwesasne, New York
Great Lakes
Kelly Church, 1967-, Grand Traverse Band of Chippewa and Ottawa, Hopkins, Michigan
Jacob Keshick, 1987-, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa, Pellston, Michigan
Yvonne Walker Keshick, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa, Pellston, Michigan
Cherish Nebeshanze Parrish, 1989-, Gun Lake Band of Potawatomi, Hopkins, Michigan
John Pigeon, 1957-, Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Dorr, Michigan
Johnny Pigeon, Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Dorr, Michigan
Kellogg Cultural Heritage Fellows
Kellogg Cultural Heritage Fellows are young Native people participating "behind-the-scenes" at the 2006 Smithsonian Folklife Festival and at the National Museum of the American Indian, made possible by a generous grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to the Michigan State University Museum.
Samantha Jacobs, 1983-, Seneca Nation of Indians, Collins, New York
Crystal Marie Keta Mann, 1987-, Tsimshian and Tlingit, Ketchikan, Alaska
Vanessa Manuel, 1985-, Onk Akimel O'odham, Scottsdale, Arizona
Mary Mokihana Martin, 1985-, Native Hawaiian, Honolulu, Hawai'i
Elizabeth Ann Parker, 1988-, Makah, Neah Bay, Washington
Gabe Paul, 1985-, Penobscot, Indian Island, Maine
Laura Sanders, 1980-, Karuk and Yurok, Orleans, California
Ahtkwiroton Skidders, 1982-, Mohawk, Rooseveltown, New York
Lynda Squally, 1981-, Chinook and Puyallup, Milton, Washington
Tony Stevens, 1985-, Wasco, Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Warm Springs, Oregon
Carly Tex, 1984-, Western Mono, Rohnert Park, California
Kellogg Next Generation Weavers
Kellogg Next Generation Weavers are young Native people who have demonstrated a strong interest in basketry and will be weaving at the 2006 Smithsonian Folklife Festival alongside older mentor culture-bearers. Their participation in the Festival is made possible by a generous grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to the Michigan State University Museum.
Kayla Black, 1992-, Navajo, Mexican Hat, New Mexico
Ganessa Bryant, 1982-, Penobscot, Princeton, Maine
Jeremy Frey, 1982-, Passamaquoddy, Princeton, Maine
Khia Grinnell, 1985-, Jamestown S'Klallam and Lummi, Sequim, Washington
Ursula Jones, 1972-, Yosemite Miwok, Mono Lake Paiute, Kashaya Pomo, and Coast Miwok, Mammoth Lakes, California
Jacob Keshick, 1987-, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa, Pellston, Michigan
Joseph Lopez, 1978-, Tohono O'odham, Tucson, Arizona
Theresa Mendoza, 1985-, Makah, Neah Bay, Washington
George Neptune, 1988-, Passamaquoddy, Princeton, Maine
Cherish Nebeshanze Parrish, 1989-, Gun Lake Band of Potawatomi, Hopkins, Michigan
Craig Phillips, 1989-, Colville, Omak, Washington
Johnny Pigeon, Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Dorr, Michigan
Harold "Jimmi" Plaster, 1988-, Lummi, Bellingham, Washington
Lynda Squally, 1981-, Chinook and Puyallup, Milton, Washington
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: 2006 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
Image number 011 "Holiday Handcraft" has been removed from the slideshow due to culutral sensitivity.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
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.
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).
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
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.
