Encloses criticisms of James C. Mooney's "Siouan Tribes of the East," Bureau of American Ethnology-Bulletin 22, 1894. Autograph letter signed. 1 page. Autograph document. 4 pages.
These are mostly nineteenth-century prints of some negatives in the glass negative collection. Included are a few images made from negatives that apparently have since been broken or lost. Some of the prints were acquired by the Department of Anthropology of the United States National Museum and have accession and/or catalog numbers. Others were apparently made for exhibit purposes. The collection has not been sufficiently studied to allow the positive identification of the print makers but many were probably prepared by Charles Milton Bell, De Lancey W. Gill, John K. Hillers, and Antonio Zeno Shindler. Some of the prints have been hand colored by Shindler.
Arrangement:
Roughly by tribe
Citation:
Prints of Indian Negatives, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Reverend James Owen Dorsey (1848-1895) was a missionary and Bureau of American Ethnology ethnologist who conducted extensive research on Siouan tribes and languages.The papers of James Owen Dorsey comprise mostly ethnographic and linguistic materials on various tribes of the Siouan language family as well as tribes from Siletz Reservation in Oregon. These materials include texts and letters with interlineal translations; grammar notes; dictionaries; drawings; and his manuscripts. In addition, the collection contains Dorsey's correspondence, newspaper clippings, his obituaries, and reprints.
Scope and Contents:
This collection contains James O. Dorsey's research and writings as a BAE ethnologist, as well as his earlier work as a missionary among the Ponca. The vast majority of the collection pertains to his research on Siouan-Catawban languages, including the Dakota and Dhegiha languages, Chiwere, Winnebago, Mandan, Hidatsa, Tutelo, Biloxi, and Catawba. His research on Athapascan, Kusan, Takilman, and Yakonan languages from his field work at Siletz Reservation are also present, as well as some notes on the Caddoan languages. Dorsey's research files include linguistic and ethnological field notes, reading notes, stories and myths, vocabularies, drawings, and unpublished and published manuscripts. The collection also contains Omaha, Ponca, Quapaw, and Biloxi dictionaries that he compiled and materials relating to his work editing Steven Riggs' Dakota-English Dictionary. Additional noteworthy materials in the collection are Teton texts and drawings from George Bushotter and drawings by Stephen Stubbs (Kansa), Pahaule-gagli (Kansa), and George Miller (Omaha). The collection also contains Dorsey's correspondence, newspaper clippings, obituaries, and his collection of reprints.
Arrangement:
The collection is organized into 6 series: 1) Siouan; 2) Siletz Reservation; 3) Caddoan; 4) General Correspondence; 5) Personal Papers; 6) Miscellaneous & Reprints.
Biographical Note:
Reverend James Owen Dorsey (1848-1895) was a missionary and Bureau of American Ethnology ethnologist who conducted extensive research on Siouan tribes and languages.
Dorsey was born on October 31, 1848 in Baltimore, Maryland. He exhibited a talent for languages at an early age. At age 6 he learned the Hebrew alphabet and was able to read the language at age 10. In 1867 Dorsey attended the Theological Seminary of Virginia and was ordained a deacon of the Protestant Episcopal Church in 1871. In May of that year, Dorsey traveled to the Dakota Territory to serve as a missionary among the Ponca. Plagued by ill health, Dorsey was forced to end his missionary work in August 1873. By that time, however, he had learned the Ponca language well enough to converse with members of the tribe without an interpreter.
Dorsey returned to Maryland and engaged in parish work while continuing his studies of Siouan languages. His linguistic talents and knowledge of these languages attracted the attention of Major John Wesley Powell. Powell arranged for Dorsey to work among the Omaha in Nebraska from 1878 to 1880 to collect linguistic and ethnological notes. When the Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE) was established in 1879, Powell recruited Dorsey to join the staff.
As an ethnologist for the BAE, Dorsey continued his research on Siouan tribes. His studies focused on languages but also included Siouan personal names, folklore, social organization, religion, beliefs, and customs. He conducted fieldwork among the Tutelo at Six Nations on Grand River in Upper Canada (1882); the Kansa, Osage, and Quapaw in Indian Territory (1883-1884); the Biloxi at Lecompte, Rapides Parish, Louisiana (1892); and again with the Quapaw at the Quapaw Mission (1894). He also worked with Native Americans that visited DC, including George Bushotter (Teton), Philip Longtail (Winnebago), Samuel Fremont (Omaha), and Little Standing Buffalo (Ponca). He also spent time at Siletz Reservation in 1884 to collect linguistic notes on the Athapascan, Kusan, Takilman, and Yakonan stocks.
In addition to his research, Dorsey helped found the American Folklore Society and served as the first vice-president of the association. He also served as vice-president of Section H of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
At the age of 47, Dorsey died of typhoid fever on February 4, 1895.
Sources Consulted
1st-16th Annual Reports of the Bureau of American Ethnology. 1881-1897.
Hewitt, J.N.B. 1895. "James Owen Dorsey" American Anthropologist A8, 180-183.
McGee, W.J. 1895. "In Memoriam." Journal of American Folklore 8(28): 79-80.
1848 -- Born on October 31 in Baltimore, Maryland.
1871 -- Ordained a deacon of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
1871-1873 -- Served as a missionary among the Ponca in Dakota Territory.
1878-1880 -- Conducted fieldwork among the Omaha in Nebraska.
1879 -- Joined the staff of the Bureau of American Ethnology.
1882 -- Conducted fieldwork among the Tutelo at Six Nations on Grand River in Upper Canada.
1883-1884 -- Conducted fieldwork among the Kansa, Osage, and Quapaw in Indian Territory.
1887 -- Worked with George Bushotter to record information regarding the language and culture of the Dakota.
1884 -- Conducted fieldwork at Siletz Reservation.
1892 -- Conducted fieldwork among the Biloxi at Lecompte, Rapides Parish, Louisiana.
1894 -- Conducted fieldwork among the Quapaw at the Quapaw Mission in Indian Territory.
1895 -- Died of typhoid fever on February 4th at the age of 47.
Restrictions:
The James O. Dorsey Papers are open for research. Access to the James O. Dorsey Papers requires an appointment
Manuscript 4800 James O. Dorsey papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
Creation of this finding aid was funded through support from the Arcadia Fund.
Digitization and preparation of additional materials for online access has been funded also by the National Science Foundation under BCS Grant No. 1561167 and the Recovering Voices initiative at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Search this
Indians of North America -- Southern States Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Date:
undated
Scope and Contents:
Includes marginal notes and comparative Siouan vocabulary entered by J. Owen Dorsey and 15 pages and slips of newspaper clippings and correspondence on the Catawbas from McDonald Furman, Ramsey, South Carolina, 1891-1897 and 2 pages note on the Catawbas by James Mooney and Gatschet.
Local Numbers:
NAA MS 1410
Local Note:
Loose sheets pasted together with cardboard covers.
Topic:
Language and languages -- Documentation Search this
2,000 Items (circa 2000 paintings, drawings, and photographs)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Drawings
Paintings
Photographs
Illustrations
Date:
circa 1879-1929
Scope and Contents note:
Artwork and some photographs used to illustrate articles published in the annual reports and bulletins of the Bureau of American Ethnology and the United States National Museum. The material includes artwork by Mary Beth Chapman, Mary Wright Gill, Mary M. Hildebrant, Spencer Baird Nichols, and Antonio Zeno Shindler. Also included are unidentified illustrations of Near Eastern costumes, prayer positions and Mexican funerary vessels, perhaps sketched by Walter Hough, and a drawing, signed "J. T. G.", of a memorial to the daughter of Chief Spotted Tail.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 133
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Additional illustrations are held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 78-51, the records of the Bureau of American Ethnology, and the Manuscript and Pamphlet File in the Department of Anthropology records.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Genre/Form:
Drawings
Paintings
Photographs
Illustrations
Citation:
Photo lot 133, Illustrations used in Bureau of American Ethnology and United States National Museum publications, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New Search this
Indians of North America -- Southern States Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Date:
1893
Scope and Contents:
From Leonard Tyler - text with interlinear translation, (Muihas or the Magpie) - 3 pages (No. 5-7). From David Pendleton (Making Medicine) - words - 4 1/2 pages. (No. 13-17). From Rubin Taylor - words and sentences - 3 pages. (No. 17-20). From Indian N.E. of Agency - words, 1/2 page. (No. 21). Names of Indians at Darlington - 6 names (page No. 21). Rudolph Petter - Collection of words - 2 pages (No. 22-23). Philip Block - Notes on different Indians by tribes - 1 page (No. 24). James Mooney - tribal names for the Cheyenne by the Yankton, Kiowa, Teton, Navajo and Arapaho. - 1/2 page. (No. 51)
Stephen R. Riggs - Dakota Grammar - extracts from. Approx. 20 pages. (Contributions Vol. IX (1893) ).
Kish Hawkins - sentences - 3 pages. (No. 8-10). grammatical notes - 25 pages. (25-50). grammatical notes - 18 pages. (72-90).
James Bent - Comparative Vocabulary of the Caddo, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Wichita - 1 page. (No. 90). Ditto - Arapaho and Cheyenne - 6 pages. (No. 91-96).
Wolf Face - Notes on Cheyenne - 3 1/4 pages. (No. 97-100). Natural Philosophy - 3 pages. (No. 101-103).
George Bent - list of personal names - 1 1/4 pages. (No.106-7).
Local Numbers:
NAA MS 61
Place:
Darlington Oklahoma Territory
Topic:
Language and languages -- Documentation Search this
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Ledger drawings
Date:
1902-1906
Scope and Contents:
Pencil and crayon drawings intermixed with Manuscript notes by Mooney. Oversize drawings identified as Cheyenne, Cheyenne or Arapaho, Kiowa, Dakota and Comanche. Typed list of these, with annotations made by Father Peter J. Powell during visit to National Anthropological Archives is included with master list of drawings in N.A.A. Many of the oversize drawings were preliminary sketches for the Cheyenne tipi curtain now on exhibit at the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois. Previously cataloged as "Kiowa and others." However, it was changed to the Cheyenne file after more complete identifications supplied by Karen D. Peterson and Father Powell showed that the majority of the drawings were Cheyenne.
Box I: Notes and drawings relating to men and horses in war paint, shields, tipis, shield tripods, lances and pennants. (Oklahoma) (March, 1902-April, 1906.) Pencil and crayon drawings intermixed with Manuscript notes by Mooney. 219 pages and slips (some with material on both sides.) List of owners of shields and tipis, in handwriting of unknown person, with Manuscript notes by both Karen D. Peterson and Father Peter J. Powell. (Washington, D.C.)(1968 ?-1971.) Manuscript document. 7 pages. According to list, 51 of the 80 owners have been identified as "Cheyenne" or "Cheyenne?"; 12 owners have been identified "Kiowa" or "Kiowa?"; 8 are unidentified; 3 each are Kiowa-Apache and Arapaho; and one each is Comanche, Crow and Ute.
The tipis are shown in finished drawings in Manuscript Number 2531, Volumes 9 and 10. The entire contents of boxes are discussed in detail in Manuscript Number 2531, volume 5; notations apparently refer to what pages in 2531, volume 5 discuss the subject of the drawing, e.g., the note "54-55a" on David Pendleton's shield. Drawings with notes have been separated by name of owner and filed alphabetically in sections on shields and tipis. Most of the drawings have Manuscript notes by Mooney as to owner, date, artist and place; for details see individual photo catalog cards to copy neg. nos. 72-1826 CN through 72-1926 CN, 72-1939 CN and and 72-1940 CN. A few drawings were also signed by the artists themselves. All the drawings which are dated, date between March, 1902 and April, 1906; the Administrative Reports of BAE-ARs for those years confirms Mooney's presence in Oklahoma from February 1902 until he left in April, 1906.
Box 2: Unidentified shield and tipi drawings. Many of the numbered pages are those cut by Mooney from his Kiowa volumes (Bureau of American Ethnology Manuscript Number 2531, Volumes 1-5). Oversize drawings: Tribes tentatively identified as Cheyenne, Cheyenne or Arapaho, Kiowa, Dakota, Comanche. 16 drawings. See typed list; copy filed with drawings, master copy inserted in Master copy of catalog of drawings, 11/71.