Indians of North America -- California Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Field notes
Vocabulary
Genealogies
Maps
Place:
California -- History
Sacramento (Calif.)
Date:
1939
Scope and Contents:
This subseries of the Northern and Central California series contains material that supplement Harrington's research on Nisenan and Northern Sierra Miwok.
A section of Harrington's field notes are based on Prince Paul of Wurttemberg's research on "Hok" (Southwestern Nisenan) dialect and "Kosume" (Northern Sierra Miwok). In 1937 Matthew W. Stirling, chief of the B. A. E., commissioned Charles Upson Clark to conduct research in Stuttgart, Germany, on Prince Paul's expedition of 1849-1851 to the Pacific Coast. A translation of a portion of Clark's journals was sent to Harrington in the field to be reheard with his various informants. The notes are organized on the basis of interviews which Harrington conducted with each informant individually or in small groups. George Nye, described as a speaker of the "Yuba County language," and Lizzie Enos provided the bulk of the data. A variety of Nisenan dialects are represented, including the Northern and Central Hill varieties. Much of the ethnographic information interspersed with the linguistic notes is concerned with Harrington's attempts to locate the Hock Indian mound described by von Wurttemberg. Also included are sketch maps, historical anecdotes, and descriptions of photographs of Sutter's Mill.
Notes from secondary sources consist of handwritten excerpts made by Harrington from various published sources which he evidently found at the Sacramento Public Library. Works by Kroeber, Gudde, and Powers are among those quoted. A few random comments from informants were added to these pages, although for the most part the informants were unfamiliar with the geographical names mentioned in the sources.
This subseries also contains biographical data that Harrington collected on possible informants.These include notes copied by Harrington from social worker rolls made available to him by Winifred Codman. Individuals are listed by county with some genealogical information and assessments of their capabilities in giving linguistic data. Similar information was copied from the files of the Sacramento Indian Agency. These records are followed by a few miscellaneous pages of biographical notes obtained during his interviews.
There are also miscellaneous notes, which include a few comments on phonetics of Maidu and Nisenan and a brief dicussion of the well-known northern California Indian, Ishi.
Biographical / Historical:
In early June 1939 John P. Harrington spent several days examining Prince Paul of Wurttemberg's "account of the Sacramento Valley Indians of California in 1850 and two vocabularies." Using agent Michael Harrison's home at the Sacramento Indian Agency as his headquarters, Harrington made several trips throughout the Sacramento area in search of knowledgeable native speakers. Among those he interviewed were Lizzie Enos of Clipper Gap, Jane Lewis of Auburn rancheria, George Nye of Dobbins, Albert Porter and Henry Hanson of Forest Hill, and Lilly Williams-all Nisenan-and Mike Murray, a ko.ni, who knew Northern Sierra Miwok as well as some Nisenan.
Two particularly helpful sources of nonlinguistic information were Winifred Codman, a social worker in the area, and H. C. Peterson, curator in charge of the centennial celebration of the founding of Sacramento. Harrington also spoke with Mrs. Thomas Edward Holmes, Mrs. Lou Wilson, and Ben Frost.
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
This subseries of the Notes and writings on special linguistic studies series contains material that supplement Harrington's Northern and Central California field notes. There are materials on Wiyot/Yurok/Mattole; Nisenan/Northern Sierra Miwok; Southern Pomo/Central Sierra Miwok; Plains Miwok; Karok/Shasta/Konomihu; Chimariko/Hupa; Wailaki; Achomawi/Atsugewi/Wintu/Yana; Yana/Achomawi/Wintu/Chimariko; Costanoan; Esselen; Salinan; and Yokuts. The files include notes Harrington collected from the field, covering linguistic, botanical, biographical, geographical, and ethnographic topics; notes from rehearings; notes and drafts from his papers; notes on his travels and activities; and notes from secondary sources, including field notes from Alfred Kroeber and other colleagues and notes on Sir Francis Drake's travels in California. Some of his botanical notes include scientific identifications and comments by botanist C. V. Morton of the National Herbarium. The Karok section contains labels for Karok baskets housed in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution's Department of Anthropology.
There are also some general and miscellaneous materials, notes relating to collections of artifacts, notes relating to mission records, notes from conversations, notes from secondary sources, and notes and writings collected from others. Miscellaneous material includes lists of possible informants for a number of California languages, bibliographic references, notes on boats, a list of captions for Harrington's paper "Chainfern and Maidenhair, Adornment Materials of Northwestern California Basketry," a tracing of a map labeled "Plano de la Mision San Jose, 1824," additional references to that mission, and a text. The papers contain references to the Hupa, Maidu, and Yurok tribes. Notes on artifacts pertain to collections held by others, including the George Heye collection of artifacts for the Modoc, Klamath, Pomo, Tolowa, Hupa, and Yurok tribes. Notes from conversations includes interviews with Cora DuBois, C. Hart Merriam, Carl F. Voegelin, and T.T. Waterman. Notes from his meeting with Dr. J.W. Hudson are the most extensive. The last file in the subseries consists of notes from a meeting with Ruth Underhill on January 10, 1941, and a notebook which Harrington evidently obtained from her at that time. The notebook contains class notes from a course on Maidu which Underhill had taken at Columbia University in 1932 with Hans Jorgen Uldall. Included are information on phonetics and grammar and a number of texts.
Local Numbers:
Accession #1976-95
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Topic:
Language and languages -- Documentation Search this
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
Photographs depicting Native American baskets and portraits of Native Americans with whom C. Hart Merriam worked, as well as scenic views and images of animals and plants, mostly in California. Many of the photographs were made by Merriam himself or his daughter Zenaida Merriam Talbot. In addition, Merriam collected photographs from other researchers and photographers, including J. S. Diller, John Peabody Harrington, Henry Wetherbee Henshaw, and O. E. Meddaugh. There are also images acquired from the Boysen Studio of Yosemite and photographs of Mark Twain, John Muir, basketmaker Maggie James, and Merriam's family.
Biographical/Historical note:
Clinton Hart Merriam (1855-1942) was a Columbia University-educated physician who worked as a naturalist, including as head of the Biological Survey for the US Department of Agriculture. He joined the Harriman Alaska Expedition as a zoologist in 1899. In 1910, he left the USDA and began to conduct research among California tribes. Financed by Mary W. Harriman and the E. H. Harriman Fund administered by the Smithsonian, he researched tribes' vocabularies, history, mythology, crafts (particularly basketmaking) until about 1936. His resarch was assisted by his daughter, Zenaida, who took photographs and painted glass slides for him. Merriam served as President of the Anthropological Society of Washington in 1920-1921.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 74-27
General note:
Additional information supplied by Marvin Shodas.
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Merriam's notes held in the National Anthropological Archives in MS 1563 and in the Smithsonian Institution Archives in SIA Acc. 12-264.
Additional photographs by Merriam held in the National Museum of American Indian Archives in the Mary Harriman Rumsey Photograph Collection and the Harriman Alaska Expedition Photograph Collection.
Correspondence from Merriam held in the National Anthropological Archives in MS 4558, the Department of Anthropology records (Manuscript and Pamphlet file), Bureau of American Ethnology records, J.C. Pilling Papers, Ales Hrdlicka Papers, and Jesse Logan Nusbaum Papers.
The Bancroft Library at University of California, Berkeley holds the C. Hart Merriam Papers, C. Hart Merriam Collection of Native American Photographs (prints corresponding to negatives in this collection), and C. Hart Merriam pictorial collection.
Indians of North America -- California Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Copy negatives
Copy color slides
Photographs
Date:
circa 1989
Scope and Contents note:
Images of art pieces by Harry Fonseca, many of which depict his representation of the mythical figure Coyote. Included are copies of the 115 color slides Fonseca used in his lecture at the Smithsonian in 1989. There are also images of his "Stone Poems" series, each Smithsonian-exhibited piece, and views of the exhibit as a whole.
Biographical/Historical note:
Harry Fonseca is a Nisenan Maidu artist who was influenced by basketry designs, his experience as a Maidu dancer, and creation stories and myths. In 1979, he started his Coyote series, which depicts Coyote the trickster in non-traditional settings. Fonseca lectured on his work at the Smithsonian on February 9, 1989 as part of an exhibition of his art in the National Museum of Natural History.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 89-25
Reproduction Note:
Copy slides and negatives made by Smithsonian Institution, 1989.
Location of Other Archival Materials:
The National Museum of the American Indian holds two paintings by Fonseca.
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.
