Essay by David Tait published in the Journal of the International African Institute, 7/50, entitled "An Analytical Commentary on the Social Structure of the Dogon", pages 1-4
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Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Collection Citation:
Eliot Elisofon Field Collection, EEPA 1973-001, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution
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Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist at ACMarchives@si.edu
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
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files include linguistic and ethnological field notes, reading notes, stories and myths, vocabularies, drawings, and unpublished and published manuscripts.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.
In 1887, George Bushotter, a Teton (Lakota) man, was employed by the Bureau of American Ethnology to provide information about the Dakota language and culture. Working closely with Dorsey, Bushotter provided over 200 Teton texts, consisting of stories, historical accounts, explanations of Dakota customs and beliefs, and Bushotter's autobiography. These texts can be found in this subseries, along with Bushotter's illustrations for some of the texts, and English translations. Some of the texts include revisions and notes by John Bruyier of Cheyenne River Agency, with whom Dorsey worked in the following year. The subseries also contains notes on Dakota social structure; diagrams of Dakota camping circles; his work editing Stephen R. Rigg's manuscripts; and notes on Assiniboine sociology.
Collection Restrictions:
The James O. Dorsey Papers are open for research. Access to the James O. Dorsey Papers requires an appointment
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
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.
According to the Third annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology, Dorsey "collected vocabularies of the Pani, Arikara, Kaddo, Kichai, and Wichita languages, to be used by the Director for comparison purposes." This series contain those notes as well as vocabulary from other Caddoan languages, notes on social structure, the names of Caddoan language tribes, and a letter from Henry Henshaw. The vocabulary that Dorsey collected was likely used in his work on Indian synonomy.
Collection Restrictions:
The James O. Dorsey Papers are open for research. Access to the James O. Dorsey Papers requires an appointment
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
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.
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.
Dorsey conducted research at Siletz Reservation in Oregon from August to November in 1884. This series contains his field notes from his work with various tribes at the reservation as well as his later analysis of his notes. He collected notes on Applegate Creek, Galice, Chasta Costa, Upper Coquille, Chetco (Tolowa), Mikonotunne (Mackanotin), Tutu, Joshua, Euchre Creek, Sixes, Naltunnetunne, Smith River, Upper Umpqua, Yaquina, Alsea, Siuslaw, Lower Umpqua, Takelma, Sasti (Shasta), and Klikitat. The series consists primarily of vocabulary and notes on grammar, as well as myths, sketch maps, notes on social structure, a list of villages, and a manuscript. There are also letters regarding botanical specimens and plant names that he collected at the reservation.
Collection Restrictions:
The James O. Dorsey Papers are open for research. Access to the James O. Dorsey Papers requires an appointment
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
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.
This subseries contains notes and manuscripts on Siouan social structure; religion; folklore; and comparative vocabulary, grammar, and phonology. Additional materials include notes on personal names; reading notes on Siouan history and migrations; and drawings of beadwork and designs.
Collection Restrictions:
The James O. Dorsey Papers are open for research. Access to the James O. Dorsey Papers requires an appointment
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
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.
This subseries of the Southern California/Basin series contains John P. Harrington's research on Chumash. His voluminous records on the group--totaling several hundred thousand pages--contain data on each of the six distinct dialect groups which constitute Chumash.
Material on the Obispeno, classified as Northern Chumash, consists primarily of vocabulary and contains a mixture of linguistic, ethnographic, and personal data. These elicitations from the last known native speaker, Rosario Cooper, represent the fullest and phonetically most reliable attestation of the language.
The Purisimeno notes consist mainly of words and "corrected vocabularies." Unlike the materials for the other Central Chumash dialects--Ineseno, Barbareno, and Ventureno--these records contain little grammatical information. Occasional Purisimeno forms are to be found in the Obispeno notes. In addition, much of the Purisimeno data is intermixed with that for Ineseno, as Harrington's informants were generally speakers of both.
Records relating to Ineseno are extensive and varied. They include raw field notes, texts, semantic and grammatical slipfiles, and a dictionary. The bulk of the data are from Maria Solares.
The Barbareno dialect of Central Chumash provided a constant source of interest for Harrington. He became fluent enough that he omitted glosses and translations from his later notes and was able to exchange letters with native speakers. During the course of his fieldwork, he had the unique opportunity to work with three generations of women in one family: Luisa Ignacio (around 1914); her daughter, Lucrecia Garcia (1926-1928); and her granddaughter, Mary Yee (from the 1920s to the early 1960s). Harrington also worked with Juan de Jesus Justo, a speaker of a different subdialect. While the notes Harrington recorded on Barbareno are among his most extensive, they are not as clearly organized as those for other groups. Thousands of pages of linguistic notes are totally without organization. Harrington rarely obtained paradigms. Instead, he obtained information by rechecking other sources, such as his own Ineseno dictionary, or by eliciting sentences in a random fashion. While textual material is plentiful, complete interlinear and free translations are often lacking.
Harrington's ethnographic notes on the Ventureno are among the most complete for any California Indian tribe he studied. Detailed accounts of Chumash life were obtained from the elderly Fernando Librado. Their interviews touched upon religion, perceptions of astronomy, such technologies as boat building and basket making, social structure, medical practices, and natural resources. A number of subdialects are represented in the Ventureno notes. Harrington recorded the "commonized" Ventura Mission dialect (samala) from Librado, Simplicio Pico, and Cecilio Tumamait. Interior Chumash (Cayetano and Castequeno) was obtained from Jose Juan Olivas. Other dialects mentioned include Mugu, Malibu, Ojai, and Matilija. There are also notes on the lone woman of San Nicolas Island.
In comparison with the records for the other Chumash dialects, documentation for Island Chumash (Ysleno) is extremely limited. Scattered throughout the material are references to the two dialects of Santa Cruz (Cruzeno), swaxil and kaxas. The speech of Santa Rosa and San Miguel is also mentioned.
The subseries also contains drafts of different lengths and in various stages of completion. Two documents pertain to Barbareno linguistics while the remaining papers reflect Harrington's cultural study of the Chumash.
Biographical / Historical:
John P. Harrington studied the Chumash Indians of southern California more thoroughly than any other group, both linguistically and culturally. He first expressed interest in the Chumash culture as early as 1902 during summer school studies with A. L. Kroeber and P. E. Goddard. His linguistic study of the Chumash family began during his association with the School of American Archaeology and the Panama-California Exposition and continued periodically up until his death in 1961.
General:
Microfilm Reel: 3
Subseries Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Subseries Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
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.
Refuge size, group living and symbiosis: testing the "resource economic monopolization" hypothesis with the shrimp Betaeus lilianae and description of its partnership with the crab Platyxanthus crenulatus
