Polynesian researches, during a residence of nearly six years in the South Sea Islands including descriptions of the natural history and scenery of the Islands, with remarks on the history, mythology, traditions, government, arts, manners, and customs of the inhabitants by William Ellis ; in two volumes
The quest and occupation of Tahiti by emissaries of Spain during the years 1772-1776 Told in despatches and other contemporary documents; translated into English and comp., with notes and an introduction by Bolton Glanvill Corney
17 Reels (16mm, black and white/color, silent. camera original reversal/print, 18,180 feet)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Reels
Home movies
Photographs
Place:
Hawaii
Mexico
Tahiti (French Polynesia : Island)
New Zealand
Guatemala
Japan
South America
Central America
North America
Oceania
United States
New York
Grand Canyon (Ariz.)
Asia
Date:
1937-1961
Summary:
Little is known about the filmmaker Joseph Ross He travelled extensively and also had an intense interest in gardens and gardening. The films reflect these interests. Although most document his travels, several were shot around his home of gardens being planted and mature gardens.
Scope and Contents:
The colletion consists of footage presumably shot by Joseph Ross during his travels and around his home. Hawaii, Japan, New Zealand, Tahiti, Mexico, and Guatemala are featured in the travel films. The travel films include tourist footage as well as limited documenation of local peoples and traditional cultural activities.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in two series:(1) Motion Picture Films, 1937-1961; (2) Photographs, 1947
Biographical / Historical:
Little is known about the filmmaker Joseph Ross. He was the great uncle of the donor's wife and he owned a business in Albany, New York. He travelled extensively and also had an intense interest in gardens and gardening. The films reflect these interests. Although most document his travels, several were shot around his home of gardens being planted and finished gardens.
Provenance:
These films were donated to the National Anthropological Film Collection by Jim Shreve in 2018.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research use although only reference copies may be used. For more information contact the staff at HSFA@si.edu .
Joseph Ross Travel Film Collection, National Anthropogical Film Collection (fomerly the Human Studies Film Archives), National Anthropological Archives
The Robert I. Levy papers document his field work, research and professional activities from 1949-2001 and primarily deal with his work studying social organization, culture, and their psychological effects in Tahiti and Nepal. The collection consists of correspondence, field notes, sound recordings of interviews with informants in Tahiti and Nepal, interview transcripts and analyses, language and culture research materials, maps, and color slides. Also included are files about his books, articles, essays, and lectures; course materials from his time as a professor at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD); and conference files.
Scope and Contents:
The Robert I. Levy papers document his field work, research and professional activities from 1949-2001 and primarily deal with his work studying social organization, culture and their psychological effects in Tahiti and Nepal. The collection consists of correspondence, field notes, sound recordings of interviews with informants in Tahiti and Nepal, interview transcripts and analyses, language and culture research materials, maps, and color slides.
The correspondence includes Levy's thoughts on his first field work experience in Tahiti from 1961-1964 along with extensive correspondence with Levy's cousin, anthropologist Roy Rappaport, in the same time period. Interview transcripts from Tahiti are written in Tahitian with Levy's notes in English. Transcripts from Nepal are in Newar (Devanagari script) with English translations. Full transcripts in both languages are not always present. Research materials comprise documents Levy gathered before and after his periods of field work and include extensive analyses of psychological terms in Tahitian and Newar. The color slides depict adults, children, daily activities, rituals, and some landscapes in Tahiti and Nepal.
Also included in this collection are files about his books, articles, essays, and lectures; course materials from his time as a professor at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD); and conference files.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged in 4 series: Series 1. Tahiti, 1959-1964, 1970, undated; Series 2. Nepal, 1959-1990, undated; Series 3. Professional activities, 1949-2001, undated; Series 4. Slides, 1961, 1973-1978, undated.
Biographical note:
1924 -- Robert I. Levy was born on June 1st in New York, New York.
1947 -- M.D. Degree, New York University, College of Medicine.
1953-1956 -- Army Medical Corps, Neuropsychiatric and Psychiatric Services, Germany.
1954 -- Specialty certification in psychiatry. American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.
1956-1962 -- Private psychiatry practice. Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of California, School of Medicine. Attending Psychiatrist, Langley Porter Neuropsychiatric Institute, San Francisco, California. Adjunct in psychiatry, Mount Zion Hospital, San Francisco, California.
1961 -- Fellow, American Psychiatric Association.
1961-1964 -- From July-August 1961 and July 1962-June 1964, field work in French Polynesia. Grants from the National Institute for Mental Health and the National Science Foundation.
1964-1966 -- Research Associate, Anthropology, Bishop Museum, Honolulu. Senior Scholar, Institute of Advanced Projects, East-West Center;
1966-1967 -- Visiting Associate Professor of Public Health, University of Hawaii.
1967-1969 -- Research Professor, Social Science Research Institute of Hawaii; Lecturer, Department of Anthropology, University of Hawaii.
1969-1991 -- Professor of Anthropology, University of California, San Diego.
1973-1976 -- Field work in Nepal. National Science Foundation grant.
1990-1991 -- Fellow, National Humanities Center, Research Triangle Park, NC.
1991-2003 -- Research Professor of Anthropology, Duke University. Research Professor of Anthropology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, University of California, San Diego;
1996 -- Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
2003 -- Died August 29th in Asolo, Italy.
Robert I. Levy was a professor in the Anthropology Department at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) from 1969 until his retirement in 1991 who was known for his ground breaking work in psychological anthropology. Born in 1924 in New York, New York, he originally trained in medicine and psychiatry (M.D. Degree, New York University, 1947). Levy was lured into anthropology in the early 1960s by Douglas Oliver to work on a field project in Tahiti. Levy spent a total of 26 months from 1961-1964 conducting research in Tahiti focused on aspects of Tahitian culture and psychological organization. The resulting book Tahitians: Mind and Experience in the Society Islands (1973) was selected as a finalist for the National Book Award. Levy went on to complete field work in Nepal in the traditional Hindu city of Bhaktapur, from 1973-1976 conducting research on social organization, culture, and their psychological correlates. The culmination of his research, Mesocosm: Hinduism and the Organization of a Traditional Newar City in Nepal, was published in 1990.
Prior to joining the faculty at UCSD, Levy was a senior scholar at the East-West Center, a research associate at the Bishop Museum, and a professor at the University of Hawaii, all in Honolulu. He was also the associate editor of ETHOS from 1971-1979 and received fellowships at the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences in Palo Alto, CA (1985-1986) and the National Humanities Center in Research Triangle Park, NC (1990-1991). After his retirement from UCSD in 1991 Levy was appointed a Research Professor of Anthropology at both the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and Duke University. He died in 2003 in Asolo, Italy.
Source consulted:
Hollan, Douglas 2005 "Mind and Experience in Tahiti, Nepal, and Beyond." ETHOS. Vol. 33, No. 4, Special Section in Honor of Robert I. Levy (Dec., 2005), pp. 430-432.
Provenance:
These papers were donated to the National Anthropological Archives by Robert Levy's wife,
Nerys Levy, in 2014.
Restrictions:
Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
The Robert I. Levy papers are open for research.
Access to the Robert I. Levy papers requires an appointment.
8 Film reels (2 hours 57 minutes, color sound; 6,375 feet, 35mm)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Film reels
Sound films
Fiction films
Place:
French Polynesia
Tahiti (French Polynesia : Island)
Date:
1956
Scope and Contents:
Edited film is a theatrical production filmed in Tahiti using Tahitians in the cast. Film was produced and created by Hollywood cameraman James Knott and his wife, actress Lotus Long. Story involves scientists trying to stop a filaria epidemic spreading through a local population. The doctors try to use western medicine to combat the disease but meet resistence from the local medicine man and chief. The chief's son falls ill from the parasitic worm which causes the disease and negative attitudes quickly change. The young man is cured. Film also includes Tahitian dance and music.
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 Anthropology Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Local Numbers:
HSFA 1994.5.1
Provenance:
Received from Ryon Rickard in 1994.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the Human Studies Film Archives may not be played.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Genre/Form:
Sound films
Fiction films
Citation:
The Tahitian, Human Studies Film Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Film reels (4 hours 27 minutes, black-and-white color silent; 9592 feet)
Videocassettes (27 hours 55 minutes, color sound)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Film reels
Videocassettes
Silent films
Video recordings
Place:
Oceania
Australasia
Tahiti (French Polynesia : Island)
Tonga
Solomon Islands
Australia
Date:
1965-1988
Scope and Contents:
Collection consists of film and video created and collected by Adrienne Kaeppler. Film and video documents dance and arts in the Pacific region.
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 Anthropology Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Provenance:
Received from Adrienne Kaeppler in 1989, 1990, and 1999.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the Human Studies Film Archives may not be played.
7 Film reels (black-and-white and color silent; 3440 feet, 16mm)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Film reels
Silent films
Place:
Oceania
Hawaii
Tahiti (French Polynesia : Island)
Date:
1937-1943
Scope and Contents:
1 roll motion picture film, approx. 800 feet, of Pat Wiggin Bacon, Pele Pukui and Mary Kawena Pukui dancing hula, made by George Bacon in 1943. 6 rolls motion picture film on Tahitian dance by Dr. Douglas Campbell in 1937.
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 Anthropology Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the Human Studies Film Archives may not be played.
Collection includes a L. Gauthier portrait of a tattooed Marquesan chief holding a paddle, as well as a reproduction of Francesco Bartolozzi's engraving, "The Cession of the District of Matavai in the Island of Otaheite to Captain James Wilson for the Use of the Missionaries," a representation of the meeting between Tahitians and Europeans.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 81J, USNM ACC 277609
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Artifacts donated to the National Museum of Natural History by David Dunn Thomas are held in the Department of Anthropology collections in accession 277609.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Citation:
Photo lot 81J, David Dunn Thomas photograph collection relating to Tahiti, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The Cyclopedia of Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti, and the Cook Islands (illustrated) : a complete review of the history and traditions and the commercial development of the islands, with statistics and data never before compiled in a single publication, descriptive and biographical facts, figures and illustrations
Physical description:
112, 65, 20, 6 p., [3] leaves of plates : ill., ports. ; 29 cm
