Indians of North America -- Southwest, New Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Prints
Pages
Photographs
Place:
Arizona
Tuba City (Ariz.)
Date:
circa 1913-1916
Scope and Contents note:
Photographs depicting Bureau of Indian Affairs employees and their families, Agency and Reservation buildings, and Navajo students at the Tuba City Indian School. The collection also includes an image of Theodore Roosevelt in Tuba City and images of Apache people, Moencopi Hopi village, and Hopi dances, including the Butterfly, Corn, and Snake Dance. Photographs were originally mounted on black paper in a photo album; they were later removed and placed in a "magnetic" album with added captions, possibly by the donor.
The collection also includes an account by Dr. Wilson describing fears of a Navajo uprising against the agency following the shooting of a Navajo suspect by two white policemen in 1916. There are also are eight issues of "The Tuba Times," a "newspaper" published by Dr. Wilson's daughter Rachel and two friends, Norine and Hugh Williams, in 1914. Additionally, there is a segment of a map from 1969.
Biographical/Historical note:
Dr. Henry Kirke Wilson (1874-1947) was appointed by the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs as the physician for the Western Navajo Agency located in Tuba City, Arizona.
Photo lot 81-20, Dr. H. K. Wilson collection of photographs and manuscript material from Tuba City, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Unbound album pages (labeled A through Q) with photographs documenting the people and culture of the Pocatello-Fort Hall area, including Native Americanss (particularly Shoshone-Bannock tribes), agency employees, and missionaries. Included are images of encampments, Sun Dance ceremonies, the Fort Hall Agency, Indian schools and churches, the Run for Fort Hall Lands on June 17, 1902, the War Bonnett Roundup at Idaho Falls, Shoshone Falls and other natural features and landscapes, a large number of street and aerial views of Pocatello, A. L. Cook's drug store in Pocatello, and members of the Cook family. In addition, there are photographs of Nez Perce, Hopi, San Juan, and Navaho Indians, and one image of the Lapps Indians at Port Townsend, Washington. A large number of the photographs were made by Benedicte Wrensted.
The albums were compiled by Robert Leonard, Eugene O. Leonard's son, who also made copy prints of many of the photographs and negatives. They include flyers, newspapers, envelopes, and other scraps collected by Leonard.
Biographical/Historical note:
Eugene O. Leonard (1884-1964) moved to Pocatello, Idaho, in 1893 to live with his aunt, the widow of A. L. Cook and owner of the Cook building and drugstore. Leonard attended Weiser College and Academy (now College of Idaho), Whitman College, and Northwestern University. He acquired degrees in phamacy and pharmaceutical chemistry from Northwestern University, and a degree in assaying studies from the Chicago College of Chemistry. After graduation from the College in 1908, Leonard returned to Pocatello to manage the Cook Drug Store until 1918. He worked as Pocatello City Chemist and set up the College of Pharmacy at Idaho State College, where he also taught and served as dean (1918-1954). In the 1930s, Leonard obtained a MS and PhD from Utah State University. Possibly encouraged by his collector aunt, Leonard established a collection of Native material culture objects and documentations, including artifacts and these photograhs, based on his interest in the Shoshoni and Bannock tribes at nearby Fort Hall.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 92-3
Location of Other Archival Materials:
The Idaho Museum of Natural History at Idaho State University holds artifacts collected by Eugene O. Leonard.
The Bannock County Historical Museum in Pocatello holds the Leonard Family Papers, 1893-1917.
Restrictions:
Original nitrate negatives are in cold storage and require advanced notice for viewing. Many have associated prints.
Photo Lot 92-3, Eugene O. Leonard photograph collection relating to Pocatello and Fort Hall, Idaho, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Ethel Cutler Freeman was an amateur Seminole specialist and research associate with the American Museum of Natural History. Her papers also reflect field work among the Arapaho, Shoshoni, Navaho, Pueblo, Hopi, Kickapoo, and people of the Virgin Islands, the Bahama Islands, and Haiti, and the music and chants of Africa, including those of the Maasai, Zulu, and Pygmies. A small amount of material relates to the Hoover Commission on Indian Affairs, of which Freeman was a member. Correspondents include several Seminole Indians and government officials, personal acquaintances, organizations, and associates of the American Museum of Natural History.
Scope and Contents:
These papers reflect the anthropological interests of Ethel Cutler Freeman. The papers in this collection include her notes and diaries, published articles, unfinished manuscripts, and source materials. The bulk of the collection is material relating to the Seminole Indians of Florida.
Mrs. Freeman also made several trips to the Southwest and Mexico to study such tribes as the Arapaho, Shoshone, Navajo, Pueblo, and Hopi. There is substantial information from these studies included in this collection. She also made less extensive studies of various other cultures in the Virgin Islands, the Bahamas, and Haiti. In 1950, she studied tribal music and chants of several African tribes and the material from these studies forms the major portion of Series 7.
The collection also contains several sound recordings made by Freeman and numerous photographs, negatives, and slides. During rehousing, additional materials including index cards and notebooks from field trips were located and incorporated into the collection. A small amount of material relates to the Hoover Commission on Indian Affairs, of which Freeman was a member.
Correspondents include several Seminole Indians and government officials, personal acquaintances, organizations, and associates of the American Museum of Natural History as well as Dean Amadon, Richard Archbold, Conrad M. Arensberg, Dana W. Atchley, Jacques Barzun, Ruth Benedict, Leonard J. Brass, Louis Capron, Frances Densmore, Margery S. Douglas, John W. Griffin, A.J. Hanna, Ronald F. Lee, Margaret Mead, Robert Cushman Murphy, Kenneth W. Porter, Harry L. Shapiro, Howard Sharp, Frank Speck, Charlton W. Tebean, and Clark Wissler.
Although the majority of the collection spans the years 1934 to 1972, there are some items with dates that fall outside of this range. Some published materials are dated as early as 1822 and one note is dated 1975 and was added to the collection after Freeman's death in 1972. The folders containing these items have been dated accordingly, but these outlier dates have not affected the dates of the sub-series or series.
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:
The collection is arranged into 15 series: (1) Biographical information and miscellaneous personal papers, 1939-1971; (2) Correspondence, 1936-1972; (3) Manuscripts, 1936-1971; (4) Source Material, 1934-1970; (5) Seminole Indians, 1934-1972; (6) North American Indians, 1936-1971; (7) Cultures other than North American Indian, 1943-1970; (8) Meetings, 1956-1968; (9) Printed materials, 1936-1972; (10) Pamphlets, 1935-1970; (11) Population and Material Culture, 1939, 1951-1963; (12) Sound recordings, 1940-1958, 1969-1970; (13) Lists of Photographs, 1939-1970; (14) Photographs, 1936-1971; (15) Index Cards, undated
Biographical Note:
Ethel Cutler Freeman was born in 1886 in Morristown, New Jersey. Freeman was the daughter of a prosperous family, which gave her the opportunity to study abroad in England at Mademoiselle Marie Souvestre's Academy for girls. After studying in England, Freeman returned to the United States and was married to Leon S. Freeman, a New York broker, in 1909.
By 1934, Freeman had become bored with the typical social activities available to her; while discussing the matter with a friend, Marcellus Hartley Dodge, she described herself as having a "brain full of cobwebs." Dodge, a former trustee at Columbia University, suggested that Freeman enroll in some courses at Columbia. Acting on Dodge's advice, Freeman started taking graduate courses in psychology and sociology at Columbia University, but soon became fascinated with anthropology. During her studies at Columbia, Freeman spent time in the western United States studying the Arapaho and Shoshone while her husband recuperated from a horse riding accident; it was at this point that she developed a taste for field work and an interest in Native American cultures. After completing her studies, Freeman decided that she wanted to study the Seminole people of Florida, near whom she and her family owned a winter home in Naples.
Back on the East Coast, Freeman met Dr. Clark Wissler, then Curator of the Indian Division of the American Museum of Natural History. Wissler was supportive of Freeman's aspirations to continue her anthropological studies, but balked at her expressed interest in the Seminole, whom at that time had a reputation for not being open to contact with outsiders. Undaunted, Freeman contacted W. Stanley Hansen, the man in charge of Seminole settlement; after repeated correspondence with Hansen convinced him she was no mere hobbyist, he agreed to help her make connections within the Seminole community.
Freeman made two visits to the Big Cypress Reservation for the American Museum of Natural History with a government representative before taking her 14-year-old daughter, Condict, and 12-year-old son, Leon Jr., for an extended stay with a group of Seminoles at the heart of the Everglades in February of 1940. After that first winter stay with the Seminoles, Freeman spent virtually every winter living within their remote communities and studying their culture. Over time, Dr. Wissler became impressed by Freeman's thorough and insightful reports and analysis of her findings among the Seminoles and got the American Museum of Natural History to back her winter field studies. Eventually Freeman's work gained her a reputation for being an expert on Seminole culture, which often placed her in the role of consultant to government agencies on issues dealing with Seminole and broader Native American concerns.
As a result of her long acquaintance with the Seminoles, Freeman also became interested in how different groups of Native Americans and other cultures adapted to changes brought about by contact with modern society. Freeman made several trips to the Southwestern United States and Mexico to study such tribes as the Arapaho, Shoshone, Navajo, Pueblo, Choctaw, and Hopi; she also made less extensive studies of various other cultures in the Virgin Islands, the Bahamas, and Haiti. In 1950, Freeman went to Africa to study tribal music and chants of several tribes. Much later, in 1968, the American Museum of Natural History sent Freeman to Portugal to study local costumes.
In the 1940s, Freeman took part in publishing studies for the Department of Agriculture about the Seminoles and worked as an advocate for the Navajo, who at that time were in tense relations with the United States government over their living conditions. From 1947 to 1957, Freeman worked as a representative for the American Civil Liberties Union on the National Coordinating Committee for Indian Affairs; she also was a member of the Indian Rights Committee for the American Civil Liberties Union from 1946 to 1966. From 1948 to 1950, Freeman served as a member of the Hoover Commission for Reorganization of Government within the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Throughout her studies in the field and her activities as an advocate for Native American rights, Freeman published her work frequently and gave many talks at a variety of conferences and special events. In 1964, Freeman traveled to Moscow to deliver her paper, "The Correlation between Directed Culture Change and Self Determination," at the 7th International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences; she attended the same conference series the following year in Japan to deliver another paper, entitled "Lawlessness in an Indian Tribe as a Microcosm of a World Trend." Freeman continued visiting and studying the Seminoles in Florida late into her career, making her last visit the year before her death.
Ethel Cutler Freeman died on July 14th, 1972.
Sources Consulted
Letter to Mrs. Margaret Blaker, Archivist at the Smithsonian Institution's Anthropological Archives; Washington, D.C. from Ethel Cutler Freeman. Dated April 24, 1972. Located in vertical files, folders on Ethel Cutler Freeman, in the reading room of the National Anthropological Archives.
"Morristown Anthropologist; Mrs. Leon Freeman Likes Seminole Indians." Newark Sunday News, February 16, 1947.
"New Vernon Woman, Indian Authority." The Morris Observer, October 13, 1955.
"She's 'Hooked' On Seminole Indians: Leading Authority On That World." Daily Record, March 6, 1970.
"The Sentinel Visits--Indian Authority Mrs. Leon Freeman: Who Is Now Working To Rescue A Nation." Sunday Sentinel, February 2, 1947.
Chronology
1886 -- Born in Morristown, New Jersey.
1909 -- Married Leon S. Freeman.
1934 -- Began taking graduate courses at Columbia University in philosophy before changing to anthropology.
1936 -- Field work with the Arapaho and Shoshone.
1938 -- Joined American Anthropological Association. First became associated with American Museum of Natural History.
1939-1943 -- Winter field work with Florida Seminoles.
1940-1948 -- Special Field Assistant, American Museum of Natural History.
1943 -- Joined American Ethnological Society.
1944 -- Field work in Mexico searching for a lost tribe of Seminoles; studied the Mascogas, Papagos, and Kickapoo.
1945 -- Field work in New Mexico, studying the Pueblo and Navajo.
1946 -- Joined the Society of Women Geographers. Field work with the Navajo, Papago, and Hopi.
1946-1948 -- Winter field work with Florida Seminoles.
1947 -- Field work with the Navajo, Papago, and Pueblo.
1947-1957 -- Represented the American Civil Liberties Union on the National Coordinating Committee for Indian Affairs.
1947-1966 -- Member Indian Rights Committee, American Civil Liberties Union.
1948 -- Appointed first female trustee of the American Institute of Anthropology. Became Field Associate, American Museum of Natural History.
1948-1950 -- Member Hoover Commission for Reorganization of Government – Bureau of Indian Affairs.
1949 -- Field work in the Bahamas, studying native culture.
1950 -- Field work in Africa, studying the Zulu, Masai, and pygmy peoples.
1951 -- Winter field work with Florida Seminoles.
1952 -- Field work studying native cultures of the Virgin Islands and Haiti.
1953-1955 -- Winter field work with Florida Seminoles.
1955-1957 -- Acting Chairman, American Civil Liberties Union.
1957 -- Field work studying Mexican Seminoles.
1957-1958 -- Winter field work with Florida Seminoles.
1959 -- Attended annual meeting of American Anthropological Association in Mexico City.
1960-1965 -- Winter field work with Florida Seminoles.
1963 -- Field work in Oklahoma, studying Seminoles.
1964 -- Presented paper, "The Correlation between Directed Culture Change and Self Determination" VII International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, Moscow.
1968 -- Studied costumes of Portugal for American Museum of Natural History.
1965 -- Presented paper, "Lawlessness in an Indian Tribe as a Microcosm of a World Trend" VIII International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, Tokyo and Kyoto, Japan.
1970-1971 -- Winter field work with Florida Seminoles.
1972 -- Field work in Portugal and the Azores. Died, July 14.
Selected Bibliography
1942 -- Freeman, Ethel Cutler. "We Live with the Seminoles," Natural History 49, no. 4 (April 1942): 226-236.
1944 -- Freeman, Ethel Cutler. "The Seminole Woman of the Big Cypress and Her Influence in Modern Life," América Indígena 4, no. 2 (April 1944), 123-128.
1960 -- Freeman, Ethel Cutler. "Culture Stability and Change among the Seminoles of Florida." In Men and Cultures: Selected Papers of the Fifth International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, Philadelphia, September 1-9, 1956, edited by Anthony F.C. Wallace, 249-254. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1960. Freeman, Ethel Cutler. "Directed Culture-Change and Selfdetermination in Superordinate and Subordinate Societies," Proceedings of the 7th International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences 4, Moscow (August 1964), 85-90.
1961 -- Freeman, Ethel Cutler. "The Happy Life in the City of Ghosts: An Analysis of a Mikasuki Myth," The Florida Anthropologist 14, nos. 1-2 (March-June 1961), 23-36.
1964 -- Freeman, Ethel Cutler. "Directed Culture-Change and Selfdetermination in Superordinate and Subordinate Societies," Proceedings of the 7th International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences 4, Moscow (August 1964), 85-90.
1965 -- Freeman, Ethel Cutler. "Two Types of Cultural Response to External Pressures Among the Florida Seminoles," Anthropological Quarterly 38, no. 2 (April 1965), 55-61.
1968 -- Freeman, Ethel Cutler. "Lawlessness in an Indian Tribe as a Microcosm of a World Trend," Proceedings of the VIIIth International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, 1968, Tokyo and Kyoto (Tokyo: Science Council of Japan, 1968) 191-193.
Related Materials:
Photo lot 62, W. Stanley Hanson photographs of Seminole Indians in Florida, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
Objects donated by Ethel Cutler Freeman held in Department of Anthropology collections in accession 319549.
The Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum on the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation also holds an Ethel Cutler Freeman collection.
Separated Materials:
Film materials were transfered to the Human Studies Film Archive under the accession numbers HSFA 1986.11.8 (African footage) and HSFA 1986.11.9 (Seminole footage).
Provenance:
The papers of Ethel Cutler Freeman were left to the National Anthropological Archives by the terms of her will. Her son, Leon Freeman, Jr., donated the collection to NAA in August 1972.
Restrictions:
By Ethel Freeman's instructions, the collection was restricted for ten years dating from the receipt and signing of the release forms on October 12, 1972. Literary property rights to the unpublished materials in the collection were donated to the National Anthropological Archives.
Access to the Ethel Cutler Freeman papers requires an appointment.
Seminole recordings cannot be accessed without the permission of the Seminole Tribe.
Photographs depicting tribal delegates, probably made by Robert M. Farring during tribal group visits to the Bureau of Indian Affairs Washington office. Many of the photographs were originally mounted in notebooks with identification of pictured individuals and their affiliations.
Biographical/Historical note:
Robert M. Farring, Jr. is an employee in the Tribal Operations office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, DC.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 85-21
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Additional photographs of Native American delegations can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 4286, MS 4638, Photo Lot 87-2P, Photo Lot 90-1, and the BAE historical negatives.
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Prints
Photographs
Date:
1977
Scope and Contents note:
Photographs depicting the dedication of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Museum and Archives in Canton, Oklahoma on May 13, 1977. There are also images of a sign for Cheyenne and Arapaho Recreational Park and of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Marina on Canton Lake.
Biographical/Historical note:
Bill Wyrick worked in the Soil and Moisture Conservation Unit (SMC) Cartographic Section, Concho, Oklahoma, of the Branch of Land Operations of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 78-44
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 78-44, Bill Wyrick photographs of dedication of Cheyenne and Arapaho Museum and Archives, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
-Robert L. Bee, "Potawatomi peyotism: the influence of traditional patterns," Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, v. 22 (1966), pp. 194-205 (printed item annotated)
-United States Bureau of Indian Affairs, Social and economic survey of Potawatomie jurisdictions, 1975 (bound multilith)
-James A. Clifton, "Potawatomi," draft of chapter for Handbook of the North American Indians, ed. by William C. Sturtevant, v. 12, Northeast, ed. By Bruce G. Trigger (mimeograph)
-__________, "Sociocultural dynamics of the Prairie Potawatomi drum cult," prepared for Plains anthropologist, v. 14 (1969) (mimeograph)
Collection Restrictions:
The Ruth Landes papers are open for research. The nitrate negatives in this collection have been separated from the collection and stored offsite. Access to nitrate negatives is restricted due to preservation concerns.
Access to the Ruth Landes papers requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Ruth Landes papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
The revision of this finding aid and digitization of portions of the collection were made possible through the financial support of the Ruth Landes Memorial Research Fund.
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina
Date:
1932-1958
Summary:
These are the papers of Washington, D.C. attorney James E. Curry, whose legal career included work both as a government attorney and in his own private practice. The bulk of the papers reflect his private practice in the area of Indian affairs.
Scope and Contents:
The material in the collection includes documents relating to many aspects of Curry's career but most of it relates to his work with Indian tribes and the National Congress of American Indians. For the most, the collection is made up of such materials as letters exchanged with government officials, Indians, and other attorneys; copies of legal documents; published government documents; notes; and clippings and other printed materials. Of particular significance is a subject file relating to Indian affairs. It includes material concerning affairs of Alaskan natives and the Aleut (Akutan, Pribilof Islands), Apache (including Fort Sill, Jicarilla, Mescalero, San Carlos White Mountain), Arapaho (Southern), Assiniboine (Fort Belknap, Fort Peck), Bannock (including Fort Hall), Blackfeet, Caddo, Catawba, Cherokee (Eastern), Cheyenne (Northern, Southern), Chickahominy, Chickasaw, Chippewa (including Lac Courte Oreilles), Choctaw, Cochiti, Cocopa, Coeur d'Alene, Colville, Comanche, Creek, Croatan, Crow, Dakota (Big Foot, Cheyenne River, Crow Creek, Devil's Lake, Flandreau, Fort Totten, Lower Brule, Mdewakanton, Oglala, Rosebud, Santee, Sisseton-Wahpeton, Standing Rock, Yankton), Delaware, Eskimo (including Gambell, Kiana), Flathead, Fox, Haida (including Kasaan), Havasupai, Hopi, Iroquois (Caughnawaga, Seneca, St. Regis), Isleta, Jemez, Kalilspel, Kansa (Kaw), Kickapoo, Kiowa, Klamath, Kutenai, Laguna, Lummi, Maricopa (Gila River, Salt River), Menominee, Missouria, Mohave (Fort Mohave), Mohave Apache (Fort McDowell), Muckleshoot, Navaho, Nez Perce, Niska, Nooksak, Omaha, Osage, Oto, Papago, Paiute (Fallon, Fort McDermitt), Moapa, Pyramid Lake, Shivwits, Walker River, Yerington), Pima (Gila River, Salt River), Potowatomi, Quinaielt, San Felipe, San Ildefonso, San Juan, Santa Ana, Santa Clara, Sandia, Sauk, Seminole (Florida, Oklahoma), Seneca, Seri, Shawnee (Eastern), Shoshoni (including Fort Hall), Sia, Spokan, Stockbridge, Taos (Pyote clan), Tesuque, Three Affiliated Tribes (Mandan, Arikara, and Hidatsa), Tillamook, Tlingit (including Angoon, Craig, Juneau, Kake, Ketchikan, Klawak, Klukwan, Taku, Wrangell), Tsimshian (Metlakatla), Umatilla, Ute (including Uintah-Ouray), Walapai, Washo, Wesort, Winnebago, Wyandot, Yakima, Yaqui, Yavapai, Yuma, and Zuni. There are also materials relating to Curry's work with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and National Congress of American Indians, and material that reflects his interest in conditions and events in given locations (often filed by state) and in organizations with interest in Indians. The material relating to Curry's work in Puerto Rico has been deposited in the Archivo General de Puerto Rico, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriquena, in San Juan.
Arrangement note:
The James E. Curry Papershave been arranged into 6 series: (1) Daily Chronological Files, 1941-1955; (2) Subject Files Regarding Indian Affairs, bulk 1935-1955; (3) Miscellaneous Files Regarding Indian Affairs, bulk 1947-1953; (4) Non-Indian Affairs, n.d.; (5) Puerto Rico Work, 1941-1947; (6) Miscellany, undated.
Biographical/Historical note:
James E. Curry was trained in law in Chicago and practiced in that city from 1930 until 1936, serving part of that time as secretary of the local branch of the American Civil Liberties Union. From 1936 to 1938, he was an attorney with the United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs, being largely involved with matters of credit affecting Indians. From 1938 to 1942, he continued service with the Interior Department but worked in several capacities involving the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration, the department's Consumers' Counsel Division, and the Puerto Rico Water Resources Authority.
In 1945, Curry returned to Washington and set up private practice, also maintaining for a time an office in Puerto Rico. In Washington, he became the attorney for the National Congress of American Indians and from that time until the 1950s his practice increasingly involved representation of American Indian tribes, mostly in claims against the federal government. In this work, for a time, he was involved in business relations with a New York Law firm that included Henry Cohen, Felix Cohen, and Jonathan Bingham.
He also often worked closely with lawyers who lived near the tribes he represented, William L. Paul, Jr., of Alaska, for example. This aspect of his practice--representing Indian tribes--was largely broken up during the early 1950s when the Commissioner of Indian Affairs began to use his powers to disapprove contracts between Curry and the tribes. In 1952 and 1953, his official relationship with the National Congress of American Indians was also ended. After this, while Curry continued until his death to act as a consultant in Indian claims with which he had earlier been involved, his career and life developed in a different direction.
Related Materials:
Additional material relating to James E. Curry can be found in the records of the National Congress of American Indians, also located at the National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center.
Provenance:
The Curry papers were originally donated to the National Anthropological Archives by James E. Curry's daughter Mrs. Aileen Curry-Cloonan in December 1973. In 2007 The Curry papers were transferred from the National Anthropological Archives to the National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center along with several other records concerning American Indian law and political rights.
Restrictions:
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).
Rights:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish or broadbast materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Genre/Form:
Notes
Letters
Clippings
Legal documents
Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); James E. Curry papers, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
The National Congress of American Indian (NCAI), founded in 1944, is the oldest nation-wide American Indian advocacy organization in the United States. The NCAI records document the organization's work, particularly that of its office in Washington, DC, and the wide variety of issues faced by American Indians in the twentieth century. The collection is located in the Cultural Resource Center of the National Museum of the American Indian.
Scope and Contents:
The records of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) reflect the operations of its Washington, DC, headquarters and, in particular, the activities and responsibilities of its executive director. The papers primarily cover the period 1943 to 1990, although some documents pre-dating NCAI are present. The bulk of the material relates to legislation, lobbying, and NCAI's interactions with various governmental bodies. A large segment also concerns the annual conventions and executive council and executive committee meetings. Finally, the records also document the operations of the NCAI, including personnel, financial, and fundraising material. Materials found throughout the collection include letters, memoranda, handwritten notes, speeches, press releases, newspaper clippings, publications, minutes of meetings, transcripts, reports, agenda, programs, financial records, legislative materials, photographs, and sound recordings.
Arrangement:
The National Congress of American Indians records are arranged in 21 series:
Series 1 -- : NCAI Conventions and Mid-Year Conferences
Series 2 -- : Executive Council and Executive Committee Files
Subseries 4.1: Individual Tribes, Bands and Reservations
Subseries 4.2: Intertribal Organizations
Subseries 4.3: Special Issues
Subseries 4.4: Miscellaneous Tribal Files
Series 5 -- : Records of Indian Interest Organizations
Subseries 5.1: Other Indian Organizations
Subseries 5.2: Non-Indian Support Groups
Subseries 5.3: General Indian Interest Groups
Series 6 -- : NCAI Committees and Special Issue Files
Subseries 6.1: Alaskan Natives
Subseries 6.2: Policy Conference
Subseries 6.3: Religious Freedom and Related Cultural Concerns
Subseries 6.4: Hunting and Fishing Rights
Subseries 6.5: Natural Resources and Indian Water Rights
Subseries 6.6: Nuclear Waste
Subseries 6.7: Solar Bank
Subseries 6.8: AIMS [American Indian Media Surveillance] Committee
Subseries 6.9: HCR 108 and Federal Termination Policies
Subseries 6.10: Emergency Conference of 1954
Subseries 6.11: Jurisdiction --NCAI Commission and Federal Legislation
Subseries 6.12: Law Enforcement
Subseries 6.13: Litigation Committee
Subseries 6.14: Annual Litigation Conference
Subseries 6.15: Trail of Broken Treaties Impact Survey Team
Subseries 6.16: Block Grants
Subseries 6.17: Health and Welfare
Subseries 6.18: Self-Determination and Education
Subseries 6.19: National Conference on Federal Recognition
Subseries 6.20: Economic and Reservation Development
Series -- 7: United Effort Trust (UET)
Subseries 7.1: NCAI and NTCA Joint Committee
Subseries 7.2: Issues
Subseries 7.3: Legislation
Subseries 7.4: News Releases
Subseries 7.5: Indian Organizations
Subseries 7.6: Inter-Tribal Organizations
Subseries 7.7: Non-Indian Organizations
Subseries 7.8: Tribes
Series 8 -- : Attorneys and Legal Interest Groups
Subseries 8.1: Attorneys
Subseries 8.2: Legal Interest Groups
Subseries 8.3: Legal Services
Series 9 -- : Federal Indian Policy and Legislation Files
Subseries 9.1: American Indian Policy Review Task Force
Series 10 -- : Bureau of Indian Affairs
Series 11 -- : State and Local Government Organizations
Series 12 -- : Census
Series 13 -- : General Alpha-Subject Files
Series 14 -- : Records of Charles E. "Chuck" Trimble
Series 15 -- : Records of Suzan S. Harjo
Subseries 15.1: Indian Claims: Eastern Land Claims
Subseries 15.2: Indian Claims: Statute of Limitations
Subseries 15.3: Conference on -- The Indian Reorganization Act - An Assessment and Prospectus Fifty Years Later
Subseries 15.4: Inter-American Indian Institute (IAII)
Subseries 15.5: Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA)
Subseries 15.6: Institute of the American West (IAW)
Subseries 15.7: Common Cause
Subseries 15.8: Office Files
Series 16 -- : Fund Raising
Subseries 16.1: Gifts, Bequests, and Contributions
Subseries 16.2: Foundations
Subseries 16.3: General --Arrow and NCAI Fund
Series 17 -- : Business and Financial Records Files
Subseries 17.1: Personnel
Series 18 -- : "Give-Away" Files
Series 19 -- : Publications
Subseries 19.1: -- News/Sentinels -- and -- Sentinel Bulletin
Subseries 19.2: Other Publications
Series 20 -- : Photographs
Series 21 -- : Audio and Film Recordings
Biographical / Historical:
The National Congress of America Indians, which describes itself as the oldest and largest American Indian and Alaskan Native organization in the United States, was founded on November 16, 1944, in Denver, CO. NCAI was intended to serve as a link between individual tribal councils and the United States government, by defining and helping to crystallize Indian thought on the administration of Indian affairs. The Congress also aimed to educate the general public about Indians, preserve Indian cultural values, protect treaty rights with the United States, and promote Indian welfare.
At the first convention, delegates representing fifty tribes ratified the constitution and by-laws, drafted resolutions determining the direction of NCAI policy, and elected the organizations' first officers, with Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Napoleon B. Johnson (Cherokee) as president. The officers, as well as eight elected council members, formed the Executive Council. The Council chose the Executive Director; Ruth Muskrat Bronson (Cherokee) was the organization's first director, from 1944-1948. "Persons of Indian blood" could join the organization either as individuals or as groups. In 1955, however, the constitution was revised to restrict group membership to recognized tribes, committees, or bands, and to make the Executive Council chosen by tribal representatives. These changes gave control of the organization to governing bodies of organized tribes, rather than individuals. A further amendment that year created a five-member Executive Committee, headed by the president, which had all the powers of the Executive Council between council meetings.
Conventions have been held annually in the fall since the formation of the NCAI in 1944. Since 1977, mid-year conferences have been held in May or June of each year, to allow more frequent and thorough discussion of issues. The resolutions passed at these conventions are the basis for all policy of the Executive Committee and Executive Director between meetings. The conventions are also used for informational sessions and meetings of standing and special committees of NCAI. One or two-day workshops may also be held on special topics or Congressional issues of particular concern.
NCAI created a tax-exempt arm in 1949 to accept charitable contributions and apply for grants, the NCAI Fund, which soon changed its name to ARROW, Inc. By 1957, however, ARROW had split off to become an independent organization, and NCAI started a new arm, again called the NCAI Fund. In the coming decades, the NCAI Fund would obtain grants from sources including the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of Veteran Affairs, Indian Health Service, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Ford Foundation, humanities councils and others, which they used for conferences, workshops, publications, and other projects.
In its early years, NCAI fought for the recognition of land claims of Alaska natives, the enfranchisement of Arizona and New Mexico Indians, the equitable settlement of tribal land claims, and the right of Indians to select their own attorneys. The NCAI lobbied vigorously for an Indian Claims Commission Bill, which became law in August 1946. NCAI's lobbying efforts on behalf of this act set the pattern for the organization's future role in legislative matters: keeping member tribes abreast of proposed legislation and ascertaining their views, and maintaining a presence in Congress through lobbying and testimony.
Beginning in 1954, the threat of termination pushed NCAI into a period of increased activity. Although some tribes were ready to terminate their relationship with the federal government, much of Indian Country felt threatened by the government's new stated policy. NCAI therefore organized an Emergency Conference of American Indians for February 1954 to protest this new termination policy. An agreement was forged at the conference between the NCAI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs to work together toward slowly liquidating the BIA. The termination period of the 1950s and 1960s, while challenging, saw NCAI increase in confidence and political acumen.
During the 1960s, a number of other activist Indian groups sprang up and began to dilute the singular influence which NCAI had commanded. Newer, more militant groups often considered themselves at odds with NCAI, which was increasingly perceived as conservative. As the number of Indian advocacy groups grew in the 1960s and 1970s, however, NCAI actively partnered with other organizations, particularly the National Tribal Chairmen's Association (NTCA) and Native American Rights Fund (NARF), on a variety of projects.
Charles E. "Chuck" Trimble (Oglala Dakota) served as Executive Director of NCAI in 1972 until 1977, when he resigned to lead the United Effort Trust, a project designed to fight white backlash to Indian rights. NCAI spent most of the next two years trying to find another permanent director. In 1979, Ronald P. Andrade (Luiseno-Diegueno) joined NCAI and unfortunately found a group that was demoralized and underfunded. He was able to return the organization to good health but left in 1982. Si Whitman (Nez Perce), his successor, remained at NCAI for less than a year.
Suzan Shown Harjo (Cheyenne-Creek) became director of NCAI on May 1, 1984. Prior to taking this postions, she had served as Congressional Liaison for Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior during the Carter administration and as legislative liaison for the Native American Rights Fund, as well as working for NCAI during the mid-1970s. Harjo was also an active and published poet, as well as a frequent speaker at events around the country. The National Congress of American Indians was particularly active on Capitol Hill while Harjo was director, advocating for government-to-government status, the Tribal Government Tax Status Act of 1983, repatriation legislation, and economic development programs, among other issues. Harjo was herself very involved in the establishment of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC.
The NCAI Fund was very successful in receiving grants during this period, although they were chronically short of operating funds. Some of their most active projects during this period were the Indian and Native Veterans Outreach Program (INVOP), Inter-generational Health Promotion and Education Program (IHPEP), Environmental Handbook and related educational seminars, Solar Bank, nuclear waste disposal and transportation information sessions, and voter registration.
For years, NCAI's operating expenses had been funded by the Ford Foundation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). In 1985, the director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, opposing the use of Federal monies to support outside organizations, began to block the payment for services due to the NCAI. This created a financial crisis from which the NCAI did not recover during Harjo's tenure, and it became the major issue for which she was not rehired in October 1989.
Following the 1989 Annual Convention, Wayne Ducheneaux (Cheyenne River Sioux) became President of NCAI and A. Gay Kingman (Cheyenne River Sioux) was appointed Executive Director. Their first efforts were focused on recovering the financial well-being of the organization, which meant that less attention was devoted to issues in Congress. One of the successful projects NCAI pursued during the next two years was organization and presentation of the Indian pre-conference of the White House Conference on Library and Information Science, which was held in early 1991.
The National Congress of American Indians is still active today, continuing its work of lobbying, support for tribal governments, and advocacy for American Indian issues.
Related Materials:
Other collections at the NMAI Archives Center that include information on the National Congress of American Indians include:
Arrow, Inc., and the American Indian Tribal Court Judges records, 1949-1999 (NMAI.MS.013)
James E. Curry papers, 1935-1955 (NMAI.MS.015)
National Tribal Chairmen's Association records, 1971-1978 (NMAI.MS.014)
Helen L. Peterson papers, 1944-1992 (NMAI.MS.016)
Reuben Snake papers, 1971-1996 (NMAI.MS.012)
Provenance:
The National Congress of American Indians designated the National Anthropological Archives (NAA) as its official repository in 1976. This collection was received by NAA in four accessions between 1976 and 1991. It was transferred from NAA to the National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center in 2006.
Restrictions:
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).
Rights:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish or broadbast materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Topic:
Indians of North America -- Government relations -- 1934- Search this
Indians of North America -- Politics and government Search this
Indians of North America -- Social conditions -- 20th century Search this
Indians of North America -- Legal status, laws, etc. Search this
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Collection Title, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Story about a young boy who brings the first horse to his Plains Indian tribe, the Antelope Band, around the year 1700. Book published by the United States Indian Service in 1943 with both English and Sioux texts. English text by Ann Clark, Sioux text by Emil Afraid of Hawk, and illustrations by Oscar Howe.
Local Numbers:
NAA MS 2001-18
Other Title:
Šunka W‛an Wak'an Agli Kin He
Topic:
Language and languages -- Documentation Search this
Leaf out of a newspaper describing a Rosebud Indian Land Sale held on December 5, 1929. This was found inside a Sioux Tobacco bag made sometime between 1880 and 1890. The bag has catalog number 26/5468 (265468) and can be found in NMAI's ethnographic collections. It was then used as inspiration for a lithographic print "Trust and Loss" by Dyani White Hawk Polk. The print is now in NMAI's modern and contemporary arts collection with catalog number 26/9784 (269784).
Provenance:
The tobacco bag was given to William J. Sheehan (Director of the Defense Department Office of Economic Adjustment) by McCarthy Nowlin (Deputy Directory of the Defense Department Office of Economic Adjustment) in the 1970s; given to NMAI by William J. Sheehan's wife, Kathleen Sheehan, in 2005, on behalf of William J. Sheehan, McCarthy Nowlin, and herself.
Collection Restrictions:
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:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); General Manuscripts and Ephemera collections, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Photographs of the Hidatsa Delegation at the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation in New York, City and visiting the White House in Washington, D.C. for the repatriation of a Water Buster Bundle in 1938. Hidatsa Delegation members included elders Drags Wolf and Foolish Bear.
Scope and Contents:
The Hidatsa Delegation photographs in Washington, DC and New York City include photographic prints and negatives made in January 1938. The photographs in Washington, DC, shot on January 13, were made by photographers from the Bureau of Indian affairs. These include images of Minitari (Hidatsa) elders Foolish bear and Drags Wolf with their interpreter Arthur Mandan and Bureau staff members John Herrick, F.W. LaRoche in the BIA offices; Studio portraits of Foolish Bear and Drags Wolf in traditional dress; as well as images of the delegation visiting with President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House. Photographs in New York City were shot by either David Sinclair or Kenneth C. Miller before and during the repatriation ceremony at the Museum of the American Indian on January 14, 1938. In addition to the delegation members several MAI staff and board members were photographed including George Heye, Edwin K. Burnett, Thomas Roberts, Louis Bishop, and George Heye's wife at the time, Jessica Standing Heye, among others. Photographs which display the contents of the bundle have been restricted due to cultural sensitivity. For the photographs made by Miller, who was on staff at the time, we have both the negatives (possibly original) and the photographic prints.
During the 1930s, a terrible drought parched the Plains. In North Dakota, members of the Hidatsa Water Buster Clan asked George Gustav Heye, director of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation to return a medicine bundle important in ceremonies to bring rain. Heye was initially reluctant to part with the bundle, which he acquired in 1927, twenty years after the son of the clan's bundle-custodian sold it to a Presbyterian missionary. When the press and government officials showed interest in the clan's request, Heye changed his mind.
In 1938, two Hidatsa elders, Drags Wolf and Foolish Bear, traveled east to collect the medicine bundle. Their first stop was Washington, D.C., where they met President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The next day, the Hidatsa attended a ceremony in New York, where they gave Heye a powder horn and war club in exchange for the medicine bundle.
In 1977, twenty years after Heye's death, museum curators came upon a wooden box, stored in a stairwell. Inside were items that belonged with the medicine bundle. It is unclear if the contents had become separated from the bundle or were deliberately set aside. The items were later returned to the Hidatsa.
Photographs shot at the Museum in New York City were wither donated by David Sinclair in 1938 or created by Kenneth C. Miller, a museum staff member at the time. The photographs shot in Washington, DC, were donated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1938.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Thursday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu). Some photographs are restricted due to cultural sensitivity.
Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited users to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not changed, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian.
Topic:
Repatriation of American Indian material Search this
Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Hidatsa Delegation photographs in Washington, DC and New York City, Item Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
96.5 Linear feet (55 Paige boxes of unprocessed material. 96 Hollinger boxes of processed material.)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Proposals
Project files
Minutes
Correspondence
Date:
circa 1949-1999
Summary:
These records, located in the Cultural Resources Center at NMAI, contain organizational records from ARROW, Inc. and the American Indian Tribal Court Judges Association (AITCJA). Included in this collection are both processed and unprocessed materials relating to the work conducted by these two organizations providing educational, financial and legal assistance to Native American communities.
Scope and Contents:
Virtually all the records in this collection concern projects undertaken by Arrow, Inc., and most are projects whose sponsorship was shared with the American Indian Tribal Court Judges Association. Included are porposals, reports, relevant correspondence, and training materials. Most of these projects had been supported by the Department of Justice Legal Enforcement Assistance Administration, United States Bureau of Indian Affairs, and United States Department of Labor.
Arrangement note:
Records of Arrow, Inc., including (1) Industrial Park in Indian Areas; (2) supplemental scholarship assistance, 1961-1974; (3) monthly scholarship assistance, 1970-1972; (4) material concerning Crimial Court Procedures Manual: A Guide for American Indian Court Judges; (5) automatic diagnotic computer project, 1970; (6) Operation Mainstream; (7) social services case studies;
Records of the American Indian Tribal Court Judges Association, including (8) family law/child welfare projects, circa 1974-1985; (9) American Indian court judges training project, circa 1971-1980; (10) criminal law training program, circa 1975-1984; (11) long-range planning study, 1976-1979; (12) court clerk training program, circa 1978-1983; (13) linkages for indian child welfare programs; (14) parenting program; (15) Indian child welfare training, 1982-1983; (16) child welfare act of 1978; (17) model court development project; (18) civil law training project; (19) Dwight Hunter's Portland area needs assessment; (20) technical proposal, 1981; (21) Warm Springs tribal court manual; (22) research grant, 1970-1971; (23) juvenile law and juvenile delinquency training project, 1971-1972; (24) resource directory/social services, 1977; (25) Regina Superneau correspondence; (26) international year of the child; (27) joint training sessions, NAICJA and National Tribal Chairmen's Association, Albuquerque, 1979; (28) criminal justice development project for the Great Lakes Intertribal Council, Inc.; (29) studies for American Indian Court Judges; (30) justice and the American Indian project; (31) reference material
The Unprocessed Matrial from Arrow, Inc. is unnaranged. It is still in its original shipping order.
Biographical/Historical note:
Arrow, Inc. ("Americans for Restitution and Righting of Old Wrongs," frequently ARROW, Inc.) was initially known as the National Congress of American Indians Fund. It was incorporated in April 1949 under the laws of the District of Columbia by three trustees--Ruth M. Bronson, D'Arcy McNickle, and N.B. Johnson. Its founding was prompted by the involvement of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) in alleviating the suffering of certain Southwestern tribes brought by a particularly harsh winter. Since the NCAI was engaged in political activities, its donors could not receive tax deductions for their contributions. In contrast, the NCAI Fund was dedicated to charitable and educational work among American Indians and was initially granted tax exempt status. Thus, its donors could receive tax benefits for contributions in spite of the fact that the Fund was regarded as an arm of the NCAI, itself essentially a political lobbying organization.
In time, questions arose about the close connection between the NCAI and the NCAI Fund and caused considerable anxiety for Fund officers since it potentially threatened the tax status. In October 1949, desire for greater distance from NCAI led to the adopition of the name Arrow, Inc. In truth, however, the close connections with the NCAI continued, for the NCAI business committee had the power to appoint and remove Arrow trustees. In 1952, NCAI abolished its business committee; and, with the approval of NCAI's officers, Arrow took the opportunity to eliminate references to NCAI from its bylaws. Nevertheless, close cooperation still continued for many years.
Starting in 1952, Arrow was an autonomous organization managed by a board of directors appointed by its members. Operating largely through grants and donations, Arrow used some of its funds to finance a publications program, including a newsletter called Arrow or, in a latter-day interpretation of ARROW as an acronym, American for the Restitution and Righting of Old Wrongs. Most monies, however, went into a wide variety of education and charitable projects. In the year 2000 Arrow, Inc. closed its doors.
A project undertaken by Arrow to improve tribal courts led directly to establishing the American Indian Tribal Court Judges Association (AITCJA) in 1968. This ongoing organization, now with membership represeting almost all Indian Court judges, not only grew out of an Arrow activity but continued a close association with Arrow. only sharing executive director with Arrow as well as sponsorhsip of its projects with Arrow. Generaly, such projects involved educational activities designed to raise the standards and professionalism of Indian courts. In 1980, the National American Indian Court Clerks Association was established as an auxiliary of AITCJA.
Provenance:
The first two record groups in this collection, The Records of Arrow, Inc. and the Records of the American Indian Tribal Court Judges Association were transferred from the National Anthropological Archives to the National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center in 2007. The unprocessed materials from Arrow, Inc. were donated directly from Arrow, Inc. in 2001 following the closure of the organization.
Restrictions:
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).
Rights:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish or broadbast materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Topic:
American Indians -- Operation Mainstream Search this
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Arrow, Inc. records, and the American Indian Tribal Court Judges Association records, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
The Helen Peterson collection includes correspondence, notes, miscellaneous administrative documents, financial records, calendars, questionnaires, notes from interviews, survey forms, copies of resolutions, proceedings, speeches, programs, press releases, printed and processed material, and many other types of documents. Mainly these relate to Petersons's career and special interests between 1953 and 1970. There are also a few documents that concern the organizations which Peterson served for periods preceding or following her periods in office. Of special interest are the materials related to the NCAI, many of which supplement the records in that organization's files. The collection also includes documents that concern a wide range of Indian interests and activities.
Scope and Content:
These papers reflect the professional and personal life of Helen L. Peterson from her birth in 1915 until her 80th Birthday in 1995. Peterson worked for the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), 1953 through 1961; the City and County of Denver Commission on Community Relations (CCR), 1962 to 1970; and American Indian Development, Inc. (AID), 1967 to 1970. Peterson worked for the Bureau of Indian (BIA), 1970 through 1985. She was founder of the Church of the Four Winds which started as the Ecumenical Indian Congregation. She was leader of the Church of the Four Winds starting in 1989. She also served as chair of the National Committee of Indian Work (NCIW) beginning in 1980. Peterson also served as chair of the Province of the Pacific (Province VIII) Indian Commission.
Professional materials in this collection include information from Peterson's time working for NCAI, CCR, AID, BIA, Church of the Four Winds/Ecumenical Indian Congress, Province of the Pacific, and NCIW. Personal materials in the collection include personal documentations (baby book, yearbooks, etc.), personal letters, personal photographs, and news articles about her personal life, among other materials related to her personal life.
Arrangement note:
The Helen Peterson papers are organized into 13 Series. Series 1: National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is divided into four subseries; Subseries 1.1: Executive Council, Subseries 1.2: NCAI Conventions, Subseries 1.3: Chronological Correspondence, Subseries 1.4: Subject Files. Series 2: Commission on Community Relations (CCR), City and County of Denver, Colorado is divided into three subseries; Subseries 2.1: Subject Files, Subseries 2.2: Denver Indian Study Project, Subseries 2.3: Jobs for Indians. This is followed by Series 3: American Indian Development, Inc. (AID), Series 4: White Buffalo Council, Series 5: Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Series 6: Religious Organizations is divided into five subseries; Subseries 6.1: Church of the Four Winds, Subseries 6.2: Province of the Pacific (Province VIII), Subseries 6.3: Episcopal Church, Subseries 6.4: Other Religious Organizations, Subseries 6.5: Subject Files. This is followed by Series 7: Organizations, Series 8: Events and Series 9: Individuals. Series 10: Newspapers and Newsletters is divided into three subseries; Subseries 10.1: Native American Owned Newspapers and Newsletters, Subseries 10.2: Indian Related News Items, Subseries 10.3 Religious News Items. This is followed by Series 11: Indian Tribes, Series 12: Miscellaneous Subject Files and Series 13: Personal Materials.
Biographical/Historical note:
Helen L. Peterson, born in 1915 on the Pine Ridge Reservation, was an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux tribe. She attended Chadron State College in 1932, beginning an educational process that included course work at Colorado State College of Education and the University of Colorado. She received a B.S. degree in Business Education from Chadron State College in 1957. In 1935 she began working with the Department of Agriculture's Resettlement Administration, a New Deal Agency. She served as director of the Rocky Mountain Council on Inter-American Affairs at the University of Denver Social Science Foundation and set up the Colorado Inter-American Field Service Program which later came under the Extension Division of the University of Colorado.
In 1948, she was appointed as the first director of the Mayor's Committee on Human Relations in Denver, Colorado. As the "Commission on Human Relations," the committee became a permanent part of city government in 1949 transitioning to the "Commission on Community Relations" in 1959. Peterson acted as an adviser to the United States Delegation to the Second Inter-American Indian Conference in Cuzco, Peru in 1949 and in 1953 she was selected as the executive director of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), a position she held through 1961. During these years, NCAI experienced tremendous growth, becoming firmly established as a national organization during her tenure.
Peterson returned to Denver in 1962 as the director of the Commission on Community Relations. From 1967 to 1970 she served as part-time executive director to American Indian Development, Inc. She was appointed Assistant to the Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1970 and remained with the Bureau of Indian Affairs until 1985.
Throughout her career, Peterson was an active member in the Episcopal Church and in later years served various Episcopal organizations. She was a chair of the National Committee of Indian Work (NCIW) beginning in 1980, chair of the Province of the Pacific (Province VIII) Indian Commission, and founder of the Ecumenical Indian Congregation. Ecumenical Indian Congress became the Church of the Four Winds in 1989. During that year Peterson became the chair of Church of the Four Winds.
Peterson received many awards and honors throughout her life. In 1955, Peterson was named "Outstanding American Indian of 1955" at the Anadarko Exposition. She received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from the University of Colorado in 1973. She was also the recipient of distinguished service awards from Columbia University, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the National Congress of American Indians, the White Buffalo Council of Denver, the Multnomah County Commissioners, and the National Institute for Women of Color. She passed away on July 10, 2000.
Provenance:
This collection was received by the National Anthropological Archives from Helen Peterson in June 1987. It was then transferred from NAA to the National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center in 2007.
Restrictions:
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).
Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited users to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not changed, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Helen L. Peterson Papers, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Six manuals: "Indian Governments"; "Information Index"; "Hypothetical Cases"; "Enrollment"; "Claims"; "General Historical Background" (second in the series is missing). Issued under Commissioner Philleo Nash to orient new employees.
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New Search this
Indians of North America -- Southern States Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1934
Scope and Contents:
Much of this material is relevant to the Dakotas. Includes: miscellaneous notes on Dakota history, bands, and sign for "Dakota," Autograph Document. Approximately 100 pages. (Box 2); account of the Battle of Little Big Horn by He Dog, Red Feather, and Whirling, Autograph Document. 7 pages. (Box 3); "The Custer Battle with the Sioux, Autograph Document. 10 pages. (Box 3); notes on sign language in general, its history and distribution, Autograph and Typescript Document, 1 box (Box 4).
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Date:
1890
Scope and Contents:
Replies to correspondence (circular letter) sent to various Indian Agencies relative to marriage customs among the various Indian tribes. The tribes represented are: Flathead, Kalispel, Kootenai, Mescalero Apache, Navaho, Oto, Pend d Oreille, and Shoshoni.
This collection contains a U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs report written by Lucile Hamner (1901-1997) documenting the housing conditions in the Lovelock Indian Colony Reservation region in Nevada in 1935.
Scope and Contents:
This collection contains a U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs report written by Lucile Hamner (1901-1997) in 1935. The report and accompanying photographs document the housing conditions and relief add provided to families from the Lovelock Indian Colony Reservation, Battle Mountain Colony, and Fort McDermitt Reservation in Nevada. The families documented in this report were from the Paiute, Shoshone, and Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone communities.
Biographical / Historical:
Lucile Hamner (1901-1997) was a Social Worker at the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs. She began her career as a School Social Worker for the Bureau at the United Pueblos Agency in 1932. By 1958, she was a Supervisory Social Worker in the Aberdeen Area Office.
Provenance:
Donated to the NMAI by James (Jim) O'Donogue in 2005.
Restrictions:
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).
Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Lovelock Nevada Indian Community Housing and Relief Aid documentation, Box and Item Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
This series contains a, "Brief Report on Housing and Relief Problems in Indian Families at Lovelock, Nevada," written in 1935 by Lucile Hamner for the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs. The families documented in this report were from the Paiute, Shoshone, and Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone communities. Families in the report include Tom and Sadie Austin; Charlie and Annie Bill; Laura Bliss; Maggie Bridges; Dennis Dave; Mary Dave; Mike and Nellie Donnelly; Willie and Jessie Evans; Freedom and Sadie George; Aleck and Daisy Jack; Johnnie and Rosie Lee; Joe and Leazon Louis; Harry and Lottie Oppenheim; Annie Pascal; Bill Penegese; Auburn and Rose Rhodes; Willie and Lena Rooks; Topay Sam; Dick and Annie Sampson; Dave Skinney; Lame George Tom; Nordy and Hazel Wadsworth; and Harold and Eva Wasson.
This series also includes 1935 correspondence from Alida C. Bowler, Superintendent of the Carson Indian School and William Zimmerman, Jr. Commissioner of the Office of Indian Affairs regarding the report.
Collection Restrictions:
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:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu
Some materials restricted for privacy.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Lovelock Nevada Indian Community Housing and Relief Aid documentation, Box and Item Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Skinney Dave (Paiute) standing outside his home in Lovelock, Nevada.
Collection Restrictions:
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:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu
Some materials restricted for privacy.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Lovelock Nevada Indian Community Housing and Relief Aid documentation, Box and Item Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Lucy Charley and a young girl, possibly her daughter, (Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians) standing in front of a small wooden house at Battle Mountain colony in Nevada.
Collection Restrictions:
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:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu
Some materials restricted for privacy.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Lovelock Nevada Indian Community Housing and Relief Aid documentation, Box and Item Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
