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 collection consists of photographs relating to Native Americans, which were submitted to the copyright office of the Library of Congress in and around the early 20th century. Many of the photographs are studio portraits as well as photographs made as part of expeditions and railroad surveys. It includes images of people, dwellings and other structures, agriculture, arts and crafts, burials, ceremonies and dances, games, food preparation, transportation, and scenic views. Some of the photographs were posed to illustrate literary works, including Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Hiawatha, while others depict paintings or other artwork.
Collection is organized alphabetically by copyright claimant.
Biographical/Historical note:
The collection was formed from submissions made to the Library of Congress as part of the copyright registration process. In 1949, arrangements were made to allow the Bureau of American Ethnology to copy the collection and some negatives were made at that time, largely from the Heyn and Matzen photographs. The project was soon abandoned, however, as too large an undertaking for the facilities of the BAE. In 1957-1958, arrangements were begun by William C. Sturtevant of the BAE to transfer a set of the photographs from the Library of Congress to the BAE.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 59
Provenance:
In 1965, the Bureau merged with the Smithsonian's Department of Anthropology to form the Smithsonian Office of Anthropology, and in 1968 the Office of Anthropology Archives transformed into the National Anthropological Archives.
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 59, Library of Congress Copyright Office photograph collection of Native Americans, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
This collection contains 54 albumen prints and 3 black-and-white negatives taken circa 1890-1900. Only two of the images can be definitively attributed to Richard Wetherill; the majority are attributed to "one of the Wetherill Brothers," either Richard or his brother John. The images depict views of various locations in Colorado, including Johnson Canyon, Mancos Canyon, the La Plata Mountains (San Juan Mountains), Mesa Verde (Balcony House, Cliff Palace, Navajo Canyon, Cliff Canyon, Ruin Canyon), and the Wetherill ranch known as Alamo House. Also present are images of a Zia Pueblo woman and a burial site at Grant Gulch, Colorado.
Arrangement note:
Prints:organzied in folders,arranged by image number.
Negatives: organized in individual sleeves,arranged by image number.
Restrictions:
Access is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment.
Rights:
Copyright: National Museum of the American Indian. Some images are restricted due to cultural sensitivity. Consult the archivist for further information.
Topic:
Indians of North America -- Funeral customs and rites Search this
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Black-and-white negatives
Albumen prints
Citation:
Richard Wetherill prints and negatives, National Museum of the American Indian Archives, Smithsonian Institution (negative, slide or catalog number).
MS 507-a Vocabulary collected among the Santa Aña and Silla Indians of New Mexico ... transliterated into the Bureau of Ethnology linguistic alphabet by Albert S. Gatschet
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Date:
undated
Scope and Contents:
Copy in hand of A. S. Gatschet.
Biographical / Historical:
Collected among the Santa Ana and Silla Indians of New Mexico, of the Qqera linguistic family, in October 1887 by Col. James Stevenson; transliterated into the Bureau of Ethnology linguistic alphabet by Albert S. Gatschet.
Note on page 2: "The informants of Col. James Stevenson were Jose Montoya of Santa Ana pueblo and the Governor of Silla (Cia, Zia, Sillana, pronounced Sia), Jose Mokino, his Indian name being Kayitiwa. The dialects of both pueblos are identical, and belong to the Qqera stock. Revised with 3-4 other Indians of the same dialect."
Local Numbers:
NAA MS 507-a
Local Note:
See also Bureau of American Ethnology Manuscript 499, Gatschet, Notebook, Santa Ana and Silla vocabulary of James Stevenson, pages 45-62. The orthography of the latter vocabulary differs from that of Number 507-a, and may be a direct transcript from Stevenson, before transliteration by Gatschet.
General:
Previously titled "Vocabulary."
Topic:
Language and languages -- Documentation Search this
Citation:
Manuscript 507-a, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
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:
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.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Collection Title, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
The Anne Forbes collection includes documents and photographs pertaining to her research on Indian arts in the Southwest, United States conducted during 1948-1948 and revisited in 1958. The work culminated in the dissemination of a survey titled "Survey of American Indian Arts and Crafts, Southwest and Northern Plains." Forbes focused mostly on Pueblo paintings having developed personal relationships with several Pueblo painters including Joe Herrera (Cochiti Pueblo), Velino Herrera (Zia Pueblo) and Jose Rey Toledo (Jemez Pueblo).
Scope and Contents:
The bulk of the Anne Forbes collection consists of documentation concerning her survey on American Indian arts and crafts in the Southwest and Northern Plains conducted in 1948-1949 and then revisited in 1958. This includes biographical notes on individual Native artists from New Mexico, Arizona, Montana, Colorado, South Dakota and California as well as notes on museum collections and art dealers whose collections and purchases included Indian art from the Southwest. Forbes also visited Pueblo schools during the 1948-1948 trip in order to examine the status of arts education and collected drawings from students as well as took careful notes on each school. Also included in the Forbes papers are the draft and final reports of Forbes' survey as well as responses to the report from prominent institutions and individuals in the Indian art world such as friend and artist Joe H. Herrera. Supporting materials to Forbes' research includes a collection of Smoke Signals newsletters from 1951 to 1965, which was published by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, brochures and pamphlets from the Bureau of Indian Affairs concerning education and the arts, and exhibition documents and catalogs from museums featuring Native artists' works from the Southwest and Northern Plains.
The photo albums titled "Indian Paintings, Pottery, Pictographs, Prehistoric Murals, Dances, Artists" and "Pueblo Indian Paintings" hold photographs collected and taken by Forbes during her research. The bulk of the photographs are of works of art and are arranged by culture group and artist. There are also a small amount of photographs of the artists themselves and their families.
Arrangement:
The Anne Forbes collection is arranged into two series. Series 1: Indian Arts Research and Supporting Documentation is arranged alphabetically by folder. Series 2: Photo Albums contains two photo albums that have been left in their original orders.
Biographical Note:
Miss Anne Forbes originated from Cambridge Massachusetts. After majoring in art from Bennington College in Vermont, Forbes pursued a Master's degree in social anthropology from Harvard University's Radcliffe College. Taking an interest in Southwest Indian Art, Forbes applied for a fellowship through the Indian Arts Fund for the summer of 1948 to study painting and other techniques used in Pueblo art. Although the fellowship lasted only a summer, Forbes spent the following year visiting various pueblos meeting native artists and purchasing original art works from them. It was at this time that Forbes befriended artists Joe Herrera (Cochiti Pueblo), Velino Herrera (Zia Pueblo) and Jose Rey Toledo (Jemez Pueblo). Forbes also spent time visiting Pueblo schools examining the state of arts education for native children as well as acquiring paintings and drawings made by the Pueblo schoolchildren. In 1958, Forbes sent out a first draft of her "Survey of American Indian Arts and Crafts, Southwest and Northern Plains" which was the culmination of her research on the state of native art at the time with a particular focus on Pueblo artists. Following the release of her report, Forbes did not continue professionally in the world of art instead moving into human relations. Forbes held onto the bulk of her art collection, exhibiting pieces here and there, until donating a large portion of the collection to the National Museum of the American Indian in 2003. A longtime member of the Self-Realization Fellowship, Forbes also donated some of her pieces to that organization.
Separated Materials:
This collection was part of a donation made by Anne Forbes that included 143 paintings and other works of art on paper that are now a part of the NMAI Modern and Contemporary Arts Collection with object numbers 26/3091 to 26/3227 and 26/3854, 26/3855. Artists include Harrison Begay, Theodore Edaaki, Luis Gonzales (Wo Peen), Joe Herrera, Velino Herrera, James Humetewa, Michael Kabotie, Richard Martinez, Theodore Suina, Beatien Yazz and others. For more information on these paintings please contact NMAI Collections at NMAICollections@si.edu.
Provenance:
This collection was donated by Anne Forbes in November of 2003.
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 broadcast 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 -- Education -- Southwest, New Search this
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Anne Forbes Collection, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
