Indians of North America -- Southwest, New Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Field notes
Dictionaries
Vocabulary
Manuscripts
Date:
1935-1949
Scope and Contents:
This set of files contains Harrington's Navajo research. The materials consist of vocabulary, dictionary notes, grammar, rehearings of linguistic data, ethnobotany notes, ethnographic notes, texts, drafts and notes relating to primers, published and unpublished primers, unpublished and published papers, extracts from secondary sources, and miscellaneous notes.
The vocabulary section contains terms extracted from Young and Morgan's The Navaho Language, which were reheard principally to obtain Kiowa and Hano (Arizona Tewa) equivalences. Information is occasionally included from Harrington's Apache and Tewa notes. A brief typed vocabulary contains scattered grammatical material. There is also a slipfile of terms based mainly on An Ethnological Dictionary of the Navaho Language. It contains annotations and relevant excerpts from Harrington-Young correspondence. Plant names wIth Young's annotations are based on W. L. Jepson's A Manual of Flowering Plants of California (1925) and Washington Matthews' The Navajo Names for Plants (1886). Of the twenty semantic categories, the sections on animals, animal parts, plants, and placenames are particularly substantial.
The dictionary section consists of lexical terms from the Bureau of Indian Affairs' "Navajo Phrase Book," obtained from Willard Beatty and sent by Harrington to Young for rehearings. Navajo entries with Kiowa equivalences were apparently taken from a manuscript for a dictionary by Young. Two miscellaneous groups of entries are in Navajo/English.
The material on Navajo grammar is extensive and includes notes, drafts of a manuscript, excerpts from secondary sources, correspondence between Young and Harrington, and slips. The file was for proposed publications ranging from introductory manuals to the structuring of a comprehensive Navajo grammar.
A further substantial body of grammatical material is found on large slips. These include information from Young's voluminous correspondence, not otherwise interfiled. Part of this section is a further rehearing by Young of Morice's The Carrier Language. Another group of notes records comparisons with several southern Athapascan languages, evidently based on Young's notes, vocabulary items, correspondence, and other undocumented material. Harrington also used the slipfile format to index questions which he had earlier sent to Young.
Most of the rehearings of lingustic data are of Edward Sapir's linguistic terms by Young in 1940 and 1941. Though the copied materials may be similar in content, they do not appear to be exact duplicates of the Sapir linguistic holdings at the American Philosophical Society. Young also reheard terms from Hoijer's Chiricahua and Mescalero Apache Texts late in 1940. George E. Hood commented on Hoijer's "The Southern Athapascan Languages," possibly at about the same time. There are typed excerpts from Young's May 1938 letters regarding Morice's The Carrier Language and miscellaneous linguistic information given by Hood and reheard by Richard Long. Other miscellaneous rehearings are with Alfred Sanchez (abbreviated"Alf." or "Alfredo"), Willietto Antonio, George Hood, and Robert Young (September 1939); and with Howard Gorman, Albert Sandoval, and John Charles (1939). There is also a rehearing with Henry Tsosie of terms from Gladys A. Reichard and Adolph Dodge Bittany's Agentive and Causative Elements in Navaho (1940), including some excerpts from the book. Finally, in February 1941, he reheard the vocabulary of Pedro Bautista Pino with Howard Gorman; Young did not consider these terms to be Navajo.
The files also contains Harrington's notes on Navajo names for plants, gathered from secondary sources and possibly original data from colleagues or friends. Young also annotated some of the notes.
Harrington's ethnographic files includes notes, vocabulary, and illustrations on the structure of dwelling places as well as some information on the mythic origins of the Navajo. Many of the illustrations are by Charles Keetsie Shirley. On the same subject is a set of cards in Young's hand which was sent to Harrington at Fort Wingate in August 1939. At Harrington's request, Young also translated what appears to be a lesson on hogans, possibly a section of a proposed text for instructional purposes. A group of Chaco Canyon placenames were given by Ed Henry in June 1939; several others were extracted from various secondary sources. Other ethnographic subjects briefly covered are the Hoop and Pole game, a social and economic survey questionnaire, White Hat's funeral (1939), the Lord's Prayer as recorded by Berard Haile, and notes on Sandoval's sound recordings. Malcolm Farmer supplied nonlinguistic information and there is a small set of highly miscellaneous ethnographic and historical notes.
The text section contains billingual texts that Young collected and sent to Harrington in 1936. They were written with interlinear translations and followed by a precis in English. Titles include: "Deer and Coyote," "Where the People Came Out," "A Wedding Ceremonial," and "The Woman Who Changed into a Bear." A recording session on October 31, 1949, with Dick Left, Richard Long, and Harry (not further identified) provided Navajo songs, ceremonies, and legends. Harrington's notes supply the identity of the discs and peripheral information such as the gestures accompanying the songs. Some linguistic annotations are interspersed. The discs described in the notes have not been located.
Notes, drafts, and mockups from Harrington and Young's work creating Navajo primers are also present. During the course of their work together from 1937 to 1939, Harrington and Young prepared drafts for two primers, "Little Bear Primer" and "Spotted Dog Primer," a pre-primer (probably the so called "Doda Primer"), and a playbook or cut-out book. Despite an assurance that at least both of the major works were to be printed, neither of the primers were ever published. He and Young also served as translators for a set of four primers in the "Little Herder" series, and Harrington was also credited with developing the "Harrington-La Farge phonetic system" utilized in the three-volume set entitled Little Man's Family. Harrington and Young also helped translate Ann Nolan Clark's "Who Wants To Be a Prairie Dog?"
Other materials related to Harrington's writing include notes for his "Southern Peripheral Athapaskawan Origins, Divisions, and Migrations" and preliminary drafts and notes for the Navajo portion of "Earliest Navaho and Quechua" (1944) coauthored by Robert W. Young. There are also notes and drafts for his unpublished writings, among which include "Navaho Mouthmap," "The Indian Dog Comes into His Own,"and "What Light Can Navajo Throw on Indogermanic Reconstruction?"
Among his miscellaneous notes is a comparison of Navajo with other Indian languages. There are brief notes on trips made in 1940, a list of the names of non-Indians, miscellaneous correspondence, and notes which are neither linguistic nor ethnographic.
Because of their long-term collaboration, Young's notes are inextricably intermixed with those of Harrington. Although some are labeled "Y," Young's unlabeled contributions can be identified through his handwriting and printing, and even with his style. Other hand-copied material is the work of B.A.E. assistant, Arvilla Johnson. Harrington's daughter Awona produced many of the copies in eighteen-point type.
Biographical / Historical:
Although John P. Harrington published brief articles on Navajo in 1911 and 1929, his most sustained work in this language spanned the years 1935 to 1946. Correspondence and reports indicate that during this period he was in the field from July to November 1939, and from August to mid-November 1940 at such places as Fort Wingate and Gallup, New Mexico, and Phoenix, Tuba CIty, and Window Rock, Arizona. His success in the field is due in no small part to his brilliant young collaborator, Robert W. Young, whom he first contacted in August 1936 and with whom he carried on an extensive correspondence into the mid-1940s. In fact their joint efforts in Navajo were accomplished mainly by mail.
Harrington collaborated or corresponded with others, among whom were Ann Nolan Clark, Oliver La Farge, Francis Elmore, Harry Hoijer, William Hill, and Richard Van Valkenburgh. He also contacted various university professors and graduate students, some of whom taught at such programs as those directed by the Summer Institute of Linguistics (Camp Wycliffe) and the University of New Mexico School of American Research.
Harrington consulted a wide array of secondary sources and reheard or compared data from them which he later combined with original notes. These include several hundred terms from then-unpublished manuscripts of Edward Sapir, and two of Harry Hoijer's publications--Chiricahua and Mescalero Apache Texts (1938) and "The Southern Athapascan Languages" (1938). He made extensive use of two works published by the Franciscan Fathers, An Ethnological Dictionary of the Navaho Language (1910) and A Vocabulary of the Navaho Language (1912). He turned to W. L. Jepson and Washington Matthews for botanical terms, and to Adrien G. Morice for Carrier comparisons. In a search for precise grammatical terminology, he consulted a score or more of grammars, dictionaries, and publications on language and linguistics in Latin, Greek, Indo-Germanic, and several Arabic languages. Most prominent are Walter A. Ripman's Latin Handbook (1930) and Alan H. Gairdner's publication on Arabic phonetics (1935).
He worked with many Navajo speakers, some of whom were well-educated. Mentioned frequently are Willietto Antonio, Chee Dodge, Howard Gorman, George E. Hood, Hoskie Naswood, Albert Sandoval (also called "Chic"), Charles Keetsie Shirley, and Sam Tilden.
Local Numbers:
Accession #1976-95
Local Note:
This subseries was broken up into two catalog records to facilitate viewing of digital surrogates. See the catalog record for John Peabody Harrington papers: Navajo (part 2) to view surrogates for the rest of Harrington's Navajo files.
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Field notes
Dictionaries
Vocabulary
Manuscripts
Date:
1935-1949
Scope and Contents:
This set of files contains Harrington's Navajo research. The materials consist of vocabulary, dictionary notes, grammar, rehearings of linguistic data, ethnobotany notes, ethnographic notes, texts, drafts and notes relating to primers, published and unpublished primers, unpublished and published papers, extracts from secondary sources, and miscellaneous notes.
The vocabulary section contains terms extracted from Young and Morgan's The Navaho Language, which were reheard principally to obtain Kiowa and Hano (Arizona Tewa) equivalences. Information is occasionally included from Harrington's Apache and Tewa notes. A brief typed vocabulary contains scattered grammatical material. There is also a slipfile of terms based mainly on An Ethnological Dictionary of the Navaho Language. It contains annotations and relevant excerpts from Harrington-Young correspondence. Plant names wIth Young's annotations are based on W. L. Jepson's A Manual of Flowering Plants of California (1925) and Washington Matthews' The Navajo Names for Plants (1886). Of the twenty semantic categories, the sections on animals, animal parts, plants, and placenames are particularly substantial.
The dictionary section consists of lexical terms from the Bureau of Indian Affairs' "Navajo Phrase Book," obtained from Willard Beatty and sent by Harrington to Young for rehearings. Navajo entries with Kiowa equivalences were apparently taken from a manuscript for a dictionary by Young. Two miscellaneous groups of entries are in Navajo/English.
The material on Navajo grammar is extensive and includes notes, drafts of a manuscript, excerpts from secondary sources, correspondence between Young and Harrington, and slips. The file was for proposed publications ranging from introductory manuals to the structuring of a comprehensive Navajo grammar.
A further substantial body of grammatical material is found on large slips. These include information from Young's voluminous correspondence, not otherwise interfiled. Part of this section is a further rehearing by Young of Morice's The Carrier Language. Another group of notes records comparisons with several southern Athapascan languages, evidently based on Young's notes, vocabulary items, correspondence, and other undocumented material. Harrington also used the slipfile format to index questions which he had earlier sent to Young.
Most of the rehearings of lingustic data are of Edward Sapir's linguistic terms by Young in 1940 and 1941. Though the copied materials may be similar in content, they do not appear to be exact duplicates of the Sapir linguistic holdings at the American Philosophical Society. Young also reheard terms from Hoijer's Chiricahua and Mescalero Apache Texts late in 1940. George E. Hood commented on Hoijer's "The Southern Athapascan Languages," possibly at about the same time. There are typed excerpts from Young's May 1938 letters regarding Morice's The Carrier Language and miscellaneous linguistic information given by Hood and reheard by Richard Long. Other miscellaneous rehearings are with Alfred Sanchez (abbreviated"Alf." or "Alfredo"), Willietto Antonio, George Hood, and Robert Young (September 1939); and with Howard Gorman, Albert Sandoval, and John Charles (1939). There is also a rehearing with Henry Tsosie of terms from Gladys A. Reichard and Adolph Dodge Bittany's Agentive and Causative Elements in Navaho (1940), including some excerpts from the book. Finally, in February 1941, he reheard the vocabulary of Pedro Bautista Pino with Howard Gorman; Young did not consider these terms to be Navajo.
The files also contains Harrington's notes on Navajo names for plants, gathered from secondary sources and possibly original data from colleagues or friends. Young also annotated some of the notes.
Harrington's ethnographic files includes notes, vocabulary, and illustrations on the structure of dwelling places as well as some information on the mythic origins of the Navajo. Many of the illustrations are by Charles Keetsie Shirley. On the same subject is a set of cards in Young's hand which was sent to Harrington at Fort Wingate in August 1939. At Harrington's request, Young also translated what appears to be a lesson on hogans, possibly a section of a proposed text for instructional purposes. A group of Chaco Canyon placenames were given by Ed Henry in June 1939; several others were extracted from various secondary sources. Other ethnographic subjects briefly covered are the Hoop and Pole game, a social and economic survey questionnaire, White Hat's funeral (1939), the Lord's Prayer as recorded by Berard Haile, and notes on Sandoval's sound recordings. Malcolm Farmer supplied nonlinguistic information and there is a small set of highly miscellaneous ethnographic and historical notes.
The text section contains billingual texts that Young collected and sent to Harrington in 1936. They were written with interlinear translations and followed by a precis in English. Titles include: "Deer and Coyote," "Where the People Came Out," "A Wedding Ceremonial," and "The Woman Who Changed into a Bear." A recording session on October 31, 1949, with Dick Left, Richard Long, and Harry (not further identified) provided Navajo songs, ceremonies, and legends. Harrington's notes supply the identity of the discs and peripheral information such as the gestures accompanying the songs. Some linguistic annotations are interspersed. The discs described in the notes have not been located.
Notes, drafts, and mockups from Harrington and Young's work creating Navajo primers are also present. During the course of their work together from 1937 to 1939, Harrington and Young prepared drafts for two primers, "Little Bear Primer" and "Spotted Dog Primer," a pre-primer (probably the so called "Doda Primer"), and a playbook or cut-out book. Despite an assurance that at least both of the major works were to be printed, neither of the primers were ever published. He and Young also served as translators for a set of four primers in the "Little Herder" series, and Harrington was also credited with developing the "Harrington-La Farge phonetic system" utilized in the three-volume set entitled Little Man's Family. Harrington and Young also helped translate Ann Nolan Clark's "Who Wants To Be a Prairie Dog?"
Other materials related to Harrington's writing include notes for his "Southern Peripheral Athapaskawan Origins, Divisions, and Migrations" and preliminary drafts and notes for the Navajo portion of "Earliest Navaho and Quechua" (1944) coauthored by Robert W. Young. There are also notes and drafts for his unpublished writings, among which include "Navaho Mouthmap," "The Indian Dog Comes into His Own,"and "What Light Can Navajo Throw on Indogermanic Reconstruction?"
Among his miscellaneous notes is a comparison of Navajo with other Indian languages. There are brief notes on trips made in 1940, a list of the names of non-Indians, miscellaneous correspondence, and notes which are neither linguistic nor ethnographic.
Because of their long-term collaboration, Young's notes are inextricably intermixed with those of Harrington. Although some are labeled "Y," Young's unlabeled contributions can be identified through his handwriting and printing, and even with his style. Other hand-copied material is the work of B.A.E. assistant, Arvilla Johnson. Harrington's daughter Awona produced many of the copies in eighteen-point type.
Biographical / Historical:
Although John P. Harrington published brief articles on Navajo in 1911 and 1929, his most sustained work in this language spanned the years 1935 to 1946. Correspondence and reports indicate that during this period he was in the field from July to November 1939, and from August to mid-November 1940 at such places as Fort Wingate and Gallup, New Mexico, and Phoenix, Tuba CIty, and Window Rock, Arizona. His success in the field is due in no small part to his brilliant young collaborator, Robert W. Young, whom he first contacted in August 1936 and with whom he carried on an extensive correspondence into the mid-1940s. In fact their joint efforts in Navajo were accomplished mainly by mail.
Harrington collaborated or corresponded with others, among whom were Ann Nolan Clark, Oliver La Farge, Francis Elmore, Harry Hoijer, William Hill, and Richard Van Valkenburgh. He also contacted various university professors and graduate students, some of whom taught at such programs as those directed by the Summer Institute of Linguistics (Camp Wycliffe) and the University of New Mexico School of American Research.
Harrington consulted a wide array of secondary sources and reheard or compared data from them which he later combined with original notes. These include several hundred terms from then-unpublished manuscripts of Edward Sapir, and two of Harry Hoijer's publications--Chiricahua and Mescalero Apache Texts (1938) and "The Southern Athapascan Languages" (1938). He made extensive use of two works published by the Franciscan Fathers, An Ethnological Dictionary of the Navaho Language (1910) and A Vocabulary of the Navaho Language (1912). He turned to W. L. Jepson and Washington Matthews for botanical terms, and to Adrien G. Morice for Carrier comparisons. In a search for precise grammatical terminology, he consulted a score or more of grammars, dictionaries, and publications on language and linguistics in Latin, Greek, Indo-Germanic, and several Arabic languages. Most prominent are Walter A. Ripman's Latin Handbook (1930) and Alan H. Gairdner's publication on Arabic phonetics (1935).
He worked with many Navajo speakers, some of whom were well-educated. Mentioned frequently are Willietto Antonio, Chee Dodge, Howard Gorman, George E. Hood, Hoskie Naswood, Albert Sandoval (also called "Chic"), Charles Keetsie Shirley, and Sam Tilden.
Local Numbers:
Accession #1976-95
Local Note:
This subseries was broken up into two catalog records to facilitate viewing of digital surrogates. See the catalog record for John Peabody Harrington papers: Navajo (part 1) to view surrogates for the rest of Harrington's Navajo files.
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
Indians of North America -- Northwest Coast of North America Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Field notes
Manuscripts
Vocabulary
Narratives
Place:
Oregon
Date:
1933, 1942
Scope and Contents:
This subseries of the Alaska/Northwest Coast series contains Harrington's research on Alsea, Siuslaw, and Coos. The materials consist mostly of vocabulary for the three languages, as well as terms in Lower Umpqua and Chinook jargon. A small section of notes deals mainly with phonetics and includes comments on Frachtenberg and Jacobs' publications, as well as general observations made by Harrington during various stages of his work in the field. A section of written notes are accompanied by "sementographs," visual representations of the sounds present in each language. Vocabulary and nonlinguistic information on plants and animals are also present, along with placename vocabulary. His placename notes also include information on tribal boundaries and linguistic relationships; the location, etymology, English pronunciation, and history of places in the three tribal areas, and anecdotes and biographical data. Abstracts in English of mythological texts are also present, along with descriptions, anecdotes, and reminiscences by Lottie Evanoff, Frank Drew, Spencer Scott, and Clayton Barrett, with references to events of both personal and historical significance. There is also material relating to the 1931 U.S. Court of Claims case "Coos Bay, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indian Tribes vs the United States" with comments by Frank Drew on the tesimony from tribal members. In addition, Harrington's files include notes from a conversation with George Wasson in 1933. Topics include Wasson's life and discussions regarding tribal territories and language boundaries, canoe construction, burial, and the historical figure Jedediah Smith. Harrington's notes also contain scattered quotations from Louie Fuller (LL), Clara Pearson (Clara), and Sammy Jackson, three Tillamook speakers Harrington had interviewed earlier in 1942.
Biographical / Historical:
John P. Harrington's work on these neighboring languages began in Oakville, Washington in early April of 1942. While interviewing Lizzie Johnson (Liz.) and Minnie Case (Min.) regarding Kwalhioqua, he also worked with John Albert (Ja.), the last speaker of Alsea (Als.) He had occasion to recheck the linguistic data with Albert sometime in May (there is a reference to May 23 in the notes), possibly at Siletz, Oregon, his home before moving to Oakville. These notes are labeled "Ja. rhg."
Around June, July, and possibly August of the same year, Harrington recorded Coos--both the Hanis (H., Empire) and Miluk (M., South Slough) varieties--and Siuslaw (Sius.) and Lower Umpqua (L.U., Ump.) from Frank Henry Drew (referred to as Frank) in Florence, Oregon. In Marshfield, Harrington interviewed Lottie Evanoff (Lottie, Lot.), formerly Lottie Jackson, daughter of a prominent Coos chief and cousin of Annie Peterson, who had worked with Melville Jacobs. Additional sources of information for Coos were Martha Johnson, a neighbor of Frank Drew; the Wasson sisters, Lolly, Nellie, and Daisy; and Lottie Evanoff's niece, Nellie Aason.
He also obtained information from Spencer Scott (called Spencer or rarely Spen.), who may have also served as an interpreter for Harrington. He knew John Albert and had formerly spoken Alsea with him when they were boys at Siletz. He could also speak Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw. Lesser amounts of Siuslawan data were provided by Clayton Hudson Barrett and his younger half-brother, Howard Barrett (called Clay. and Howard). Nonlinguistic information came from Alec Evanoff, Lottie's husband; Carl Severy, Frank Drew's son-in-law; the Collson family; John Waters; and Larry Hofer.
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
Indians of North America -- Northwest Coast of North America Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Field notes
Vocabulary
Narratives
Place:
Siletz Indian Reservation (Or.)
Oregon
California
Date:
1942
Scope and Contents:
This subseries of the Alaska/Northwest Coast series contains materials grouped as "Southwest Oregon Athapascan" [part formerly cataloged as B.A.E. ms. 4555], collected largely from speakers of various languages of the Coquille, Umpqua, and Rogue River regions who were residing at Siletz Reservation. Also included is related work Harrington did on Athapascan at the Smith River Reservation just over the state line in northern California. The notes span the dates June to early November 1942.
In Siletz, Ada and Miller Collins, Lucy Smith, Wolverton Orton, and Coquille Thompson provided linguistic information. Nonlinguistic data was provided by Mrs. Thompson, the Reverend Warren Cornelius, Mr. and Mrs. Collson, Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Wilson at Gold Beach, and Mr. Oleman.
The Athapascan speakers interviewed at the Smith River Reservation were Norman George, Jenny Scott, Ben White, Johnny [Lopez?], and Alec Billy.
The comparative Athapascan lexical data are supplemented with references to speakers of other Oregon languages who had been interviewed earlier by Harrington. Among the Siletz residents were Hoxie Simmons, a Galice speaker; his son, Ezra; and Spencer Scott, a speaker of Siuslaw and Lower Umpqua. Those from other areas of the state that Harrington interviewed included the Coos speakers Frank Drew and Lottie Evanoff; John Albert, the last speaker of Alsea; Louie Fuller, a Tillamook; and the nonlinguistic sources John Waters and Larry Hofer.
Among the comparative vocabulary are scattered notes of ethnographic interest, such as descriptions of smoking and chewing gum in the category on plants. The notes covering tribenames and placenames are the most complex. There is also a section of animal and plant names, which contain comments by Lucy Perez, a Coast Yuki.
Other materials in the subseries include grammatical notes; abstract in English of myths; ethnographic notes on such topics as birth, marriage, death and superstitions; and observations by a number of informants on the history of the removal of the Southwest Oregon Athapascan tribes to Siletz.
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
Indians of North America -- California Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Field notes
Vocabulary
Place:
California -- History
Date:
1921-1930
Scope and Contents:
This subseries of the Northern and Central California series contains Harrington's research on Chimariko and Hupa.
A large portion of the subseries consists of field notes on Chimariko vocabulary and sentences provided by Sally Noble. Much of the information was elicited from a reading of Roland Dixon's "The Chimarika Indians and Language," (1910) and includes anatomical terms, names for plants and animals, material culture vocabulary, tribenames, and placenames. A small number of Hupa lexical terms were also obtained, evidently with reference to the work of Pliny Earle Goddard "Athapascan (Hupa)" (1911). There is a mixture of ethnographic and biographical data provided by Noble and several nonlinguistic sources.
The subseries also contains Harrington's grammatical analysis of Chimariko. Many of these notes feature examples excerpted from the linguistic notes; the page numbers in brackets refer to numbered pages of the section of "original" field notes. There are also summaries of various grammatical principles in the form of charts. These sketches are followed by a short "general dictionary" of vocabulary and phrases.
As a supplement to his linguistic and grammatical notes, Harrington collected extensive textual material from Noble. Noble provided mythological texts; accounts of historical events, such as the Indian wars and encounters with whites; descriptions of an ethnological nature on various subjects, such as doctoring, tattooing, and hairdressing; and personal reminiscences. The texts were recorded in Chimariko and some have fairly detailed interlinear translations. In several instances, a synopsis in English has been filed with the text. Some notes from Martha Ziegler appear in this section.
There are also notes obtained by Harrington during his first meeting with Lucy Montgomery. Chimariko and some Hupa lexical terms were recorded for plant and animal names, age, sex, and relationship terms, material culture vocabulary, and numbers. At least a portion of the information was elicited through a rehearing of a word list furnished by C. Hart Merriam and another published by Roland B. Dixon. An unidentified publication (possibly by Parmenter) was utilized to prompt responses on bird names. Montgomery also commented on the names of several native objects that Harrington had recently collected in Karok territory.
The section on Chimariko vocabulary consists of notes presumably collected during Harrington's second stint of work with Montgomery. Harrington made frequent notes on the phonetics of Chimariko and included several Wintu equivalences, as well as scattered references of ethnographic, historical, or biographical interest.
Another section of notes obtained from Montgomery represent a fairly systematic rehearing of the linguistic data Harrington had collected from Sally Noble in 1921-1922.
The block of ethnographic notes were also obtained from Montgomery. The notes cover a wide variety of subjects: food preparation, the collection of firewood, doctoring, the medicinal use of plants, menstruation, child care, clothing, hairdressing, burial, and the manufacture and use of tools, implements, and baskets. A few pages also concern songs and vocabulary. In addition, information is provided on the Montgomery's relatives, the Round Valley Removal, and gold mining. Some data were obtained from Mrs. Ramazzena and I. N. Hamilton. A little ethnographic information pertinent to Coast Yurok was collected from Mrs. Frye.
There are also notes from an interview with Saxy Kidd. The notes consist in large part of ethnographic data from the New River and Trinity River areas. In addition, there is some plant and animal vocabulary. Most Hupa terms are given, with selected Chimariko equivalents.
Biographical / Historical:
John P. Harrington's study of Chimariko began when he spent between four and five months working with Sally Noble at her ranch on New River in Trinity County, California. Noble, a speaker of the "Trinity River" dialect of Chimariko, had previously worked with C. Hart Merriam, and joint work with her had been planned by the two anthropologists for the summer of 1921. Due to confusion concerning Harrington's whereabouts at the time the trip was scheduled, Merriam went to northern California alone in the summer. In early September, after Merriam had completed his own field work and had departed, Harrington arrived at the region, arranged to take meals with the neighboring Dailey family, and proceeded to work regularly with Noble. After amassing several thousand pages of notes, Harrington left Burnt Ranch in mid-to-Iate January 1922, intending to continue the work with Noble in May. He later learned that she had died some twenty days after his departure.
The data he gained from Noble were supplemented by a little linguistic information given by her half sister, Martha Ziegler. Nonlinguistic information was provided by Noble's son, Frank; the Daileys; Mr. and Mrs. Zack Bussell; and Mr. and Mrs. Jim Chesbro.
In the spring of 1926, during or just following his work on Wiyot and Karok, Harrington scheduled an initial interview with another Chimariko woman, Lucy Montgomery. A cousin of Sally Noble, Montgomery was then residing on the coast at Stone Lagoon. Although, by her own admission, she had stopped speaking Chimariko at age eleven, she did attempt to assist Harrington in compiling a basic vocabulary list.
Harrington's interest in Chimariko was renewed in April 1927 when he learned of Edward Sapir's efforts to locate native speakers for that language. In August and September of the same year he employed his long-time friend George W. Bayley to collect plant specimens and ethnobotanical data from Lucy Montgomery. Contact with her having been reestablished, Harrington joined Bayley in 1928 to pursue further linguistic work with her. It was on this occasion that they reheard the notes which he had obtained earlier from Noble. Montgomery's data are not highly reliable as she basically had only a passive knowledge of the language. A small section of ethnographic notes also appears to have been collected at this time.
Mrs. Zack Bussell evidently took Harrington to interview Saxy Kidd, who, according to reports, was said to speak quite a bit of Chimariko. Harrington had heard of Kidd from Sally Noble during his work in 1921-1922 and again from Edward Sapir in 1927. Sapir had discovered that what little Chimariko Kidd knew was "distorted by his Hupa phonetics." Harrington likewise obtained only a few Chimariko terms from him.
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
Indians of North America -- California Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Field notes
Vocabulary
Narratives
Maps
Date:
1912-1932
Scope and Contents:
This subseries of the Northern and Central California series contains Harrington's research on Salinan.
His Migueleno field notes from 1912 and 1913 contain vocabulary, English summaries of myths, and ethnographic and biographical notes from Juan Solano and Pacifico Archuleta. The linguistic and ethnographic portion of these field notes were also copied onto slipfiles and filed semantically. The originals of notes labeled "Pac." appear to be missing.
Materials from his 1922 fieldwork consist of Antoniano and Migueleno field notes and vocabulary. These include extensive linguistic notes from Maria and David Mora. While Maria was the principal source for Migueleno and David for Antoniano, they occasionally gave cognate forms in both languages. Much of the data was given in response to questions regarding vocabulary items published by J. Alden Mason (1918). A citation such as "On Mas. M." was used to indicate this. One section of phrases was evidently elicited by Harrington for purposes of comparison with Esselen forms. Another set of files consists of vocabulary that Harrington copied from the original field notes and arranged semantically. The notes on plants and animals are particularly extensive and contain commentary from Petronilo Gomez. There are numerous references to terms copied from the vocabulary portion of Mason's "The Language of the Salinan Indians." A few copies of notes from Pacifico Archuleta and Juan Solano are also filed here.
Harrington's research from 1931 consists of notes from rehearings with Maria de los Angeles, David Mora, and, to a lesser extent, Tito Encinales, of published works by J. Alden Mason and Father Bonaventura Sitjar's Antoniano vocabulary. They, including a woman identified simply as Maggie, also reviewed linguistic data collected in 1922 from David and Maria Jesusa Mora. Harrington wanted to form an "ethnological dictionary" from the linguistic notes and arranged them into semantic groupings. The section on plants includes remarks on lists of plants native to Mutsun territory in California and to New Mexico and rehearing of ethnobotanical information published by Engelhardt (1929). There is also a section of stories containing English and Spanish summaries of myths.
The subseries also contains notes on placenames. The earliest set consists of notes which he made in Washington, D.C. in 1930 on a list of rancheria names obtained in 1929. English or Spanish equivalents are given for the Indian placenames. There are also notes from placename trips, which include etymologies of Indian placenames, explanations of the significance of sites, sketch maps, references to myths, biographical notes, and notes on photographs he took. Other materials include notes from interviews with Buck Davis and J.C. Curtin and rehearings of rancheria names published by Zephyrin Engelhardt (1929).
The miscellaneous section consists mostly of notes recorded from David and Maria Mora and from Maria de los Angeles from February 1930 to February 1932; some are undated. Among the data included are unsorted vocabulary and phrases (particularly on animals and plants), observations on phonetics, and ethnographic and biographical references in English and Spanish. Also filed here are notes on a letter from C. Hart Merriam (December 26, 1929), with comments on Esselen. The last group of notes is a set of instructions from Harrington to Arthur E. Harrington, his nephew, and Paul Garda, son of a Chumash informant, on making sound recordings from Maria de los Angeles and David Mora.
Biographical / Historical:
John P. Harrington undertook fieldwork on the Salinan dialects during three phases of his career. In 1912 and 1913 he worked for several days with two Migueleno speakers, Juan Solano and Pacifico Archuleta. He interviewed Archuleta again briefly in 1915. During a lengthy period of time in the field in 1922, he contacted David and Maria Mora, recording extensive Antoniano and Migueleno vocabularies from them. Approximately ten years later he returned to work with David as well as with Maria de los Angeles and her husband, Tito Encinales. The primary focus of his study was the rehearing of his earlier field notes and the checking of data from several manuscript and published sources. He also took a number of trips by car and on horseback to collect botanical specimens for identification and to gather placename data. Others that he worked with included Rosario Cooper and Petronilo Gomez.
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Field notes
Vocabulary
Manuscripts
Date:
1913-1953
Scope and Contents:
This subseries of the Southwest series contains Harrington's Zuni research, which mainly focused on the linguistic relationship between Zuni and Tano-Kiowan-Keresan-Shoshonean stock.
The earliest field data which Harrington obtained on Zuni was recorded in the form of three brief vocabularies. One, dated February 20, 1913, was elicited from George Piro. Harrington indicated that another list of Zuni terms was copied for his B.A.E. colleague Neil Judd in 1919. A third gives the Indian names of several Zuni native speakers and ethnologists. Brief intermixed vocabulary and grammar notes were taken in the field from Nachapani in June and July 1929. A few Navajo comparisons were added.
The vocabulary sections contains Zuni terms arranged semantically, most numerous in the animal and animal parts categories. Other categories include age/sex, material culture, phenomena, placenames, plants, rank, relationship terms, religion, time, and tribenames. Most of the original material was obtained in 1929 in New Mexico where he consulted primarily with Charles or Dick Nachapani.
For his comparative vocabulary, Harrington followed the same semantic arrangement he used for the vocabulary notes, interfiling and comparing Tewa, Kiowa, Hano, Taos, Acoma, and Cahuilla terms. The material stems from his original notes in these languages and contains references to his publications in Tewa ethnozoology and ethnogeography. Perry A. Keahtigh was cited as the Kiowa souce and Adan Castillo for Cahuilla terms. Juan is the only Tewa speaker mentioned by name in the notes, although other Tewa speakers undoubtedly contributed to the original notes used in the many comparisons. Also interfiled are excerpts from papers by Ruth L. Bunzel on Zuni ethnology and grammar and compilations of Nahuatl from the works of Horatio Carochi and Alonso de Molina. Other terms labeled "Gatschet revd by Hodge" may refer to B.A.E. ms. 2870 in which many of Gatschet's approximately 200 Zuni/English vocabulary slips contain annotations by Frederick W. Hodge. Harrington also tapped Matilda Coxe Stevenson's "The Zuni Indians" (1904) for further comparisons. Kymograph tracings are mainly a comparison of Zuni and Navajo lexical terms.
Harrington's Zuni grammatical material was probably assembled in Washington for correlation with his own notes on other languages and with notes from secondary sources to be compiled into a comparative grammar. Most of Harrington's original Zuni material was derived from his fieldwork with Nachapani in June and July of 1929.
Correspondence indicates that Harrington's first draft of a comparative grammar was written in 1944 and was to be titled "Zuni Discovered To Be Hokan." Many of the notes which precede it, however, were interfiled later (probably in the early 1950s) and stem from his original field notes in Zuni, Tewa, and Kiowa. Also included are a lesser number of Taos and Aztec expressions. Harrington utilized the same sources as those found in the grammatical notes, relying most heavily on Bunzel's "Zuni." Another version of the manuscript has the modified title "Zuni, Tanoan, Kiowa Comparisons: Zuni Discovered To Be Hokan."
His ethnobotany notes contains extracts from Wooton and Standley's Flora of New Mexico (1913) and Stevenson's "Ethnobotany of the Zuni Indians." The ethnographic notes are based on Stevenson's The Zuni Indians. This work is frequently referred to in the notes as "Zuni Book."
Harrington's writings consists of notes used in "Name of Zuni Salt Lake in Alarcon's 1540 Account" (1949) and in "Trail Holder" (1949) as well as drafts and notes for proposed publications. Harrington's article "The Name Zuni Comes from the Laguna Dialect of West Keresan" was apparently not accepted for publication. Most of the notes are based on the Zuni section of Hodge's "Handbook." Another unpublished article is on Zuni phrases and numbers. It is similar in approach to a draft on Aztec phrases and numbers, suggesting that he may have contemplated a series of such short articles.
Biographical / Historical:
As early as 1919, John P. Harrington claimed a linguistic relationship between Zuni and a putative Tano-Kiowan-Keresan-Shoshonean stock. In 1929, at the suggestion of Edgar L. Hewett, he was authorized by the Bureau of American Ethnology to work with University of New Mexico students at a summer session in Chaco Canyon. Correspondence and reports indicate that he accumulated the bulk of his original Zuni notes at that time, later reorganizing them at various intervals in Washington, D.C., with an eye toward producing a vocabulary and grammar that would clearly demonstrate affinity among these languages. Harrington also recorded several hundred kymograph tracings. Charles and Dick Nachapani (Natcapanih) and Charlie Cly served as the primary sources of information. Harrington called one of the Nachapani brothers "the prince of all Zuni informants;" which one is uncertain.
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Field notes
Dictionaries
Manuscripts
Narratives
Vocabulary
Date:
1908-circa 1949
Scope and Contents:
This subseries of the Southwest series contains Harrington's Tewa research. The files include field notes, vocabulary, linguistic and ethnographic notes, a dictionary, records of rehearings, texts, writings, and miscellanous notes.
His field notebooks contain grammar, vocabulary, placenames, names of persons, relationship terms, and material culture; texts concerning Qwiqumat, other myths, and ethnohistory of early Southwest tribes, pueblos, clans, and religion; copies of the San Ildefonso census; and other miscellaneous ethnographic information.
The vocabulary section of the Tewa files include a group of slips identified as Rio Grande vocabulary with some Santa Clara terms specified as such. There is a wide variety of terms, and animal and plant vocabularies were marked by Harrington "A" and "P" respectively (former B.A.E. MS 4678pt.) with some linguistic insertions. The information was collected during the early period. There is also a small file of Spanish loanwords in Tewa that Harrington copied from Eduardo Cata's material.
His linguistic and ethnographic notes contain a few pages each of over twenty topics such as dances, estufas (kivas), pottery, societies, religion, superstitions, Tewa trails, and Tewa origins (former B.A.E. MS 4704pt.). Barbara Freire-Marreco collaborated in the accumulation of some of the material, most of which came from the many informants who contributed to the early notes. Some linguistic material is interspersed. There is a handwritten copy of the Nambe census of 1911, a description and rough sketches of the Black Mesa of San Ildefonso, and several references to Jemez, Spanish Cochiti, Spanish Hopi, Taos, Zuni, and Sia.
A collection of linguistic and ethnographic terms remains in slipfile form (former B.A.E. MS 4704pt.). Some are in various Tewa dialects such as Nambe, San Ildefonso, San Juan, and Santa Clara. A few Taos comparisons are included. The largest group is related to animal parts and animal activities. Ethnographic information includes such topics as snakes, estufas, officers and government, plants, pottery, shrines, and societies. A small group is credited to Barbara Freire-Marreco.
The dictionary (former B.A.E. MS. 4704pt.) was arranged by Cata in June 1927 from his field notes taken during the early period. Part is in alphabetic order, part is devoted to adjectives provided by Julian Martinez, and part covers adverbs from Santiago Naranjo. A second group is also arranged in alphabetic order but no sources are identified. Some related nonlexical and bibliographical material is interspersed.
There are also materials from rehearings Harrington conducted with Santiago Naranjo in 1911, Eduardo Cata in 1927, and David Dozier and "O" in 1948-1949. Harrington and Cata developed a linguistic treatment of notes based on an unpublished dissertation on New Mexico Spanish by Aurelio H. Espinosa. Together they reworked geographic terms from Harrington's "The Ethnogeography of the Tewa Indians." Other miscellaneous rehearings with Cata were more grammatically oriented. Dozier and "O" provided substantial material on San Juan/Hano comparisons, although some of the notes may have been accumulated during a February 1946 visit to Albuquerque, where Harrington interviewed Mr. Shupla, a Hano speaker. This meeting may have resulted also in his proposed article "Hano . . . Same Word as Tano."
In the text section are three myths given by Juan Gonzales on September 1, 2, and 3, 1908 at the camp near the Stone Lions, rendered in Tewa and English with some linguistic notes. Also in both languages is an Ignacio Aguilar story recorded on September 23, 1909. Some stories probably obtained between 1908 and 1909 are in English only. Not all are complete and the continuity of some is broken due to repetitive material and interspersed corrections. There are two short Nambe myths. Eduardo Cata supplied thirteen texts in addition to the three published in 1947. These are in Tewa, most with either interlinear or parallel English translations. Harrington used pencils of different colors to insert orthographic corrections and later annotations. Whether the texts were obtained in 1927 when Cata was in Washington or during the 1940s is uncertain.
Harrington's writing files contain notes and drafts for his unpublished and published writings. There are substantial notes accumulated for "A Brief Description of the Tewa Language" (1910) (former B.A.E. MS 4704pt.). Harrington's notes contain more extensive phonetic and morphological information than the final publication. Notes probably recorded in 1910 for "Ethnogeography" and "Ethnobotany" are intermixed and largely disorganized, although substantial in number (former B.A.E. MS 4704pt.). Additional information and some relevant correspondence for "Ethnogeography" is included (former B.A.E. mss. 3801 and 4704pt.), as well as some notes Harrington excerpted in 1946 from this publication. Drafts and notes for "Three Tewa Texts" include insertions of additional information provided by David Dozier and "O." There are also five sets of drafts for proposed articles. "Ablaut in the Tewa Language of New Mexico" (1912) is an elaboration of the phonetic material used in "A Brief Description of the Tewa Language." "Some Aspects of Tewa Indian Placenames" was written in 1920. Undated are "Hano, Indian Pueblo of Arizona, the Same Word as Tano" (former B.A.E. MS 4521pt.), "Santa Fe at Northern Edge of Tano Country," and "The Tewa Pueblos."
Among the writing files are also materials relating to "Phonetics of the Tewa Language," submitted or sold by Eduardo Cata to the B.A.E. (former MS 4704pt.). The title page, bill of sale, and notes in Harrington's handwriting, and some possibly in Cata's are on file. Informants Mr. and Mrs. "O" also contributed information. There are also two unpublished articles on Tewa tones that Harrington co-authored with David Dozier--"Tewa Tones" and "The 3 Tone Accents and the 1 Non-tone Accent of Tewa."
Also in this subseries are miscellaneous notes, mainly from the early period. Some of the information came from Ignacio Aguilar. There is a small selection of Jemez, Ute, and Taos equivalences. Also included are a diagram of Tewa color symbolism (former B.A.E. ms. 1790), a reproduction of a San Juan Pueblo religious painting, and a very short bibliography.
Biographical / Historical:
John P. Harrington's study of the Tewa languages began in July 1908 under the auspices of the School of American Archaeology (S.A.A.) in Santa Fe, and his interest in the Tewa Indians continued into the late 1940s. Accumulation and organization of notes fall generally into three time frames. The early period can be dated between 1908 and 1916 when Harrington worked first for the Museum of New Mexico as assistant curator, then for Edgar Lee Hewett of the S.A.A., and, from December 1914, as ethnologist for the Bureau of American Ethnology. Six of his publications are based on the notes from this period. In October 1910 he spent several weeks on a tour of Tewa country securing placenames from large numbers of informants. The principal informants for the entire early period are Ignacio Aguilar and Santiago Naranjo (also called "Jim").
Dating from a middle period in 1927, Harrington worked closely with Eduardo Cata in Washington. Cata was described by Harrington as an educated San Juan Tewa Indian. With the exception of one short period (from February to July 1946), Harrington was in Washington from early 1942 until April 1949. During this third period he published "Three Tewa Texts" (1947) based on stories from Cata. The texts may have been received from Cata during the middle period, but the notes represent a rehearing in the 1940s with David Dozier and an informant identified only as "0." Harrington knew David Dozier's father and in May 1944, he wrote self-introductory letters to the son, a fluent speaker of the Santa Clara dialect, who was then in the Indian Service. Harrington also reworked and reorganized much of his grammatical information during these years in Washington. Notes indicate that he may have planned to publish a Tewa grammar.
Other Tewa speakers that Harrington worked with include Bert Fredericks, Manuel Vigil, Bernardo Sanchez, Joe Horner, Desiderio Naranjo, and Alfredo Montoya.
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Search this
Indians of North America -- Southern States Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Field notes
Date:
1918-1921, 1939
Scope and Contents:
This subseries of the Plains series consists of John P. Harrington's research on the Caddo, Pawnee, Wichita, and Comanche languages. Harrington accumulated a total of forty-two pages of original notes on Caddo, Pawnee, and Wichita. The information was taken in 1918 and 1921 in Anadarko, Oklahoma, and in Washington, D.C. Although linguistically unrelated, six pages of Comanche terms, also collected in 1918 in Anadarko, follow the Caddoan material.
The Caddo vocabulary consists of six pages of animal and miscellaneous terms obtained from Joe Edman on June 22,1918, at Anadarko, Oklahoma. A two-page copy of the animal terms (former B.A.E. ms. 4136) were given by Harrington to J. R. Swanton, who later deposited them in the B.A.E. archives naming Harrington as the collector (n.d.). The Pawnee section contains semantically arranged vocabulary of only a few words in each of ten categories, and fifteen pages of grammatical notes. Correspondence indicates that the information was recorded in Washington on February 18 to 21,1918, from James Murie, who was not paid for his time. Murie also provided additional random information in January 1921. There are also short typed extracts from Sapir and Boas. The Wichita files consists of six pages of grammatical notes emphasizing the pronouns and thirty-four cards dealing with numerals were given by Harrington to J. R. Swanton, who later deposited them in the B.A.E. archives (n.d.) (former B.A.E. ms. 4136pt.). He also recorded twenty-one pages of grammar and vocabulary from Eben Rose and John Haddon, June 1918, at Anadarko, Oklahoma. There is also a small selection of secondary Wichita material from Swanton.
The Comanche notes comprise six pages of random terms from Herbert Yernipcut taken on June 21, 1918, at Anadarko, Oklahoma, and three pages of miscellaneous vocabulary. There are two pages of names of Comanche Indians whose portraits were in one of DeLancey Gill's albums, obtained from a person identified only as Millet, and dated May 10, 1924. A letter dated May 26, 1924, from Comanche Albert Attock requests pictures of Chief Quanah Parker and Peyote Chief Blind Man.
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
This subseries of the Mexico/Central America/South America series contains Harrington's Nahuatl research. The materials consist of linguistic notes, grammar, texts, and miscellaneous notes.
His linguistic notes form the largest section of this subseries. A semantically arranged vocabulary was elicited from Alfonso Hernandez Catarina. The categories of lexical items include phenomena, directions, seasons, astronomy, time, plant parts, plants, animal parts, animals, age-sex, rank, relationship, material culture, religion, tribenames, and placenames. A "Flood Story" in English is also included. In addition, there are some phrases, information on phonetics and grammar, and a little ethnographic data. There are references to secondary sources such as Simeon, Carochi ("Car."), and "Gar."
Arcadio Sagahon was also a major contributor. Harrington recorded eighteen pages of basic vocabulary with him. There is also a section of randomly arranged vocabulary based on an examination of rock and plant specimens, with occasional references to "Arc's book" (not further identified). Some equivalent terms were provided by Tiburcio Jaimez.
A compilation of several sets of word lists on numbered pages resulted from a number of linguistic sessions with Tiburcio Jaimez. These include commentary on a book by Cardenas (abbreviated "Card.") which is not further identified. Harrington also elicited Jaimez's aid in rehearing the source referred to as "Gar." They developed fairly extensive annotations to pages 40 to 51 of that work, and the section on verbs. In addition, Jaimez provided commentary on the book Raices etimologicas del idioma nahuatl by Pedro Barra y Valenzuela.
Additional linguistic data were furnished by Tomas Perez Escobar and Jose Farias Galindo. A general, unsorted vocabulary which Harrington recorded from Escobar, with a few comments from Arcadio Sagahon, is supplemented by a sizable section of notes in his own hand. Sentences in Nahuatl are each followed by a Spanish translation. Farias provided vocabulary during a number of sessions in which he was accompanied by Captain Santos Acevedo Lopez. There is also a small file of miscellaneous vocabulary given together by Farias and Arcadio Sagahon.
Many of the data from the preceding groups of field notes were brought together in a comprehensive semantic arrangement. In addition, Harrington compiled lists of words in English and Spanish as a questionnaire for eliciting Maya words. (In fact, this section is headed by a sheet with the label "Questionnaire for Az[tec].")
A final section of linguistic notes includes miscellaneous shorter vocabularies, a four-page word list, and Harrington's questionnaire. A "Coyotepec Vocabulary" of nineteen pages was recorded from Francisco Pinera Martinez. It includes Xochimilco equivalences, commentary by Jose Farias Galindo, and a reference to Mr. Sanchez. Notes from a "Cuautla Trip" include a short vocabulary (seven pages) from an unidentified informant and miscellaneous notes on people and places. A twenty-three page basic vocabulary and a few phrases were recorded from Jose Fortino. Harrington later obtained a few Xochimilco glosses and a little commentary by Arcadio Sagahon. The sixteen pages of notes, resulting from a trip Harrington took to Tepotzotlan with Farias and "Arc," contain miscellaneous data and references to an unnamed informant. A basic vocabulary and some short sentences were elicited from Jose Barreraon May 2, 1951, under the heading "Tete. Voc." It is unclear whether the language referred to is Tetelcingo or Tetela but it was presumably related to the language of Tezcoco. The seventy pages of data, which include some Xochimilco terms and information on the country, are supplemented by two pages obtained from "Juan while waiting for the bus." The material was reheard with Farias, Perez, and Sagahon at a later date. There are nine pages of data from an interview with Albino (Alvino) Cortes. There is a mention of Frederico Hernandez, and Miguel Romero was also present during the recording of the "Aztec vocabulary." Lexical items were recorded from Munoz (alternate spelling Munos), Romero, and Juan Ramos of Puebla, near Vera Cruz City. There are also four pages of notes in an unidentified hand and a questionnaire used by Harrington in his linguistic work. It includes a little data from "Alf." and "Arc."
Notes on Nahuatl grammar include excerpts from a number of published sources, primarily Whorf, Simeon, and Carochi. The topics covered include phonetics (one section is labeled "Phonetics Tibd"), syntax, verb, noun, pronoun, numeral, adjective, adverb, postposition, conjunction, and interjection. The principal informants cited are Arcadio Sagahon and Tomas Perez Escobar. Additional information was provided by Alfonso Hernandez Catarina, Tiburcio Jaimez, Tomas Perez Escobar, Jose Farias Galindo, and Captain Acevedo. One page of the grammar is in Farias' handwriting. Several pages are marked "Tete."
The major sets of Nahuatl texts which Harrington recorded were assigned by him to one of two categories: "Finished" or "Not yet gone over." The first designation indicates that the Nahuatl phonetic transcription of a given text was refined with the original speaker--and sometimes reheard by others--and that it was accompanied by a complete Spanish translation and possibly notes. There are references to Matlapa and Jalpilla forms. The predominant contributor was Arcadio Sagahon. Alternate versions of each text were also given by Tiburcio Jaimez and Alfonso Hernandez. All of the stories have to do with animals and many appear to be translations of fables rather than native texts: "The Sky Is Falling" (Chicken Little), "La Zorra y el Queso" (The Fox and the Cheese). The texts labeled "Not gone over" appear to have been recorded from Hernandez and Jaimez but not reviewed with Sagahon. The stories include "The Girl and the Head of the Birds," "The Queen Bee and the Drone," and the lengthy "La Vida de un Indigena." A miscellaneous set of texts at the end of the series represents an attempt at a translation of the Lord's Prayer by Hernandez and Sagahon and a poem evidently written by the latter.
Harrington also compiled several miscellaneous files of data on Nahuatl. The first, consisting of notes from the period 1922 to 1927, includes bibliographic references, a list of "Aztek" words from Ben Elson in Vera Cruz, and a partial English translation of Carochi's grammar by Paul Vogenitz. Other files -which contain some typed and handwritten notes prepared by others-include background notes on the geography, history, and language of the Nahuatl; bibliographic references; maps; and a list of "persons and addresses." The latter contains some biographical data on Harrington's informants. There are also reports from Carlos Morales and copies of letters which reflect Harrington's efforts to contact Nahuatl speakers.
Biographical / Historical:
Harrington conducted fieldwork on Nahuatl--also referred to as Aztec--during a six-month period in 1951. In March he left Washington, D.C., arriving at the Hotel Fornos in Mexico City on March 25. He remained there until early September. Most of his informants were found locally, although he did make a number of side trips into the surrounding regions.
During the course of his study he worked with speakers of a number of dialects. He distinguished between the various forms he recorded by the use of abbreviations: "Az." or "Cl. Az." referred to Classical Aztec and "Naw." to Nahuatl. "Fed. Dist." was used for Federal District, "Xoch." for Xochimilco, "MA" for Milpa Alta, "V.C." for Vera Cruz, and "Mat(l)." for Matlapa. Terms from the Valley of Mexico were noted variously by the markers "Valle de Mex.," "V de M.," or "V of M." Some comparisons were occasionally made with Cahuilla (Cah.) words.
Harrington made use of a number of secondary sources throughout his study. The primary works which he consulted included the Dictionnaire de La langue nahuatl ou mexicaine by Remi Simeon, Arte de La lengua mexicana by Horacio Carochi, and a source referred to as "Gar."--possibly by Angel Maria Garibay Kintana or Jose I. Davila Garibi. He evidently had plans to prepare an annotated version of Simeon's Nahuatl-French dictionary. An assistant aided him in photostatting and pasting each entry on a separate card. Preliminary steps were taken to provide English glosses but no new Nahuatl data were appended to them.
The first informant whom Harrington contacted was Miguel Romero. They worked together on March 26 and 27 and April 1. He spoke with Salome Perez on March 27 and interviewed Tomas Perez Escobar on an almost daily basis from March 28 through April 28. The latter, referred to variously as "Professor Perez," "Perez," and "Tomas," was from the Valley of Mexico. Sessions were conducted intermittently with Frederico Hernandez Mota and Professor Jose Farias Galindo in April and May. Farias (Far.) was a Nahuatl speaker teaching elementary school in Mexico City and Xochimilco. Harrington also noted that he was the translator of the Mexican national anthem into Nahuatl and that he published poetry. In several sessions he was accompanied by Santos Acevedo Lopez, a captain in the Mexican army, who also typed a number of sheets for Harrington.
Harrington's financial records for May 22 mention receipts for payment signed by Tiburcio Jaimez and Arcadio Sagahon, indicating that he probably worked with them at least during the latter part of May. Jaimez, usually referred to by the abbreviation "Tib.," was born and raised in the pueblo of San Francisco Calixtlahuacan.
The field notes indicate that Harrington worked with another major informant, Professor Alfonso Hernandez Catarina, beginning in July. Born at Coxcatlan, "Alf." had been living for some nine years at Ciudad Santos, San Luis Potosi.
Among secondary informants with whom Harrington consulted were Professor Gregorio Cruz (Cruz, Ruz), of the Colegio Administrativo at Toluco, who was teaching school in Tenango;Jose Fortino, a resident of Teskitote Ranch; and Professor Camarena of Toluca. Others mentioned were Francisco Pinera Martinez (middle name alternately spelled Pireda), E[fraim] Sanchez, Pablo Yadieis, and Juan Baloria.
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
This subseries of the Mexico/Central America/South America series contains Harrington's Cuna research, consisting of linguistic and ethnographic notes, reports and clippings, and miscellaneous notes.
There is a small section of "S[an] Blas" vocabulary which was recorded from Enrique Tule in Los Angeles in 1914. Most of his linguistic and ethnographic notes were obtained from the Cuna group that visited Washington, D.C., in 1924. He recorded vocabulary for animals, especially fishes; relationships; months; placenames; and tribenames. He also collected ethnographic information for cataloged artifacts from the Marsh Expedition, such as paddles, necklaces, and baskets. Some notes were elicited while examining the contents of a mannequin case in the U. S. National Museum. Interspersed with the linguistic and ethnographic data are information on members of the Cuna group, references to photographs, and quotes regarding the Marsh Expedition from one of its members, Major H. B. Johnson. Also filed here are a set of texts. Song texts, including the Canoe Song, Flower Song, and Headache Song, appear to have been written down from dictation or during a performance; there are virtually no translations. A few pages are in the hand of Paul Vogenitz. There is also a three-page typescript of Cuna text with a partial interlinear translation. It was dictated by Igwa Nigdibippi on December 9, 1924, as a discussion of the chief's activities in Washington, D.C., and was transcribed by Vogenitz on the following day. The second text, which takes the form of a letter addressed from "Pablo" [Paul] to "Kwan" Uohn], was prepared by Vogenitz as a writing exercise in the Cuna language. The subject is evolution, a topic of public interest at the time in light of the on-going trial of John Thomas Scopes. There are also typed data on note slips with handwritten annotations on plants and material culture. Original catalog numbers and Smithsonian catalog numbers are provided for some of the artifacts discussed. In addition, a few items collected by the Marsh Expedition are illustrated in sketches. There are also references to Dr. Walter Hough, Mr. Marsh, and Dr. Henry B. Collins. A second set of slips deals with terms for parts of the body and for various animal species. The slips were handwritten by both Harrington and Vogenitz. There are corresponding typed copies for many of the slips. Each entry consists of a single word and commentary on the phonetics.
This subseries also contains a series of reports on the Cuna Indians. Included are drafts of a paper titled "Ethnological and Linguistic Study of the Tule Indians of Panama" and a similar untitled typescript of two pages. This statement by Harrington includes discussion of estimated population, geographical area, tribal names and divisions, and language of the Cuna and lists the names of his informants. It also contains references to his study of Tule placenames of the coast and mountains and to the map drawn by Chief Igwa Nigdibippi (see MS 4490). The extensive "8000-word vocabulary" mentioned in the paper has not been located. There is also material relating to the reports Frances Densmore prepared regarding her study of the Cuna. Included are a typed copy of "Music and Customs of the Tule Indians of Panama" and handwritten and typed copies by Harrington of "Songs and Instrumental Music of the Tule Indians of Panama." These are followed by notes for an unfavorable review Harrington was writing of the papers by Densmore. Also filed here are newspaper clippings discussing Richard O. Marsh's explorations and Harrington's linguistic work with the Tule Indians.
Harrington retained a number of files of miscellany relating to his study of Cuna. Included are reading notes from Lionel Wafer's book, A New Voyage and Description of the Isthmus of America, concerning observations of the Tule in 1699. They contain a few annotations regarding vocabulary items and phrases. There are also notes on Baron Erland Nordenskiold, a Swedish anthropologist who traveled among the Cuna in 1927, and Karl Gustav Izikowitz, who worked with a Tule informant named Ruben Perez Kantule in Goteborg, Sweden, in 1931. These are accompanied by two lists of vocabulary which were evidently prepared by Vogenitz with the intention of demonstrating the affinity of Cuna with the Scandinavian and Germanic languages. This claim was based on mistranslations or comparisons of inappropriate forms of a given word. A few additional pages, labeled "Tule miscellaneous," include a note from H. B. Johnson to Harrington. There are also random notes on bibliography and the names of contact persons.
Biographical / Historical:
From October through December of 1924, John P. Harrington worked with a party of Cuna--the "White Indians" as they were called by the press. The group was brought to the United States in July by an engineer, Richard O. Marsh, who earlier in 1924 had led the "Marsh Darien" expedition to eastern Panama, with representatives from the Smithsonian and other institutions. After a well-publicized short visit to New York City (during which Harrington probably reported on the Indians for a New Orleans newspaper) and longer stays in upstate New York and Canada, the party travelled in October to Washington, D.C. While in the capital, Marsh lobbied on behalf of the Cuna against the Panamanian government and the party was studied by various Smithsonian scientists--among them Frances Densmore, Herbert Krieger, and Ales Hrdlicka. Harrington and his colleague Paul Vogenitz of the Post Office Department undertook linguistic work with members of the group both at the Smithsonian and at the house where they were staying in nearby Chevy Chase, Maryland.
The party of eight Cuna consisted of three young albinos and five non-albino adults; two of the latter served as chaperones for the young people. The other three were delegates on a secret political mission to the United States. These individuals and their communities of origin are inconsistently identified in the documents. This is due to mistakes and simplifications by Harrington and others and because in this era, Cuna often had multiple and variously spelled names. The chaperones were a couple from the island of Nargana (also referred to as San Jose, Yantuppu and Rio Diablo in the notes): Jim, James, or Santiago Perry (also Berry, Beri, or Campos) and his wife Inez or Alice. The albinos were their adolescent daughter Margarita or Marguerite, and two unrelated boys who were sometimes passed off as their sons. The younger was called Tcippu (the Cuna word for "white," often given to albinos) from the island of Ustupu or Portogandi. The older boy was Olo Piniginya or Olo from Ailigandi.
The three political delegates were Igwa Nigdibippi, a subchief of the island of Ailigandi and personal emissary of the high chief Cimral Coleman; Alfred Robinson or Kantule, son of the high chief Nele Kantule of Portogandi; and Phillip (Phillip, Felipe) Thompson, also called Niga ("nephew") of Tikantikki or Niatupu. Alfred and Phillip spoke English and Spanish, and Phillip had attended primary school in Washington some years earlier.
Harrington and Vogenitz worked with Jim Perry and his daughter Margarita, Phillip Thompson (abbreviated "Ph." or "Fe!."), Alfred Robinson ("Alf."), and Igwa Nigdibippi ("Chief"). The group was first brought to the museum on October 18, 1924, and Harrington began recording information from them the next day. His field notes mention dates in October through December; during some of this period Vogenitz worked more intensively with the Indians while Harrington attended to other work at the Smithsonian. A vocabulary slip dated January 12 [1925] was probably written out after the fact. Frances Densmore began her musical studies with the Cuna on November 25th and worked intensively with them from November 30 to December 6.
The Cuna party left the United States at the beginning of January. Later in the month Marsh returned to San BIas, the coastal territory of the Cuna, and at the end of February helped to lead an uprising against the Panamanian government.
Local Numbers:
Accession #1976-95
Related Materials:
See Manuscript 4490 for the map of San Blas drawn by Igwa Nigdibippi for Harrington. The NAA also holds the papers of Richard Marsh.
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
Indians of North America -- California Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Vocabulary
Field notes
Questionnaires
Place:
California -- Languages
Date:
1910-1936
bulk 1916-1918
Scope and Contents:
This subseries of the Notes and writings on special linguistic studies series contains a set of questionnaires which John P. Harrington used during various periods of his linguistic fieldwork. It appears that the questionnaires were used principally to elicit words in various California languages--the names of a Salinan speaker and several Wintu and Yana informants are given on a number of heading sheets, although they were undoubtedly used during other fieldwork as well. References to Abby, a speaker of New Mexican Spanish, and to Leonora S. Curtin (abbreviated "LCC"[sic]), a collector of Moroccan botanical specimens, suggest that Harrington used the section of botanical terms in his study of Arabic influences on the Spanish spoken in the American Southwest.
The various components were not organized as a unit but were found scattered throughout his papers. (A portion of the notes were formerly cataloged as parts of B.A.E. mss. 2292 and 6017.) They have been brought together and arranged according to a number of his standard headings: cosmology, botany, anatomy, kinship, material culture. The largest group covers the various classifications of animal species. Within each semantic heading the pages have been arranged as much as possible in chronological order. There is also a set of miscellaneous lists which have not been subdivided semantically.
The questionnaires consist largely of word lists in a mixture of English, California Spanish, and Chumash (Barbareno or Ventureno). Harrington occasionally annotated these lists with equivalent forms in Mohave or Chemehuevi. Although the questionnaires were usually used for eliciting nouns, the section on anatomy also lists verb forms and the section on botany has questions on uses of plants.
Supplementing the word lists are notes from interviews with Smithsonian scientists. Those with George S. Meyers, head curator of the Division of Fishes at the U.S. National Museum, on fish species are particularly extensive. There are also newspaper clippings, bibliographic references, reading notes, and typed extracts from scientific publications. Harrington's files also include reprints and plates picturing various plants and animals which he removed from larger works.
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
Comments on the proposed conservation of usage of 15 mammals species names based on wild species which are antedated by or contemporary with those based on domestic animals (Case 3010; see BZN 53:28-37)
Dasypodidae Borner, 1919 (Insecta, Hymenoptera): Proposed Emendation of Spelling to Dasypodaidae, so Removing the Homonymy with Dasypodidae Gray, 1821 (Mammalia, Xenarthra)
Case 3058. Artocephalus F. Cuvier, 1826 and Callorhinus Gray, 1859 (Mammalia, Pinnipedia): Proposed Conservation by the Designation of Phoca pusilla Schreber, [1775] as the Type Species of Arctocephalus; and Otaria Péron
