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Catalog Data

Creator:
Mekeel, H. Scudder (Haviland Scudder), 1902-1947  Search this
Names:
Laboratory of Anthropology (Museum of New Mexico)  Search this
Collier, John, 1884-1968  Search this
Kroeber, A. L. (Alfred Louis), 1876-1960  Search this
Photographer:
Fiske, Frank Bennett, 1883-1952  Search this
Rise, Carl H., 1888-1939  Search this
Extent:
1 Print (photochrom)
443 Negatives (nitrate)
235 Prints (silver gelatin)
Culture:
Taos Indians  Search this
Pueblo  Search this
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New  Search this
Hopi Pueblo  Search this
Indians of North America -- Great Plains  Search this
Lakota (Teton/Western Sioux)  Search this
Anishinaabe (Chippewa/Ojibwa)  Search this
Oglala Lakota (Oglala Sioux)  Search this
Sioux  Search this
Osage  Search this
Hualapai (Walapai)  Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Prints
Negatives
Place:
Standing Rock Indian Reservation (N.D. and S.D.)
Oraibi (Ariz.)
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (S.D.)
Date:
bulk 1930-1933
circa 1920-1947
Scope and Contents note:
The photographs primarily document ceremonies, people, and lands of Native Americans in the Plains and Southwest, taken during Mekeel's field research from 1929 to 1936. A large portion of the collection depicts Mekeel's research during the early 1930s among the Oglala of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Another large portion of the collection includes personal photos depicting Mekeel's homes and children.
Biographical/Historical note:
H. Scudder Mekeel (1902-1947) was an anthropologist who studied social and psychological aspects of Native American cultures. Educated at Harvard University (BA, 1928), the University of Chicago (MA, 1929), and Yale University (PhD, 1932), he was a member of the 1929 Laboratory of Anthropology (Santa Fe) ethnological field school led by Alfred L. Kroeber. In 1929-1932, he carried out three field expeditions to the Sioux communities of South Dakota, working mainly on the Pine Ridge Reservation. He joined the Bureau of Indian Affairs as Director of Applied Anthropology under Commissioner John Collier in 1935. Two years later, he was appointed Director of the Laboratory of Anthropology at Santa Fe and continued there until 1940, when he accepted a teaching position at the University of Wisconsin.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 94-21
Location of Other Archival Materials:
The National Anthropological Archives holds copies of Mekeel's Field Notes from the summers of 1930 and 1931 in the White Clay District of the Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota (MS 7088). Originals of these field notes and Mekeel's population notes on the White Clay District are held by the American Museum of Natural History, Division of Anthropology Archives (.M454).
The Human Studies Film Archives holds Mekeel's film footage of a Lakota Sioux Sundance from 1930 (HSFA 92.8.1).
Correspondence from Mekeel held in the National Anthropological Archives in the William Duncan Strong papers, Raoul Weston LaBarre Papers, and Bureau of American Ethnology Administrative File.
Restrictions:
Original nitrate negatives are in cold storage and require special arrangements for viewing.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Topic:
Indians of North America -- Northeast  Search this
Citation:
Photo Lot 94-21, the H. Scudder Mekeel photographs, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Identifier:
NAA.PhotoLot.94-21
Archival Repository:
National Anthropological Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw3dbffcbe1-fa91-4298-a955-884082c29279
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-naa-photolot-94-21