This subseries of the Notes and writings on special linguistic studies series contains material reflecting John P. Harrington's long-time interest in theories of the Siberian origin of American Indians. Materials consist of notes and drafts for his paper "Siberian Origin of the American Indian.
His early notes include handwritten and typed versions of the outline "Antiquity of Man . . . " from 1915 (dated by handwriting as well as by type of pencil and paper); copies of short early vocabularies recorded by La Perouse (Tchoka) and Father Jette (Ten'a), probably prepared by Harrington around 1922 to 1923; a mimeographed statement by the Science News Service, dated 1923; newspaper clippings on Harrington's theories from 1924; and two pages of notes which Harrington recorded during a discussion with colleague Truman Michelson in November 1926. There is also an undated typed proposal titled "Investigation of the Origin of the Native American Race." This three page document does not appear to have been written by Harrington, but the source is not indicated.
Materials accumulated during the period 1937 to 1938 are the most numerous. They include notes from interviews; copies of correspondence; records regarding the computation of tribal areas; notes on maps and photographs; and reading notes, extracts, and bibliographic references to secondary sources. The transcripts of interviews, dated February 1937 through November 1938, include information from Riley Moore, Carl Bishop, John G. Carter, and B.A.E. colleagues Truman Michelson and Matthew W. Stirling. The lengthiest set of notes is from a discussion with Smithsonian archeologist Henry B. Collins, who described fieldwork he had conducted from May to November 1936. The brief file of correspondence contains letters from Diamond Jenness and H. E. Rollins and a note from John G. Carter. The file on illustrative materials includes maps and charts showing the computation of land areas occupied by the Chukchee, Aleut, Eskimo, and Athapascan tribes. Supplementing these are notes from meetings with staff members of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in March and April 1937. There are also notes on maps, motion picture films, and photographs, as well as illustrations by Clark M. Garber and Joelle Danner. The notes from secondary sources include the title page and table of contents for a manuscript by Ivan A. Lopatin titled "The Cult of the Dead Among the Natives of the Amur Valley." There are also a few pages on file for another paper by Lopatin, "Material on the Language of the Natives of the Amur Region." There is also a sizable set of notes relating to the translation of various terms--mostly tribal names--into Russian. These include cut-and-pasted portions of letters which Waldemar Jochelson sent Harrington.
The material compiled after 1937 is highly miscellaneous. Items from the 1940s include a sixteen-page untitled rough draft on the migration of Siberian man; a three-page typed carbon copy of the article "Stepping Stones Between Eurasia and America" which was used in a release by the Office of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior, on August 4, 1940; a partial draft of an article on boats; a sectional map of the Bering Strait which was mailed to Harrington by C. M. Garber on January 18, 1947; and notes from interviews with Mr. [Tappan?] Adney on March 28, 1941, with William Heslop and King Mooers later in that year, and with Henry B. Collins on December 8, 1947. There is also an Eskimo vocabulary which Harrington copied from William Thalbitzer and three pages of miscellaneous notes dating from the late 1950s.
A separate file of notes on Chukchee spans the entire period of Harrington's work on Siberia. There are a number of pages on Chukchee, Yukagir, and Eskimo mythology which he extracted from his notes for lectures at the University of Washington in 1910; brief notes from discussions with Truman Michelson, Waldemar Jochelson, and Franz Boas around 1926 to 1928; and copies made on February 23, 1937, of "Chukchee polysynthesis words" which had been compiled in an unspecified article by colleague Robert W. Young. The source of data for the latter was Waldemar Bogoras's paper "Chukchee" in the Handbook of American Indian Languages edited by Franz Boas. Later material includes a copy of a letter from Ivan Lopatin (November 23, 1947) with an enclosure titled "Discovery of the Chukchee and Derivation of the Name"; a copy by Harrington of the enclosure; and the rough beginning of a paper by Harrington titled "Short Sketch of the Grammar of the Chukchee Language," also evidently written in 1947.
Language and languages -- Documentation Search this
Genre/Form:
Notes
Manuscripts
Maps
Vocabulary
Collection Citation:
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
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Copy prints
Photographs
Place:
Alaska
Date:
1893-1926
Scope and Contents note:
Photographs depicting Blackfeet, Cree, Sarsi, Eskimo, and Chukchi people, as well as boats, interiors of igloos, and a camp. Many of the photographs are studio portraits. One series was made by Diamond Jenness on Little Diomede Island in 1926 and another by R. M. Anderson on the Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913-1916. Photographers represented in the collection include David F. Barry. J. B. Tyrell, F. W. Waugh, and J. D. Soper.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot R81N
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Additional Barry photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 90-1, Photo Lot 4605, Photo Lot 87-2P, Photo Lot 24, and in the BAE historical negatives.
Additional Jenness photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 8, and correspondence from him is held in the National Anthropological Archives in MS 7053, the Henry Bascom Collins, Jr. papers, the Frederica de Laguna papers, the Ales Hrdlicka papers, the John Peabody Harrington papers, the Society for American Archaeology records, and the Bureau of American Ethnology records.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
This copy collection has been obtained for reference purposes only. Copies may be obtained from the National Museum of Canada.
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Citation:
Photo lot R81N, Copies of National Museum of Canada photograph collection relating to American Indians, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu
The American aborigines, their origin and antiquity; a collection of papers by ten authors, assembled and edited by Diamond Jenness; published for presentation at the fifth Pacific Science Congress, Canada, 1933
Arctic odyssey : the diary of Diamond Jenness, ethnologist with the Canadian Arctic Expedition in Northern Alaska and Canada, 1913-1916 / edited and annotated by Stuart E. Jenness ; with a foreward by William E. Taylor
Includes:1) Census of Stuart Lake and other communities by family with data on traps; 2) Census by bands or reserves; 3) Notebook listing plant specimens and use (14 pages); 4) Miscellaneous notes 5) (Culture) element list, with notes; 6) Typed list of culture features apparently prepared for comparative purposes, not used; 7) List of specimens collected, July 6-12, 1940; 8) Letters received from M. W. Stirling, Diamond Jenness, Donald D. Brand, and others; 9) List, "Culture Element Distributions; the Plateau" by Verne F. Ray (not completed);
10) "Carrier Acculturation: the Direct Historical Approach;" 11) Notes on Irving Goldmanʹs "The Alkatcho Carrier of British Columbia;" 12) Genealogical charts; 13) Miscellany; 14) Maps -- a. British Columbia, Department of Lands, Pre-Emptorʹs map: Stuart Lake Sheet, 1923, ca. 40 x 25 in. b. British Columbia, Department of Lands, Pre-Emptorʹs Map: Fort George Sheet, 1923, ca. 40 x 25 in.; c. Portion of map of British Columbia (southern part only), 72 x 27 in. -- annotated with numbered locations, no key provided d. Canadian Topological Survey sheets annotated to show land holdings, ca. 45 x 40 in.; e. British Columbia
Department of Lands, Cariboo and Adjacent Districts, annotated to show land holdings, ca. 44 x 32 in.; f. Canada, Department of Mines and Resources, Map of the Dominion of Canada Excluse of Northern regions indicating Main Natural Resources, 1936, 36 x 26 in.; g. A.L. Kroeber, Cultural and Natural Areas of Native America, 1939, 28 x 22 in.; h. British Columbia, Topographical Sketch Map of Omineca and Finlay River Basins, 1917, 28 x 40 in.
