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National Anthropological Archives
Guide to the James Henri Howard Papers, 1950-1982
Summary
- Collection ID:
- NAA.1994-30
- Creators:
-
Howard, James H., 1925-1982 (James Henri)Woolworth, Alan R.Weslager, C.A.Witthoft, John, 1921-1993Swauger, James LeeTurnbull, ColinHorn, Frances L.Garcia, LouisFogelson, Raymond D.Hodge, WilliamHayink, J.Feder, NormanErvin, Sam J. JrFeraca, Stephen E., 1934-Feest, Christian F.Cree, CharlieDavis, Edward MottDe Busk, Charles R.Iadarola, AngeloBrasser, Ted J.Bunge, GeneCavendish, RichardClifton, James A.DeMallie, RaymondBlake, Leonard W.Dean, Nora ThompsonSpier, Leslie, 1893-1961Smith, John L.Swanton, John RobertSturtevant, William C.Peterson, John H.Paredes, J. Anthony, 1939- (James Anthony)Schleisser, Karl H.Reed, Nelson A.Medford, Claude W.Lurie, Nancy OestreichOpler, Morris EdwardNettl, Bruno, 1930-Kraft, Herbert C.Johnson, Michael G.Lindsey-Levine, VictoriaKurath, Gertrude
- Dates:
-
1824-1992bulk 1950-1982
- Languages:
-
Collection is primarily inEnglish. Research and published materials are inCherokee;Choctaw;Creek;Dakota;Delaware;Kickapoo;Ojibwe;Omaha;Pawnee;Ponca;Seminole;Shawnee. Sound Recordings are inChoctaw;Dakota.
- Physical Description:
-
10.25 Linear feet
- Repository:
To a considerable degree, the James H. Howard papers consist of manuscript copies of articles, book, speeches, and reviews that document his professional work in anthropology, ethnology, ethnohistory, archeology, linguistics, musicology, and folklore between 1950 and 1982. Among these are a few unpublished items. Notes are relatively scant, there being somewhat appreciable materials for the Chippewa, Choctaw, Creek, Dakota, Omaha, Ponca, Seminole, and Shawnee. The chief field materials represented in the collection are sound recordings and photographs, but many of the latter are yet to be unidentified. A series of color photographs of Indian artifacts in folders are mostly identified and represent the extensive American Indian Cultural collection of costumes and artifacts that Howard acquired and created. Other documents include copies of papers and other research materials of colleagues. There is very little original material related to archeological work in the collection and that which is present concerns contract work for the Lone State Steel Company.
Scope and Contents
Scope and Contents
The James Henri Howard papers document his research and professional activities from 1949-1982 and primarily deal with his work as an anthropologist, archeologist, and ethnologist, studying Native American languages & cultures. The collection consists of Series 1 correspondence; Series 2 writings and research, which consists of subject files (language and culture research materials), manuscripts, research proposals, Indian claim case materials, Howard's publications, publications of others, and bibliographical materials; Series 3 sound recordings of Native American music and dance; Series 4 photographs; and Series 5 drawings and artwork.
Howard was also a linguist, musicologist, and folklorist, as well as an informed and able practitioner in the fields of dance and handicrafts. His notable books include
Choctaw Music and Dance; Oklahoma Seminoles: Medicines, Magic, and Religion;
and Shawnee! The Ceremonialism of a Native American Tribe and its Cultural Background.
Some materials are oversize, specifically these three Winter Count items: 1. a Dakota Winter Count made of cloth in 1953 at the request of James H. Howard, 2. a drawing of British Museum Winter Count on 4 sheets of paper, and 3. Photographs of a Winter Count.
Arrangement
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in 5 series: Series 1. Correspondence, 1960-1982, undated; Series 2. Writings and Research, 1824-1992; Series 3. Sound Recordings, 1960-1979; Series 4. Photographs, 1879-1985; Series 5. Drawings and Artwork, 1928-1982.
Chronology
Chronology
1925
James Henri Howard was born on September 10 in Redfield, South Dakota.
1949
Received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Nebraska.
1950
Received his Master of Arts from the University of Nebraska and began a prolific record of publishing.
1950-1953
Began his first professional employment as an archaeologist and preparator at the North Dakota State Historical Museum in Bismarck.
1955-1957
Was a museum lecturer at the Kansas City (Missouri) Museum.
1957
James H. Howard received his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan. Joined the staff of the Smithsonian's River Basin Surveys in the summer.
1957-1963
Taught anthropology at the University of North Dakota.
1962
Chief archeologist at the Fortress of Louisberg Archeological Project in Nova Scotia.
1963-1968
Taught anthropology at the University of South Dakota; State Archeologist of South Dakota; Director of the W. H. Over Dakota Museum.
1963-1966
Director of the Institute of Indian Studies, University of South Dakota.
1968-1982
Associate professor of anthropology at Oklahoma State University at Stillwater (became a full professor in 1971).
1979
Consulted for exhibitions at the Western Heritage Museum in Omaha, Nebraska.
1982
Died October 1 after a brief illness.
Biographical/Historical note
Biographical/Historical note
James H. Howard was trained in anthropology at the University of Nebraska (B.A., 1949; M.A., 1950) and the University of Michigan (Ph.D., 1957). In 1950-1953, he served as archeologist and preparator at the North Dakota State Historical Museum; and, in 1955-1957, he was on the staff of the Kansas City (Missouri) Museum. During the summer of 1957, he joined the staff of the Smithsonian's River Basin Surveys. Between 1957 and 1963, he taught anthropology at the Universtity of North Dakota. Between 1963 and 1968, he served in several capacities with the University of South Dakota including assistant and associate professor, director of the Institute of Indian Studies (1963-1966), and Director of the W.H. Over Museum (1963-1968). In 1968, he joined the Department of Sociology at Oklahoma State University, where he achieved the rank of professor in 1970. In 1979, he was a consultant for exhibitions at the Western Heritage Museum in Omaha, Nebraska.
Howard's abiding interest were the people of North America, whom he studied both as an ethnologist and archeologist. Between 1949 and 1982, he worked with the Ponca, Omaha, Yankton and Yaktonai Dakota, Yamasee, Plains Ojibwa (or Bungi), Delaware, Seneca-Cayuga, Prairie Potatwatomi of Kansas, Mississipi and Oklahoma Choctaw, Oklahoma Seminole, and Pawnee. His interest in these people varied from group to group. With some he carried out general culture studies; with other, special studies of such phenomena as ceremonies, art, dance, and music. For some, he was interest in environmental adaptation and land use, the latter particularly for the Pawnee, Yankton Dakota, Plains Ojibwa, Turtle Mountain Chippewa, and Ponca, for which he served as consultant and expert witness in suits brought before the United Stated Indian Claims Commisssion. A long-time museum man, Howard was also interested in items of Indian dress, articles associated with ceremonies, and other artifacts. He was "a thoroughgoing participant-observer and was a member of the Ponca Hethuska Society, a sharer in ceremonial activities of many Plains tribes, and a first-rate 'powwow man'." (
American Anthropologist
1986, 88:692).As an archeologist, Howard worked at Like-a-Fishhook Village in North Dakota, Spawn Mound and other sites in South Dakota, Gavin Point in Nebraska and South Dakota, Weston and Hogshooter sites in Oklahoma, and the Fortess of Louisbourg in Nova Scotia. He also conducted surveys for the Lone Star Steel Company in Haskall, Latimer, Le Flore and Pittsburg counties in Oklahoma.
Administration
Author
Jan Danek
Sponsor
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Arcadia Fund.
Processing Information
The series delineated in this collection are based on the original order and groupings of the materials upon their arrival at this institution. The archivist integrated the contents of the last accretion (1994-30) into the existing order. Other accession numbers for this collection are 1988-05, 1988-22, 1989-04, 1989-34, 1989-35, 1989-36, 1990-11, and 1990-12. Original folder titles were used where appropriate. Processed and encoded by Jan Danek, 2016.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
These papers were donated to the National Anthropological Archives by James Henri Howard's wife, Elfriede Heinz Howard, in 1988-1990, 1992, & 1994.
Using the Collection
Conditions Governing Use
Contact repository for terms of use.
Conditions Governing Access
The James Henri Howard papers are open for research. Access to the James Henri Howard papers requires an appointment.
Preferred Citation
James Henri Howard Papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Related Materials
Related Materials
Howard's American Indian Cultural Collection of Costumes and Artifacts, that he acquired and created during his lifetime, is currently located at the Milwaukee Public Museum. In Boxes 19-21 of the James Henri Howard Papers, there are photographs with accompanying captions and descriptions in binders of his American Indian Cultural Collection of Costumes and Artifacts that his widow, Elfriede Heinze Howard, created in order to sell the collection to a museum.
More Information
Selected Bibliography
- 1952 "The Sun Dance of the Turtle Mountain Plains-Ojibwa." North Dakota History 19(4):249-264.
- 1952 (with Wesley R. Hurt, Jr.) "A Dakota Conjuring Ceremony." Southwestern Journal of Anthropology. 8(3):286-296.
- 1953 "The Southern Cult in the Northern Plains." American Antiquity 19(2):130-138.
- 1955 "Pan-Indian Culture of Oklahoma." The Scientific Monthly 81(5):215-220.
- 1955 "Two Dakota Winter Count Texts." Plains Anthropologist 1(5):13-30.
- 1959 "Some Chickasaw Fetiches." Florida Anthropologist 12(2):47-56.
- 1960 "The Cultural Position of the Dakota: A Reassessment." In Essays in the Science of Culture in Honor of Leslie A. White. Gertrude E. Dole and Robert L. Carniero, eds. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell.
- 1962 "Peyote Jokes." Journal of American Folklore. 75(295):10-14.
- 1964 "Archaeological Investigations in the Toronto Reservoir Area, Kansas." River Basin Survey Papers, No. 38, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 189:319-370.
- 1965 "The Compleat Stomp Dancer." Museum News, South Dakota Museum 26(5&6):1-23.
- 1965 "The Ponca Tribe." Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 195.
- 1968 The Warrior Who Killed Custer: The Personal Narrative of Chief Joseph White Bull (translated and edited). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
- 1970 "Bringing Back the Fire: The Revival of Natchez-Cherokee Ceremonial Ground." American Indian Crafts and Culture 4(1):9-12.
- 1976 "Songs of the Sarsi." (Jacket text for a phonograph record featuring songs of the Sarsi Indians of Calgary, Alberta). Canyon Records.
- 1976 "Social Cohesion in Native American Cultures: Old and New Structures, An Introduction." Acte du XLIIe Congress International des Americanistes, Paris, 2-9 Septembre:315-323.
- 1981 Shawnee! The Ceremonialism of a Native Indian Tribe and Its Cultural Background. Athens: Ohio University Press.
- 1982 Cut-Outs: Native American Art. Milwaukee Public Museum.
- 1984 (In collaboration with Willie Lena.) Oklahoma Seminoles: Medicines, Magic, and Religion. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
- 1984 The Canadian Sioux. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
- 1990 (and Victoria Lindsay-Levine) Choctaw Music and Dance. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
Selected Bibliography
Keywords
Repository Contact
National Anthropological Archives
Museum Support Center
4210 Silver Hill Road
Suitland, Maryland 20746
naa@si.edu
