National Anthropological Archives

Guide to MS 3992-a Seneca drawings collected by Jeremiah Curtin, circa 1840

Summary

Collection ID:
NAA.MS3992A
Creators:
Curtin, Jeremiah, 1835-1906
Dates:
circa 1840
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
2 Drawings (visual works)
watercolor and ink
Repository:
Container:
3992A

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The collection consists of two (2) watercolor drawings collected by Curtin on the Cattaraugus Seneca Reservation in 1883. The drawings are copies of drawings made around 1840 by an unidentified artist, possibly George Wilson, a resident of the Cattaraugus Reservation.
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Jeremiah Curtin (1835–1906) was an American ethnographer, folklorist, and translator. From 1883 to 1891 he was employed by the Bureau of American Ethnology as a field researcher documenting the customs and mythologies of various North American indigenous peoples.

Administration

Immediate Source of Acquisition
Jeremiah Curtin submitted three drawings to the Bureau of American Ethnology via John Wesley Powell on Febrary 20, 1884. The third drawing has been lost.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Use
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Preferred Citation
MS 3992-A Seneca drawings collected by Jeremiah Curtin, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Related Materials
The National Museum of the American Indian holds a version of one of the drawings. See "Man On Sickbed With Spirits" Catalog Number 11/2912.
The National Anthropological Archives holds photographs of the drawings in Photo Lot 155 J.N.B. Hewitt photographs of Iroquois people on the Six Nations Reservation (Item II.85-86).

More Information

Local Numbers

Local Numbers
NAA MS 3992-A

Variant Title

Variant Title
A man bewitched within the house by a woman without... and The patient welcomes his physicians

Conservation Note

Conservation Note
The drawings were laminated, possibly in the 1950s. In the late 1970s, the drawings were delaminated.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Works of art Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Drawings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Seneca [Cattaraugus] Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
North America Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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