National Anthropological Archives

Copy of James N. Edy photograph of Chiefs of the Six Nations explaining their wampum belts, 1871

Summary

Collection ID:
NAA.PhotoLot.86-58
Creators:
Edy, James N.
Dates:
1871
Languages:
Undetermined
.
Physical Description:
1 Copy print
Repository:

Scope and Contents note

Scope and Contents note
The collection consists of a copy of a studio portrait of Onondaga, Mohawk, and Seneca Chiefs with wampum belts, made on September 14, 1871, for Horatio Hale. Includes Joseph Snow (Hahriron), Onondaga Chief; George H. M. Johnson (Deyonhehgon), Mohawk chief, government interpreter and son of John Smoke Johnson; John Buck (Skanawatih), Onondaga chief and hereditary keeper of the wampum; John Smoke Johnson (Sakayenkwaraton), Mohawk chief and speaker of the council; Isaac Hill (Kawenenseronton), Onondaga chief and fire keeper; John Seneca Johnson (Kanonkeredawih), Seneca chief.

Biographical/Historical note

Biographical/Historical note
Horatio Emmons Hale (1817-1896) was an American-Canadian philologist, ethnologist, author, and businessman who studied Native American languages. He published the Iroquois Book of Rites in 1883, which documented the history and rituals of the Iroquois Confederacy based on interpretations of the group's wampum belts. In September 1871, he requested that six Iroquois chiefs, with whom he had worked on the wampum belts, come to the Brantford, Ontario, studio of James N. Edy, where this photograph was made.
Hale later sent the photograph to his colleagues with variations on the following inscription: "The wampum belts were explained to me on the reserve, at the residence of Chief G. H. M. Johnson; and at my request the chiefs afterwards came with me to Brantford, where the original photograph . . . was taken.--H. Hale, Clinton, Ont." The photograph from which this copy print was made originally belonged to J. N. B. Hewitt.

Administration

Author
Sarah Ganderup
Existence and Location of Copies note
Digital surrogate is available online.
Existence and Location of Originals note
Original cabinet photo by James N. Edy, Brantford, Ontario, is owned by Musee du Seminaire, Quebec (Album 6-G, page 109). This photograph has the notations by Hale on the reverse. A xerox copy of the cabinet card provided by W. C. Sturtevant.
Custodial History note
Photograph probably donated by William N. Fenton, circa 1985. May have previously hung in the Onondaga Council House in Ohsweken, Canada.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access note
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Conditions Governing Use note
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Preferred Citation note
Photo Lot 86-58, Copy of James N. Edy photograph of Chiefs of the Six Nations explaining their wampum belts, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Location of Other Archival Materials

Location of Other Archival Materials
Additional James N. Edy photographs can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in MS 4751 and the BAE historical negatives.
Location of Other Archival Materials
Vocabularies and correspondence by Horatio Hale can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in MS 7235, MS 7236, MS 4558, MS 772-c, MS 4797, MS 4800, MS 7439, MS 7440, MS 7441, MS 3436, MS 1072, the Bureau of American Ethnology Letters Received, and the J.C. Pilling Papers.

More Information

Local Call Number(s)

Local Call Number(s)
NAA Photo Lot 86-58

Bibliography

Bibliography
Photograph published by William N. Fenton as frontispiece of Hale, Horatio, The Iroquois Book of Rites, 2d ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1963.

Addl. KW Subj

Addl. KW Subj
Iroquois


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Indians of North America -- Northeast Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wampum Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Onondaga Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Seneca Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mohawk Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hale, Horatio, 1817-1896 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fenton, William N. (William Nelson), 1908-2005 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Anthropological Archives
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