National Museum of the American Indian

Hidatsa Delegation photographs in Washington, DC and New York City

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAI.AC.001.057
Creators:
Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation
Miller, Kenneth C., 1901-1974
Sinclair, David
Dates:
1938 January
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
56 Photographic prints
18 Negatives (photographic)
Repository:
Photographs of the Hidatsa Delegation at the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation in New York, City and visiting the White House in Washington, D.C. for the repatriation of a Water Buster Bundle in 1938. Hidatsa Delegation members included elders Drags Wolf and Foolish Bear.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The Hidatsa Delegation photographs in Washington, DC and New York City include photographic prints and negatives made in January 1938. The photographs in Washington, DC, shot on January 13, were made by photographers from the Bureau of Indian affairs. These include images of Minitari (Hidatsa) elders Foolish bear and Drags Wolf with their interpreter Arthur Mandan and Bureau staff members John Herrick, F.W. LaRoche in the BIA offices; Studio portraits of Foolish Bear and Drags Wolf in traditional dress; as well as images of the delegation visiting with President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House. Photographs in New York City were shot by either David Sinclair or Kenneth C. Miller before and during the repatriation ceremony at the Museum of the American Indian on January 14, 1938. In addition to the delegation members several MAI staff and board members were photographed including George Heye, Edwin K. Burnett, Thomas Roberts, Louis Bishop, and George Heye's wife at the time, Jessica Standing Heye, among others. Photographs which display the contents of the bundle have been restricted due to cultural sensitivity. For the photographs made by Miller, who was on staff at the time, we have both the negatives (possibly original) and the photographic prints.
Scope and Contents
Photographic prints: P12888-P12927, P37470-P37485. Negatives: N21505-N21522.

Arrangement

Arrangement
Arranged by catalog number.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
During the 1930s, a terrible drought parched the Plains. In North Dakota, members of the Hidatsa Water Buster Clan asked George Gustav Heye, director of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation to return a medicine bundle important in ceremonies to bring rain. Heye was initially reluctant to part with the bundle, which he acquired in 1927, twenty years after the son of the clan's bundle-custodian sold it to a Presbyterian missionary. When the press and government officials showed interest in the clan's request, Heye changed his mind.
In 1938, two Hidatsa elders, Drags Wolf and Foolish Bear, traveled east to collect the medicine bundle. Their first stop was Washington, D.C., where they met President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The next day, the Hidatsa attended a ceremony in New York, where they gave Heye a powder horn and war club in exchange for the medicine bundle.
In 1977, twenty years after Heye's death, museum curators came upon a wooden box, stored in a stairwell. Inside were items that belonged with the medicine bundle. It is unclear if the contents had become separated from the bundle or were deliberately set aside. The items were later returned to the Hidatsa.
https://americanindian.si.edu/exhibitions/infinityofnations/george-heye.html#plains-plateau

Administration

Author
Rachel Menyuk
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Photographs shot at the Museum in New York City were wither donated by David Sinclair in 1938 or created by Kenneth C. Miller, a museum staff member at the time. The photographs shot in Washington, DC, were donated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1938.
Processing Information
This collection is still in need of processing. Collection record written by Rachel Menyuk, Processing Archivist, in 2019.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Thursday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu). Some photographs are restricted due to cultural sensitivity.
Conditions Governing Use
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited users to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not changed, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian.
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Hidatsa Delegation photographs in Washington, DC and New York City, Item Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Minitari (Hidatsa) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Repatriation of American Indian material Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
New York (State) -- New York City -- Photographs Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Heye, George G. (George Gustav), 1874-1957 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Foolish Bear Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Drags Wolf Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Museum of the American Indian
4220 Silver Hill Rd
Suitland, Maryland 20746-2863
nmaiarchives@si.edu