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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 As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today.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
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
| 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 |
National Anthropological Archives
Museum Support Center
4210 Silver Hill Road
Suitland, Maryland 20746
Business Number: Phone: 301.238.1310
Fax Number: Fax: 301.238.2883
naa@si.edu
