Object Details
- Creator
- Dorsey, James Owen, 1848-1895
- Names
- Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology
- Bushotter, George, 1864-1892
- Gatschet, Albert S. (Albert Samuel), 1832-1907
- Hewitt, J. N. B. (John Napoleon Brinton), 1859-1937
- Mooney, James, 1861-1921
- Powell, John Wesley, 1834-1902
- Riggs, Stephen Return, 1812-1883
- Place
- Siletz Indian Reservation (Or.)
- Topic
- Language and languages -- Documentation
- Ethnology
- Indians of North America -- Northeast
- Social structure
- Kinship
- Manners and customs
- Shahaptian languages
- Yakonan languages
- Athapascan languages
- Kusan languages
- Linguistics
- Siouan languages
- Dhegiha language
- Siuslaw Indians
- Hidatsa language
- Omaha language
- Dakota language
- Catawba language
- Biloxi language
- Caddoan languages
- Osage language
- Alsea language
- Kansa language
- Mandan language
- Chastacosta language
- Coquille language
- Tutelo language
- Winnebago language
- Siuslaw language
- Takelma language
- Creator
- Dorsey, James Owen, 1848-1895
- Culture
- Indians of North America -- Subarctic
- Athapascan Indians
- Catawba Indians
- Minitari (Hidatsa)
- Numakiki (Mandan)
- Biloxi Indians
- Tutelo
- Iowa
- Chiwere
- Ho-Chunk (Winnebago)
- Oto
- Quapaw Indians
- Osage
- Sioux
- Lakota (Teton/Western Sioux)
- Dhegiha Indians
- Assiniboine (Stoney)
- Ponca
- Omaha
- Tututni (Tutuni)
- Kaw (Kansa)
- Siletz
- Coos (Kusan)
- Yaquina (Yakwina)
- Arctic peoples
- Indians of North America -- Northwest Coast of North America
- Indians of North America -- Great Plains
- Indians of North America -- Southeast
- Takelma (Rogue River Indians)
- Klikitat
- Chasta Costa (Chastacosta)
- See more items in
- MS 4800 James O. Dorsey papers
- Sponsor
- Creation of this finding aid was funded through support from the Arcadia Fund. Digitization and preparation of additional materials for online access has been funded also by the National Science Foundation under BCS Grant No. 1561167 and the Recovering Voices initiative at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.
- Summary
- Reverend James Owen Dorsey (1848-1895) was a missionary and Bureau of American Ethnology ethnologist who conducted extensive research on Siouan tribes and languages.The papers of James Owen Dorsey comprise mostly ethnographic and linguistic materials on various tribes of the Siouan language family as well as tribes from Siletz Reservation in Oregon. These materials include texts and letters with interlineal translations; grammar notes; dictionaries; drawings; and his manuscripts. In addition, the collection contains Dorsey's correspondence, newspaper clippings, his obituaries, and reprints.
- Biographical Note
- Reverend James Owen Dorsey (1848-1895) was a missionary and Bureau of American Ethnology ethnologist who conducted extensive research on Siouan tribes and languages. Dorsey was born on October 31, 1848 in Baltimore, Maryland. He exhibited a talent for languages at an early age. At age 6 he learned the Hebrew alphabet and was able to read the language at age 10. In 1867 Dorsey attended the Theological Seminary of Virginia and was ordained a deacon of the Protestant Episcopal Church in 1871. In May of that year, Dorsey traveled to the Dakota Territory to serve as a missionary among the Ponca. Plagued by ill health, Dorsey was forced to end his missionary work in August 1873. By that time, however, he had learned the Ponca language well enough to converse with members of the tribe without an interpreter. Dorsey returned to Maryland and engaged in parish work while continuing his studies of Siouan languages. His linguistic talents and knowledge of these languages attracted the attention of Major John Wesley Powell. Powell arranged for Dorsey to work among the Omaha in Nebraska from 1878 to 1880 to collect linguistic and ethnological notes. When the Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE) was established in 1879, Powell recruited Dorsey to join the staff. As an ethnologist for the BAE, Dorsey continued his research on Siouan tribes. His studies focused on languages but also included Siouan personal names, folklore, social organization, religion, beliefs, and customs. He conducted fieldwork among the Tutelo at Six Nations on Grand River in Upper Canada (1882); the Kansa, Osage, and Quapaw in Indian Territory (1883-1884); the Biloxi at Lecompte, Rapides Parish, Louisiana (1892); and again with the Quapaw at the Quapaw Mission (1894). He also worked with Native Americans that visited DC, including George Bushotter (Teton), Philip Longtail (Winnebago), Samuel Fremont (Omaha), and Little Standing Buffalo (Ponca). He also spent time at Siletz Reservation in 1884 to collect linguistic notes on the Athapascan, Kusan, Takilman, and Yakonan stocks. In addition to his research, Dorsey helped found the American Folklore Society and served as the first vice-president of the association. He also served as vice-president of Section H of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. At the age of 47, Dorsey died of typhoid fever on February 4, 1895. Sources Consulted 1st-16th Annual Reports of the Bureau of American Ethnology. 1881-1897. Hewitt, J.N.B. 1895. "James Owen Dorsey" American Anthropologist A8, 180-183. McGee, W.J. 1895. "In Memoriam." Journal of American Folklore 8(28): 79-80. 1848 -- Born on October 31 in Baltimore, Maryland. 1871 -- Ordained a deacon of the Protestant Episcopal Church. 1871-1873 -- Served as a missionary among the Ponca in Dakota Territory. 1878-1880 -- Conducted fieldwork among the Omaha in Nebraska. 1879 -- Joined the staff of the Bureau of American Ethnology. 1882 -- Conducted fieldwork among the Tutelo at Six Nations on Grand River in Upper Canada. 1883-1884 -- Conducted fieldwork among the Kansa, Osage, and Quapaw in Indian Territory. 1887 -- Worked with George Bushotter to record information regarding the language and culture of the Dakota. 1884 -- Conducted fieldwork at Siletz Reservation. 1892 -- Conducted fieldwork among the Biloxi at Lecompte, Rapides Parish, Louisiana. 1894 -- Conducted fieldwork among the Quapaw at the Quapaw Mission in Indian Territory. 1895 -- Died of typhoid fever on February 4th at the age of 47.
- Extent
- 30 Linear feet (70 boxes, 1 oversized box, 20 manuscript envelopes, 4 rolled maps, and 23 map folders)
- Date
- circa 1870-1956
- bulk 1870-1895
- Archival Repository
- National Anthropological Archives
- Identifier
- NAA.MS4800
- Type
- Collection descriptions
- Archival materials
- Field notes
- Drawings
- Vocabulary
- Folklore
- Sermons
- Manuscripts
- Obituaries
- Correspondence
- Newspaper clippings
- Citation
- Manuscript 4800 James O. Dorsey papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
- Arrangement
- The collection is organized into 6 series: 1) Siouan; 2) Siletz Reservation; 3) Caddoan; 4) General Correspondence; 5) Personal Papers; 6) Miscellaneous & Reprints.
- Processing Information note
- Processed by NAA Staff. Encoded by Nancy Kennedy and Lorain Wang.
- Rights
- Contact the repository for terms of use.
- Funding Note
- Digitization and preparation of many of these materials for online access has been funded through generous support from the Arcadia Fund.
- Selected Bibliography
- 1881. Omaha Sociology. 3rd Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology: 205-370. 1884. Siouan Folk-lore and Mythologic Notes. American Antiquarian and Oriental Journal 6: 174-176. 1885. On the comparative phonology of four Siouan languages. Smithsonian Institution Annual Report for 1883: 912-929. 1886. Migrations of Siouan tribes. American Naturalist 20(3): 211-222. 1888. Osage traditions. 6th Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology: 373-397. 1889. Indians of Siletz Reservation, Oregon. American Anthropologist A2(1): 55-62. 1889. Ponca and Omaha Songs. The Journal of American Folklore 2(7): 271-276. 1889. Teton Folk-lore. American Anthropologist A2(2): 143-158. 1890. The Cegiha Language. Contributions to North American Ethnology 6. Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office. 1890. The Gentile System of the Siletz Tribes. The Journal of American Folklore 3(10): 227-237. 1890 Indian Personal Names. American Anthropologist A3(3): 263-268. 1890. Riggs, Stephen Return. A Dakota-English Dictionary. Contributions to North American Ethnology 7. James Owen Dorsey, ed. Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office. 1891 Omaha and Ponca Letters. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 11. Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office. 1891. The Social Organization of the Siouan Tribes. Journal of American Folklore 4(14, 15): 257-266, 331-342. 1912 with John Swanton. A Dictionary of the Biloxi and Ofo languages. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 47. Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office. 1897 Siouan Sociology. 15th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology: 205-244. 1892. Siouan Onomatopes. American Anthropologist A5(1): 1-8. 1894 A Study of Siouan Cults. 11th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology: 361-544.
- Genre/Form
- Field notes
- Drawings
- Vocabulary
- Folklore
- Sermons
- Manuscripts
- Obituaries
- Correspondence
- Newspaper clippings
- Scope and Contents
- This collection contains James O. Dorsey's research and writings as a BAE ethnologist, as well as his earlier work as a missionary among the Ponca. The vast majority of the collection pertains to his research on Siouan-Catawban languages, including the Dakota and Dhegiha languages, Chiwere, Winnebago, Mandan, Hidatsa, Tutelo, Biloxi, and Catawba. His research on Athapascan, Kusan, Takilman, and Yakonan languages from his field work at Siletz Reservation are also present, as well as some notes on the Caddoan languages. Dorsey's research files include linguistic and ethnological field notes, reading notes, stories and myths, vocabularies, drawings, and unpublished and published manuscripts. The collection also contains Omaha, Ponca, Quapaw, and Biloxi dictionaries that he compiled and materials relating to his work editing Steven Riggs' Dakota-English Dictionary. Additional noteworthy materials in the collection are Teton texts and drawings from George Bushotter and drawings by Stephen Stubbs (Kansa), Pahaule-gagli (Kansa), and George Miller (Omaha). The collection also contains Dorsey's correspondence, newspaper clippings, obituaries, and his collection of reprints.
- Restrictions
- The James O. Dorsey Papers are open for research. Access to the James O. Dorsey Papers requires an appointment
- Record ID
- ebl-1503512914364-1503512914402-0
