Smithsonian Libraries

American Indian Language Bibles in the Smithsonian Institution Libraries

This post ran originally on the Smithsonian Collections blog.

The Smithsonian Institution Libraries has been collecting texts written in the languages of various Native American peoples since the late 19th century, when the United States Congress established the Bureau of Ethnology (later known as BAE, or the Bureau of American Ethnology) at the Smithsonian.

These books, in languages such as Mohawk, Ojibwa, Dakota, and Choctaw (to name a few examples; many of the texts include parallel translations in English) support the research of anthropologists in the National Museum of Natural History. These printed texts also complement the manuscripts and archival materials in the collections of the Smithsonian's National Anthropological Archives. The oldest volumes, which are housed in the Libraries' Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History and John Wesley Powell Library of Anthropology, are still actively used today by historians, biographers, and linguists interested in learning how different languages evolved, how translations were made, and how concepts were communicated across cultures.

 Many of the earliest printed texts of American Indian languages were created by Christian missionaries, who were supported by their denominations and by institutions such as the American Bible Society (founded in 1816), the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (founded in 1810), and the British and Foreign Bible Society (founded in 1804). Not surprisingly, besides dictionaries and grammars, some of the most typical early publications in American Indian languages were books of the Bible, catechisms, and hymnals.

Shown above are the parallel title pages from The Gospel According to St. Luke, translated into the Mohawk Tongue / Ne Tsinihhoweyea-Nenda-Onh Orighwa Do Geaty, Roghyadon Royadado Geaghty, Saint Luke, translated by Henry Aaron Hill (also known as Kenwendeshon), printed in New York City for the American Bible Society in 1827. Kenwendeshon was a member of the Mohawk tribe who served as an interpreter and catechist for missionaries of the Church of England and the Methodists. Several of his translations of the Gospels and hymns are owned by the Libraries. Other translations of the Bible in various American Indian languages owned by the Libraries can be found in the Smithsonian Collections Search database.

In recognition of this Christmas season, shown below are parallel translations of Mohawk and English from the Gospel according to Saint Luke, chapter 2, verses 9-15 (the English language translation is from the King James version of the Bible). The passage describes how the Angel of the Lord appeared to shepherds in the field, to announce that the Christ Child was born in Bethlehem.

 

The Gospel according to Saint Luke, translated into the Mohawk tongue / Ne Tsinihhoweyea-Nenda-Onh Orighwa Do Geaty, Roghyadon Royadado Geaghty, Saint Luke. Translated by H.A. Hill (Kenwendeshon). New-York: Printed for the American Bible Society, A. Hoyt, printer, 1827.  Call number PM1884 .B53 1827 SCNHRB (Cullman Library).

 

—Diane Shaw, Special Collections Cataloger, Smithsonian Institution Libraries, with assistance from Daria Wingreen-Mason, Special Collections Library Technician, Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History

Mosquito Day

It seems counter-productive to celebrate the mosquito, which is known world over as a pest and in some cases, a pestilence. But today is National Mosquito Day, and there is no denying that the Libraries has some interesting titles on this pesky, even dangerous, insect.

In the Biodiversity Heritage Library, one can read about the mosquito vs. the dragonfly.

At the African Art Library a video of the story Why Mosquitos Buzz in People's Ears, can be enjoyed.

Parlez-vous français? Visit the Anthropology Library and check out Langue mosquito; grammaire, vocabulaire, textes. Maybe not directly about the bug, but the coast, but still intéressant.

For some more practical information, the American Mosquito Control Association publishes Mosquito News, which can be found at our Museum Support Center and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute library locations.

Some additional links:

Smithsonian Aids Mosquito Research

Can Mosquitoes Fight Malaria?

De Havilland DH-98 B/TT Mk. 35 Mosquito

—Elizabeth Periale

Related articles by Zemanta

• Ecology: A world without mosquitoes (nature.com)
• The scent of death? New natural chemicals identified that make mosquitoes bug out (scientificamerican.com)

Library Tours in June for ALA Conference

Next month the annual conference for the American Library Association comes to Washington DC. Four of the twenty branches of the Smithsonian Libraries will be having tours: the Botany-Horticulture Library, The Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History, John Wesley Powell Library of Anthropology, and The Warren M. Robbins Library at the National Museum of African Art.

Tours will be held from 4:00-5:30 PM, Tuesday, June 29. Please email Courtney Shaw at shawc[at]si.edu  to reserve your spot since space is limited. Please indicate which library you would be interested in visiting by June 25. For those attending the tour for the African Art Library, please meet at the Pavilion of the Museum of the National Art. For the other libraries, enter through the Constitution Avenue entrance of the Natural History Museum and gather at the Moai in the lobby. Please note that the Smithsonian is a secure location and identification is required to visit the libraries.

The four libraries are:

Botany-Horticulture Library

As one of the Branch libraries of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries system, the Botany-Horticulture Library is both a place where the older botanical literature can still be found along with the latest taxonomic and plant science literature. The library provides research support for the National Museum Natural History’s Botany Department and the large number of botanists world-wide who use the collections and resources. Located behind the scenes, in the department’s Herbarium, the library and its staff also serve the information needs of the Horticulture Services Division staff, who manage and care for the living plant collection of the gardens on the mall. Come find out what is like working as a botanical librarian with this unique collection and the research staff at the Smithsonian Institution.  

The Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History

This library is one of the Libraries' rare-book rooms; it holds books printed before 1840 in the natural sciences: anthropology, botany, zoology, paleontology, and the mineral sciences. Special strengths include early voyages of exploration, masterpieces of botanical and zoological illustration, and the personal library of James Smithson, an 18th-century British gentleman-scientist whose bequest founded the Institution. Books in each of these subjects will be on display and discussed by Curator of Natural-History Rare Books Leslie Overstreet.

John Wesley Powell Library of Anthropology

This library is located within the Anthropology Department and supports the research, publication, exhibitions, and public programming of the department and other museums and offices within the Smithsonian. Its collection reflects the important role that the Smithsonian Institution played in the development of anthropology as a formal discipline in the United States. The current library was established in 1965 with the merger of two principal Smithsonian collections--the library of the Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE;1879-1965) and the divisional collections of the Department of Anthropology. The former supported "anthropological researches" among the indigenous people of the Americas and was considered one of the best such resources in the world. The latter collections grew out of the work of other museum staff not only in the Americas but also many places abroad, including Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Oceania.

The Warren M. Robbins Library at the National Museum of African Art

This is the leading library in the world for the research and study of African visual arts. With more than 44,000 volumes, the Library embraces classical and modern African visual arts with strong supporting collections of African history, archaeology, religion, ethnography, oral tradition, musicology, photography, and cinema. Additional holdings cover African literatures, travel, cookery, popular cultures, African museums, curriculum materials, and children’s books. We provide entree to the literature on African art through specialized bibliographies and indexes available on WorldCat.

Also don't forget that the Smithsonian American Art Resources Centers are also having an open house during the ALA conference on Monday, June 28, 2:00-4:00 PM. Information can be found also on the Smithsonian Libraries' blog.

Also, the Biodiversity Heritage Library will be holding a panel discussion of the project with staff from a range of the twelve member libraries.The event will take place on Monday, June 28, 10:00-noon at the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History. More details may be found online.

Image: Transactions of the Linnean Society

—Doug Litts

Women's History Month: Jicarilla Maiden

As part of the Smithsonian's celebration of Women's History month, many photographs are grouped on Flickr. An image from the Libraries collections by edward Curtis is on display, "Jicarilla Maiden," from The North American Indian. Other images from that volume and other works by Curtis in Libraries collections can be viewed in the online collection, Frontier Photographer: Edward S. Curtis.

Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952) left an indelible mark on the history of photography in his 20-volume life's work, The North American Indian.

Part photographic essay, part ethnographic survey, and part work of art, Curtis' North American Indian Project represented an attempt to capture images of American Indians as they lived before contact with Anglo cultures. The photogravure prints in The North American Indian reveal peoples whose traditional ways of life were coming to an end as the U.S. frontier began to fade. 

Thirty years of grueling work on the North American Indian Project cost the artist his marriage and his health. It also yielded an American legacy that is an artistic masterpiece.

More images from The North American Indian can also be viewed in the Libraries' Galaxy of Images.

—Elizabeth Periale