Field recordings of Seneca ceremonies recorded by William Fenton. Chant of the Big Heads, Morning Song of Handsome Lake, and Women's Dance recorded at Newtown Longhouse, Cattaraugus Reservation, New York, 27 August 1949. Green Corn Dance Tobacco Invocation and Mid-Winter Festival Tobacco Invocation recorded at Coldspring Longhouse, 4 September 1949.

A recording of ?ohkiiweeh, Chanters of the Dead, recorded at Newtown Longhouse, Cattaraugus Reservation, New York, by Cornelius Seneca, with notes by W.C. Sturtevant. Lead singer with drum: Rupert Scrogg (Tonawanda); Assistant singers: Everett Parker (Tonawanda), Harold Kittle (Cattaraugus); Head women; Louise Green, Louis (Eliz.) Young; Head men: Spencer Bennett, John Cook; Speaker: Gus Williams (Six Nations, resident at Newtown)

A Sachem and Civil War adjutant to Ulysses Grant, Ely Samuel Parker was an important figure in the Seneca Indian nation during the first half of the nineteenth century. Trained as an engineer, Parker was deeply involved in the Senecas' land disputes with the Ogden Land Company and he played an important role in interpreting Seneca culture for a white audience, most notably as a consultant for Lewis Henry Morgan. Collected by Arthur C. Parker, the Ely Samuel Parker Papers include correspondence, manuscripts, and printed materials relating primarily to Seneca affairs, history, language, and culture, as well as politics, education, engineering, and the Civil War. Among Parker's correspondents were Henry Clay, Millard Fillmore, Henry M. Flagler, Lewis Henry Morgan, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, Daniel Webster, and Asher Wright. Several letters relate to Parker's service as engineer of public buildings in Galena, Illinois, and to his Masonic activities. Among the noteworthy items in the collection are several essays on Seneca history and culture, a fragment of Parker's diary, 1847, and a significant quantity of material on the Seneca language assembled by Asher Wright.

This collections consists of texts in several Iroquoian languages (Cayuga, Cherokee, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, Tuscarora) recorded and played back to other speakers to test the mutual intelligibility of the languages for various speakers. The recordings comprise numerous texts in these languages, administered mutual intelligibility tests, stories, and conversations, all predominantly untranslated. Originally recorded on wire in the fall of 1950 at various locations in the United States and Canada. Later copied to sound tape reels. The native consultants involved in these recordings are as follows. The Cayuga language consultant was Jane Owl, recorded at Cattaraugus Indian Reservation (N.Y.) The Cherokee consultant was David Owl, recorded at Cattaraugus Indian Reservation (N.Y.) The Mohawk consultants were Ernest Benedict and Sadie Curlyhead, recorded at Saint Regis Mohawk Indian Reservation (N.Y.), and Ernest Benedict and Mr. & Mrs. Charles Benedict, recorded at Cornwall, Ontario. The Oneida consultants were Harry Antone, Betsy Antone, Rosa Antone, Billy Antone, and Mr. & Mrs. Chapman Schanandoah, recorded at the Onondaga Indian Reservation (N.Y.), and Albert Christian, recorded at Nedrow (N.Y.) The Onondaga consultants were Louis Lyons, recorded at the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation (N.Y.), and George Thomas, Jr., Percy Smoke, Thomas Lewis, Pat Homer, and Floyd Henhawk, recorded at the Onondaga Indian Reservation (N.Y.) The Seneca consultants were as follows: Annie Lyons, recorded at the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation (N.Y.); a Mr. & Mrs. Smith, recorded at the Oneida Nation of the Thames in southwestern Ontario; Richard Johnny John, Colline Johnny John, Amos Johnny John, Lena Snow, Kenneth Snow, Albert Jones, Hubert Cusick, Lynn Dowdy, Henry Redeye, Elver Jacobs, and Mr. & Mrs. Laurence Jimerson, recorded at the Allegany Indian Reservation (N.Y.); Jesse Cornplanter and Solon Skye, recorded at the Tonawanda Indian Reservation (N.Y.) The Tuscarora consultants were Nellie Gansworth and William Mt. Pleasant, recorded at the Tuscarora Indian Reservation (N.Y.)

Recorded in 1950 with consultants Lucenda George and Pat Johnson. Contains numerous autobiographical stories, descriptions of contemporary life on the Onondaga Reservation, and descriptions of tribal customs, foods, history, and governmental. There are 54 texts altogether given in Onondaga only--13 told by Pat Johnson, 41 by Lucenda George. Of these texts, 35 are translated into English by Lucenda George as the earlier recordings are played back to her in short segments. There are no transcripts or other documentation accompanying these recordings.