American Philosophical Society Historical and Literary Committee, American Indian Vocabulary Collection

Mss.497.V85

Date: 1784-1828 | Size: 0.25 Linear feet

Special Request | On-site Photography Request
Collections Home | APS Home

Abstract

Beginning in the 1790s, the American Philosophical Society began to accumulate vocabularies and texts written in Native American languages, guided by Thomas Jefferson's idea of using comparative linguistics to reconstruct the histories of Indian peoples and discern their origins.

The American Indian Vocabularies Collection was initially assembled by the Historical and Literary Committee of the APS for publication in 1816. They include information on seventeen North American languages and one each from the Caribbean and Central America, collected between 1784 and 1828. A number of individuals were invovled in recording the vocabularies, including Benjamin Hawkins, William Thornton, David Campbell, Daniel Smith, Constantine Volney, Constantine Rafinesque, William Vans Murray, John Heckewelder, Martin Duralde, Campanius Holm, and Jefferson himself. Most followed the standardized word set established by Jefferson.

Background note

The indigenous languages of the Americas first became a significant interest at the American Philosophical Society under the Society's third President, Thomas Jefferson. In his Notes on the State of Virginia (1783), Jefferson had laid the conceptual foundation for reconstructing a history of Indian peoples based upon a systematic analysis of their languages, and while he collected some vocabularies himself to that end, he was remarkably effective at spurring others. Most famously, in about 1791 he had a form printed that included a standard vocabulary of about 280 English words with adjacent blanks in which Indian equivalents were to be recorded. Distributed to his friends, military officers, and others likely to come into contact with Indians, the forms were returned to Jefferson for analysis, and over the course of decade, he accumulated over 400 vocabularies. Unfortuantely, many of these were destroyed in 1809, with the remainder arriving at the APS in 1817.

Since Jefferson's initial efforts, several other APS members have contributed to the project. The Historical and Literary Committee took a special interest in Indian vocabularies, as they did in other historical documents, publishing an important collection of them as the first volume of their Transactions in 1816. The head of the committee, Peter Stephen Du Ponceau, prefaced this volume with the statement that he was not wedded to any particular theory of Indian origins, but wished only to obtain a "bird's eye view" of them all to guage the depth of linguistic diversity in North America and to discern how these languages relate to those of the Old World. The APS has collected materials on Indian languages continuously since that time.

Scope and content

The vocabularies comprising the American Indian Vocabulary Collection were assembled by the Historical and Literary Committee in 1816, when preparing for the first volume of their Transactions. The resulting collection consists of 23 vocabularies of 19 languages collected between 1784 to 1828, along with letters of transmittal and other associated information. A number of individuals were invovled in recording the vocabularies, including Benjamin Hawkins, William Thornton, David Campbell, Daniel Smith, Constantine Volney, Constantine Rafinesque, William Vans Murray, John Heckewelder, Martin Duralde, Campanius Holm, and Jefferson himself.

The majority of the vocabularies record languages in what is now the eastern half of the United States, ranging from Osage, Quapaw, and Shawnee in the lower Mississippi Valley to Natick and Mohegan in New England. Rafinesque submitted vocabularies for two non-North American languages, the extinct Taino language of Haiti and for Chontal in Central America, and Jefferson himself recorded one vocabulary, Unquachog from the Pusspatock settlement near Brookhaven, Long Island.

A number of the original printed forms of the Jefferson vocabulary (ca. 1790-1792) are included. These materials were in many instances copied by Peter S. Du Ponceau into his private collection of Indian vocabularies (Mss. 497 In2) and were, in this form, utilized by Albert Gallatin for his Synopsis (1836). Gallatin had also seen the Jefferson manuscripts.

Digital objects note

This collection contains digital materials that are available in the APS Digital Library. Links to these materials are provided with context in the inventory of this finding aid. A general listing of digital objects may also be found here.

Collection Information

Provenance

Acquired by the Historical and Literary Committee of the APS from John G. E. Heckewelder, Peter Stephen Du Ponceau, Thomas Jefferson and others, 1816-1828.

Preferred citation

Cite as: American Indian Vocabulary Collection, American Philosophical Society.

Processing information

Recatalogued by rsc, 2002.

Other finding aids

The vocabularies are also described in the online Daythal Kendall Guide to Native American Collections at the American Philosophical Society.

Related material

Among several other Indian language collections at the APS, two are directly related to the Historical and Literary Committee Collection:

Thomas Jefferson's comparative vocabulary (Call no. 497.3 J35), which includes Du Ponceau's Indian Vocabulary Collection (Call no. 497.3 In2) includes information on 73 languages. The North American languages recorded by Du Ponceau provided the basis for Albert Gallatin's "A Synopsis of the Indian Tribes Within the United States East of the Rocky Mountains and in the British and Russian Possessions in North America," Transactions and Collections of the American Antiquarian Society 2 (1836): 1-422.

Bibliography

Peter S. Du Ponceau, "Report of the Corresponding Secretary...," Transactions of the Historical and Literary Committee of the American Philosophical Society 1 (1819): xvii-1.

Early American History Note

These three volumes contain APS's correspondence and records relating to Native American languages. MOLE contains a detailed inventory of the collection. The first volume contains extensive correspondence on Native American languages, some of which is addressed to Thomas Jefferson. Much of this material is from the early to mid nineteenth centutry. The second volume contains Thomas Jefferson's printed form that he sent out to individuals asking for Native American language information. The third volume contains photostats of a dictionary of the Miami language.

Indexing Terms

Genre(s)

Language Material
Lexica
Native American Materials

Occupation(s)

Quinnipiac language

Personal Name(s)

Barbour, James, 1775-1842
Barton, Benjamin Smith, 1766-1815
Bromley, Walter, 1775?-1838
Butrick, Daniel S.
Campanius Holm, Johan, 1601-1683
Campbell, David
Du Ponceau, Peter Stephen, 1760-1844
Duralde, Martin
Gambold, John
Gurley, George
Hawkins, Benjamin, 1754-1816
Heckewelder, John Gottlieb Ernestus, 1743-1823
Izard, George, 1777-1828
Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826
Kells, Richard
Little Turtle, 1747-1812
Murray, William Vans, 1760-1803
Rafinesque, C. S. (Constantine Samuel ), 1783-1840
Senseman, Gottlob, 1745-1800
Smith, Daniel, 1748-1818
Thornton, William (1759-1828)
Volney, C.-F. (Constantin François), 1757-1820
Wells, William
Zeisberger, John, 1721-1808

Subject(s)

Atacapas language
Cherokee language
Chickasaw language
Chippewa language
Choctaw language
Chontal language
Creek language
Delaware language
Indians of North America -- Languages
Language and Linguistics
Linguistics
Massachusett language
Miami language (Ind. and Okla.)
Micmac language
Mohegan language
Munsee language
Nanticoke language
Native America
Osage language
Quapaw language
Taino language
Unquachog language

Detailed Inventory


Vocabularies and Correspondence	1784-1828	0.25 lin. feet	Request Collection for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Collection
1. Du Ponceau, Peter Stephen, 1760-1844. List of vocabularies communicated by Jefferson, Heckewelder, and Murray	n.d	1p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
1a. Du Ponceau, Peter Stephen, 1760-1844. ALS to John Vaughan	Oct. 5, 1820	1p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
List of additional vocabularies communicated
1b. Address sheet to Thomas Jefferson	ca.1809	1p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Note: "papers which were lost in the trunk no. 28 found on the S. side of the river 3 or 4 miles above Manchester & returned to me by Mr. Jefferson July 2, 1809."
1c. Vaughan, John, 1756-1841. Endorsement	Oct 1825	1p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
In hand of John Vaughan: "Indian vocabularies sent to A.P. Soc. By Thos. Jefferson."
2. Hawkins, Benjamin, 1754-1816. Vocabulary of the Cherokee and Choctaw languages	prior to 1784	8p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Communicated by Jefferson, with note in his hand attributing authorship to Benjamin Hawkins Freeman and Smith 663 Access digital object: https://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/text:224039
3. W[illiam] Thornton. Vocabulary of the Miami language taken in part from Little Turtle	Jan. 11, 1802	17p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Communicated by Jefferson, with note attirbuting to William Thornton, as taken from Little Turtle and William Wells, the translator Freeman and Smith 2225
4. Hawkins, Benjamin, 1754-1816. ALS to Thomas Jefferson	July 12, 1800	4p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Letter of transmittal accompanying vocabulary no. 5, and describing informants and conditions of collection Freeman and Smith 809
5. Hawkins, Benjamin, 1754-1816. A comparative vocabulary of the Muskoges, or Creek, Chickasaw, Chocktaw, and Cherokee languages	[1800]	15p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Freeman and Smith 662 and 810 Access digital object: http://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/islandora:7034
6. Campbell, David. Vocabulary of the Cherokee language	[received August 5, 1800]	8p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Freeman and Smith 649 Access digital object: http://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/islandora:7050
7. Smith, Daniel. ALS to [Thomas Jefferson]	July 6, 1800	1p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Letter of transmittal accompanying vocabulary no. 8 Freeman and Smith 702
8. Smith, Daniel. Vocabulary of the Chickasaw Indians, Tennessee	July 6, 1800	2p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Freeman and Smith 703 Access digital object: http://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/islandora:7059
9. Chasseboeuf, Constantin François , comte de Volney. Vocabulary of the Miami Indians	March, 1798	4p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Employing Jefferson's printed form for vocabulary Freeman and Smith 2226 Access digital object: https://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/text:158320
10. Martin Duralde. Suite du vocabulaire de la langue des Atacapas	April 23, 1802	8p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Freeman and Smith 422 Access digital object: https://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/text:289320
11. Martin Duralde. Vocabulaire de la langue des Chatimachas et Croyance des Chetimachas	April 23, 1802	9p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Includes commentary on Chitimacha religion Freeman and Smith 729 Access digital object: https://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/text:289321
12. Martin Duralde. ALS to William Dunbar	April 24, 1802	11p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Letter of transmittal accompanying vocabularies no. 10, 11, in French, with commentary on the Indians and collection of information. Freeman and Smith 421 Access digital object: https://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/text:289322
13. Martin Duralde. Translation of ALS to William Dunbar	April 24, 1802	7p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Freeman and Smith 421 Access digital object: https://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/text:289323
14. Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826. Vocabulary of the Unquachog Indians	1791	2p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Recorded by Jefferson at Pusspatock Settlement, Brookhaven, Long Island, June 13, 1791, in the presence of James Madison and General Floyd. Freeman and Smith 2335 Access digital object: http://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/graphics:3603
15. Murray, William Vans, 1760-1803. ALS to [Thomas] Jefferson	Sept. 18, 1792	2p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Letter of transmittal accompanying vocabulary no. 16, with brief comments on the Nanticokes. Freeman and Smith 2365
16. Murray, William Vans, 1760-1803. Vocabulary of the Nanticoke Indians	Sept. 18, 1792	2p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Submitted on Jefferson's printed vocabulary form. Oversized. Freeman and Smith 2366 Access digital object: http://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/islandora:7065
17. Vocabulary of the Delaware Indians	Dec. 1792	1p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Submitted on Jefferson's printed vocabulary form. Freeman and Smith 1190 Access digital object: https://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/text:159518
18. Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826. Vocabulary [broadside]	ca.1792	1p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Blank version of Jefferson's printed vocabulary form. Form intended to be filled in with the Indian language equivalents for 280 commonly used English words. One copy is blank, and the remaining two have been filled in with the vocabularies of the Delaware and Nanticoke Indians (the latter was completed by William V. Murray). Jefferson was an ardent collector of Indian vocabularies which he believed would shed light on the ultimate origins of American Indians. Other Descriptive Information: Freeman and Smith 2051. Goodman 276 Access digital object: http://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/islandora:7067
19. J[ohn G. E.] H[eckewelder]. Mahicanni [Mohegan] words taken down from the mouth of one of that nation who had been born in Connecticut		8p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Freeman and Smith 2077 Access digital object: http://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/mahicanni-mohegan-words-taken-down-mouth-one-nation-who-had-been-born-connecticut
20. J[ohn G. E.] H[eckewelder]. Vocabulary of the Shawanese [i.e. Miami] language			Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
"Taken down by means of a White Woman who had been 20 Years a Prisoner with that Nation." Despite the identification, the language is Miami, not Shawnee. Freeman and Smith 3670
21, 22b. Heckewelder, John Gottlieb Ernestus, 1743-1823. Comparative vocabulary of the Delaware, Minsi, Mohicon, Natick, Chippeway, Shawanoe [i.e. Miami], and Nanticoke languages		6p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
See also Heckewelder to Du Ponceau, July 14, 1828. Freeman and Smith 349
22, 22a. Heckewelder, John Gottlieb Ernestus, 1743-1823. Comparative vocabulary of the Lenni Lenape, Mahicanni, Nanticoke, Shawano, Natick, Chippuwa and Algonquin languages		3p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Freeman and Smith 350
23. Murray, Dr.. A vocabulary of the Osage language	[communicated] Oct. 23, 1818	5p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Communicated by John C. Warren from Murray, "who resides at Louisville." Freeman and Smith 2611
24. Barbour, James, 1775-1842. [Circular requesting that Indian languages of the U.S. be recorded and sent to the War Department]		1p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Freeman and Smith 1973. Duplicate in Broadside Collection, no. 112.
25. C[onstantine] S. Rafinesque. Vocabulary of the extinct Haytian or Taino language		3p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Comparing Taino to Old World language (berber, Cantabrian, Celtic, Coptic, etc. Freeman and Smith 3708
26. C[onstantine] S. Rafinesque. Vocabulary of the Chontal language and its dialects s reading from Guatimala to Panama & Darien	Sept. 1826	7p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Includes some commentary on comparative linguistics of indigenous languages of Guatemala. Freeman and Smith 746
27. Izard, George, 1777-1828. ALS to Robert Walsh	March 21, 1825	1p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Offers services in collecting languages in Arkansas. Freeman and Smith 3095
28. Keating, William Hypolitus, 1799-1840. ALS to George Izard	May 7, 1825	1p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Freeman and Smith 3097
29, 30. American Philosophical Society. Report of committee to which George Izard's letter requesting data to guide his inquiries in Arkansas was referred, with notes for his guidance	May 6, 1825	7p., 9p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Freeman and Smith 3092 Access digital object: https://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/text:277316/
31. Izard, George, 1777-1828. ALS to the American Philosophical Society	Jan. 10, 1827	5p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Transmitting Quapaw vocabulary, with comments on mode of collection, and transmits specimens of a "water witch" and tarantulas. Freeman and Smith 3094
32. American Philosophical Society. Report of committee to which was referred the communications of George Izard on the Arkansas territory and a vocabulary of the Quapaw language	[Jan. 18, 1828]	1p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Freeman and Smith 3093
33. Izard, George, 1777-1828. Notes respecting the Arkansas territory's aboriginal inhabitants, the Quapaw Indians	[Jan. 10 1827]	7p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Freeman and Smith 3096
34. Izard, George, 1777-1828. Vocabulary of the Quapaw Indians	[Jan. 10, 1827]	6p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Freeman and Smith 3099
35. Bromley, Walter, 1775?-1838. ALS Cy to Thomas Wistar	April 26, 1819	3p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Comparing Micmac and Delaware from resident of Halifax. Freeman and Smith 2238
36. Bromley, Walter, 1775?-1838. A few specimens of the verbs of the Micmac Indians	[April 26, 1819]	8p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
37. Campanius Holm, Johan, 1601-1683. A vocabulary of the language of the Delawares of New Sweden, translated by Peter S. Du Ponceau		4p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
38. Du Ponceau, Peter Stephen, 1760-1844. A vocabulary of the language of the Massachusetts Indians... extracted from Eliot's grammar and from his translation of the Bible and New Testament		2p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Regarding efforts to learn Cherokee; recommending Daniel Butrick.
39. John Gambold. ALS to Peter S. Du Ponceau	July 20, 1818	3p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Complaining of white harassment of Cherokees to remove.
40. John Gambold. ALS to Peter S. Du Ponceau	Dec. 16, 1818	3p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
41. Dan[iel] S. Butrick. Conjugation of a verb in the Cherokee language	[Oct. 29, 1818]	4p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
42. Dan[iel] S. Butrick. Remarks on the verbs of the Cherokee language; Sounds of the Cherokee		2p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
43. Robert, Vicar general of Quebec. ALS to Peter S. Du Ponceau	Aug. 8, 1818	3p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Relaying information on contacts for Catholic missionaries among the Iroquois, Algonkian, Abnakis, and Micmac of Lower Canada.
44. Barton, Benjamin Smith, 1766-1815. Queries concerning the northern Indians	March 31, 1797	2p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
45. Gottlob Senseman. Answers to Dr. Benjamin Smith Bartton's queries concerning the northern Indians, for David Zeisberger	[ca.1797]	3p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
46. Zeisberger, David, 1721-1808. Heckewelder, John Gottlieb Ernestus, 1743-1823. Answers to Dr. Benjamin Smith Barton's queries on the Northern Indians	1797-1798	7p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
47. R[ichard] Kells. ALS to William Short	May 25, 1784	1p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Has engaged Mr. Gurley, a clergyman, to collect vocabulary for Jefferson among the Nottoway.
48. Gurley, George. ALS to Rich[ar]d Kells	May 15, 1784	1p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
49. Gurley, George. Remarks on Indian names still to be found	[May 25, 1784]	2p.	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Etymology of "Tuckahoe" and other Nottoway rods, tracing them to Arabic and Hebrew roots.