Charles E. Fiero Papers

Mss.Ms.Coll.187

Date: 1957-2017 | Size: 2.75 Linear feet

Abstract

The Charles E. Fiero Papers contain word lists, texts, illustrations, and audio recordings derived mostly from missionary linguist Fiero's fieldwork among Ojibwe speakers in Ontario, Manitoba, and Minnesota, between the 1950s and the 1990s.

Background note

Charles E. Fiero is a missionary linguist specializing in varieties of Ojibwe. He is best known for the creation of the "Double Vowel" orthography for Ojibwe during the 1950s, today its most widely used Romanized orthography.

Scope and content

Series I contains bound transcriptions from cassette tapes and fieldnotes of varieties of Ojibwe spoken in predominantly Ontario, Canada. It also contains one item of Southern East Cree ("A Report on Coastal Montagnais-Naskapi by Helen Hisey and Charles Fiero").

Series II contains digital materials, including typed documents reflected in Series I, and digitizations of audio from the same fieldwork, created by Fiero from cassette tapes. Fieldwork on Severn Ojibwa/Oji-Cree and Northwest Ojibwe between the 1960s and 1990s can also be found here.

Consultants in the collection include: Aamatinaa; Black, Alex; Black, Joseph; Black, Maggie; Bushey, James; James, Aglaba; James, Magnus; Kakegamick, Bello; Kanate, Isaac; Keeper, William; Keesic, Tony; Keesick, Leo; Keesigwayaush, Joe; King, John George; Lawson, Christine; Lawson, Isaac; Loon, Peter; Mayappo, Allan; Meekis, Donald; Mezzetay, Jimmy; Miciki/Mihcuje; Moose, Absalom; Moose, Joe; Moses, James; Paishk, Joe; Pehcec; Perrault, Albert; Perrault, John; Perrault, Mary; Pittman, R. S.; Quill, Benjamin; Quill, Emma; Quill, Isaiah (Ayisheya); Quill, Lillian; Quill, Mary Ann; Quill, Norman (Nwaaman); Quill, Rose; Quill, Samuel; Quill, Sam, Sr.; Rae, Delius; Stocken, Albert; Strang, Beychayj; Strang, David; Strang, George; Suggashie, Willie; Taylor, Maggie; Thompson, Albina; Thompson, Jonah; Thompson, Tommy; Trapper, Mary; Turtle, Albert; Turtle, Edward; Turtle, Ethel; Wassaykeesic, Albert; Yesno, John.

Geographic names in the collection include: Berens River; Cass Lake, Minnesota; Cat Lake; Deer Lake; Doghole Bay; Fort Hope; Grassy Narrows; Kenora; McDowell Lake, Ontario; North Spirit Lake; Pauingassi; Pickle Lake; Pikangikum; Poplar Hill; Red Lake, Ontario; White Earth Reservation/Naytahwuash.

Collection Information

Preferred citation

Cite as: Charles E. Fiero Papers, American Philosophical Society.

Processing information

Finding aid created by Paul Sutherland in 2018.

Indexing Terms


Subject(s)

  • Anthropological linguistics -- America.
  • Anthropology
  • Canadian Aboriginal syllabary
  • Cree language
  • Ethnography
  • Indians of North America -- Manitoba
  • Indians of North America -- Ontario
  • Linguistics
  • Montagnais language
  • Naskapi language
  • Ojibwa Indians -- Ontario
  • Ojibwa language
  • Ojibwe people

Collection overview

  Box 1-5

This series contains bound volumes of retranscriptions of field notes, with a small amount of original fieldnotes by Fiero's consultants. All include detailed indexes or contents listings as well as identifications of consultants, place names, and dates. The majority contain lexica and texts with either side-by-side or interlinear glosses (morphemic and word), and free translations.

This series is arranged in chronological order by date of first fieldwork, and associated folders kept together.

2016-2017 8 item(s) Box 6

CDs and DVDs containing written and audio files, yet to be migrated. The written files are mostly also found in manuscript form in Series I. An exception is a disc containing fieldnotes, word lists and audio on Northwest Ojibwe and Severn Ojibwa/Oji-Cree, digitized from fieldwork originally conducted 1960-1993. The audio files were created by Fiero from his cassette tapes.



Detailed Inventory

 Series I. Manuscripts
  Box 1-5

This series contains bound volumes of retranscriptions of field notes, with a small amount of original fieldnotes by Fiero's consultants. All include detailed indexes or contents listings as well as identifications of consultants, place names, and dates. The majority contain lexica and texts with either side-by-side or interlinear glosses (morphemic and word), and free translations.

This series is arranged in chronological order by date of first fieldwork, and associated folders kept together.

 "Notes from Pikangikum 1957-1962" #1
1957-1962 76 page(s) Box 1

Early binding of typeset field notes. Includes lexica and a map. Places: Pikangikum, Poplar Hill. Consultants: David Strang, Alex Black, Maggie Black, Norman Quill, Edward Turtle, and unidentified others.

 "Notes from Pikangikum 1957-1962" #2: "Field Notes from Pikangikum and Poplar Hill 1957-1962"
1957-1962, 1996ca. 100 p.Box 1

Alphabetical listing of lexica with morphological analysis; topical lexica; index to contents of #1.

 "Notes from Pikangikum 1957-1962" #3: "Vocabulary in Chronological Order"
1957-1962, 1994-1997ca. 100 p.Box 1
 "Notes from Pikangikum 1957-1962" #4: "Vocabulary in Alphabetical Order"
1957-1962, 1997ca. 90 p.Box 1

Includes a description of the development of the double-vowel orthography in the 1950s.

 "Salteaux Text Writeups"
1958-1962, 1970, n.d. 167 page(s) Box 1

Indexes to ca. 70 texts, and orthography note (12 p.); texts, both typeset and handwritten (some by consultants). Most are in the double-vowel orthography, with some in the syllabary. Accompanied by mixture of phonological and morphemic interlinearizations and free translations. Merged from two consecutive binders.

 "Notes from Magnus James"
1961, 1993 50 page(s) Box 1

Words and texts, transcribed from recordings originally made in 1961.

 "Word Lists and Texts by Magnus James, 1961"
1961 36 page(s) Box 1

Earlier version of "Notes from Magnus James". Texts include free translations.

 "Notes on Osnaburgh" #1: Index
2000 40 page(s) Box 1

Index to lexical forms in Ojibwe and English.

 "Notes on Osnaburgh" #2: "Part I: Word Lists"
1962 103 page(s) Box 2

On the Osnaburgh (Pickle Lake) and Fort Hope dialects. Lexica and grammatical paradigms.

 "Notes on Osnaburgh" #3
1961-1962, 1999, 2000 162 page(s) Box 2

Typed from #2, including copy of index (#1).

 "1962 Word Lists Pikangikum and Other Places"
1962, 1966ca. 70 p.Box 2

Typeset lexicon compiled in 1966 of fieldwork conducted in 1962.

 "1962 Word Lists from Pikangikum and Other Places"
1962, 1966, 1996 181 page(s) Box 2

Computer printout of alphabetically and chronologically arranged versions of "1962 Word Lists Pikangikum and Other Places". Includes morphological analyses.

 "Ojibwa Field Notes 1963" #1
1962-1963ca. 100 p.Box 2

Transcribed from field notes. Word lists (1110 words and sentences), texts (including letters), and a hand-colored color wheel.

 "Ojibwa Field Notes 1963" #2
1962-1964, 1996 Box 2

Expansion of #1, with more morphological analysis.

 "Stories by Norman Quill" #1: Description of versions
n.d. 1 page(s) Box 3
 "Stories by Norman Quill" #2: "Ojibwa Texts 1964"
1964, 1982 Box 3

Handwritten texts in Ojibwe with some interlinear translation, with cataloguing in 1982.

 "Stories by Norman Quill" #3: "Stories by Norman Quill"
ca. 1963-1964, 1993-1997over 288 p.Box 3

Transcriptions of stories from ca. 1963-1964 (originally recorded on reel-to-reel then transferred to cassette tape), with side-by-side translations. Includes some inserts.

 "Stories by Norman Quill" #4: "Stories by Norman Quill Part One"
ca. 1964, 1993-1994 161 page(s) Box 3

Same stories as #3, printed on one side only.

 "Stories by Norman Quill" #5: "Stories by Norman Quill Part Two"
ca. 1963-1964, 1994-1997over 130 p.Box 3

Same stories as #3, printed on one side only, with some inserts.

 "1965 Field Notes NQ"
1963-1965, 2015 62 page(s) Box 3

Detailed description (1 p.); lexica and sentences recorded 1963-1965, typeset and arranged around the same period (37 p.); computer printout from 2015 of sentence lists from 1965, in acquisitional and alphabetical order (24 p.).

 "Ojibwa Field Notes 1964" #1
1964over 79 p.Box 3

Includes annotated drawings of a snowshoe, a family tree of Norman Quill, and others.

 "Ojibwa Field Notes 1964" #2: "Northern Ojibwa Field Notes 1964 (copy)"
1964ca. 70 p.Box 3

Mostly a copy of #1, with handwritten marginalia and drawings.

 "Ojibwa Field Notes 1964" #3: Chronological order
1964, 1997ca. 85 p.Box 4
 "Ojibwa Field Notes 1964" #4: Alphabetical and topical order
1964, 1996ca. 100 p.Box 4
 "Reminiscences: Edward Turtle"
1964-1979, 1993ca. 120 p.Box 4

Computer printout of side-by-side transcription of texts by Edward Turtle, Pikangikum, Ontario. Texts are between an unknown date in early 1960s (possibly pre-1964) and 1979.

 "A Report on Coastal Montagnais-Naskapi by Helen Hisey and Charles Fiero"
1969-12ca. 152 p.Box 4

This folder contains materials from two binders. The first section is a phonology and partial morphology "done at the request of Philip Howard and Leon Elford, as preparatory work to Miss Hisey's assignment as literature worker for the Eastern Canadian field of the Northern Canada Evangelical Mission", based on fieldwork at the Mokahum Indian Bible School, Cass Lake, Minnesota, the workplace of Charles Fiero (102 p.). The second section is a selection of interlinear texts (consultants Albert Stocken, Allan Mayappo and Mary Trapper) and word lists (consultants Mary Trapper and James Moses) (ca. 50 p.). Despite the designation "Montagnais-Naskapi", these are speakers of Southern East Cree (residence at Eastmain and Moose Factory).

 "Word Lists from Edward Turtle 1969-1970" #1
1969-1970ca. 70 p.Box 4

Typeset word lists with translations (802 lexical items). Includes some ethnographic information.

 "Word Lists from Edward Turtle 1969-1970" #2
1969-1970, 1997ca. 165 p.Box 5

Update of lexica in #1 with morphological analysis. Alphabetically and chronologically arranged.

 "1972 Field Notes: Conversations with Edward Turtle"
1972, 1992-1993ca. 100 p.Box 5

"From notes and recordings made at Pikangikum, 1972". Retranscription.

 "Ojibwa Field Notes 1975"
1975, n.d.ca. 100 p.Box 5

Retranscription of 1975 field notes, with morphological analyses.

 "1978 Field Notes from Edward Turtle and Sam Quill Sr. and Diagrams and Drawings from various sources"
1978, 1997 136 page(s) Box 5

Computer printout from 1997 of field notes collected in 1978, with morphological analyses and diagrams of e.g. hunting, residences, cooking, petroglyphs. "Collected during the course of a Northern Ojibwe New Testament translation project, under the cooperating auspices of Northern Light Gospel Missions, the Canadian Bible Society, and the Christian and Missionary Alliance".

 Series II. Digital media
2016-2017 8 item(s) Box 6

CDs and DVDs containing written and audio files, yet to be migrated. The written files are mostly also found in manuscript form in Series I. An exception is a disc containing fieldnotes, word lists and audio on Northwest Ojibwe and Severn Ojibwa/Oji-Cree, digitized from fieldwork originally conducted 1960-1993. The audio files were created by Fiero from his cassette tapes.