J.N.B. Hewitt photographs of Iroquois people on the Six Nations Reservation, circa 1897-circa 1937
name: label: Creator
content: Hewitt, J. N. B. (John Napoleon Brinton), 1859-1937
label: Names
content: Abram, Charles, Chief
label: Names
content: Buck, Emeline
label: Names
content: Buck, John, Chief
label: Names
content: Buck, Joshua
label: Names
content: Buck, Susan
label: Names
content: General, Mrs.
label: Names
content: General, Myrtle
label: Names
content: Gibson, Simeon, 1889-1943
label: Names
content: Hill, George
label: Names
content: Hill, Simon
label: Names
content: Jamieson
label: Names
content: Jamieson, Clara Miss
label: Names
content: Jamieson, James Mrs
label: Names
content: Sandy, William
label: Names
content: Sandy, William Mrs
topic: label: Topic
content: Wampum
label: Topic
content: Trade, gifts and other exchanges -- Wampum
label: Topic
content: Wampum -- Iroquois
label: Topic
content: Indians of North America -- Southern states
creator: label: Creator
content: Hewitt, J. N. B. (John Napoleon Brinton), 1859-1937
culture: label: Culture
content: Iroquois [Six Nations of the Grand River, Brantford, Ontario]
label: Culture
content: Sioux
label: Culture
content: Onondaga
label: Culture
content: Seneca
label: Culture
content: Indians of North America -- Great Plains
label: Culture
content: Tuscarora
label: Culture
content: Cayuga
label: Culture
content: Dakota Indians
label: Culture
content: Mohawk
label: Culture
content: Iroquois
label: Culture
content: Tutelo
label: Culture
content: Oneida
setName: label: See more items in
content: J.N.B. Hewitt photographs of Iroquois people on the Six Nations Reservation, circa 1897-circa 1937
abstract: label: Summary
content: Photographs documenting Iroquois people made circa 1897-circa 1937 on and near the Six Nations Reserve by J.N.B. Hewitt, linguist with the Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of American Ethnology.
bioghist: label: Biographical note
content: J.N.B. (John Napoleon Brinton) Hewitt (December 6, 1859-October 14, 1937) was a linguist and ethnographer who specialized in Iroquoian and other Native American languages.  Born on the Tuscarora Reservation near Lewiston, New York, his mother was of Tuscarora, French, Oneida, and Scottish descent.  His father's heritage was English and Scottish, but he was raised in a Tuscarora family. Hewitt spoke English growing up, but when he left the reservation to attend schools in Wilson and Lockport, he learned to speak the Tuscarora language from other students.  Hewitt grew up planning to become a physician, like his father.  However, the course of Hewitt's interests changed when, in 1880, he was hired by Erminnie A. Smith of the Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of Ethnology (now the Bureau of American Ethnology) as an assistant ethnologist tasked with collecting myths among the Iroquoian tribes of New York.  He continued this work from 1880-1884, and then was briefly employed by the Jersey City Railways Co. (1884-1885) and Adams Express Co. (1885-1886).  Upon Smith's death in 1886, Hewitt returned to the BAE to continue her work, remaining employed there until his death.

Over the course of his career, Hewitt became the leading authority on the organization of the Iroquois League and the ceremonials, customs, and usages of the tribes composing it.  He acquired an intimate knowledge of the languages of the League, including a speaking knowledge of Mohawk and Onondaga, and also became acquainted with several Algonquian dialects.  On February 28, 1914, in recognition of his services in preserving for posterity a knowledge of the history and ethnology of the Iroquoian people of New York state, he was awarded the Cornplanter medal for Iroquois Research.  

Additionally, he was a founder of the American Anthropological Association and an active member of the Anthropological Society of Washington and the American Museum of Natural History, serving as both treasurer (1912-1926) and president (1932-1934) of the latter.  Hewitt also contributed over one hundred articles for the Handbook of American Indians (Bulletin 30) and published the two volume Iroquoian Cosmology (1903 and 1928).
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 307 Photographs (2 document boxes, silver gelatin)
label: Extent
content: 305 Negatives (photographic) (3 negative boxes, nitrate)
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1897-circa 1937
custodhist: label: Custodial History note
content: Previous to processing in 2011, Hewitt's negatives and prints were stored variously over the years. Some of the prints were assigned manuscript number 4596 and were filed in Photo Lot 24. The prints matching the original negatives in "Negative Books" I-IV (now called Photo Lot 155) were filed under "Iroquois" in the "Reference Print Files" in the NAA reading room.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.PhotoLot.155
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Negatives (photographic)
arrangement: label: Arrangement note
content: For Photo Lot 155 Hewitt's original arrangement and numbering has been maintained. The order of the photographs does not follow the chronology that they were taken; for instance there are often several photographs of an individual that were clearly made in different years. The original negatives also represent a variety of film and camera types.

The arrangement and numbering for MS 4596, established at an unknown time, was maintained.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: All prints and negatives, formerly disassociated from each other, were reunited in 2011. The photographs forming MS 4596 were relocated to this collection from Photo Lot 24 and the prints matching Hewitt's original negatives filed in "Negative Books" I-IV were removed from the Reference Print Files.  Polyester copy negatives were made for the original nitrate negatives at some point in the past.  The collection was processed by Gina Rappaport, 2011.

Most of the image identifications came from previous inventories.  The inventory for "Negative Vol. I" states: 
"The captions in this list were compiled from captions found on the backs of original prints in the handwriting of J.N.B. Hewitt and of Mae W. Tucker, his secretary; from the list of captions in Miss Tucker's writing at the front of each book of negatives; and occassionally from captions published in the Smithsonian Institution Explorations and Field Work. The margins of the negatives were also checked for written information, but only one of two instances of this were found."

The collection was partially processed by Gina Rappaport in 2011 and completed and encoded by Eden Orelove in 2016.
label: Description note
content: Identifications for "Negative Books" II-IV come largely from typed lists in the old BAE photograph catalog.  Identifications for photographs previously in MS4596 come primarily from captions written on the negatives.

Collection and image descriptions provided in this finding aid were compiled using the best available sources of information. Such sources include the creator's annotations or descriptions, collection accession files, primary and secondary source material (i.e. documents, publications, and websites), and subject matter experts.  While every effort is made to provide accurate information, it is understood that errors may reveal themselves following review by other subject experts, and new information is welcome.
bibliography: label: Publication Note
content: Explorations and Fieldwork of the Smithsonian Institution, 1926

Explorations and Fieldwork of the Smithsonian Institution, 1929

Explorations and Fieldwork of the Smithsonian Institution, 1930

Explorations and Fieldwork of the Smithsonian Institution, 1932

Explorations and Fieldwork of the Smithsonian Institution, 1936
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
originalsloc: label: Existence and Location of Originals
content: There is probably one nitrate negative that belongs to this collection stored at the Library of Congress cold vault in box 6207.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents note
content: Hewitt's photos primarily depict Mohawk, Cayuga, Seneca, Onondaga, Tuscarora, Oneida, and Tutelo peoples.  There are also a few images of Iroquois houses and other structures, Hewitt's mask collection, and Onondaga Chief John Buck and family, Seneca Chief John Arthur Gibson and family, Cayuga Chief James Jamieson and family, and Cayuga-Seneca Chief Simeon Gibson. Most of the photographs were taken during several trips between 1897 and 1937, on and near the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario (Oshweken, Deseronto, and Brantsford), and New York (Niagara Falls, Nedrow, and Syracuse).