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Sioux/Iroquois Language Preservation Archive, 1910-1958 [188030]

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Sioux/Iroquois Language Preservation Archive, 1910-1958 [188030]
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James Y. Black Sioux and Iroquois collection, Jesse J. Cornplanter and others correspondence archive
The James Y. Black collection consists of 102 pieces (300+pp) of handwritten and typewritten correspondence dating from 1910 to 1958, and tells the story of the Sioux and Iroquois cultures during the early 20th century. A lifelong Akron resident, James “Jay” Y. Black dedicated his life to documenting and preserving the languages, artifacts, and customs of Native American cultures.
Black was born in 1880 and died in 1959 at age 78; in these 78 years, he bore witness to massive changes in not only the world at large but in America’s Native tribes, and in order to preserve the traditional knowledge being lost during this period, he sought out both academic resources on the subject and connections with Natives to document their stories. This collection consists largely of correspondence between Black and two notable Native men; famous Seneca chief and author Jesse J. Cornplanter, and Lakota Sioux man Moses Tiokasin.
Jesse J. Cornplanter was the last direct descendant of Seneca chief Cornplanter, a noted combatant during the Revolutionary War. Jesse himself served as chief to his people while also boasting and a long and illustrious career as an author, illustrator, lecturer, and traditional craftsman who documented the stories and practices of the Iroquois people. He also served in the U.S. military during the first World War, where he was honorably discharged following a gas attack that would leave him with a lingering disability for the rest of his life. He considered Black a close personal friend; over the course of their three-decade relationship, Cornplanter taught him about Native life, language, ritual, and custom while also sharing with him personal reflections on the changing nature of Native life and the devastating aftermath of his military service.
Moses Tiokasin was a Lakota Sioux man and another good friend of James Black. While Tiokasin did not boast as storied as a career as Cornplanter, he spent his life – from his birth in 1892 to his death in 1969 – on the Standing Rock reservation in Fort Yates, North Dakota, and as such was able to provide Black with personal knowledge on the Lakota language and way of life. Throughout his three-decade correspondence with Black, Tiokasin discusses with him such topics as the encroachment of white settlers into reservation land, the loss of Native languages through the Residential School system, and the participation of you Native men in the United States military.
Black’s correspondence with Cornplanter, Tiokasin, and others in the early 20th century brings the state of Native American life and culture during this era into vivid and personal focus. This time of massive change, as traditional Native American ways of life became increasingly marginalized and numerous Native languages and practices threatened to die out, is seen here through the eyes of the men who lived through it. These men experienced conflicts of religion, as traditional practice was replaced with new spirituality; conflicts of culture, as old ceremonies and handicrafts were left behind by the new generation; and conflicts of nationality, as the government that asked so much of them during wartime seemed to abandon them during peace. In capturing their stories, this collection paints a vivid portrait of the complex realities of Native America in the 20th century.
SUMMARY
The James Y. Black collection consists of 102 documents organized into three primary sections. About half of the documents are handwritten, while the other half are typewritten. A few pieces of ephemera, such as holiday cards, fliers advertising books and lectures, a photograph, and a tax document are included as well. The dates of these documents range from 1910 to 1958, and they are organized chronologically within the three main sections. All items are labelled with the year they were produced, and most are labelled with a brief summary of what they contain.
The three sections of the collection are as follows:
• Section 1: 26 miscellaneous documents related to James Y. Black’s life and work, dating from 1910 to 1958. Notable topics include:
o Attempts to seek out and compile dictionaries/resources on Native languages
o Trade in Native handicrafts/artwork
o Discussion of academic literature and lectures sympathetic to Native Americans and their treatment by the United States government
• Section 2: 47 handwritten and typewritten letters and notes from noted Iroquois chief Jesse J. Cornplanter to James Y. Black, dating from 1922 to Cornplanter’s death in 1957. Notable topics discussed include:
o The aftermath of Cornplanter’s military service during World War I
o Numerous traditional and ceremonial practices of both the Iroquois and Sioux peoples, including song and dance
o Discussion of Native art and handicraft, of which Cornplanter was a master
o Experiences with Native American peyote religion
o Cornplanter’s involvement in esoteric religious group ‘Psychiana’
• Section 3: 29 handwritten letters from Lakota Sioux man Moses Tiokasin to James Y. Black, dating from 1923 to 1955. Notable topics discussed include:
o Settlement of white Americans on Indian Reservation land
o Trade in Native handicrafts/artwork
o Loss of Native languages and ‘civilization’ through Indian Residential Schools
o Participation of young Native (Seminole) men in the U.S. Military
o One letter contains a long passage in written Lakota
[ Sioux