Chimakim/Clallam/Makah/Quileute

Object Details

Topic: Clallam language; Makah language; Quileute language; Chimakuan languages; Quinault language; Snohomish language; Language and languages -- Documentation; Linguistics; Names, Geographical

Culture: Chimakum; S'Klallam (Klallam); Makah; Quileute; Indians of North America -- Northwest Coast of North America

See more items in: John Peabody Harrington papers; John Peabody Harrington papers / Series 1: Native American History, Language, and Culture of Alaska and the Northwest Coast

Biographical / Historical: John P. Harrington conducted fieldwork in April 1942 in Clallam, Jefferson, and Kitsap Counties in northwestern Washington. His main linguistic sources were Louise Adams Butler Webster Buttner (Louise, Lou.); her daughter-in-law, Emily Webster (Emily, Eml., or rarely Em.); Louise's grandson, Cy Webster (Cy); Joe Sly (Sly); and Mrs. Washington Howeattle. Louise Buttner, a long-time resident of the Little Boston Reservation near Port Gamble, spoke Chimakum, Clallam, some Makah, and Chinook jargon. She and her brother, George Adams, were probably the same people Boas worked with to elicit Chimakum in 1890. Emily Webster was married to Louise's son, James Webster, Jr. Her native language was Clallam, but she also spoke Chimakum and Makah. Cy was the son of James Webster, Jr., although it is not clear if Emily was his mother. His grandmother, Louise, raised him and is probably the main source of his knowledge of Chimakum. In addition to this language, he spoke Clallam and had some knowledge of Makah and Quileute. Joe Sly was the son of a Clallam father and a Makah mother. In 1942 he lived at Neah Bay and was ninety years old. Another speaker of Makah was Mrs. Washington Howeattle of Tahola. She also knew Quileute. Emma Luscier (Em.) was the main source of Lower Chehalis data, she also commented on the more northerly Salishan languages. Her first husband was a Quileute, from whom she probably gained her knowledge of Quinault and possibly Quileute.

Collection Citation: John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution; The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution. However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.

Existence and Location of Copies: Microfilm and digital surrogates of microfilm are available. See Volume 1, reel 16. Only original documents created by Harrington, his collaborators and field assistants, or notes given to him were microfilmed.

Scope and Contents: This subseries of the Alaska/Northwest Coast series contains Harrington's research on Chimakum, Clallam, Makah, and Quileute. The bulk of the notes consist of a comparative vocabulary for the four languages. A minimal number of equivalences in Quinault and Snohomish also appear. Other kinds of vocabulary were recorded, but the emphasis was placed on obtaining placenames. There are also notes containing observations by Harrington on the phonetics of the languages, as well as charts of morphemes he devised for Clallam, Makah, and Quileute. These are supplemented by notes on the relationships of the languages and on Edward Sapir and Morris Swadesh's (1939) Nootka Texts. In addition, Harrington collected biographical data on those he worked with in the field and James G. Swan. Swan was a collaborator for the Smithsonian Institution and a collector for the United States National Museum who lived at Shoalwater Bay and Port Townsend. Of ethnographic interest are comments on excerpts from T. T. Waterman's (1920) "The Whaling Equipment of the Makah Indians." A flood legend, historical figures, and events of significance to Washington tribes are mentioned. Other materials in these files include a miscellany of notes Harrington made to himself during his work in northwestern Washington and annotated extracts from Manuel J. Andrade's (1931) "Quileute Texts" and E. S. Curtis' (1911, 1913) The North American Indian.