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Native American Heritage Month - NOVEMBER 2024: Nabb Research Center Highlights

This celebratory guide is hosted by the SU Libraries Diversity & Inclusion Committee, with 2024 assistance from SU Libraries staff members Stephen Ford and Mou Chakraborty

Native American Resources in the Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History and Culture

In honor of Native American Heritage Month, the Nabb Research Center has compiled a list of resources from our collection that highlight Native American history and culture. Included on this page are items from our archival and artifact holdings, as well as items from the collection of the SU Art Galleries. 

Follow this link to browse our collections pertaining to local Powwow events: Local Powwow Programs

Listed below are links to explore additional items in our collection that illustrate historical examples of Native American stereotypes and cultural misappropriation.     

SC2015.008 Gerda Christoffersen Native American Prints

"Buffalo Woman" - Navajo

These ten black and white prints of drawings depicting Native Americans were created by Gerda Christoffersen in 1957.

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Antelope Woman

"Antelope Woman" - Navajo

These ten black and white prints of drawings depicting Native Americans were created by Gerda Christoffersen in 1957.

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"Chicken Dancer" - Souix

These ten black and white prints of drawings depicting Native Americans were created by Gerda Christoffersen in 1957.

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"Lone Wolfe" - Blood

These ten black and white prints of drawings depicting Native Americans were created by Gerda Christoffersen in 1957.

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Running Elk

"Running Elk" - Souix

These ten black and white prints of drawings depicting Native Americans were created by Gerda Christoffersen in 1957.

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"Navajo Medicine Man"

These ten black and white prints of drawings depicting Native Americans were created by Gerda Christoffersen in 1957.

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"Buffalo Robe" - Cree

These ten black and white prints of drawings depicting Native Americans were created by Gerda Christoffersen in 1957.

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"Princess Blue Moon"

These ten black and white prints of drawings depicting Native Americans were created by Gerda Christoffersen in 1957.

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"Changing Leaves"

These ten black and white prints of drawings depicting Native Americans were created by Gerda Christoffersen in 1957.

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"Little Sun Flower"

These ten black and white prints of drawings depicting Native Americans were created by Gerda Christoffersen in 1957.

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SC2017.021 Chippewa Portrait Prints

Danish-American photographer Niels Larson Hakkerup took these photographs in Minnesota between 1900 and 1915. Subjects of the photographs were members of the Leech Lake and Red Lake Nation including Chief Bemidji, for whom the city of Bemidji, Minnesota is named, and John Smith, who reportedly lived 137 years. Hakkerup’s photography focused on the beadwork, clothing and hair styles of Native Americans. The glass plate negatives for these photographs were discovered in the “rubble” of Hakkerup’s studio after he sold it to Aza and Miriam Cooper in 1946. The Cooper’s son, David, eventually donated the collection to the American Indian Resource Center at Bemidji State University where they were eventually displayed and distributed.

2006.204 Wilcomb Washburn Papers

This collection centers around the academic life of Wilcomb E. Washburn, containing his personal correspondence and academic notes from his career at Dartmouth College, Harvard University, and the Smithsonian Institute. The vast majority of the collection consists of historic portraits of Native Americans, academic notes and papers, and personal correspondence.

SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THE FINDING AID FOR AN EXTENSIVE INVENTORY

Finding aid: http://libapps.salisbury.edu/nabb-archives/local-history-archives/2006.204

2013.035 Catching Shadows Exhibition records

The records of the Catching Shadows Exhibition documents a series of oral histories and photographic prints recorded and produced by Marc Dykeman and Anne Neilson, 2007-2012, with a focus on Eastern Shore Native Americans from the Accohannock, Assateague, Nause-Waiwash Band of Indians, and the Pocomoke Indian Nation. The prints and oral histories were utilized to create an exhibition titled, “Catching Shadows: Tintype Portraits and Recorded Voices of 21st Century Native Americans Living on Maryland's Eastern Shore”. In addition to the aforementioned materials, there is a recording of the panel discussion held at and sponsored by the Queen Anne’s County Arts Council as well as a substantial volume of letters of support from Eastern Shore tribes requesting the use of the materials in an exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian.

Finding aid: http://libapps.salisbury.edu/nabb-archives/local-history-archives/2013.035

SU Art Galleries Collections

SU Art Galleries

Inuit Sculpture, Eva Itulu

Inuit Sculpture

Ball Play Dance, George Catlin

The Scalp Dance, George Catlin

Buffalo Hunt on Snow Shoes, George Catlin

2008.043 Native American Research Collection

This collection contains a variety of materials pertaining to Native American Indian History and their struggles through the mid-20th Century. Included are journals specifically geared toward a Native American audience, as well as, journals with articles written about Native American history and social issues. Research papers document more specific areas of interest within Native American history, while publications address more specific topics as well.

Finding aid: https://libapps.salisbury.edu/nabb-archives/local-history-archives/2008.043

2016.999 Native American Folklife records

The Native American folklife records consist of materials related to the Accohannock tribe of Somerset County, Maryland. The collection document the tribe's history, and attempts to gain federal recognition. Within the collection, are history, folklore, and legends related to the tribe. In addition to guides on documenting local cultural tradition. Materials in this collection date from 1994-1999 with the bulk of the material dating to 1994.

Finding aid: http://libapps.salisbury.edu/nabb-archives/local-history-archives/2016.999

See also: https://libapps.salisbury.edu/nabb-archives/browse/subject.php?id=4446&n=Folklife%20-%20Native%20Americans

2012.120 Accohannock Tribe in Maryland Research

This collection consists of research, sources, and other papers related to the history of the Accohannock tribe of Native Americans between 1994 and 2013. Descendants of this tribe in Maryland contested for State of Maryland recognition, which is documented through correspondence. Other tribal activities, including those of the Pocomoke tribe, are documented through events calendars and articles.

Finding aid: http://libapps.salisbury.edu/nabb-archives/local-history-archives/2012.120

SC2013.074 Travel Diary of Harriet Murray

The Travel Diary of Harriet Murray documents the journey of Murray and three friends from San Francisco, California to Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado. Murray wrote primarily in third person in her large scrapbook-size diary. Along the way, the group passed through states in the Southwest and made observations on the lives of Native Americans.

2010.111 Emma N. Young autograph book

Emma N. Young autograph book documents the relationships of Emma with her classmates in Indian School and her moves to several Indian reservations in the United States from 1882-1886. Emma Young lived in Kansas, Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Wisconsin during the 1880s.

Finding aid: http://libapps.salisbury.edu/nabb-archives/local-history-archives/2010.111

SC2017.041 The Fair of the Iron Horse Program

This program was created for The Fair of the Iron Horse, which took place in Halethorpe, Maryland from September 24 to October 8, 1927. The event was held to commemorate the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad’s first one hundred years of service to the public. The massive undertaking was spread over 25 acres along the Old Main Line and was attended by more than 1.25 million people. In addition to stationary exhibitions, it featured a moving pageant each afternoon that dramatized the progress of inland transport during the previous 100 years. 30 members of the Blackfoot Indian tribe traveled to Baltimore from Glacier National Park to participate in the Fair of the Iron Horse. 

Archaeological Artifacts

Axe Head

Found south of sewage plant northern part of Harbor Point in 1962 just above Cottonpatch Island on the northern part of  Harbor Point on the Wicomico River. May have belonged to the Wicomico Indians in Tondotank, Nabb Research Center, 2012.101.01.

Stone

Found south of sewage plant northern part of Harbor Point in 1962 just above Cottonpatch Island on the northern part of  Harbor Point on the Wicomico River. May have belonged to the Wicomico Indians in Tondotank, Nabb Research Center, 2012.101.02.

Axe Head

Axe head found on the northern part of Harbor Point on the Wicomico River, Nabb Research Center, 2014.023.002.

Grinding Stone

Grinding stone found next to the St. Martin River in Ocean Pines, Maryland, would have been used as a tool to grind corn, Nabb Research Center, 2004.115.001 a-b. 

Trade Beads

Trade beads from archaeological digs in Talbot County and Kent Island, Nabb Research Center, 2011.005.

Trade Beads

Trade beads from archaeological digs in Talbot County and Kent Island, Nabb Research Center, 2011.005.

Arrowheads and Projectiles

Arrowheads and projectile points found between the 1930s and 1980s on the Aydelotte/Pettit farm, which borders Chincoteague Bay and is east of Snow Hill, Maryland, Nabb Research Center, 2017.036.005-.009.

Bunky Echo-Hawk

Bunky Echo-Hawk Live Paint Event

Native American Artist Bunky Echo-Hawk during a live paint event at SU in 2014. 

Bunky Echo-Hawk Live Paint Event

Native American Artist Bunky Echo-Hawk during a live paint event at SU in 2014. 

Bunky Echo-Hawk Live Paint Event

Native American Artist Bunky Echo-Hawk during a live paint event at SU in 2014. 

Survival Guide to Genocide, Bunky Echo-Hawk

Completed painting in the SU Art Galleries collection from the live paint event.

Bunky Echo-Hawk