Kilpatrick collection of Cherokee manuscripts
Collection
Call Number: WA MSS S-2707
Scope and Contents
The Kilpatrick collection of Cherokee manuscripts consists of material created and accumulated by Jack Kilpatrick and Anna Gritts Kilpatrick, dating from the 1890s to the 1960s. The material, entirely in the Cherokee syllabary, documents vernacular literacy in the Cherokee language, the practice of traditional medicine, social aspects of Christian religion and church organizations, dates and circumstances of death, funerary practices, and other topics relating to the history and culture of the Oklahoma Cherokee in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Medical formulae (also called prayers, incantations, conjurations, or sacred formulae) were collected from Cherokee practitioners by Jack Frederick and Anna Gritts Kilpatrick in the 1960s. Portions of these manuscripts have been published in English translation and/or transliterated Cherokee, and citations to published sources have been noted in the contents list.
Dates
- 1870-1966
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
This material is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The Kilpatrick Collection of Cherokee Manuscripts is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Many Cherokee tribal members consider the medical formulae in this collection to be sacred or esoteric knowledge. Traditionally, their use is circumscribed by local protocols.
Many Cherokee tribal members consider the medical formulae in this collection to be sacred or esoteric knowledge. Traditionally, their use is circumscribed by local protocols.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Alan Kilpatrick and Brick Row Book Shop on the Walter McClintock Memorial Fund and Frederick W. and Carrie S. Beinecke Fund for Western Americana, 1979-1983.
Arrangement
Organized into groupings that reflect binders kept by the Kilpatricks. Arrangement as received by the library has been retained.
Extent
9.38 Linear Feet (23 boxes)
Language of Materials
Cherokee
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Overview
The Kilpatrick collection of Cherokee manuscripts consists of material created and accumulated by Jack Kilpatrick and Anna Gritts Kilpatrick, dating from the 1890s to the 1960s. The material, entirely in the Cherokee syllabary, documents vernacular literacy in the Cherokee language, the practice of traditional medicine, social aspects of Christian religion and church organizations, dates and circumstances of death, funerary practices, and other topics relating to the history and culture of the Oklahoma Cherokee in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Medical formulae (also called prayers, incantations, conjurations, or sacred formulae) were collected from Cherokee practitioners by Jack Frederick and Anna Gritts Kilpatrick in the 1960s. Portions of these manuscripts have been published in English translation and/or transliterated Cherokee, and citations to published sources have been noted in the contents list.
Kilpatrick, Jack Frederick
Jack Frederick Kilpatrick, 1915-1967, American folklorist and professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Kilpatrick interviewed Cherokee folk healers in the 1960s and collected manuscripts relating to traditional medicine. His research with his wife Anna Grits Kilpatrick resulted in books including Friends of Thunder (1964), Walk in Your Soul (1965), Run Toward the Nightland (1967), and Notebook of a Cherokee Shaman (1970).
Kilpatrick, Anna Gritts
Anna Gritts Kilpatrick, American folklorist and wife of Jack Frederick Kilpatrick. Her research with her husband resulted in books including Friends of Thunder (1964), Walk in Your Soul (1965), Run Toward the Nightland (1967), and Notebook of a Cherokee Shaman (1970).
Processing Information
Processed by Lisa Conathan, Parker Brody, and J. Andrew Sowers in 2014-2015, using descriptive information created by visiting fellows Hartwell Francis and Durbin Feeling in 2013.
Former call numbers: Uncat WA MS 1a, Uncat WA MS 1b
Short titles are used for The Shadow of Sequoyah (Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 1965); "Echota funeral notices," typescript, Western Carolina University; Notebook of a Cherokee Shaman (Washington, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1970); "The Foundation of Life: The Cherokee National Ritual." American Anthropologist 66(6): 1386-1391; Cherokee Hymns compiled from several authors and revised (Park Hill, Oklahoma, Mission Press, E. Archer, Printer, 1854).
Former call numbers: Uncat WA MS 1a, Uncat WA MS 1b
Short titles are used for The Shadow of Sequoyah (Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 1965); "Echota funeral notices," typescript, Western Carolina University; Notebook of a Cherokee Shaman (Washington, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1970); "The Foundation of Life: The Cherokee National Ritual." American Anthropologist 66(6): 1386-1391; Cherokee Hymns compiled from several authors and revised (Park Hill, Oklahoma, Mission Press, E. Archer, Printer, 1854).
- Cherokee Indians
- Cherokee Indians -- Economic conditions
- Cherokee Indians -- Ethnobotany
- Cherokee Indians -- Genealogy
- Cherokee Indians -- History
- Cherokee Indians -- Medicine
- Cherokee Indians -- Religion
- Cherokee Nation
- Cherokee language -- Texts
- Cherokee mythology
- Indians of North America -- Medicine
- Kilpatrick, Jack Frederick
- United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma
- Title
- Guide to the Kilpatrick Collection of Cherokee Manuscripts
- Author
- by Lisa Conathan and Hartwell Francis
- Date
- 2015
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository
Location
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Opening Hours
Access Information
The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.