Frank Speck
Encyclopedia
Frank Gouldsmith Speck (November 8, 1881 – February 6, 1950) was an American anthropologist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania
, specializing in the Algonquian
and Iroquoian peoples among the Eastern Woodland Native Americans
of the United States and First Nations
peoples of eastern boreal Canada
.
, Speck was sickly as a child. His parents sent him at age seven to live with a family friend, Fidelia Fielding
, in Mohegan, Connecticut
in hopes that the rural environment would improve his health. She was a widow and Native American, the last speaker of her Indigenous, Mohegan Pequot
language. While living with her, Speck acquired "his interests in literature, natural history and Native American linguistics."
When Speck became one of the first students of anthropologist Franz Boas
at Columbia University
, he found his direction for life study as an anthropological ethnographer while earning an M.A with a thesis on the folklore the Native American peoples of the Southeastern United States. He then completed a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania
(1908). While his doctorate was technically awarded by the University of Pennsylvania, his dissertation was supervised by Boas. It is an ethnography of the Yuchi people
of Oklahoma
, among whom he studied in 1904, 1905, and 1908.
(Penn), first on a one-year fellowship. The fellowship was next held in 1908 by his colleague Edward Sapir
.
Speck was unique among many anthropologists of his generation in choosing to study American Indians rather than people of more distant lands. Because of the changes that had taken place in the 19th century and drastic declines in population, Speck found his work was in part a "salvage operation" to try to capture ethnological material at a time of great stress for the peoples. He started studying Native Americans in Connecticut and the Northeast.
At Penn, Speck advanced to full professor and became chair of the Department of Anthropology, after its creation by the University. Among his students at Penn, Speck nurtured a generation of prominent anthropologists: A. Irving Hallowell, Anthony F. C. Wallace
, Loren Eiseley
, and James W. VanStone
. He especially loved fieldwork and lived with the people he studied. He donated to museums many of the artifacts of material culture which he collected over the years. Speck also sponsored Native American students at Penn such as Molly Spotted Elk
and Gladys Tantaquidgeon
.
During his fieldwork with the Iroquois
, Speck became close to members of the Seneca Nation
, who adopted him in honor of their relationship. He was given the name Gahehdagowa ('Great Porcupine') when he was adopted into the Turtle clan of the Seneca people. Speck was interested in how family and kinship systems underlay tribal organization. In Canada, he developed maps of individual family bands' hunting territories to document Algonquian land rights. These later became crucial to Native American land claims.
From the 1920s through the 1940s, Speck also studied the Cherokee
in the Southeast United States and Oklahoma. Through the years, he worked extensively with tribal elder Will West Long of Big Cove, western North Carolina
. Speck credited Long as co-author of his book Cherokee Dance and Drama, along with his colleague Leonard Bloom
. It was published in 1951.
Speck's papers were collected and archived by the American Philosophical Society
, of which he was a member. There are also collections of his papers at the Museum of Civilization
in Gatineau, Quebec and at the Phillips Library of the Peabody Essex Museum
in Salem, Mass.
Speck was elected to numerous professional associations, where he took an active role on committees, such as the American Association for the Advancement of Science
, American Anthropological Association
, American Ethnological Society
, Geographical Society of Philadelphia, and Archaeological Society of North Carolina (honorary). He conducted work for the American Museum of Natural History
in New York, and the Smithsonian Institution
in Washington, DC.
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, specializing in the Algonquian
Algonquian peoples
The Algonquian are one of the most populous and widespread North American native language groups, with tribes originally numbering in the hundreds. Today hundreds of thousands of individuals identify with various Algonquian peoples...
and Iroquoian peoples among the Eastern Woodland Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
of the United States and First Nations
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
peoples of eastern boreal Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Early life and education
Born in BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, Speck was sickly as a child. His parents sent him at age seven to live with a family friend, Fidelia Fielding
Fidelia Fielding
Fidelia Hoscott Fielding , also known as Dji'ts Bud dnaca , was the last native speaker of the Mohegan Pequot language...
, in Mohegan, Connecticut
Montville, Connecticut
Montville is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 18,546 at the 2000 census and 19,571 at the 2010 census....
in hopes that the rural environment would improve his health. She was a widow and Native American, the last speaker of her Indigenous, Mohegan Pequot
Mohegan-Montauk-Narragansett language
Mohegan-Pequot is an extinct Algonquian language formerly spoken in parts of present-day New England and Long Island.As of 2010, the Shinnecock and Unkechaug nations of Long Island, New York, had begun work...
language. While living with her, Speck acquired "his interests in literature, natural history and Native American linguistics."
When Speck became one of the first students of anthropologist Franz Boas
Franz Boas
Franz Boas was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology" and "the Father of Modern Anthropology." Like many such pioneers, he trained in other disciplines; he received his doctorate in physics, and did...
at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, he found his direction for life study as an anthropological ethnographer while earning an M.A with a thesis on the folklore the Native American peoples of the Southeastern United States. He then completed a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
(1908). While his doctorate was technically awarded by the University of Pennsylvania, his dissertation was supervised by Boas. It is an ethnography of the Yuchi people
Yuchi
For the Chinese surname 尉迟, see Yuchi.The Yuchi, also spelled Euchee and Uchee, are a Native American Indian tribe who traditionally lived in the eastern Tennessee River valley in Tennessee in the 16th century. During the 17th century, they moved south to Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina...
of Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, among whom he studied in 1904, 1905, and 1908.
Career
In 1907 Speck joined the faculty at the University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
(Penn), first on a one-year fellowship. The fellowship was next held in 1908 by his colleague Edward Sapir
Edward Sapir
Edward Sapir was an American anthropologist-linguist, widely considered to be one of the most important figures in the early development of the discipline of linguistics....
.
Speck was unique among many anthropologists of his generation in choosing to study American Indians rather than people of more distant lands. Because of the changes that had taken place in the 19th century and drastic declines in population, Speck found his work was in part a "salvage operation" to try to capture ethnological material at a time of great stress for the peoples. He started studying Native Americans in Connecticut and the Northeast.
At Penn, Speck advanced to full professor and became chair of the Department of Anthropology, after its creation by the University. Among his students at Penn, Speck nurtured a generation of prominent anthropologists: A. Irving Hallowell, Anthony F. C. Wallace
Anthony F. C. Wallace
Anthony Francis Clarke Wallace is a Canadian-American anthropologist who specializes in Native American cultures, especially the Iroquois. His research expresses an interest in the intersection of cultural anthropology and psychology...
, Loren Eiseley
Loren Eiseley
Loren Eiseley was an American anthropologist, educator, philosopher, and natural science writer, who taught and published books from the 1950s through the 1970s. During this period he received more than 36 honorary degrees and was a fellow of many distinguished professional societies...
, and James W. VanStone
James W. VanStone
James W. VanStone was an American cultural anthropologist specializing in the Inuit people. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania and was a student of Frank Speck and A. Irving Hallowell. One of his first positions was at the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois...
. He especially loved fieldwork and lived with the people he studied. He donated to museums many of the artifacts of material culture which he collected over the years. Speck also sponsored Native American students at Penn such as Molly Spotted Elk
Molly Spotted Elk
Molly Spotted Elk was the stage name of Molly Dellis Nelson, a Native American actress and dancer who was born on November 17, 1903 in the Penobscot reservation in Maine and died on February 21, 1977....
and Gladys Tantaquidgeon
Gladys Tantaquidgeon
Gladys Tantaquidgeon was a Mohegan anthropologist, author, council member, and elder. In 1994 she was inducted into the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame.- Biography :...
.
During his fieldwork with the Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
, Speck became close to members of the Seneca Nation
Seneca nation
The Seneca are a group of indigenous people native to North America. They were the nation located farthest to the west within the Six Nations or Iroquois League in New York before the American Revolution. While exact population figures are unknown, approximately 15,000 to 25,000 Seneca live in...
, who adopted him in honor of their relationship. He was given the name Gahehdagowa ('Great Porcupine') when he was adopted into the Turtle clan of the Seneca people. Speck was interested in how family and kinship systems underlay tribal organization. In Canada, he developed maps of individual family bands' hunting territories to document Algonquian land rights. These later became crucial to Native American land claims.
From the 1920s through the 1940s, Speck also studied the Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
in the Southeast United States and Oklahoma. Through the years, he worked extensively with tribal elder Will West Long of Big Cove, western North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. Speck credited Long as co-author of his book Cherokee Dance and Drama, along with his colleague Leonard Bloom
Leonard Bloom
Leonard Bloom was a dentist and sports executive in San Diego, California.On June 28, 1972 the American Basketball Association awarded its only expansion franchise to San Diego for an entry fee of $1 million. Leonard Bloom, a dentist and president of the United States Capital Corporation, was the...
. It was published in 1951.
Speck's papers were collected and archived by the American Philosophical Society
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society, founded in 1743, and located in Philadelphia, Pa., is an eminent scholarly organization of international reputation, that promotes useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities through excellence in scholarly research, professional meetings, publications,...
, of which he was a member. There are also collections of his papers at the Museum of Civilization
Museum of Civilization
Museum of Civilization may refer to:*Canadian Museum of Civilization, a museum in Gatineau*Musée de la civilisation, a museum in Quebec City...
in Gatineau, Quebec and at the Phillips Library of the Peabody Essex Museum
Peabody Essex Museum
The Peabody Essex Museum , originally the Peabody Museum of Salem and the Essex Institute, in Salem, Massachusetts is the oldest continuously operating museum in the United States, and holds one of the major collections of Asian art in the US; its total holdings include about 1.3 million pieces, as...
in Salem, Mass.
Speck was elected to numerous professional associations, where he took an active role on committees, such as the American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
, American Anthropological Association
American Anthropological Association
The American Anthropological Association is a professional organization of scholars and practitioners in the field of anthropology. With 11,000 members, the Arlington, Virginia based association includes archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, biological anthropologists, linguistic...
, American Ethnological Society
American Ethnological Society
The American Ethnological Society is the oldest professional anthropological association in the United States.- History of the American Ethnological Society :...
, Geographical Society of Philadelphia, and Archaeological Society of North Carolina (honorary). He conducted work for the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
in New York, and the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
in Washington, DC.
Works
- An Outline of Seneca ceremonies at Coldspring Longhouse (1936) Yale University dissertation
- Contacts between Iroquois herbalism and colonial medicine (1941) ISBN 0-8466-4032-5
- "Songs from the Iroquois longhouse" Program notes for an album of American Indian music from the eastern woodlands, (1942) Washington, DC: Library of Congress
- The Roll Call of the Iroquois Chiefs (1950) ISBN 0-404-15536-7
- Symposium on local diversity in Iroquois culture Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1951
- The Iroquois Eagle Dance: an offshoot of the Calumet Dance (1953) ISBN 0-8156-2533-2
- The False Faces of the Iroquois (1987) ISBN 0-8061-2039-8
- The Great Law and the Longhouse: a political history of the Iroquois (1998) ISBN 0-585-19883-7
- The Little Water Medicine Society of the Senecas (2002) ISBN 0-8061-3447-X
Additional reading
- Blankenship, Roy (1991) The Life and Times of Frank G Speck, 1881-1950 Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania. With chapters by John Witthoft, William N. Fenton, Ernest S. Dodge, C.A. Weslager, Edmund S. Carpenter, Anthony F.C. Wallace and Claudia Medoff. Speck wrote on the Indians of Delaware.
- Darnell, Regna (2006) "Keeping the Faith: A Legacy of Native American Ethnography, Ethnohistory, and Psychology", New Perspectives on Native North America: Cultures, Histories, and Representations, ed. by Sergei A. Kan and Pauline Turner Strong, pp. 3–16. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
- Fenton, William N. (2001) "He-Lost-a-Bet (Howanʼneyao) of the Seneca Hawk Clan", Strangers to Relatives: The Adoption and Naming of Anthropologists in Native North America, ed. by Sergei Kan, pp. 81–98. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.