Finding Aids to Collections in the Archive of Folk Culture

SOUTH DAKOTA COLLECTIONS
IN THE ARCHIVE OF FOLK CULTURE

Compiled by: Heidi Rubenstein
Series Editor: Ann Hoog
Revised: January 2011

AFC 1939/019: Nicholas Ray Collection of South Dakota Recordings
Eleven 12-inch discs of folk songs, miner's songs, cowboy songs, army songs, fiddle tunes, spoken stories of Deadwood, and stories and poems about sheep herding. Recorded in Mitchell, South Dakota, by Nicholas Ray, October 1939, for the WPA Recreation Project. (1 hour and 30 minutes; tape copy on LWO 4872 reels 238-239A) (includes AFS 3673-3683)

AFS 10,074: Oliver Beltz Collection of Hutterite Recordings
One 10-inch tape of Hutterite folk music and religious services recorded in South Dakota and Alberta, Canada, by Oliver S. Beltz, July and August 1949. The collection includes 25 pages of correspondence, logs, and notes. Beltz's "Manuscript collection of 145 Hutterite hymn tunes" (call #M2132.G3 B45) is available in the Performing Arts Reading Room.

AFS 10,074A: One tape containing nine tunes sung by a group of women, a Sunday Morning Service given by Rev. Fred H. Waldner, and two solos sung by Michale Wurtz. Recorded at the James River Colony near Utica, South Dakota, July 31, 1949. (35 minutes; LWO 5111 reel 283-27A)

AFC 1940/019: Willard Rhodes 1940 Field Recordings Collection
Thirty-three 12-inch discs of Dakota/Sioux and other American Indian music recorded by Willard Rhodes for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, summer 1940. The collection includes a 1-page list of recordings with information taken from record jackets.

AFS 10,453-10,474; 10,485: Twenty-three discs containing Dakota/Sioux music. Eight of the discs were recorded at Crow Creek, South Dakota; others recorded at an unknown location. (2 hours and 30 minutes; LWO 5111 reels 309-310A, 311A)

AFC 1941/039: Willard Rhodes 1941 Field Recordings Collection
Twenty-five 16-inch discs of American Indian music recorded in Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and South Dakota, by Willard Rhodes for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, summer 1941. The collection includes a 21-page "Catalogue of Phonograph Records of North American Indian Music" compiled by Rhodes. [note: There are 10-inch and 12-inch disc copies of this collection on AFS 12,097-12,138.]

AFS 9534B5-9535A1: Two discs containing an Honoring Song, Omaha Dance Songs, and a Rabbit Dance Song performed by Henry White Calf. Recorded in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, July-August 1941. (12 minutes; LWO 5111 reel 232A)

AFS 9535A4-9536A5: Two discs containing Brave Heart Song, Fox Society Song, Honoring Song, Hunka Songs, Love Song, Omaha Dance Song, and Sun Dance Songs performed by Richard Lip, John Long Commander, Jonas Quiver, Ben Sitting Up, and Julian Whistler. Recorded in Wanblee, South Dakota, July-August 1941. (40 minutes; LWO 5111 reel 232)

AFS 9536B1-9537B3: Two discs containing Omaha Songs, Rabbit Songs, and a Red and White Dance Song performed by Robert Blue Bird, Mrs. Blue Bird, and Edgar Red Cloud. Recorded in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, July-August 1941. (36 minutes; LWO 5111 reel 232B)

AFS 9542B5-9543A3: Two discs containing Honoring Songs performed by John Long Commander and Julian Whistler and an Address by Peter Dillon. Recorded in Wanblee, South Dakota, July-August 1941. (12 minutes; LWO 5111 reels 233B-234A)

AFC 1942/024: Willard Rhodes 1942-1943 Field Recordings Collection
Thirty-four discs containing Brave's Song, Children's Songs, a Christian Hymn, Death Songs, Ghost Dance Songs, Grandmother’s Songs, Hand Game Songs, Heyoka Songs, Honoring Songs, Hunka Songs, Love Songs, Lullaby, Omaha Dances, Peyote Songs, Prayer Songs, Rabbit Dances, Sun Dance Songs, War Songs, Wicilowan, and Yuwipi Songs performed by Mrs. Bluebird, Philip Broken Leg, Ellis Chipe, John Coloff, John Dillon, Joseph Eagle Hawk, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Hayne, Mrs. Pitt Hayne, Susie Holloway, Paul High Horse, Long Commander, Fort Peck, Paul Plume, Lucy Randall, Chief Red Cloud, Edgar Red Cloud, Joe Sierra, Ben Sitting Up, Richard Sitting Up, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Twin, Tom Tyon, Julian Whistler, and Henry White Calf. Recorded in Pine Ridge and Wanblee, South Dakota, summer 1942. (3 hours and 30 minutes; LWO 5111 reels 392B-394) (includes AFS 12,139-12,173)

AFC 1947/012: Willard Rhodes 1947 Field Recordings Collection
Twelve 16-inch discs of American Indian music recorded in Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, and Washington, by Willard Rhodes for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, summer 1947. The collection includes 32 pages of concordances, lists, and one article. [There are 10-inch and 12-inch disc copies of this collection on AFS 12,204-12,262.]

AFS 9543B6-9544: Two discs containing Children's Game Songs, Eagle Dance Song, Give-away Honoring Song, Hand Game Song, Honoring Songs, Love Songs, Omaha Songs, Rabbit Dance Songs, Victory Song, and War Songs (mostly World War II) performed by Bessie Backward, Susanna Burns Prairie, Hazel Little Hawk, Edgar Red Cloud, Henry White Calf, Isadore White Calf, Lynde White Calf, and Richard White Calf. Recorded in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, June 20, 1947. (40 minutes; LWO 5111 reel 234A)

AFC 1948/080: Frances Densmore Collection of Teton and Santee Sioux Cylinder Recordings
Twenty-seven discs (copied from 213 cylinders) of Teton and Santee songs and spoken word collected by Frances Densmore in 1911 and 1914 at Fort Yates, North Dakota, and other portions of the Standing Rock as well as the Sisseton Reservations in South Dakota. Densmore described the bulk of these recordings in her book, Teton Sioux Music (Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 61, published in 1918). The cylinders were transferred to the Library of Congress from the National Archives in 1948. (includes AFS 10,556-10,582) [catalog record]

AFC 1953/004: John A. Lomax Jr. Collection of Pete and Toshi Seeger Recordings
Six 7-inch tapes of African American prison songs recorded in Texas prison farms. Also includes Sioux songs recorded in Parmelee, South Dakota, 1951, by Peter and Toshi Seeger. The collection includes a three-page list of recordings and 44 pages of transcripts. (includes AFS 10749; 10,757-10,762)

AFS 10,762: One tape containing Sioux songs performed by Mr. Good Lance, Mr. and Mrs. Florence Leader Charge, John Red Good, Vance Redfish, and Mr. Spotted Tail recorded in Parmelee, South Dakota, April 1951. There is a partial transcript of the tape. (Duration needed; LWO 3550)

AFC 1958/017: Dewey Beard Interview
One 7-inch tape of an interview with Dewey Beard, the last Sioux survivor of the Battle of Little Big Horn, who was also present at Wounded Knee. Recorded in Rapid City, South Dakota, by Bates Littlehales, June 18, 1955. Interviewer, Leland Case; translators, John Bruguier and Alice Beard. A photograph of the event was published in National Geographic (October 1956, page 498). (LWO 5111 reel 380A) (includes AFS 11,403) [catalog record]

AFC 1977/017: Miriam M. Maxwell Family Oral History Collection
Six 10-inch tapes in the personal collection of Miriam Maxwell, compiled during the 1960s, mostly in California. Includes young people singing and talking about Civil Rights, War in Vietnam, Peace Corps experience in Ghana, an interview with Prince Modupe and Maxwell's collection of family folklore and oral history, especially: reminiscences of domestic service in Edwardian England, homesteading in British Columbia, living on a farm in Iowa, and a repertory of sentimental and humorous songs and stories from Iowa and South Dakota. (includes AFS 18,964-18,969) [catalog record]

AFC 1977/017:reels 5B2 and 6A1: Two tapes containing family reminiscences since 1854 told by Ruby Noble Gardner, Miriam Maxwell's paternal grandma. Recorded in Estherville Iowa, July 1967. Includes a 5-page partial transcript including references to the South Dakota towns of Belvidere, Bridgewater, Chamberlain, Plankinton, Presho and Salem. (1 hour; LWO 9379)

AFC 1977/021: Evelyn Robe Finkbeiner Collection of Dakota Songs and Stories
Thirty-three discs of Dakota songs and stories recorded in July and August 1947 by Evelyn Robe Finkbeiner at the Rosebud and Pine Ridge Reservations, South Dakota. Included are Sun Dance songs, victory songs, and songs in honor of Dakota World War II veterans, some with translations into English by John Colhoff. The collection includes two folders of correspondence, transcripts, and handwritten notes about the songs and performers. (includes AFS 19,038-19,040; AFS 19,187-19,219). (6 hours; LWO 9498; LWO 9912) [catalog record]

AFC 1988/021: Wilbur Foss South Dakota Fiddlers Collection
Four audiocassettes and 27 LPs of old-time fiddle tunes recroded by Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur Foss of Yankton, South Dakota. The Foss' were long-time organizers of the South Dakota and Open Old Time Fiddlers Contest in Yankton. Recordings also include oral histories of South Dakota fiddlers.

AFC 1995/012: South Dakota Historical Society Collection
Twelve audiocassettes of interviews with master artist/apprentice pairs participating in South Dakota's Traditional Arts Program and two artist demonstration series at the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre, South Dakota. Recorded and conducted by Michael F. Miller, October 12-November 24, 1992. Topics include wheelwrighting, Finnish rag rug weaving, blacksmithing, star quilting, horn carving, and discussions of personal, family, cultural, and regional histories. A flute and dance demonstration is also included. The collection includes a 24-page list of interview content, an audio tape log, and six pages of written descriptions of the interviews. (5 hours, 54 minutes)

AFC 1997/011: Lands' End All-American Quilt Collection
Lands' End in cooperation with Good Housekeeping magazine sponsored the quilt contests in 1992, 1994, and 1996. The collection consists of visual images, entry blanks, and essays written by entrants, as well as Lands End administrative files and correspondence pertinent to the promotion of the contest. Approximately 13,100 entries for the three contests came from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Numerous types and styles of needlework, quilting, patchwork, applique and embroidery are represented among the visual images. [catalog record] [finding aid] [online presentation]

AFC 2000/001: Local Legacies Collection
Four hundred and five linear feet (approximately 90,000 manuscript pages, 475 sound recordings, 13,270 graphic materials, 335 electronic media, and 75 artifacts) of documentation of local festivals, fairs, parades, and other community-based events from each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories and trusts. The Local Legacies Collection was donated through the efforts of individuals, organizations, and institutions asked to participate by members of Congress. This project was part of the Library of Congress Bicentennial celebration in the year 2000. [catalog record] [online presentation] [South Dakota Local Legacies]

AFC 2003/004:Father Buechal Memorial Museum Collection
One 10-inch tape, copied from six discs, of Lakota dance and feast songs including Chief Dance, Dog Ceremonial Dance, Fox Organization, Grass Dance, Horse Dance, Love Song, Memorial Feast, Sun Dance, Tokalu Dance, Victory Dance, and War Dance recorded on an unknown date. Original discs held by the Buechel Memorial Lakota Museum, St. Francis, South Dakota. The collection includes 7 pages of photocopies of the original discs and a 1-page recording log. (39 minutes)

AFC 2003/008: Darlene Thomas Collection on Native American Cultural, Educational, and Legal Resources
Two manuscript boxes of materials regarding Native American cultural, educational, legal, and political issues and resources. Subjects covered in the collection include: Pine Ridge (South Dakota) Agencies, Constitutions and Laws of the American Indians, Native American Rights Fund, Chesapeake Bay and its Watershed, Amerindian Law, Dakota Plains Legal Services, Menominee Indian Tribe, Indian Higher Education, Omer Stewart, Florence C. Shipek, and Indian Economic Development. The collection contains 5 filmstrips including a film from Pine Ridge, South Dakota in ca. 1968.

AFC 2007/030: Hoop Dances by Dallas Chief Eagle and Jasmine Pickner Concert Collection
Collection of digital video, sound recordings, and photographs documenting a concert by Dallas Chief Eagle and Jasmine Pickner (from the Rosebud and Crow Creek Sioux tribes of South Dakota) on November 15, 2007 in the Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, as part of the Homegrown concert series sponsored by the American Folklife Center. Jasmine Pickner delivered a brief introduction in Lakota. Dallas Chief Eagle discussed the traditions of the Lakota, and the balance between males and females in Lakota social life, with phrases in Lakota. The performers dance to recorded music. [catalog record] [event flyer and webcast]