University of Oklahoma Libraries
Western History Collections
Te Ata Fisher Collection
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Box 1
Folder:
1. Correspondence from St. Mary's School for Indian Girls (Springfield, SD) (1966-1975)
2. Correspondence; newspaper clippings and articles about Indians.
3. Pamphlets and newspaper clippings about Te Ata and "God's Drum".
4. Society of Women Geographers bulletins (1972, 1977); "Prehistoric People of Eastern Oklahoma and Their Culture" by I.C. Gunning (1974).
Also:
-"Petals from Rose's Garden of Verses" by Rose Monroe Chappelear
-Legends of the Outer Banks and Tar Heel Tidewater by Charles H. Whedbee
-Iran: Crossroads of Caravans by Jane W. Watson
Box 2
Folder:
1. Correspondence from Francois Mignon and Carmelite ("Aunt Cammie"), Melrose Plantation, Melrose, Louisiana (1941-1950).
2. Business correspondence of Clyde and Te Ata Fisher (1923-1951)
3. Publicity material about Te Ata; programs from Te Ata's performances; programs from various fine arts festivals.
4. Letters to Te Ata. Many are from school children who saw one of her performances. Also, letters from U.S. Army soldiers fighting overseas during World War II, especially from Harvey L. Mark, a Navajo soldier killed during the Battle of the Bulge.
5. Newspaper clippings and pamphlets about Indians and Indian museums around the country.
Box 3
Folder:
1. Lists of publications about Indians; "thank you" letters to Te Ata; newspaper clippings about famous Indians.
2. Cornell Rural School Leaflet (Vol. 24 #1, September 1930); "A Retrospective Exhibition of Photographs by Laura Gilpin" (c. 1969); "Plants of Mount Washington, N.H." (1920).
3. Shopping bags from Oklahoma City area stores.
4. Newspaper clippings re: efforts of tribes to regain rights and lands; miscellaneous newspaper clippings.
5. "American Indian Music"--sheet of music with brief songs from the Cherokee, Dakota and Chippewa tribes.
6. The Explorers Club correspondence and program (1965).
7. Amateur Astronomers Association Clyde Fisher Memorial Lecture, given by Te Ata (1953).
8. Chickasaw Historical Society of Southern Oklahoma Newsletters (1966-1967); United States Department of the Interior, Office of Indian Affairs Bulletin (1920-1928)--these are reprints of the original bulletins, which appeared in the years mentioned.
9. Miscellaneous programs.
10. Newspaper clippings, programs and publicity materials about Te Ata.
11. Te Ata's personal and business correspondence (1935-1975).
12. Miscellaneous newspaper clippings and magazine articles about Indians.
Box 4
Folder:
1. Exposition of Indian Tribal Arts, Inc.
publications including:
-"Indian Weaving"
-"Sand-painting of the Navaho Indians"
-"Indian Sculpture and Carving"
-"Books on Indian Arts North of Mexico"
-"Modern Indian Painting"
-"Indian Porcupine-Quill and Beadwork"
-"Indian Basketry"
2. Issues of The Spanish American, issued on board Grace Line "Santa" ships (May-August 1937).
3. First issue of The Indian Statesman (Volume 1 #1, October 26, 1957).
4. National Congress of American Indians materials, including convention programs and publications (1950-1966).
5. Issue of Arizona Highways (Volume 28 #11, November 1952).
6. Collection of Walt Whitman poems; a beginning German textbook (1908).
7. Miscellaneous publications (1930-1964).
8. Academic publications on zoology, botany, astronomy and ethnology (1917-1962).
9. Academic publications about Indians (1917-1957).
10. Non-academic publications about Indians (1914-1958).
Box 5
Folder:
1. Issue of the Indian School Journal (Volume 22 #3, October 1922).
2. Issues of Indian Voices (October 1963-February/March 1966).
3. Issue of Indian Truth (Volume 41 #1-2, June 1964).
4. Issues of Indian Affairs (1953-1955).
5. Issue of The Museum Review (Volume 1 #4, April 1964).
6. Issues of The Amerindian American Indian Review (November-December 1952-November-December 1965).
7. Miscellaneous correspondence, newspaper clippings, etc.
8. Miscellaneous magazines (1934-1977).
9. Publications on various topics re: Indians, including peyotism and tribal legends.
10. Publications on Indian art and music (1953-1975).
11. American Indian Dance Steps by Bessie Evans and May G. Evans (1931).
Box 6
Folder:
1. Portions of Clyde Fisher's diary (1929-1930); souvenir pamphlets from the Panama Canal and Brazil.
2. Newspaper clippings re: Indians.
3. Correspondence from Dr. Donald B. Smith (University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada) re: Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance (February 1976). Includes a review of Long Lance: The Story of an Indian by Dr. Clyde Fisher which appeared in The Explorer's Club Journal (1929).
4. An edition of The Chickasaw Times (Volume 12 #10, November 1983); an edition of The Beaver (Winter 1961); "A Self-guided tour of Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania" (no date).
5. Issues of National Geographic containing articles about the American Southwest (1967-1970); also, a National Geographic map of Middle America focusing on archeology.
6. Bibles belonging to Mrs. John Rodgers.
7. Letters and drawings from elementary school students (1951-1970).
Box 7
Folder:
1. Publications about Native American customs and traditions.
2. Articles and newspaper clippings re: Indians and Oklahomans (1924-1984).
3. Clyde Fisher's diary of the "Peruvian Eclipse Expedition--1937" (May 7-June 29, 1937).
4. Business correspondence (1934-1976).
5. Te Ata materials (publicity information, programs, newspaper clippings, etc.).
6. Five Civilized Tribes Museum correspondence (1969-1972).
7. "Old Letters" to Te Ata (1938-1950).
8. Bibliographies of Indian materials.
9. Posters, pictures and letters from children (1963-1969)
10. Miscellaneous.
11. Miscellaneous books and journals.
Box 8
Books and Journals:
-"Feast of the Red Corn". An American Indian operetta by Paul Bliss (1912).
-Word Pictures by Josephine K. Chastain (1976).
-Palisades Interstate Park: 1900-1960 (c. 1960).
-Northern Ute Music by Frances Densmore (1922).
-Broken Peace Pipes by Irvin M. Peithmann (1964).
-Cha-Yani-'Pi-Kta (You Shall Live) by Johan G. R. Baner (1936)
-National Geographic (1941-1972)
-Cornell Rural School Leaflet (1925-1930)
Box 9
Folder:
1. Business correspondence (1958-1983).
2. Articles by and about American Indians (1933-1968).
3. Issues of Indian Voices (winter 1968) and National Fellowship of Indian Workers Newsletter (Spring 1960).
4. Society of Women Geographers Bulletin issues (Fall 1975, 1978).
5. The Lucky Children by Elneita Wallace-Stewart (1953).
6. War Whoops and Medicine Songs, compiled and edited by Charles Hofmann (1952).
Box 10
Folder:
1. Miscellaneous newspaper clippings, articles, correspondence, etc.
2. Institute of American Indian Arts (1965, 1967).
3. Issues of The Totem Board (1920-1932).
4. Oklahoma Archeology: A 1981 Perspective... by the Oklahoma Archeological Survey (1983).
5. The Vanishing Race: The Last Great Indian Council by Dr. Joseph K. Dixon; has an autograph by the author. This book can be found in the Main Library and the Western History Library under the call number 970.1D64v, and in the Western History Library under the call number E77.D6. (1913).
Box 11
Folder:
1. Business correspondence (1939-1982).
2. Personal correspondence (1979-1984).
3. Letters and drawings from elementary school students.
4. Legends from various tribes.
5. Te Ata publicity materials; registration forms for "Indian Summer" at the Institute of American Indian Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
6. Rough draft of a screenplay for "Te Ata-`Bearer of the Morning' by Augustine Palmer, Jr. for Taos Films (no date).
7. Pamphlets, programs, catalogs, maps, etc.
8. Miscellaneous journal issues and reprints of articles (most are about Indians, one is a small book of poems by Cotton Noe.
9. Miscellaneous journal issues; Introduction to American Indian Art by The Exposition of Indian Tribal Arts, Inc. (1931).
10. Miscellaneous articles; 1984 calendar.
Box 12
Folder:
1. The Story of the Moon by Clyde Fisher (Armed Services Edition, 1943); AAA Tourbook for Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma (1983); "Indian Pottery of the Rio Grande" by Mary Austin; Publications Pricelist, Bureau of Indian Affairs (1971).
Books:
-Iroquois Crafts by Carrie A. Lyford (1945)
-En Bog Om Lappernes Liv Muittalus Samis Birra by Johan Turi (in Danish) (1911), with notes to Dr. Clyde Fisher in the front of the book.
-The Quest by John G. Neihardt (1928)
-Listen! The Wind by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, with forward and map drawings by Charles A. Lindbergh (1938)
-On Reflection: An Autobiography by Helen Hayes with Sanford Dody (1968)
-Lachesis Lapponica, or a Tour in Lapland by Linnaeus (Volume 1). This is a reprint of the original work (1811).
-Muittalus Samid Berra by Johan Turi (Swedish edition) (1917), with letter from the author in the front.
Box 13
Folder:
1. Miscellaneous newspaper clippings re: Indians.
2. Newspaper clippings re: members of the Five Civilized Tribes.
3. Miscellaneous Te Ata materials.
4. Miscellaneous correspondence and picture postcards.
5. Scripts and programs of plays based on American Indian legends.
6. Bibliographies re: American Indian materials.
7. Legends from several tribes.
8. Magazine and newspaper articles, and pamphlets re: Te Ata (1962-1977).
9. Miscellaneous newspaper clippings re: Indians.
10. Journal and magazine articles re: Indians (1950-1976).
11. Chronicles of Oklahoma issues (1970/1980-1982).
12. Programs, pamphlets, etc., re: Indian festivals and arts.
13. Book and museum catalogs.
14. Traveler's English-Spanish dictionary; photograph (cut out of a magazine) of the Hayden Planetarium-Grace Peruvian Eclipse Expedition.
15. Musical scores of tribal songs.
16. "Deep Relaxation" record by Kay Ortmans.
Also:
-"Scrapbook of Indian Materials" compiles by Ataloa, her students and Te Ata
-several journals, including Sky and Telescope and Natural History, with articles re: astronomy and botany
-flap folder containing a photograph plate and two "Te Ata" stamps
Box 14
Folder:
1. Pamphlets, magazine articles, etc., re: Te Ata, and Indian arts in general.
2. Miscellaneous newspaper clippings re: Native Americans.
3. Miscellaneous personal correspondence (1941-1979).
4. Autographed photographs from George K. Cherrie (1925), John Inaleu (a movie actor), and Homer B. Hulbert.
5. Miscellaneous materials re: Indians, mostly about legends and arts.
6. Material re: the U.S. Capitol building and the Liberty Bell; "Presidential Handbook '72", a guide to the electoral process, what the President does, Presidential history, the voting process, etc.
7. Facsimiles of documents written by Abraham Lincoln, including the Gettysburg Address, the Emancipation Proclamation, and Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address.
Also:
-issues of several journals, including Arizona Highways, The American West, Natural History, and several Indian-related journals. Also, reprints of articles by Clyde Fisher and other scholars.
-Wilderness Man: The Strange Story of Grey Owl by Lovat Dickinson (1973)
-Lappish Texts by Johan Turi and Per Turi (1920)
Box 15
Folder:
1. Reprints of articles by G. Clyde Fisher (1913-1933).
2. Miscellaneous correspondence and newspaper clippings.
3. Miscellaneous Indian materials.
4. Miscellaneous Indian materials.
5. Miscellaneous Indian materials.
6. Articles from National Geographic.
7. New Mexico travel guides.
8. Pamphlets about Te Ata.
9. Clyde Fisher correspondence.
10. Chapters from The Woodcraft Manual for Boys and History of the Boy Scouts of America (Xerox copies).
11. Woodcraft League of America correspondence with Clyde Fisher (1922, 1926).
12. Boy Scouts of America pamphlets.
Also, a copy of Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language.
Box 16
Folder:
-Brave Against the Enemy (TcOka Wan ItkokcIp Ohitike Kin He) by Ann Clark and Helen Post, translated into Sioux by Emil Afraid of Hawk (1944). This book has English text on the left leaf, and Sioux text on the right leaf.
-Indian Land Laws by S.T. Bledsoe (1909).
-Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, with "W. S. Campbell" embossed on the front cover.
Box 17
Folder:
1. "Adoption of the Human Race" by Te Ata. n.d.
2. Amerindian - Reference Materials. Summary of American Indian tribes including location, tribal name & family name; "Backgrounds for Amerindian Life, Arts and Culture;" "Contributions of the Amerindian to World Culture;" typescript of Tecumseh's speech to Governor Harrison, Aug. 12, 1810; and other related materials.
3. Articles by Clyde Fisher (reprints). 1925-35
4. "As I Remember It" by Te Ata n.d.
5. Awards (Governor's Arts Awards, Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Award) 1959, 1987
6. Biographical Material. Includes passport, certificate of registration (aliens order), Oklahoma College for Women report cards, and various biographical statements. 1924
7. Business Records. Receipts, tax statement & gift agreement. 1984-1991
8. Choctaw Baptist Hymn Book. n.d.
9. Correspondence, 1920-1929. Includes letters from H.B. Hulbert, Frances Dinsmore Davis (Carnegie Institute of Technology), William T. Hornaday (New York Zoological Society), Mrs. S.A. Tucher, and Constance L. Lyon.
10. Correspondence, 1930-1939. Includes letters re. Te Ata's performances in Europe (1930) form Evelyn Adams (Lady in Waiting), Helena John of the English-Speaking Union, Gilda Varesi (actress), and Jules Casadesus. Also letters from David Warfield(?), Chief Max Big Man, Clyde Fisher, Ellis Gimbel, Marius Barbeau (National Museum of Canada), Isabel Scott (National Music League), Hazel Muller (American Museum of Natural History), Edward Weyer, Jr. (Natural History Magazine), Sarah Knott (National Folk Festival), Lorenzo Hubbell, and Pejawah. Letters from Copenhagen and Stockholm re. performances in Denmark and Sweden (1936).
11. Correspondence, 1940-1955. Letters from Andrew Maurois, Elizabeth Symonds, Mrs. Benjamin Philip Watson (Belgians in Britain), Oscar B. Jacobson (discusses his "Indian prodigies"), Woodrow Crumbo, Arthur Parker (Society for Colonial History), Fenley Hunter, and Floyd Maytubby (Governor of the Chickasaw Nation).
12. Correspondence, 1960-1994. Letters from Joseph Garry, Carol Evans (Personal Secretary to Adlai Stevenson), Elmo Roper, Alice Timmons, Margery Germain (NBC News), Lieutenant Governor George Nigh, Glenn Hinson, Lieutenant Governor Jack Mildren, and Bill Anoatubby (Governor of the Chickasaw Nation). Also letters re. donation of materials to libraries and archives.
13. Correspondence, no dates.
14. Correspondence with Charles Curtis, 1930. Letters of introduction for Te Ata sent by Vice President Charles Curtis to U.S. Ambassadors in Berlin, The Hague, Brussels, and Rome.
15. Correspondence with D. Judson Milburn, 1988, 1990. Letters re. the Milburn Family and includes excerpts from "The Memoirs of Francis Moore (Mode) Milburn" (1955-1964).
16. Correspondence with Muriel Wright, 1936-1940. Letter concern various projects involving Wright and Te Ata.
17. Correspondence with Ralph Allen, aka Kuruks, 1954. Allen, a Pawnee Indian, was a friend of Te Ata's who appeared in some of her programs as Tom-Tom.
18. Correspondence with The Children's Museum, Nashville, Tennessee, 1966-73. Letters re. various Te Ata programs presented at the museum.
19. Correspondence with Walter Stanley Campbell, 1932-1945. Letter from Campbell to Clyde Fisher on various subjects.
20. Diary (fragments) regarding trip to New Mexico. 1931-1932.
21. "Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief" by Te Ata. Includes letter from Marian Lockwood, Grolier Society, Inc. re. this article. 1948-1949
22. Freuchen, Peter and Magdalene. Includes news clipping and letter form Magdalene Freuchen to Te Ata. 1938, 1953.
23. Hiamovi, High Chief of the Cheyenne. Transcript from a message from Hiamovi and excerpt from The Gift Is Rich. 1968
24. Lake Te Ata. News clipping, newsletter, and letter re. the lake named after Te Ata. 1991
25. "Lectures" by G. Clyde Fisher. Brochure, publicity. n.d.
26. Lieurance, Thurlow. Telegram and letters from Thurlow Lieurance, an early proponent of the Chautauqua, to Te Ata. 1919, 1922
Box 18
Folder:
1. Masks. Masks, University Museum Bulletin, University of Pennsylvania, Nov. 1947. Art of the Northwest Coast-An Exhibition at the Robert H. Lowie Museum of Anthropology of the University of California, Berkeley, Mar.-Oct., 1965. Masks by Clark Wissler, 1938. Masking in Eastern North America, University Museum Bulletin, University of Pennsylvanian, July 1950. An Exhibition of Masks Occult and Utilitarian, Cranbrook Institute of Science, Oct. 1940. Indian Masks by Charles Willoughby, 1931.
2. "Message from Te Ata," Indian legendary and interpretive dancing, publicity brochure. n.d.
3. Miscellaneous. Includes poem by Rachel Field, greetings from National Congress of American Indians, "Sour Sofkee" by Chinnubbie, "An Indian Prayer" by Chief Dan George, and Duck Dance and Un-i Nu-Ni taught by Ataloa.
4. News clippings about Te Ata and various Indian subjects, various dates
5. Paricutin Expeditions to Mexico (1943-44), Peru, Rio-Brazil (1959).
6. Performance-Materials (writings by Te Ata on various subjects). Include "Pottery Making in the Southwest" (index cards), "The Great Treaty," "Moon of Falling Leaves," "As Told by Te Ata," "This Earth Is Sacred," "Indian Trails," "Peace Pipe Ceremony-Pawnee," "In the Beginning," "I Went to College," "How the Red Bird Got His Color," "Te Ata and Kuruks Among the Pawnee Indians in Oklahoma," "Prayer of a Great American," "The Papoose on the Squaw's Back," "Indian Day School," "The Orphan Who Became a Hunter, Creek," "When the World Was Young," "The Milky Way," "Origin of the Pleiades and the Pine," "The Turkey and the Terrapin, Choctaw," "The Story of the Opossum, Kossati," "Moons of the American Indians," "Navajo Happy Song," and "Yuma Lullaby."
7. Performance-Materials (2). Include "Your Heritage from the American Indian," "Across the Desert to Trujillo," "The Contributions of the of the American Indian," "The Sacred City of the Inca," "The Indians and their Problems," "Indian Songs of the Southwest: Candelano Album," "Indian Dance," "Indian Culture," "Corn Ceremony," "Morning In An Indian Camp," "Indian Humor," "The Indian Obsession," "Indian Women's Clothes Fashion and Function," "Indian Pottery," "Indian Mounds in Oklahoma," "Indian Names Suitable for Council Fire Totems," "Council Fire," "The Making of a Warrior," and "Corn Planting Ceremony."
8. Printed Materials (1). "Oklahoma Indian Ballerina Festival," Oklahoma City, Nov. 2, 1967; "Are You Helping To Kill the Indians?;" "Women of Trail and Wigwam" by Flora Warren Seymour; "Indians of Oklahoma," Bureau of Indian Affairs; "When the Crees Moved West" by Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance, 1923; "Fadeless Stars, Ballad of the Chickasaw;" "George Catlin: Artist Historian;" "Navajo Life Series" by Hildegard Thompson; "The Cherokee Indians of the Qualla Reservation, Cherokee, N.C.;" "Totem Poles;" and "Universal Indian Sign Language" by William Tomkins.
Box 19
Folder:
1. Printed Materials (2). "Cherokee Indian Lore and Smoky Mountains Stories;" "The Journal of Chickasaw History," three issues (1994-1995); "Institute of Indian Studies, University of South Dakota Bulletin," Nov. 1976; "Indian Cradles;" "Indian Poetry" by Mary Austin; "Myths and Legends of the Indians of the Southwest" by Bertha Dutton & CarOnline Cataloge Online Catalog; "Poetry and Symbolism of Indian Basketry" by George James; "DYN 4-5" Amerindian Number, 1943; "The Foreword," June 1933; various newsletters; "Out of the North-A Brief Historical Sketch of the Blackfeet Indian Tribe" by Frank Linderman; "Spawning the Medicine River 7;" "Art and Indian Children;" and Girl Scout Calendar, 1976.
2. Profiles: Treasurer of a Nation's Tales" in Storytelling Magazine, Fall 1989.
3. Programs. Te Ata presentations. 1919-1969.
4. Publicity. Brochures, announcements, etc.. 1954-1972.
5. "Rabbit and the Two Buffalo" by Te Ata in Story-A-Day, vol. 1, no. 14.
6. South American trip 1982
7. "Story of the Turkey," retold by Te Ata. n.d.
8. "The Te Ata Matinee." 1930
9. Te Ata: Photo Legends by Dorothy Bennett. 1989
10. "Tribute: Oklahomans Who Left Their Mark," Year In Review. 1995
11. Reproduction of Te Ata's portrait by artist, Neysa McMein, on cover of McCall's. Also letter by Florence Pielke about the McCall's cover. n.d.
OUTSIZE
Box 1
1. Indian Legends, Book 1, Piegan Indian Legends of Rock and Crow Woman As Told to Beaver Child by Chief Little Dog, 1940.
2. Brochure for The Cherokee Chieftain, Village of Cherokee, North Carolina. Includes map of Cherokee Indian Reservation, 1947.
3. The First Americans, Te Ata. 53 page program on Te Ata's presentation, "The First Americans," 1953(?). (2 copies)
4. Drawing of Te Ata by school child after program in Nashville, TN.
5. Broadside, "Te Ata: Interpreter of Folklore of the American Indian," n.d.
6. "Songs of the Redman Catalog 1952-53," American Indian Soundchiefs.
7. "1993 American Indian Art Calendar."
8. Scrapbooks (4), news clippings, magazine articles, letters, etc. re. Te Ata's life, various dates.
9. Oklahoma Hall of Fame Medallion for Te Ata Fisher.
CERTIFICATES and DIPLOMAS, BOX #3
1. 1982 Recognition of Te Ata by the Diamond Jubilee Commission of Oklahoma.
2. 1975 Distinguished Service Award to Te Ata Fisher from Zeta Phi Eta, National Professional Speech Arts Fraternity for Women.
3. 1984 Recognition of Te Ata Fisher for meritorious achievements by the Governor's Advisory Committee on the Status of Women.
4. 1983 Ambassador of Goodwill Award to Te Ata Fisher by the State of Oklahoma.