Table of Contents
Abstract

Born to a Welsh father and Niska mother of high status, William Beynon was raised in Victoria, B.C., speaking both Niska and English. A member of the Wolf (Laxgibu) phratry, he became an hereditary Tsimshian chief in 1914 upon the death of his maternal uncle, and a year later, began to work with the anthropologist C. Marius Barbeau, collecting narratives and artifacts. During the mid- to late-1930s, Beynon worked closely with Franz Boas, providing him with an extensive series of narratives and translations from the Tsimshian.

The Beynon Papers includes a series of correspondence between Beynon and Franz Boas, 1933-1937, along with a small number of narratives in Tsimshian with interlinear English translations. The letters complement, but do not overlap with those in the Boas Papers.

Background note

Born to a Welsh father and Niska mother of high status, William Beynon was raised in Victoria, B.C., speaking both Niska and English. A member of the Wolf (Laxgibu) phratry, Beynon was schooled in some of the traditional responsibilities of a hereditary Tsimshian chief, however he later wrote that when he first traveled to Prince Rupert in 1914 to perform rites associated with the funeral of his maternal uncle, a chief of the wolf phratry, he felt that he was insufficiently knowledgeable about the rituals and obligations of being a chief. Only reluctantly was he persuaded to accept the title he inherited from his uncle, adopting his uncle's name, Gusgain. His status was no doubt enhanced among the coastal Tshimshian by his marriage to a niece of Tsibase, chief of Kitkatla.

During C. Marius Barbeau's first season in the field, 1915, Beynon signed on as a field assistant and translator, beginning what would become a forty year association with anthropologists and linguists. Through Barbeau, he became familiar with Viola Garfield and Edward Sapir, and in 1936, began an intense association with Franz Boas. Working for canneries in the summer months, Beynon avidly pursued ethnographic work at other times of the year, often working for more than one client at a time and, according to Barbeau, occasionally selling material more than once. Following in the shoes of Henry W. Tate and George Hunt, Beynon organized expeditions to both coastal and inland Tsimshian villages, soliciting informants and recording, translating, and interpreting (in more than one sense) texts, rituals, and material culture. Speaking both Nass and Gitksan dialects, he was as productive as he was valuable in describing Tsimshian society, describing secret (and illegal) potlatch ceremonies, and , amassing a remarkable trove of narratives, many of which have yet to be published.

Scope and content

A small collection consisting of both correspondence and ethnographic texts with interlinear English equivalents, the papers of the Tsimshian ethnographer and field assistant William Beynon are a useful addition to the study of the cultures of the Northwest Pacific Coast. From Boas's first, tentative interest in discovering a new field assistant to his eager encouragement to record additional narratives (for a price), the collection also provides an interesting view onto the mediation between an anthropologist and his ethnographic subject.

The letters both to and from Boas chart the development of the relationship between the two, giving detailed information on Beynon's field plans and the steady stream of manuscripts sent back to New York. More valuable than the correspondence, perhaps, is a series of texts recorded, transcribed and (in most cases) translated by Beynon. Among these are two copies of manuscripts that were apparently previously collected by Henry W. Tate, and the first four manuscripts sent east by Beynon. At least two other manuscripts appear to show Boas's efforts to correct (or, at least, understand) Beynon's orthography.

Two additional items of later provenance have found their way into the collection: a 1940 letter from Ella Cara Deloria to Boas, informing him of her new address, and a manuscript by the anthropologist Irving Goldman discussing Boas's ethnographic work on the Kwakiutl (Kwakwaka'wakh).

Collection information

Provenance

The Beynon manuscripts were once held by Irving Goldman, and were transferred to the APS in September 2002 (M2002-30).

Preferred citation

Cite as: William Beynon Papers, American Philosophical Society.

Processing information

Catalogued rsc, 2002.

Related material

The Franz Boas Papers (B B61) include 65 letters, bills, or receipts relating to Beynon's work with Boas, 1936-1941. Beynon is also mentioned in Boas' correspondence with Viola Garfield and Marius Barbeau.

A microfilm of the extensive collection of William Beynon Tsimshian Manuscripts (Film 1416) at Columbia University is available for consultation at the APS. These are the manuscripts referred to in Beynon's correspondence with Boas.

Several narratives collected by Beynon are located in the collection of the American Council of Learned Societies Committee on Native American Languages, including his "Ethnographic and folkloric texts of the Tsimshian" (no. 35; Freeman and Smith 3771), "Tsmishian Kinship terms" (Pn5a.2, Freeman and Smith 3776) and "Tsimshian word list" (Pn5a.3; Freeman and Smith 3777). Additional material collected by Beynon is found in three of C. Marius Barbeau's reports to the APS Phillips Fund Committee, "The Gwenhoot of Alaska" (Freeman and Smith 3767), "Temlar'ham"(Freeman and Smith 3769), and "Wolf clan invaders from the northern plateau..." (Freeman and Smith 3770).

The other main sources for manuscripts collected by Beynon are Columbia University and the Canadian Centre for Folk Cultural Studies at the National Museum of Man, Ottawa. A portion of the English texts at Columbia have been published by the Metlakatla Indian Community in multiple volumes as Tsimshian Stories.

Bibliography

Winter, Barbara J., "William Beynon and the anthropologists," Canadian Journal of Native Studies 2 (1984), 279-292.

Indexing Terms

Genre(s)

Personal Name(s)

Subject(s)



Detailed Inventory
Beynon, William.
Correspondence
1933-1937 3 lin. feet Request Series
Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
May 22, 1933 1p. Request Item

Recommended to Boas for his interest in Tsimshian narratives by Viola Garfield, Edward Sapir and Marius Barbeau.

Boas, Franz, 1858-1942 .
TLS Cy to William Beynon
June 1, 1933 1p. Request Item

Is interested in pursuing Tsimshian stories.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
June 14, 1933 2p. Request Item

Enclosing account of the holder of the chief name Nieswexs took his place. Terms for providing texts. Differences between Tsimshian villages, informants.

Boas, Franz, 1858-1942 .
TLS Cy to William Beynon
July 8, 1933 1p. Request Item

Will write about proposed work.

Boas, Franz, 1858-1942 .
TLS Cy to William Beynon
August 17, 1933 1p. Request Item

Beynon's price is more than he can afford. Sending a copy of a manuscript by Henry Tate, which should be rewritten in proper style.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
August 28, 1933 2p. Request Item

Negotiation on compensation for work. Has begun work on four short manuscripts.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
September 5, 1933 1p. Request Item

Sending on of Tate's manuscripts.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
September 11, 1933 1p. Request Item

Sending more of Tate's manuscripts dealing with the adventures of the Gispaxlot's tribes and Legex..

Boas, Franz, 1858-1942 .
TLS Cy to William Beynon
September 14, 1933 1p. Request Item

Very interested in Beynon's stories and the price is not excesive.

Boas, Franz, 1858-1942 .
TLS Cy to William Beynon
September 22, 1933 1p. Request Item

Suggests he spend not more than $50 a month for Boas.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
September 28, 1933 1p. Request Item

Thanks for payment and books. Enclosing manuscripts 5 and 6.

Boas, Franz, 1858-1942 .
TLS Cy to William Beynon
October 11, 1933 1p. Request Item

Boas collected the tale of Dzagagilac in 1888 and 1900.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
October 25, 1933 2p. Request Item

Enclosing manuscripts 7-10, synopses.

Boas, Franz, 1858-1942 .
TLS Cy to William Beynon
October 26, 1933 1p. Request Item
Boas, Franz, 1858-1942 .
TLS Cy to William Beynon
November 9, 1933 2p. Request Item

Wishes clarification on writing several words.

Boas, Franz, 1858-1942 .
TLS Cy to William Beynon
November 10, 1933 1p. Request Item

Understands that there must be several stories about the origins of the four societies (phratries).

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
November 11, 1933 2p. Request Item

Enclosing manuscripts 11-14, synopses. Offers services at Hartley Bay and Kitamat, which he will visit in December or January.

Boas, Franz, 1858-1942 .
TLS Cy to William Beynon
November 29, 1933 1p. Request Item

Much to be done in Gitamat.

Boas, Franz, 1858-1942 .
TLS Cy to William Beynon
December 6, 1933 1p. Request Item
Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
December 11, 1933 1p. Request Item

Sending manuscripts from Tate's work. Has secret societies stories importaed from the southern tribes into the northern.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
December 22, 1933 1p. Request Item

Sending more of Tate's work. Tate's difficult style.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
January 8, 1934 2p. Request Item

Sending more Tate material. Odd story of hermaphrodite, for which he had seen a reference when he was on the Nass.

Boas, Franz, 1858-1942 .
TLS Cy to William Beynon
January 18, 1934 2p. Request Item

It has been a long time since he has heard Tsimshian, but there are some things about which he is doubtful in Beynon's work.

Boas, Franz, 1858-1942 .
TLS Cy to William Beynon
January 18, 1934 1p. Request Item

Re: compensation for work.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
January 22, 1934 1p. Request Item

Concentrating on Tate's material.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
February 3, 1934 1p. Request Item

Fees.

Boas, Franz, 1858-1942 .
TLS Cy to William Beynon
February 12, 1934 1p. Request Item

Has sent money. Cannot raise the monthly total for informants to $75.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
March 11, 1934 1p. Request Item

Fees.

Boas, Franz, 1858-1942 .
TLS Cy to William Beynon
March 12, 1934 1p. Request Item

Sending $32.70.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
March 19, 1934 1p. Request Item

Fees.

Boas, Franz, 1858-1942 .
TLS Cy to William Beynon
March 22, 1934 2p. Request Item

Representing spelling of Tsimshian.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
April 27, 1934 2p. Request Item

Enclosing manuscript 34, the last of Tate's, and 35-39, synopses. Manuscript 39: "It was an elaborite affair staged in a moderbn atmosphere. Even the food served was entirely white man's food in the manner of the white man. The Chief himself was a half-breed with a splendid education and a very bright man in public life, with little or no knowledge of his Native antecedents having been raised in the south in the city of Victoria. But the older people created the atmosphere for the festivity which was very impressive. Ther distribution of ealth to the guests took the form of money presents."

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
April 30, 1934 2p. Request Item

Could come to New York. Still studying Boas's grammatical questions.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
May 21, 1934 1p. Request Item

Completing a new series of Hartley Bay stories. Social organization amongthe coastal tribes: Halait groups may be more important and less variable than clans.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
May 26, 1934 1p. Request Item

Sending the Halait manuscript. Studies of the Halait.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
June 25, 1934 1p. Request Item

Forwarding manuscripts 45-48, including continuation of the Halait material.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
July 16, 1934 1p. Request Item

Sorry to hear plans for the visit have fallen through. Asks for prompter remittances.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
July 28, 1934 1p. Request Item

Sending manuscripts 49-53 and bill.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
October 29, 1934 1p. Request Item

Remitting manuscripts 59-63. Working with three informants to standardize phonetic spelling and pronunciation: the best informants in his and Viola Garfield's view.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
December 19, 1934 3p. Request Item

Manuscripts 64-68; synopses. Asks again for sufficient sum each month for informants and whether there has been improvement in his phonetics. Itemized invoice.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
March 18, 1934 3p. Request Item

Manuscripts 69-74, synopses. Itemized invoice.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
April 15, 1935 1p. Request Item

Sorry he would not advance him money, but will take Boas's offer of advance of $25 for Kitkatla and Skeena River villages. Hopes for advance to cover informant expenses during summer field work among the Gitksan, Gitselasu, and Kitzemgelelm. Understands from Garfield that nothing has been done in Gitksan; Beynon speaks both Gitksan and Nass dialects.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
April 22, 1935 1p. Request Item

Main informant is an excellent one.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
May 12, 1935 2p. Request Item

Forwarding manuscripts 80-86. Itemized invoice.

Beynon, William.
TLS receipt to Franz Boas
August 9, 1935 1p. Request Item
Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
August 9, 1935 2p. Request Item

Forwarding manuscripts 97-104. Attempting to record the myth 'Am'ala, which Boas wanted. Hopes to be able to provide a full account of Gitksan potlatches in the winter. The Gitksan have retained their old ways better than most Tsimshians since their hunting territories are about their only asset and because they have a sympathetic Indian agent.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
December 30, 1935 1p. Request Item

Forwarding manuscripts 114-118, including account of elevation of Ginax'engik chiefs. Has recorded a Tsimshian version of Lagabula from informant who had worked by Henry Tate.

Boas, Franz, 1858-1942 .
TLS Cy to William Beynon
January 6, 1936 1p. Request Item

Desires a description of the objects used in the Halait, particularly the meaning of a tube open at both ends.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
January 23, 1936 1p. Request Item

Forwarding manuscripts 119-122, synopses. Legex.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
January 27, 1936 1p. Request Item

Information on Halaits.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
March 30, 1936 1p. Request Item

Forwarding manuscripts 123-126.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
June 15, 1936 1p. Request Item

Forwarding manuscripts 127-129. Leaving next month for the Skeena canneries and will get material, particularly Lagabula narrative. Will also try to get Gitksan material.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
July 4, 1936 2p. Request Item

Forwarding manuscripts 130-133. Sing two new informants, Harry Brooks and William Henry Pierce. Has recorded the story of how a woman cohabited with a dog from an elderly woman who gave a version that included the "embarrassing scenes" omitted by Pierce.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
September 12, 1936 1p. Request Item

Forwarding manuscripts 139-145.

Beynon, William.
ALS to Franz Boas
October 17, 1936 2p. Request Item

Survey for the Forestry Dept. has been delated by weather. Secret societies.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
December 18, 1936 1p. Request Item

Forwarding manuscripts 152-158.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
January 15, 1937 1p. Request Item

Chief Tsiba-sa of Kitkatla has died at 98. "The writer as a chief of the Wolf clan was visited by messengers that had beensent out by the Kitkatlas to invite all of the Tsimshian chiefs and their spokesmen. I made a complete record of all the events... Even though I lived in Prince Rupert the delgatio[n] came to my residence very early in the morning and as soon as they entered they sang a dirge song and gave me my ground hog gift which notified myt that there was a royal death at Kitkatla..."

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
February 15, 1937 2p. Request Item

Working the death and ceremont of Tsibasa; none of the older type of speech heard twenty years ago.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
June 23, 1937 1p. Request Item

Forwarding manuscripts 175 and 176. Looking into Boas's question of the origin of royal groups.

Beynon, William.
ALS to Franz Boas
August 30, 1937 2p. Request Item

Forwarding manuscript on royal status. Certain that Hartley Bay and Kitamat are the best places to study halait; "The difficulty with Port Simpson informants is that the religious contacts made with them has resulted in their almost total loss of past knowledge concerning the halait."

Deloria, Ella Cara .
ALS to Franz Boas
[1940] 2p. Request Item

Sending her address.

Beynon, William.
TLS to Franz Boas
n.d. 1p. Request Item

Invoices.

Boas, Franz, 1858-1942 .
Originals of TLsS to William Beynon
1933-1936 17 TLsS Request Item

BRITTLE: HANDLE ONLY WITH CARE.

Beynon, William.
Texts
1928-1945 3 lin. feet Request Series
Beynon, William.
Gispaxlot tribal situation
ca.1933 TMs, 2p. Request Item
Beynon, William.
Manuscript 1. Gid'astsu (Klemtu). Phratryal Peculiarities among the Gidastsu
1933 AMsS, 8p. Request Item

Tsimshian with interlinear English.

Beynon, William.
Manuscript 1. Phratrial peculiarities among the Gid'astsu
1933 TMs, 2p. Request Item

In English.

Beynon, William.
Manuscript 2. Origin name he.l gitxala. Account of the arrival of the first white man
1933 AMsS, 28p. Request Item

In Tsimshian with interlinear English. Marginal notes, added in red in unknown hand.,

Beynon, William.
Manuscript 2. Origin name He.l, Gitxala, also an account of the arrival of the first white man
1933 TMs, 7p. Request Item

Informant: George McCankey

Beynon, William.
Manuscript 3. The myth of Nugu.n'aks: Gid'astsu. Myth ofthe house of Temks... and all its subdivisions among the Tsimsyen
1933 AMsS, 43p. Request Item

In Tsimshian with interlinear English. Marginal notes, added in red in unknown hand. "All of these houses on the different groups of people use this myth in connection with their myth of origin and crests and dirge and nursery songs." Related by James Robinson, age 70.

Beynon, William.
Manuscript 4. Retaliation of animals, or the extinction of the Gitwalksabe
1933 AMsS, 4p. Request Item

In Tsimshian with interlinear English. Marginal notes, added in red in unknown hand. Informant Benjamin Tate.

Beynon, William.
Manuscript 54(?). Grammatical Forms
[1934] AMsS, 5p. Request Item

In Tsimshian with English translation.

Beynon, William.
Melska wala wileksam wildogita dzimsyen dil gidaganitz
1910-1926 TMs,17p. Request Item

Typed narrative with interlinear transcription in different Tsimshian orthography.

Beynon, William.
Melska wal wileksam wildogit tsimsyen dil gidaganit and Melsgam waldogitga Haida dil gispaxlats
ca.1928-1945 AMs,2p. Request Item

Incomplete narratives with interlinear English.

Beynon, William.
Tate Mss (1928)
1928-1946 AMs,19p. Request Item

Incomplete narrative with interlinear English.

Beynon, William.
Tate Mss
n.d. AMs,18p. Request Item

Incomplete narrative with interlinear English.

Beynon, William.
Tsimshian word list
n.d. AMs, 5p. Request Item

Tsimshian words with English equivalents.

Beynon, William.
"The words you selected and the way in which I mean them"
n.d. AMs, 5p. Request Item
Beynon, William.
Miscellaneous manuscripts
n.d. AMs, 6 items Request Item

Includes first page (mutilated) of "The history of great war between..."; partial inventory of Beynon manuscripts; 4 cards with Tsimshian and English.

Goldman, Irving.
The mythology of myth
October 10, 1992 TMsS, 13p. Request Item

Paper given at symposium, Fifty Years Later: The Legacy of Franz Boas, held at Barnard College, 1992.



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