Constance Naish and Gillian Story Tlingit Language Papers, 1959-1975 | Sealaska Heritage Institute Archives

By Ishmael Hope, Archival Assistant

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Collection Overview

Title: Constance Naish and Gillian Story Tlingit Language Papers, 1959-1975

ID: MS/046

Primary Creator: Naish, Constance

Other Creators: Story, Gillian L.

Extent: 1.0 Boxes

Date Acquired: 10/25/2012

Subjects: Tlingit language.

Languages: Tlingit, English

Scope and Contents of the Materials

This collections contains one box of materials pertaining to the Tlingit language research and documentation conducted by linguists Constance Naish and Gillian Story between 1959 to the early 1970’s. This includes transcriptions/translations of Tlingit speaking, notes about their work in documenting the Tlingit language, and documentation of Tlingit place names near Angoon. Also included are notes and revised Tlingit transcriptions and translations from Richard and Nora Marks Dauenhauer, who donated the collection to SHI.

Collection Historical Note

Constance Naish and Gillian Story are linguists, now retired, involved with the Summer Institute of Linguistics / Wycleffe Bible Translators who intensively studied and documented the Tlingit language from 1959 to the early 1970’s. They developed the modern Tlingit orthography, which still in use with a few modifications. They lived in Angoon and worked most closely with Robert Zuboff (Shaadaax’) and George Betts (Asxh’aak) (Dauenhauer and Dauenhauer, Haa Shuká, 1987). According to Haa Shuká, the work of Naish and Story includes “scientific research, especially their MA Theses (1966) on morphology (Story) and syntax (Naish); design and teaching of a popular alphabet; religious publications, including hymns and Bible Stories, and especially the Gospel of John; educational publications, especially the Tlingit Noun Dictionary and Tlingit Verb Dictionary which includes an extremely valuable “Grammar Sketch.” Their work also includes Athabascan languages in Northwest Territories, Canada.

Subject/Index Terms

Tlingit language.

Administrative Information

Repository: Sealaska Heritage Institute Archives

Acquisition Source: Richard and Nora Marks Dauenhauer

Acquisition Method: The material in the collection was donated to SHI on 10/25/2012 by Richard and Nora Dauenhauer. The donation was made with the consent of Constance Naish and Gillian Story.

Processing Information: Processed by Ishmael Hope, Archival Assistant, on March 29, 2013.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Box:

[Box 1: Linguistic research papers.],
[All]

Box 1: Linguistic research papers.

Folder 1: Transcription, translation, and notes from Tlingit elder Jennie Manton telling the Battles of Sitka story in the 1950’s. Naish, Story and Tlingit elder George Betts drafted a transcription and translation of the story in the 1960’s, and then later Richard and Nora Dauenhauer revised the drafts.

Folder 2: A Tlingit bibliography, a draft of the introduction to Yuwaan Gageets, a Tlingitized Russian folk tale, and various other material from Richard and Nora Dauenhauer. (Later published by the Dauenhauers)

Folder 3: A large file of Tlingit transcriptions of what appears to be Robert Zuboff’s stories, or at least a selection of his stories combined with others. The transcriptions are written in scientific orthography.

Folder 4: Notes on Angoon place names and genealogy.

Folder 5: A listing and correspondence with Richard and Nora Dauenhauer about the tapes recorded by Constance Naish and Gillian Story.