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NAHM 2020: Indigenous People of Napa and the Greater Bay Area: Primary Sources

This guide provides resources to the Wappo and Patwin Tribes of Napa, as well as many of the indigenous people of the San Francisco Bay region, including the Miwok and Pomo people.

Wappo Narratives

The following articles pertain mainly to primary sources on the Wappo Tribe:

  • Kroeber, Henriette R. 1908. "Wappo Myths". Journal of American Folklore 21:321-323.
  • Loeb, Edwin M. 1932. "The Western Kuksu Cult". University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 33:1-137. Berkeley. (Note on Wappo mythology, pp. 107–108.)
  • Powers, Stephen. 1877. Tribes of California. Contributions to North American Ethnology, vol. 3. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. Reprinted with an introduction by Robert F. Heizer in 1976, University of California Press, Berkeley. (Two narratives, pp. 200–202.)
  • Radin, Paul. 1924. "Wappo Texts: First Series". University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 19:1-147. Berkeley. (Myths, including Bear and Fawns, collected from Jim Tripo and Joe McCloud in 1918, pp. 45–147.)
  • Radin, Paul. 1929. "A Grammar of the Wappo Language". University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 27:1-194. Berkeley. (One myth, pp. 159–160.)
  • Sawyer, Jesse O., Jr., and Laura Fish. 1977. "Bear Woman and Her Children (Wappo)". In Northern Californian Texts, edited by Victor Golla and Shirley Silver, pp. 105–113. International Journal of American Linguistics Native American Texts Series No. 2(2). University of Chicago Press.

Bibliography on the Patwin Language

A wonderful collection of materials on the Patwin Language compiled in 2016 by Lewis Lawyer{

http://calangdoc.com/files/patwin-bibliography.pdf

 

What is a Primary Source? What is a Secondary Source?

Primary Sources

Primary Sources are immediate, first-hand accounts of a topic, from people who had a direct connection with it. Primary sources can include:

Texts of laws and other original documents.

Newspaper reports, by reporters who witnessed an event or who quote people who did.

Speeches, diaries, letters and interviews - what the people involved said or wrote.

Original research.

Datasets, survey data, such as census or economic statistics.

Photographs, video, or audio that capture an event.

Secondary Sources

Encyclopedias

Secondary Sources are one step removed from primary sources, though they often quote or otherwise use primary sources. They can cover the same topic, but add a layer of interpretation and analysis. Secondary sources can include:

Most books about a topic.

Analysis or interpretation of data.

Scholarly or other articles about a topic, especially by people not directly involved.

Documentaries (though they often include photos or video portions that can be considered primary sources).

When is a Primary Source a Secondary Source?

Whether something is a primary or secondary source often depends upon the topic and its use.

A biology textbook would be considered a secondary source if in the field of biology, since it describes and interprets the science but makes no original contribution to it.

On the other hand, if the topic is science education and the history of textbooks, textbooks could be used a primary sources to look at how they have changed over time.

Examples of Primary and Secondary Sources

Bradstreet_first_edition.jpg   Academic Journal cover

Primary Sources

      

Secondary Sources
Artwork   Article critiquing the piece of art
Diary   Book about a specific subject
Interview   Biography
Letters   Dissertation
Performance   Review of play
Poem   Treatise on a particular genre of poetry
Treaty   Essay on a treaty

Bay Miwok Language and Land

A beautiful site hosted by the San Ramon Valley Museum on the Miwok peoples of the San Francisco Bay Area:

https://museumsrv.org/the-bay-miwok-language-and-land/