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Title: Gilbert L. Wilson
Dates: 1911, 1915-1916
Collection Number: 10166
Quantity: .5 foot
Abstract: Papers include transcripts and original notebooks and reports on the Hidatsa and Mandan Indians of the Fort Berthold Reservation, prepared for the American Museum of Natural History. Originals at the Minnesota Historical Society and the American Museum of Natural History.
Provenance: The collection was donated to the State Historical Society of North Dakota by the Minnesota Historical Society in 1970.
Property Rights: The State Historical Society of North Dakota owns the property rights to this collection.
Copyrights: Copyrights to materials in this collection remain with the donor, publisher, author, or author's heirs. Researchers should consult the 1976 Copyright Act, Public Law 94-553, Title 17, U. S. Code and an archivist at this repository if clarification of copyright requirements is needed.
Access: This collection is open under the rules and regulations of the State Historical Society of North Dakota.
Citation: Researchers are requested to cite the collection title, collection number, and the State Historical Society of North Dakota in all footnote and bibliographic references.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Gilbert Livingston Wilson (1869-1930) was an ordained Presbyterian minister. Like so many other scholars of his day, he had another passion besides the ministry. He had a deep interest in the lifeways (also called ethnography) and history of the Hidatsa Indians. Wilson was born in Springfield, Ohio. He graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1899. His earliest church assignments were in Moorhead, Minnesota, Mandan, and Langdon, North Dakota. In 1907, he returned to Minnesota and ministered to churches there until 1930.
As a boy, Gilbert Wilson enjoyed learning more about American Indians and their stories. After he became minister of the Presbyterian church in Mandan, he spent his spare time at Standing Rock and Fort Berthold reservations collecting Indian myths. He published two collections of these stories for young children.
An important scholar named Clark Wissler heard about Wilson’s studies. Wissler, who worked at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, provided funding to send Wilson to Fort Berthold Reservation each summer for nine years to record the ethnography of the Hidatsa, Mandan, and Arikara. At Fort Berthold, Wilson met and befriended Edward Goodbird who introduced Wilson to Buffalo Bird Woman (Goodbird’s mother) and her brother Wolf Chief. With Wilson’s brother, Frederick, these five people created an extraordinary record of life among the Hidatsa during the time of Buffalo Bird Woman’s life along with her memories of her mother’s and grandmother’s lives.
Wilson’s studies resulted in several books. Among the most important of these are Buffalo Bird Woman’s autobiography, Waheenee; Edward Goodbird’s autobiography, Goodbird The Indian; and Agriculture of the Hidatsa Indians (recently re-published as Buffalo Bird Woman’s Garden.) Wilson also studied and wrote about many of the traditions and skills of the Hidatsa. His studies led to more books about how to trap eagles, how to build an earth lodge, and the role of dogs and horses among the Hidatsa. In addition, Wilson’s notes, including drawings and photographs, fill 16 large notebooks. The notes are still today an important resource for scholars
Wilson earned a doctoral degree from the University of Minnesota in 1916. Perhaps more important to the Wilson brothers was the honor of becoming the adopted sons of Buffalo Bird Woman and members of the Prairie Chicken clan. Gilbert was given the new name Yellow Chicken.
Source: North Dakota Studies
BOX / FOLDER INVENTORY
Box 1:
1 Hidatsa-Mandan Report, Part I. Field Work, summer of 1915, American Museum of Natural History, 1916
2 Myths of the Standing Rock Sioux, told by Mary Louise (Mrs. James M.) McLaughlin, recorded by Rev. G. L. Wilson, ca. 1915
3 Sketches, 1915
4 Hidatsa-Mandan Report, Part I. Field Work, summer of 1915, American Museum of Natural History, ca. 1915
5 Hidatsa-Mandan Report, Part II. Field Work, summer of 1915, American Museum of Natural History, ca. 1915
6 Mandan Sacred Lodge notes, ca. 1915
7 Miscellaneous: notes, illustrations, and an inventory of the Wilson Collection at another institution (probably the Minnesota Historical Society), ca. 1910
8 Making of a Bull Boat by Owl Woman, born about 1840, native name ic-ki-me-he, from icki-owl and mihe-woman (Mandan) August 1911
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