C. Hermann Berendt's transcription of a vocabulary of 57 words or phrases, including the numbers 1 to 6, in a dialect of Cuna (?) spoken by the Cholo, or Choco Indians of Panama and northwestern Colombia, as recorded by Berthold Seemann, in his article entitled The aborigines of the Isthmus of Panama (Transactions of the American Ethnological Society, vol. 3, 1853, p. 175-182, the vocabularies on p. 179-181). Choco languages that could be the source of the vocabulary include the Embera languages Catio, Chamí, and Epena Saija, and Waunana language. Whereas Seemann's primary entries are in English, Berendt gives them in Spanish. (For another transcription by Berendt of this same vocabulary, along with other vocabulary given in Seemann's article, see Ms. Coll. 700, Item 170.) The manuscript includes a clipping from the New York Herald, 5 May 1873, with the heading (handwritten by Berendt): Description of the Chocos; the article concerns the United States Darien expedition under Captain Selfridge, and describes, in a report dated 26 April 1873, during the members' voyage home, the way of life of the Indians of the Choco tribe encountered by the expedition in the valley of the Atrato River, in the vicinity of the Cuia River, with mention of the town Quibdó and the village Vejia (f. 4r-5r). Also included are two maps (f. 5v, 6r) depicting the central and eastern portions of Panama, with the names of Indian tribes labeled, including: Savaneros, or Sabaneros; Bayanos; Cholos or Chocos; Doraces; Guaimis (Guaymis); Dolegas; and Manzanillo or San Blas. The manuscript has a remnant of a note that was tipped in and evidently removed (f. 3v).
Language:
Spanish; Castilian
Provenance:
From the collection of C. Hermann Berendt, later acquired by Daniel Garrison Brinton (ex libris stamp on verso of front free endpaper of bound volume).; Berendt, C. Hermann 1817-1878, former owner.; Brinton, Daniel G. 1837-1899, former owner.
8 leaves : paper; 202-203 x 126 mm bound to 215 x150 mm
Geographic Subject:
Colombia; Panama -- Languages; Panama; Colombia -- Languages; Colombia -- Description and travel
Rights:
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/
Notes:
Ms. component part.; Title from component title page (f. 1r).; Item 219, in contemporary paper covers, is the 10th of 15 manuscripts (Items 162-165, 167-171, 172-175, 218, and 219) bound together in a volume with the spine title: Languages of Chiriqui and Darien.; Foliation: Paper, 8; ii (paper endleaves) + 6; [1-6]; modern foliation in pencil, upper right recto. Partial leaf bearing a map (tipped in, f. 5v); and a second, fold-out map (tipped in, f. 6r).; Script: Written in the hand of C. Hermann Berendt.; Decoration: Two hand-drawn maps showing parts of Panama and Colombia: the first map (tipped in, f. 5v) extends from the area around Remedios and Tole (Panama) eastward to western Colombia (Chocó province); the second map (tipped in, fold-out; f. 6r) shows a portion of Panama, from a little west of the city of David, eastward to a little east of the Chepo River.; Watermark: PIRIE'S Old Style.; Origin: Probably written in New York in 1873, as indicated by the inclusion of a clipping from a New York newspaper of May 1873; the manuscript uses the same paper as other items on the topic of Darien languages dating from that time and found in the same bound volume.; Spanish and words from one or more Choco languages, possibly Catio, and/or Chamí, Epena Saija, or Waunana; with a clipping in English.
Physical Location:
Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, Manuscripts, Ms. Coll. 700 Item 219
Collection:
Languages of Chiriqui and Darien; Berendt-Brinton Linguistic Collection
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