Peter Paul / Nicholas Smith Collection
Scope and Contents
This collection includes a series of taped interviews of Dr. Peter Paul, conducted by Nicholas N. Smith between 1970 and 1985. The recordings include spoken Malecite language as well as the oral history and descriptions of Malecite traditions known by Paul who was born in 1902 on the Woodstock Reserve in New Brunswick, Canada. This collection includes 25 tape recordings, 24 photographs, and exhibit text used to create the 2003 Maine Folklife Center display, "Collaboration: Peter Paul and Nicholas Preserving Maliseet Culture." Collection also includes a text summary, and background information about the two men, including obituaries, collected by library staff as supplemental material.
Dates
- Creation: 1970-2003
Creator
- Smith, Nicholas N. (Interviewer, Person)
- Paul, Peter Lewis, 1902-1989 (Interviewee, Person)
Language of Materials
Malecite
Conditions Governing Access
For digitized items free from access restrictions, we are working to upload this material (pdfs, mp3s, jpgs) for public access, but it is an ongoing project. If you don’t find what you are looking for here, contact Special Collections (um.library.spc@maine.edu).
Extent
1 box (half-sized) : Hollinger metal edge document storage box.
Biographical Note
During the mid-20th century, Malecite ethnographer, Dr. Peter Lewis Paul (1902-1989) worked with Dr. Nicholas N. Smith (1926-2022), a white man and ethnographer, to preserve the language, tradition, and "tribal lore" of the Wabanaki community in and around the Woodstock Reserve, New Brunswick, Canada. In 1963, the two men canoed from Meductic, New Brunswick, Canada, to Indian Island, Maine by rediscovering and documenting the Old Meductic Trail. Paul was born on the Woodstock Reserve and was a native speaker of the Malecite language. Between 1970 and 1985, Smith worked with Paul to record the spoken Malecite language as well as the oral history and descriptions of Malecite traditions known to Paul. This collection includes 25 tape recordings, text, and photographs used to create the 2003 Maine Folklife Center display, "Collaboration: Peter Paul and Nicholas Preserving Maliseet Culture."
Existence and Location of Copies
Located at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress: AFC 2012/047 https://lccn.loc.gov/2013655211
Materials Specific Details
Audio files are the primary source material. Transcriptions are the transcriber's best effort to convert audio to text, but should be considered secondary to the audio.
- Title
- Guide to Peter Paul / Nicholas Smith Collection
- Status
- In Progress
- Author
- Kimberly J. Sawtelle
- Date
- September 2022
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Code for uncoded script
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History Repository
5729 Raymond H. Fogler Library
University of Maine
Orono ME 04469-5729 United States
207.581.1686
