Background
Fenton, William Nelson was born in 1908 in New Rochelle, New York, United States. Son of John William and Anna Belle (Nourse) Fenton.
(This volume explores how the Eagle Dance was celebrated i...)
This volume explores how the Eagle Dance was celebrated in New York and Canada during the 1930s and how it related to the widespread Calumet Dance of the 17th century. Also included is an analysis of the Eagle Dance music and choreography, based on the author's own recordings and observations.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0815625332/?tag=2022091-20
( An in-depth survey of Iroquois culture and history Thi...)
An in-depth survey of Iroquois culture and history This masterful summary represents a major synthesis of the history and culture of the Six Nations from the mid-sixteenth century to the Canandaigua treaty of 1794. William N. Fenton, renowned as the dean of Iroquoian studies, draws on primary sources, in both French and English to create a readable narrative and an invaluable reference for all future scholars of Iroquois polity. Central to Fenton’s study is the tradition of the Great Law, still practiced today by the conservative Iroquois. It is sustained by celebrations of the condolence ceremony when participants mourn a dead chief and install his successor for life on good behavior. This ritual act, reaching back to the dawn of history, maintained the League of the Iroquois, the legendary form of government that gave way over time to the Iroquois Confederacy.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0806141239/?tag=2022091-20
( For the Seneca Iroquois Indians, song is a crucial mean...)
For the Seneca Iroquois Indians, song is a crucial means of renewing both medicine and heritage. Two or three times a year, the Little Water Medicine Society of western New York meets to renew the potency of its medicine bundles through singing. These bundles have been inherited from eighteenth century Iroquois war parties, handed down from generation to generation. In this long-awaited book, William N. Fenton describes the remarkable ceremonies of one of the least recorded but most significant medicine societies of the Iroquois Indians. Most of the Senecas who were members of the Little Water Society, or Society of Shamans, have passed away, and their knowledge of ceremonial healing and spiritual renewal is fading. Fenton has written this book to preserve knowledge of the ceremonies and songs for the Iroquois people and as a contribution to anthropology, folklore, ethnomusicology, and American Indian studies. In The Little Water Medicine Society of the Senecas, he presents his original 1933 fieldwork, along with details from the published and unpublished works of other researchers, to describe rituals, poetry, and songs drawn from his more than six decades of research among the Six Nations.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/080613447X/?tag=2022091-20
anthropologist anthropology educator emeritus
Fenton, William Nelson was born in 1908 in New Rochelle, New York, United States. Son of John William and Anna Belle (Nourse) Fenton.
AB, Dartmouth College, 1931; Doctor of Philosophy, Yale University, 1937; Doctor of Laws, Hartwick College, 1968.
Community worker, United States Indian Service (New York Agency, in charge Tonawanda and Tuscarora Reservations), 1935-1937;
instructor sociology and anthropology, St. Lawrence University, 1937-1938;
assistant professor, St. Lawrence University, 1938-1939;
instructor (summers), Allegany School Natural History, U. Buffalo, 1938;
instructor (summers), St. Lawrence University, 1938;
visiting professor, Northwestern University, 1947;
visiting professor, University of Michigan, 1951;
visiting professor, U. Arizona, 1963. Lecturer Johns Hopkins University, 1949-1950, Catholic U. American, 1950-1951. Associate anthropologist Bureau American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution, 1939-1943, senior ethnologist, 1943-1951, member and secretary, war committee, 1942-1944.
Research associate Ethnogeographic Board, 1943-1945. Executive secretary division anthropology and psychology National Research Council, 1952-1954. Director, assistant commissioner New York State Museum and Science Service, 1954-1968.
Research professor anthropology State University New York, Albany, 1968-1974, Distinguished professor, 1974-1979, Distinguished professor emeritus, since 1979. United States del.IV International Congress Anthropological and Ethnological Science, Vienna, 1952. Co-chair American delegate VII International Congress on Anthropology and Ethnology, Moscow, 1964.
Ethnological field trips to Iroquois Indian Reservations. National.Endowment Humanities fellow Huntington Library, 1978-1979. Member Iroquois Documentary History Project, Newberry Library, 1979-1981.
( An in-depth survey of Iroquois culture and history Thi...)
(Excerpt from The Iroquois Eagle Dance: An Offshoot of the...)
(This volume explores how the Eagle Dance was celebrated i...)
(In his essay on Indian and white relationships in early A...)
( For the Seneca Iroquois Indians, song is a crucial mean...)
(With An Analysis Of The Iroquois Eagle Dance And Songs.)
(With An Analysis Of The Iroquois Eagle Dance And Songs.)
(Iroquois uses of maize and other food plants. The Code of...)
Member committee on language and areal implications Commission on Implication of Armed Service Educational Programs, American Council Education, 1946. Trustee Museum American Indian-Heye Foundation, 1976-1980, 82-89. Member advisory committee Adirondack Forest Preserve, 1993-1995.
Fellow American Folklore Society (president 1959-1960), American Anthropological Association (executive board 1963-1965, Distinguished Service award 1983), American Ethnological Society (president 1959), American Society Ethnohistory (president 1962), Anthropological Society Washington (former secretary, vice president, president), Keene Valley Library Association (trustee 1970-1973), Sigma Xi. Clubs: Trout Unlimited (president Clearwater chapter 1979-1981).
Married Olive Louise Ortwine, 1936 (deceased 1986). Children: Elizabeth Fenton Snyder, John W., Douglas Bruce, Harry (deceased).