Jay Miller is an American anthropologist who is known for his wide-ranging fieldwork and scholarship on as well as involvement with a number of
Native American groups, especially the
Delaware (Lenape),
Tsimshian
The Tsimshian (; ) are an Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their communities are mostly in coastal British Columbia in Terrace, British Columbia, Terrace and ...
, and
Lushootseed Salish. He is himself of Lenape ancestry.
He grew up in upstate New York, where he was given a
Mohawk (
Iroquois
The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...
) name.
As an undergraduate, he was influenced by the anthropologist
Florence Hawley Ellis.
He received his Ph.D. from
Rutgers University
Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...
, for a dissertation on the
Keresan Pueblo people. While in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
, he began working with speakers of the Delaware language. In this context he was adopted and named in the Delaware Wolf clan, his clan mother being
Nora Thompson Dean, with whom he collaborated on a publication on the Delaware "Big House" rite.
Friendship with the anthropologist
Viola Garfield
Viola E. Garfield (December 5, 1899 – November 25, 1983) was an American anthropologist best known for her work on the social organization and plastic arts of the Tsimshian nation in British Columbia and Alaska.
Early life
Viola Edmundson was ...
while living in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
led to fieldwork among the
Tsimshian
The Tsimshian (; ) are an Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their communities are mostly in coastal British Columbia in Terrace, British Columbia, Terrace and ...
at
Hartley Bay,
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
, where Miller was adopted into the
Gispwudwada {{Inline citations, date=December 2024
The Gispwudwada or Gisbutwada (variously spelled) is the name for the Killerwhale "clan" ( phratry) in the language of the Tsimshian nation of British Columbia, Canada, and southeast Alaska. It is considered a ...
(Killerwhale clan). He was friends with
Erna Gunther who lived in the
Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle, near his house.
He was formerly associate director of the D'Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian History at the
Newberry Library
The Newberry Library is an independent research library, specializing in the humanities. It is located in Chicago, Illinois, and has been free and open to the public since 1887. The Newberry's mission is to foster a deeper understanding of our wo ...
in
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
.
He has also done fieldwork with the
Salish people at the
Colville Indian Reservation
The Colville Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation located in Washington (state), Washington state, U.S. It is inhabited and managed by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, which are List of federally recognized tribes in ...
and the
Snoqualmie in
Washington state
Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...
, as well as the
Muscogee
The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek or just Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language; English: ), are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands Here they waged war again ...
.
Bibliography
*
A Personal Account of the Delaware House Rite" 1978, with Nora Thompson Dean, ''Pennsylvania Archaeologist,'' vol. 48, nos. 1–2, pp. 39–43.
*
Feasting with the Southern Tsimshian" 1984, in ''The Tsimshian: Images of the Past: Views for the Present,'' ed. by Margaret Seguin, pp. 27–39. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.
*
Shamanic Odyssey: The Lushootseed Salish Journey to the Land of the Dead (Ballena Press Anthropological Papers ; No. 32)', 1988, Menlo Park, Calif.: Ballena Press.
*
Mourning Dove: A Salishan Autobiography', 1990, editor, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
*
Tsimshian Culture: A Light through the Ages', 1997, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
*
Old Religion Among the Delawares: The Gamwing (Big House Rite)" 1997, in Ethnohistory 44 (1): 113-134 1997.
*
Tsimshian Ethno-Ethnohistory: A 'Real' Indigenous Chronology, 1998, in Ethnohistory 45 (4): 657-674.
*
Lushootseed Culture and the Shamanic Odyssey', 1999, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
* "Inflamed History: Violence Against Homesteading Indiens In Washington Territory," 2000, in ''North Dakota Quarterly'', American Indian Issue, Summer/Fall, 67 (3/4): 162-173.
*
Keres: Engendered Key to the Pueblo Puzzle" 2001, ''Ethnohistory'' 48 (3): 495-514, Summer.
*
Naming as Humanizing" 2001, in ''Strangers to Relatives: The Adoption and Naming of Anthropologists in Native North America,'' ed. by Sergei Kan, pp. 141–158. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
*
Rescues, Rants, and Researches: A Review of Jay Miller’s Writings on Northwest Indien Cultures" 2014. Darby Stapp and Kara Powers, eds. ''Journal of Northwest Anthropology
ONA Memoir #9''.
*
Ancestral Mounds ~ Vitality and Volatility Crossing Native America', 2015. University of Nebraska Press.
*
Evergreen Ethnographies: Hoh, Chehalis, Suquamish, and Snoqualmi of Western Washington', 2015.
*
Native Nations of Washington: Tribal Peoples and Places of the Evergreen State', 2020.
*
Shamanic Trek: Redeeming Rite of Puget Sound Lushootseeds', 2024.
* "Ethnobotany of Western Washington at 80: Commemorating Erna Gunther’s Pioneering Text, Updates, and Varied Impacts," 2025, ''Journal of Northwest Anthropology'', spring 2005, vol. 59, no. 1, 133–150.
References
Living people
American anthropologists
Year of birth missing (living people)
{{US-anthropologist-stub