Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
Ailsa Crawford papers, 1911-1977
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Crawford, Ailsa
- Title
- Ailsa Crawford papers
- Dates
- 1911-1977 (inclusive)19111977
1977 (bulk)19771977 - Quantity
- 0.18 cubic feet (1 box)
- Collection Number
- 2696-013 (Accession No. 2696-013-01)
- Summary
- Collection documents of researcher's work with Tillamook Indian basket weaving, family history, and genealogy
- Repository
-
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu - Access Restrictions
-
Access restricted: For terms of access contact repository.
Records stored offsite; advance notice required for use.
- Languages
- English
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
Ailsa Crawford received her M.A. in Anthropology from Portland State University, where she submitted her thesis titled “Tillamook Indian basketry: continuity and change as seen in the Adams Collection” in 1983.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
Field notes, genealogies; 1977.
Accession documents Ailsa Crawford's work with the Tillamook Indian basket weaving, instructed by Rena Boyer. Crawford also recorded Ms. Boyer's family history and genealogy.
In the Adams Collection at the Tillamook County Pioneer Museum, Tillamook, Oregon, there are 29 baskets made by Tillamook women approximately between 1880 and 1940. Ailsa Crawford conducted a basketry analysis of the Adams collection and 39 additional Tillamook baskets from four other museum collections to identify structural and decorative techniques in shape, size, and stitching. Crawford’s purpose for this analysis is to place the Adams Collection of Tillamook baskets within a Tillamook style through the study of other known Tillamook basketry, the study of basketry of neighboring and related groups, and from a survey of the available literature about the Tillamook, as well as from her notes about the Adams family made during conversations with Rena Boyer, an Adams family member.
[Information adapted from Ailsa Crawford’s thesis]
Historical BackgroundReturn to Top
The Tillamook are a Native American tribe from coastal Oregon of the Salish linguistic group. The name "Tillamook" is a Chinook language term meaning "people of [the village] Nekelim (or Nehalem)", sometimes it is given as a Coast Salish term, meaning "Land of Many Waters". The Tillamook tribe consists of several divisions and dialects, including (from south to north): Siletz / Nachicolcho; Salmon River / Nachesne / Nestugga; Tillamook Bay; and Nehalem.
Estimated to have 2200 people at the beginning of the 18th century, the Tillamook lost population in the 19th century to infectious disease and murder by European Americans. In 1849 they were estimated to have 200 members. In 1856 they were forced to live on the Siletz Reservation with many other Tribes and Bands, the southern bands (Nestucca, Salmon River and Siletz River peoples’) territory being largely within the 1855 boundaries of the Siletz Reservation. In 1898 the northern Tillamook (Nehalem and Tillamook Bay) and the Clatsop (Tlatsop / łät'cαp), (which means "place of dried salmon", a Lower Chinook-speaking tribe abutting their territory to the north and speaking the Nehalem-dialect, reflecting intermarriage with the northern Tillamook), were the first tribes to sue the United States government for compensation for aboriginal title to land it had taken from them without a ratified treaty or compensation. They were paid a settlement in 1907. Their descendants are now considered part of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz. Other Nehalem are part of the unrecognized Clatsop Nehalem Confederated Tribes.
[Information adapted from “Tillamook people” article on Wikipedia; Date Accessed: 06/21/2023]
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box/Folder | ||
1/1 | Inventory of deposited materials | |
1/2 | Adams genealogy originals on file cards
|
|
1/3 | Basketry plants and tools originals on file cards
|
1977 |
1/4 | Field notebook Notes on basketry, geneology, and ethno history
|
1977 |
1/5 | Property documents of the Adams family Photocopies of Oregon property documents; warranty deed
|
1911 |
1/6 | History of Ellen Center and Janet Burns Written by Rena Boyer
|
1977 |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Indian basket makers--Oregon
- Indian women basket makers--Oregon
- Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington)
- Tillamook Indians
Other Creators
-
Personal Names
- Boyer, Rena (creator)
- Crawford, Ailsa (creator)
Corporate Names
- Jacobs Research Fund (creator)