Objekte

Alexander Schwed und Alan P. Garfinkel, "Berlin's Ethnological Museum: The California Indian Collection", im Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, Vol. 36 (2), S. 343-364 heißt es über Samuel Alfred Barrett: "Barrett was the son of a Ukiah business owner, the elder Samuel Barrett, who ran a family-owned general store where local Pomo Indians purchased their supplies. The younger Barrett was also a contemporary of Ukiah ethnologist Dr. John W. Hudson (1857-1936). Dr. Hudson's wife was the nationally-renowned painter of the Pomo Indians, Grace Carpenter Hudson (1865-1937). The elder Barrett welcomed native people into his general store and accepted baskets in trade or purchased them outright, reselling them to non native clients (McLendon 1993:52). The younger Barrett became fascinated by Pomo basketry, and on his days off from the store visited nearby Pomo settlements, where he traded groceries for baskets. At first, he bought directly from the weavers, using money he had saved from his wages, then as his collection expanded borrowed money from his father (Peri and Wharton 1965:3). Around 1899, Barrett's collecting activities began to mature. He partnered with Ukiah botanist, horti-culturalist, and basket wholesaler Carl Purdy (1861-1945), and was able to pay his father back. Athe the same time, Barrett became more and more interested not only in baskets but also in the full expression of native culture and lifeways, and began studying a number of Indian groups in the North Coast ranges from San Francisco to the Eel River (Smith-Ferri 1996:5). Barrett probed their mysteries to discover which plants were used in native California Indian baskets, precisely who crafted them, and what their designs meant. His ethnographic focus led him to part ways with Carl Purdy and stead brought him into contact with Alfred Kroeber. In 1901, Barrett became one of the first students in the University of Calivornia, Berkely's new anthropology department: in fact, he often was the only student in Kroeber's classes! Under Kroeber's tutelage, he completed ethnographic research and collected artifacts from California native peoples in Mendocino, Lake, and Sonoma counties (Barrett 1959:24). He also worked in the University of California Anthropology Museum (later named the Robert H. Lowie Museum of Anthropology, but now called the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology). Barrett came to the university with little money, and he could scarcely afford the tuition and living expenses at the upscale campus, even after receiving several scholarships (Smith-Ferri 1996:10). Professor Kroeber brokered a solution. In 1903-04, Barrett sold his Pomo basketry collection; half went to the University of California, while the Museum für Volkerkunde (BEM) paid $1,200 for the portion that Barrett considered the better half. We can affirm from personal observation that the 218 Pomo and Hupa artifacts in the BEM appear to be in impeccable condition and are a cherished part of the North American Indian collection. Barett's doctoral dissertation, which led to his receiving the first anthropology Ph.D. granted by the university, focused on his in-depth study of Pomo baskets, and eventually resulted in a formal monograph entitled Pomo Indian Basketry (Barrett 1908." (Zitat von S. 353-354)