At the time of its publication in 1908, Pomo Indian Basketry was the
most complete and detailed study of a single Native American basketry
tradition. The work, prepared as Samuel Barrett's doctoral dissertation,
earned the author the first Ph.D. in anthropology at UC Berkeley. Among
its contents are sections devoted to materials, techniques, forms, and
designs. This edition is supplemented with two early articles, "Basket
Designs of the Pomo Indians" by Barrett (1905) and "California Basketry
and the Pomo" by his teacher Alfred Kroeber (1909). Sherrie
Smith-Ferri's introduction reviews Barrett's early life and research and
identifies the human sources of Barrett's collections and information--a
community of talented Pomoan basket weavers.
Sherrie Smith-Ferri (Dry Creek Pomo/Bodega Miwok) is a curator at the
Grace Hudson Museum in Ukiah, California.