Dorothy Jean Ray (October 10, 1919 – December 12, 2007) was an

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

best known for her study of

Native Alaskan Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entertai ...

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

and

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...

. In addition to a number of published books, she has had articles and papers published in '' Alaska History'', '' Alaska Journal'', ''

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

'', '' American Indian Art'', ''

Arctic Anthropology ''Arctic Anthropology'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering research on the archaeology, ethnology, and physical anthropology of arctic and subarctic peoples. It is indexed in the Social Sciences Citation Index and Current Contents/Social ...

'', ''

Journal of the West ''Journal of the West'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the history and culture of the American West. Each issue of the journal is highlighted by a series of articles on a theme central to the history and life of the region. ...

'', ''

Pacific Northwest Quarterly ''Pacific Northwest Quarterly'' (commonly referred to as ''PNQ'') is a peer-reviewed academic journal of history that publishes scholarship relating to the Pacific Northwest of the United States, including Alaska, and adjacent areas of western Can ...

'', and others. She received

honorary doctorates An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

from the

University of Alaska Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public land-grant research university in College, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for cla ...

and her alma mater, the

University of Northern Iowa The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is a public university in Cedar Falls, Iowa. UNI offers more than 90 majors across the colleges of Business Administration, Education, Humanities, Arts, and Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences and grad ...

. Additional honors include the ''Dorothy Jean Ray Anthropology Scholarship'' at the University of Northern Iowa. Some of her lifetime collection of artifacts are now part of the University of Alaska Museum Fairbanks' collection. Her book '' A Legacy of Arctic Art'' has been described as being both a catalog of the collection, and a

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...

of the author's lengthy career. She was married to fellow anthropologist and author Verne F. Ray.

Books

*''A Legacy of Arctic Art'' – 1996 *''The Eskimos of Bering Strait, 1650-1898'' – 1992 *''Aleut and Eskimo Art'' – 1986 *''Ethnohistory in the Arctic: The Bering Strait Eskimo'' – 1983 *''Artists of the Tundra and the Sea'' – 1980 *''Eskimo Art: Tradition and Innovation in North Alaska'' – 1977 *''Eskimo Masks: Art and Ceremony'' – 1975

References

On-line version of Ray's article "The Billiken" originally published in ''The Alaska Journal'' (Winter 1974)Amazon.com reprint of editorial review of ''A Legacy of Arctic Art'' by Library Journal

External links

presented at the Thirteenth Alaskan Science Conference, August 25, 1962, Juneau, Alaska.
Three Accounts of the Vasilev-Shishmarev Expedition of 1819-1822 Collection
at Dartmouth College Library American art historians Women art historians 1919 births 2007 deaths American women historians 20th-century American anthropologists 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women {{US-art-historian-stub