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Elsie Comanche Allen (September 22, 1899 – December 31, 1990) was a Native American
''Sonoma State University Library.'' September 18, 2007 (retrieved April 22, 2009) This was the only language she spoke until she was 13, when she began learning English at an Indian boarding school in Covelo, California. She attend the Indian boarding school for less than year and then opted to attend a day school in which she felt more comfortable attending- it was here that Elsie became proficient in speaking English during her early teen years. In addition to living in Covelo and Hopland, Elsie lived in several Pomo communities, including Cloverdale, where she was raised by her grandmother, and Pinoleville Rancherias. She also lived briefly in San Francisco at the age of 18, where she found housekeeping and hospital work jobs, and it was in San Francisco that Elsie met her husband, Arthur Allen. Elsie married Arthur Allen, a northern Pomo man who was half Pomo and half English, in 1919, and between the years of 1920 and 1928, the couple had four children together, Genevieve, Leonard, Dorothy, and George.
The Pomo people traditionally lived in the area around the Russian River in California- including Sonoma, Mendocino, and Lake counties. This area has an abundance of willows, sedges, and other plants that are traditionally used for basketweaving.
Elsie came from a family of accomplished basketweavers, including her mother, Annie Ramon Gomachu Burke (1876–1962) and her maternal grandmother, Mary Arnold (1845–1925), both of Cloverdale Rancheria.Wyckoff, 64 Elsie's mother, Annie founded the Pomo Indian Women's Club, which promotes the tribe's basketry. She also convinced Elsie to break with tradition and not burn or bury her baskets – instead to keep them for future basketmakers.
Although she learned to weave as a child, Allen was only able to weave full-time at the age of 62, when her children were all grown. During the 1950s and 1960s, interest in basketry among Pomo had waned, so Allen began teaching anyone interested in learning her technique, which created controversy in her tribe. She taught at the Mendocino Art Center to both Natives and non-Natives as a means of preserving the art of basketweaving and the tradition associated with it. Late in her career, Elsie Allen began using commercial materials in her baskets after receiving a vision. One of her last students was her niece,
Elsie Allen Exhibit at the Oakland Museum of California
on californiabaskets.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Elsie Native American basket weavers 1899 births 1990 deaths Pomo people People from Cloverdale, California Native American writers 20th-century American women artists Native Americans in California Native American women artists Women basketweavers 20th-century Native Americans 20th-century Native American women
Pomo
The Pomo are an Indigenous people of California. Historical Pomo territory in Northern California was large, bordered by the Pacific Coast to the west, extending inland to Clear Lake, and mainly between Cleone and Duncans Point. One small ...
basket weaver
Basket weaving (also basketry or basket making) is the process of weaving or sewing pliable materials into three-dimensional artifacts, such as baskets, mats, mesh bags or even furniture. Craftspeople and artists specialized in making basket ...
from the Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California
The Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California is a federally recognized tribe of Pomo Indians in California. The tribe is currently considered "landless", as they do not have any land that is in Federal Trust. In 2008 they acquired approx ...
in Northern California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, significant as for historically categorizing and teaching Californian Indian basket patterns and techniques and sustaining traditional Pomo basket
A basket is a container that is traditionally constructed from stiff fibers and can be made from a range of materials, including wood splints, runners, and cane. While most baskets are made from plant materials, other materials such as horsehai ...
ry as an art form.
Background
Elsie Comanche Allen was born on September 22, 1899, near Santa Rosa, California. Her parents, George and Annie Comanche (Comanche is an Anglicized version of the Pomo name, Gomachu), were wage laborers, who worked on farms owned by non-Native Americans, a job that was common for Pomo people in the early twentieth century. Her father died when she was eight. Soon after, her mother remarried and moved the family to Hopland. Elsie's first language wasPomo
The Pomo are an Indigenous people of California. Historical Pomo territory in Northern California was large, bordered by the Pacific Coast to the west, extending inland to Clear Lake, and mainly between Cleone and Duncans Point. One small ...
.Elsie Allen 1899-1990.''Sonoma State University Library.'' September 18, 2007 (retrieved April 22, 2009) This was the only language she spoke until she was 13, when she began learning English at an Indian boarding school in Covelo, California. She attend the Indian boarding school for less than year and then opted to attend a day school in which she felt more comfortable attending- it was here that Elsie became proficient in speaking English during her early teen years. In addition to living in Covelo and Hopland, Elsie lived in several Pomo communities, including Cloverdale, where she was raised by her grandmother, and Pinoleville Rancherias. She also lived briefly in San Francisco at the age of 18, where she found housekeeping and hospital work jobs, and it was in San Francisco that Elsie met her husband, Arthur Allen. Elsie married Arthur Allen, a northern Pomo man who was half Pomo and half English, in 1919, and between the years of 1920 and 1928, the couple had four children together, Genevieve, Leonard, Dorothy, and George.
Activism
In addition to being a skilled basketweaver, Allen made it a point to be active in her community. While balancing work and raising her children, Elsie was active in several Pomo and Hintil women's clubs, in which organizations aimed to improve the social and economic environment of Pomo communities. As a female chief of her community, Elsie made it a point to promote education, cultural preservation, and Native rights in the community. Because of her efforts, she was regarding as a cultural scholar by her community and was deemed "Pomo Sage" was granted an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree. She also made it a point to direct her efforts in ensuring Pomo students had education funding. In addition to her activism regarding social, economic, and cultural advancements, Allen also organized fund-raisers and aided in the establishment of scholarships for Pomo students. Allen was once involved in a desegregation case regarding non-Native-owned businesses that would not allow Pomos and whites to sit together.Basketry
The Pomo people traditionally lived in the area around the Russian River in California- including Sonoma, Mendocino, and Lake counties. This area has an abundance of willows, sedges, and other plants that are traditionally used for basketweaving.
Elsie came from a family of accomplished basketweavers, including her mother, Annie Ramon Gomachu Burke (1876–1962) and her maternal grandmother, Mary Arnold (1845–1925), both of Cloverdale Rancheria.Wyckoff, 64 Elsie's mother, Annie founded the Pomo Indian Women's Club, which promotes the tribe's basketry. She also convinced Elsie to break with tradition and not burn or bury her baskets – instead to keep them for future basketmakers.
Although she learned to weave as a child, Allen was only able to weave full-time at the age of 62, when her children were all grown. During the 1950s and 1960s, interest in basketry among Pomo had waned, so Allen began teaching anyone interested in learning her technique, which created controversy in her tribe. She taught at the Mendocino Art Center to both Natives and non-Natives as a means of preserving the art of basketweaving and the tradition associated with it. Late in her career, Elsie Allen began using commercial materials in her baskets after receiving a vision. One of her last students was her niece, Susan Billy
Susan Billy (born April 27, 1951) is a Native American Pomo basket weaver from the Hopland Band Pomo Indians of Northern California.
Life
Billy was born in Hot Springs, South Dakota in 1951. She owns and operates Bead Fever, a bead store i ...
.
Southern Pomo language
Allen worked with linguist Abraham M. Halpern to document theSouthern Pomo language
Southern Pomo is one of seven mutually unintelligible Pomoan languages which were formerly spoken and is currently spoken by the Pomo people in Northern California along the Russian River and Clear Lake. The Pomo languages have been grouped tog ...
.
Legacy
Allen died on December 31, 1990, at the age of 91. Together withMabel McKay
Mabel McKay (1907–1993) was a member of the Long Valley Cache Creek Pomo Indians and was of Patwin descent. She was the last Dreamer of the Pomo people and was renowned for her basket weaving.
Greg Sarris published a biography of Mabel, call ...
and Laura Somersal, Elsie Allen is regarded as one of the three best-known California basketweavers of her generation. Allen is the subject of several books, including Dot Brovarney, Susan Billy, and Suzanne Abel-Vidor's 2005 ''Remember Your Relations: Elsie Allen Baskets, Family, And Friends'' and Sandra J. Metzler's 1996 ''A promise kept: Basketry of the Pomo and the Elsie Allen basket collection''.
Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa, California
Santa Rosa ( Spanish for " Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, in the North Bay region of the Bay Area in California. Its estimated 2019 population was 178,127. It is the largest city in California's Wine Country and ...
, is named for her.
Published work
* Allen, Elsie. ''Pomo Basketmaking: A Supreme Art for the Weaver.'' Red. ed. Happy Camp, California: Naturegraph Publishers, Inc. (1972).Wyckloff, 233See also
*Native American basket weavers
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 enterta ...
* Native American art
Visual arts by indigenous peoples of the Americas encompasses the visual artistic practices of the indigenous peoples of the Americas from ancient times to the present. These include works from South America and North America, which includes ...
Notes
References
* Dalrymple, Larry. ''Indian Basketmakers of California and the Great Basin''. Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press, 2000. . * Wycliffe, Lydia L. ''Woven Worlds: Basketry from the Clark Field Collection at the Philbrook Museum of Art''. Tulsa, OK: Philbrook Museum of Art, 2001. . *External links
Elsie Allen Exhibit at the Oakland Museum of California
on californiabaskets.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Elsie Native American basket weavers 1899 births 1990 deaths Pomo people People from Cloverdale, California Native American writers 20th-century American women artists Native Americans in California Native American women artists Women basketweavers 20th-century Native Americans 20th-century Native American women