Erna Gunther (1896–1982) was an American anthropologist who taught for many years at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

. Gunther's work on

ethnobotany Ethnobotany is the study of a region's plants and their practical uses through the traditional knowledge of a local culture and people. An ethnobotanist thus strives to document the local customs involving the practical uses of local flora for m ...

is still extensively consulted today.

Biography

Gunther graduated from

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

in 1919, as a student of

Franz Boas Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the movements known as historical ...

, and received her MA in

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1920, studying under Boas. After graduating, she moved with her husband, Leslie Spier, to the University of Washington in 1921. After leaving for a short period of time with her husband, she returned in 1929.E-Museum@Minnesota State University, Mankato, ''Biography of Erna Gunther''
When her husband left in 1930, she stayed at the university; at that time the marriage dissolved. She formed part of the core of the newly formed anthropology program at the University of Washington in the 1920s, along with Spier and

Melville Jacobs Melville Jacobs (July 3, 1902 – July 31, 1971) was an American anthropologist known for his extensive fieldwork on cultures of the Pacific Northwest. He was born in New York City. After studying with Franz Boas he became a member of the faculty ...

. In 1930, the Washington State Museum named her Director. The faculty grew from two residents in 1930 to ten in 1955 during her time as the University's Anthropology Department. In 1966, she moved to 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 ...

, becoming chair in 1967. An American Indian specialist, her research focused on the

Salish Salish () may refer to: * Salish peoples, a group of First Nations/Native Americans ** Coast Salish peoples, several First Nations/Native American groups in the coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest ** Interior Salish peoples, several First Nat ...

and

Makah The Makah (; Klallam: ''màq̓áʔa'')Renker, Ann M., and Gunther, Erna (1990). "Makah". In "Northwest Coast", ed. Wayne Suttles. Vol. 7 of ''Handbook of North American Indians'', ed. William C. Sturtevant. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institut ...

peoples of western

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

, with publications on

ethnohistory Ethnohistory is the study of cultures and indigenous peoples customs by examining historical records as well as other sources of information on their lives and history. It is also the study of the history of various ethnic groups that may or may n ...

, and general ethnology. Her students included anthropologists

Wayne Suttles Wayne Suttles (1918–2005) was an American anthropologist and linguist. He was the leading authority on the ethnology and linguistics of the Coast Salish people of the Northwest Coast of North America. Biography As a student of Erna Gunther at ...

, Dale Croes and

Wilson Duff Wilson Duff (March 23, 1925 in Vancouver – August 8, 1976) was a Canadian archaeologist, cultural anthropologist, and museum curator. He is remembered for his research on First Nations cultures of the Northwest Coast, notably the Tsimshian, Gitx ...

. In 1949, she helped finance the archaeological investigation run by Charles E. Borden at Walen's farm (DfRs-3) on

Boundary Bay , image = Boundary Bay Regional Park in Tsawwassen.jpg , image_size = 260px , alt = , caption = Looking east across Boundary Bay from Tsawwassen , image_bathymetry = , alt_bathymetry ...

Works

*''An Analysis of the First Salmon Ceremony'', American Anthropologist, Vol 28 (1926) *''Ethnobotany of Western Washington''. University of Washington Press, Seattle. University of Washington Publications in Anthropology, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 1–62. (1945) (on

archive.org The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

) *''Ethnobotany of Western Washington: the Knowledge and Use of Indigenous Plants by Native Americans'', University of Washington Press, Seattle (1973) *''Indian life on the Northwest coast of North America, as seen by the early explorers and fur traders during the last decades of the eighteenth century.'' Chicago, University of Chicago Press. (1972) (on

) *''Klallam Ethnography''. University of Washington Press, Seattle. University of Washington Publications in Anthropology, vol. 1, no. 5, pp. 171–314. (1925) (on

) *''Klallam Folk Tales''. University of Washington Press, Seattle. University of Washington Publications in Anthropology, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 113–170. (1925) (on

) *Haeberlin, Hermann and Erna Gunther. 1930. ''The Indians of Puget Sound''. University of Washington Press, Seattle. University of Washington Publications in Anthropology, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 1–84. (on

, reprint of 1945 on

)

References

Sources

* Abbott, Donald N. (ed.) ''The World Is as Sharp as a Knife: An Anthology in Honour of Wilson Duff.'' Victoria: British Columbia Provincial Museum. * Miller, Jay, and Carol M. Eastman (eds.) (1984) ''The Tsimshian and Their Neighbors of the North Pacific Coast.'' Seattle: University of Washington Press. * Garfield, Viola E. and Pamela T. Amoss (1984) 'Erna Gunther (1896–1982)'. ''American Anthropologist'' 86(2): 394–399.

External links

''Biographical Note'', ''Guide to the Erna Gunther papers''
University of Washington Libraries, Seattle {{DEFAULTSORT:Gunther, Erna 1896 births 1982 deaths American women anthropologists Ethnobotanists Barnard College alumni University of Washington faculty 20th-century American anthropologists 20th-century American women 20th-century American people American women academics