Carrie's Anthropology 196m Blog

I've been checking out the inventory lists and I think we should start seriously narrowing down our possibilities for a basket to follow through the exhibit and get something picked ASAP.

I really like Mary's idea of using the McCloud Area Burden Basket. It would give us a good opportunity to compare a well-worn used basket to one that wasn't used. I think this basket has a lot of potential for telling a good story.

Another idea is to pick a basket that has a known maker. If we could find some information about the maker, that could also tell a really good story. That leaves the 'Widow's cap made by Metaha from Requa, near Eureka' as a possibility.

Or we could use the "Shaman's basket" that Dr. C mentioned. Which one is that on the inventory list? Is it the trinket basket or maybe the elongated bowl with feathers? Is it OK to display something that may need NAGPRA consultation in the future?

What do you guys think would be best? I think that's all the ideas I have for now. I'm off to enjoy the rest of my Sunday and watch the USA-Canada hockey game =)

I've seen a request or two for a little computer help, which I'm happy to do. I'll install the RSS feedreader that I use on my laptop and show anyone who needs how to set it up. I can also help with any lingering blogger questions.

Where are we meeting today? Depending on that, I'll be either in the museum or upstairs in 4005 (I think that's the right room). I'll be there by about 1:00 and can stay after as well.

UPDATE: I'll be in Mendo 1005 at about 1:00ish (providing there isn't another class in there at that time). It also sounds like Dr. C will provide some time to go over any questions at the beginning of class.

3 hours: reading the accession file, going through smugmug and reading/responding to blog posts, writing my blog posts.

1.5 hours: researching and writing a Cotton genealogy cheat-sheet.

1.5 hours: Doing research on Sloughhouse prior to going to the state archives.

1.5 hours: at the State Archives

30 minutes: Studying the basket exhibit at the California Museum.

Total: 8 hours

After my exciting afternoon at the state archives I hopped over to the California Museum to check out their baskets. It was a really beautiful exhibit. I thought it was interesting that they presented the baskets as art, by calling the show American Masterpieces, but they also gave some focus to the weavers and on the making of the baskets, I especially liked the display of a basket in the process of being woven, it was so cool to see the intricate design in the center with all the loose fibers coming out of it. It gave me a new appreciation for just how difficult it must be weave.

I really like how they had the raw materials available to see. If we can swing getting some of the plant material that our basket (when we pick it) was made of, I think it would really add some context to the first part of the exhibit.

I also liked how they numbered the baskets and then used those numbers to refer to the baskets in the larger narratives about the weavers on the wall. That might be a good way for us to refer people to other baskets as they are follow our "basket lifeway."

On a side note, the total geek in me got a thrill out of seeing R2D2 and C3PO on the first floor of the museum =)

Wow, the state archives are so cool! I went today to try to get the Slough house land grant. I did some research prior and found that it was likely first bought by a Jared Dixon Sheldon. He wasn't listed in their records, but a Joaquin Sheldon was for the correct year and in Sacramento County. I'm not sure if it is the correct land grant, but if it's not I'll do some more digging and see if I can find what we need. It's difficult to read, but I will bring it to class tomorrow so we can all check it out.

P.S. I found this great article from the Sac Bee in my Research: Sloughhouse wasn't always quiet, Enjoy!

I've been a bit confused on the genealogy of the Cottons and so wrote out some notes in an attempt to get all the scattered information into one area. I thought it might help others as well. I can't guarantee this is all correct, but I'll update as I find out more.

Father, Joel S. Cotton (Sr.): Killed himself April 1878 when Joel Jr. was 3. Buried in Pioneer Cemetery (as is his wife Catherine).

Mother, Catherine Dixon Sheldon: Born June 28, 1854. Died April 16 1875 (note: there is an error on the genealogy chart in the accession file, says 1975). Died shortly after our collectors birth.

Our collector, Joel S. Cotton (Jr.): Born March 23, 1875. Died October 28, 1952. Born near Slough House, Sacramento County (Saunder's Hall, Ca is noted in the genealogy page of the accession file). Buried in the MacKerricher family plot in Rose Memoral Park, Ft. Bragg, CA.

Wife, Evelyn Annie MacKerricher: Died at 92 yrs (still need to find dates). Parents were Duncan and Jessie MacKerricher. Married June 10, 1899. Family donated land for MacKerricher State Park. Buried in the MacKerricher family plot in Rose Memoral Park, Ft. Bragg, CA.

Children, John Sterling Cotton, Ruth Charmian Cotton, Dr. Norman Winfield Cotton.

Our Donor, Dr. Norman Winfield Cotton: (born? died?). Married to Dorothy K. Cotton.

Dorothy K. Cotton: (born? died? maiden name-maybe MacArthur?). Wrote a family history.

P.S. Thanks to those of you who found many of the links I integrated into this post!

So, I set up my blog last week to alert me whenever someone comments on one of my posts, which I thought would be really helpful in keeping me up-to-date with comments. By the way, you can do this by going into settings, then go to the comments tab and at the very bottom, you'll see "Comment Notification Email" enter your email and voila you're good to go.

Well...almost good to go. If you've already done this and have, like me, became frustrated by comments on your blog with the lack of email alerts in your inbox, check your spam folder. It seems the alerts were getting filtered out (by yahoo). If this is an issue for you, put noreply-comment@blogger.com to your safe list.

This should also work to alert you when someone comments after you on a post (I think, i haven't be able to try it yet). Caveat: I've noticed that some of our blogs allow you to "email follow-up comments" and some don't. I'm not sure why this is, but I have a suspicion it's dependent on having comments set to be Pop-ups (which you can set in the comments section of Settings). I will do more sleuthing around blogger and let y'all know what I find!