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Ralph Aspaas collection

National Museum of the American Indian

Object Details

Creator
Aspaas, Hans
Aspaas, Ralph
Names
Aspaas, Allie Ward
Aspaas, Carl Henry
Aspaas, Ellanette
Aspaas, Max Herndon
Aspaas, Ralph
Aspaas, Ralph Ward
Wirt, Emmet
Wirt, Emmet
Place
Tohono O'odham Reservation (Ariz.)
Jicarilla Indian Reservation (N.M.)
Arizona
Dulce (N.M.)
New Mexico
Topic
Indians of North America -- Southwest -- Photographs
Indians of North America -- Arizona -- Photographs
Indians of North America -- New Mexico -- Photographs
Indians of North America -- Social life and customs
Indian land transfers -- New Mexico
Indian land transfers -- Arizona
Provenance
Gift of Helen R. Aspaas, 2006.
Creator
Aspaas, Hans
Aspaas, Ralph
Culture
Jicarilla Apache
Tohono O'odham (Papago)
See more items in
Ralph Aspaas collection
Biographical / Historical
Ralph Aspaas served as an Allotting Agent for the United States Indian Service (now the Bureau of Indian Affairs). He was first assigned to the Jicarilla Apache reservation from circa 1900 to 1910 and then to the Tohono O'odham reservation from circa 1912 to 1915. As an Agent, he allotted land within these reservations to individual tribal members and for tribal community use. Born in 1876, Aspaas married schoolteacher Allie Maud Ward (1881-1959) on July 15, 1905. Together they had six children- Ralph Ward Aspaas (1906-1972), Carl Henry Aspaas (1908-1975), Max Herndon Aspaas (1911-1971), Ellanette Aspaas (b. 1913), Helen Marie Aspaas (1920-2012), and Ruth Louise Aspaas (1922- 1966). By 1920 Ralph was working as a farmer and rancher in Breen, La Plata County, Colorado. He died on September 30, 1939 in Colorado.
Extent
26 Photographic prints
181 Negatives (photographic)
Date
1900-1915
Archival Repository
National Museum of the American Indian
Identifier
NMAI.AC.086
Type
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographic prints
Negatives (photographic)
Correspondence
Marriage certificates
Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Ralph Aspaas collection, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Arrangement
This collection is organized into three series: Jicarilla Apache Reservation, Tohono O'odham (Papago) Reservation, and Colorado, Utah, and unidentified locations.
Processing Information
Processed by Emily Moazami, Assistant Head Archivist in 2016.
Rights
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish or broadcast materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Bibliography
For more information about Ralph Aspaas' work on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation please refer to the following publication: Greenwald, Emily. Reconfiguring the Reservation: The Nez Perces, Jicarilla Apaches, and the Dawes Act. Albuquerque, N.M.: University Of New Mexico Press, 2002.
Genre/Form
Correspondence -- 1910-1920
Marriage certificates
Photographic prints
Negatives (photographic)
Scope and Contents
This collection contains 207 photographs documenting U.S. Allotting Agent Ralph Aspaas (1876-1939), his work, his family, and his travels around the United States southwest circa 1900-1915. The bulk of the materials in this collection depict scenes from the Jicarilla Apache Reservation in New Mexico and the Tohono O'odham (Papago) in Arizona. The photographs may have been shot by Aspaas or his brother Hans Aspaas (1873-1968).
Restrictions
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Thursday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Separated Materials
The nitrate negatives are stored at the National Anthropological Archives.
Related link
Record ID
ebl-1503510200285-1503510200288-0
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sv4ebcf03e5-d6a8-4a9d-8b49-2ed98e210847

In the Collection

Pages

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  • Jicarilla Apache boarding school girls

  • Goijiya ceremonial relay races

  • Women on horseback

  • Log cabin

  • Allie Ward Aspaas posing on a rock formation

  • Group in wagon

  • Group on burros

  • Outdoor group portrait

  • Men and children (Jicarilla Apache)

  • Men posing outside log cabin

  • Woman posing with rifle

  • Ralph Aspaas and group posing outside a log cabin

  • Ralph Aspaas on rock formation

  • Road construction

  • Tohono O'odham (Papago) Reservation, Ariz.

  • Colorado, Utah, and unidentified locations

Pages

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Ralph Aspaas collection
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
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