Vanished Worlds, Enduring People

Edward H. Davis. Field Notes and Sketchbooks, 1910-1929. [view first image] | [view second image]

Edward Davis (1862-1951), an indefatigable collector who lived near Mesa Grande outside of San Diego, amassed a significant collection of ethnographic objects from southern California for George G. Heye’s Museum of the American Indian in New York. His notes and sketchbooks document his experiences with the Mesa Grande (Diegueño) Indians, and others in the area. He also traveled to Mexico, visiting the Seri Indians of Tiburon Island, and the Opata and Yaqui Indians in Sonora. This sketch and notebook from a 1922 trip is of a guqui, a house for making the palm fiber hats worn by many Opata men. It was constructed partially underground to keep the fibers moist for weaving.