National Museum of the American Indian

Florence Pulford Collection, 1968-1989

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAI.AC.027
Creators:
Pulford, Florence
Dates:
1993
1968-1989
undated
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
722 Photographic prints
458 Slides (photographs)
2580 Negatives (photographic)
65 Sound cassettes
Repository:
The Florence Pulford collection includes both audio recordings and photographs that were made during the twenty years Pulford worked among Native American quilt makers in the 1970's and 1980's from Montana and the Dakotas. Quilt makers featured in this collection include; Ella First Kill Brown, Frances Weasel Woman Fox, Artie Crazy Bull, Almira Buffalo Bone Jackson and Regina Brave Bull.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The Florence Pulford collection includes both audio recordings and photographs that were made during the twenty years Pulford worked among Native American quilt makers from Montana and the Dakotas. The bulk of the audio recordings, comprising of 65 audiocassettes, are interviews Pulford conducted with Native quilt makers on the Fort Peck and Fort Belknap reservations. Many of the interviews are with quiltmaker Almira Buffalo Bone Jackson and artisan Juanita Tucker. Topics range from the craft of quilt making to life and politics on the reservation. The photographs, which include negatives, slides and prints, contain images of quilts and quilt makers from the Fort Belknap, Fort Berthold, Fort Peck, Rocky Boys and Standing Rock reservations. Quilt makers include; Ella First Kill Brown, Frances Weasel Woman Fox, Artie Crazy Bull, Almira Buffalo Bone Jackson and Regina Brave Bull. Although the majority of the photographs depict quilts or quilt making, there are images of various landscapes and events Pulford visited as well as photographs of Pulford herself.

Arrangement

Arrangement
This collection has been arranged into two series, Series 1:Audiocassettes, 1978-1985, and Series 2:Photographs, 1968-1989. Series 2 is then divided into six subseries; Subseries 2a: Fort Belknap Reservation, Subseries 2b: Fort Berthold Reservation, Subseries 2c: Fort Peck Reservation, Subseries 2d: Rocky Boys Reservation, Subseries 2e: Standing Rock (Fort Yates) Reservation, Subseries 2f: Unidentified and Other.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Florence Pulford, nee Atwood, was born in Idaho in 1923. Pulford eventually settled in California with her husband and daughters and frequented Bar 717, a camp and working ranch, located in the Trinity Mountains of Northern California. It was while working as the director of the arts and crafts program at the Bar 717 camp when she first became acquainted with Frank Ereaux (Gros Ventre) and his family in 1968. Ereaux who had been working with horses on the ranch, invited Pulford to visit his family on the Fort Belknap reservation in Montana. During this visit Pulford received a quilt as a gift which launched a life-long interest in the quilts of the Plains tribes. Pulford began buying fabric and materials in California to send back to Native artisans in Fort Belknap, Fort Peck and other Montana reservations. Eventually Pulford built relationships with quilters that spanned into North and South Dakota reservations including Fort Berthold and Standing Rock (Fort Yates). In addition to purchasing quilts, Pulford would often snap pictures and record audio interviews about life on the reservation. Pulford would also sell quilts, using the proceeds to buy more fabrics and sending the remaining profits to the quilters. Pulford became very friendly with several quilters but developed a particularly close relationship with Almira Buffalo Bone Jackson, a member of the Red Bottom band of the Fort Peck Assiniboine, and prolific quilter. Almira and Florence kept up a strong correspondence up until Florence's death in 1989 and the age of 65.
In addition to visiting and working with Native quilters, Pulford gave lectures and put together exhibitions on Native American quilt work in Montana and the Dakotas at major museums and universities. Pulford's book, Morning Star Quilts, was published in 1989 by Leone Publishing with assistance from Diana Leone. The book illustrates the work of individual quilt makers as well as highlights the cultural and ceremonial significance of quilts among the Plains peoples. Following Pulford's death, daughters Ann Wilson and Sarah Zweng offered their mothers quilt collection, as well as supporting photographs and audio recordings, to the National Museum of the American Indian. The collection was acquired by NMAI in 2007.

Administration

Author
Rachel Menyuk
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This collection was donated by Ann Pulford Wilson and Sarah Pulford Zweng, daughters to Florence Pulford, in 2007.
Separated Materials
Florence Pulford's quilt collection is now a part of NMAI's Modern and Contemporary Arts collection with catalog numbers 26/6034-26/6391. For access and information about these quilts please contact NMAICollections@si.edu.
Processing Information
Audiocassettes processed by Maia Truesdale-Scott, Curatorial Assistant, in 2009. Photographs processed by Rachel Menyuk, Archives Technician, in 2013.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Use
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish or broadbast 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.
Conditions Governing Access
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Conditions Governing Access
Due to their fragile nature, the audio cassettes in this collection are closed to researchers until they have been digitized.
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Florence Pulford collection, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Indian quiltmakers -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America -- Montana -- Social life and customs Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Standing Rock Indian Reservation (N.D. and S.D.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indian quilts -- Photographs Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America -- North Dakota -- Social life and customs. Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Slides Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Audiocassettes Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Negatives Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fort Berthold Indian Reservation (N.D.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fort Peck Indian Reservation (Mont.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rocky Boy's Reservation (Mont.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fort Belknap Indian Reservation (Mont.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hunkpapa Lakota (Hunkpapa Sioux) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fort Yates (N.D.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Assiniboine (Stoney) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
A'aninin (Gros Ventre) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Numakiki (Mandan) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Minitari (Hidatsa) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Jackson, Almira, 1917-2004 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Museum of the American Indian
4220 Silver Hill Rd
Suitland, Maryland 20746-2863
Business Number: Phone: 301.238.1400
Fax Number: Fax: 301.238.3038
nmaiarchives@si.edu