National Museum of the American Indian

Ralph Aspaas collection

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAI.AC.086
Creators:
Aspaas, Hans
Aspaas, Ralph
Dates:
1900-1915
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
26 Photographic prints
181 Negatives (photographic)
Repository:

Scope and Contents

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).

Arrangement

Arrangement
This collection is organized into three series: Jicarilla Apache Reservation, Tohono O'odham (Papago) Reservation, and Colorado, Utah, and unidentified locations.

Biographical / Historical

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.

Administration

Author
Emily Moazami
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Helen R. Aspaas, 2006.
Processing Information
Processed by Emily Moazami, Assistant Head Archivist in 2016.
Separated Materials
The nitrate negatives are stored at the National Anthropological Archives.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
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).
Preferred 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.
Conditions Governing Use
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.

More Information

Bibliography

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.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Indians of North America -- Southwest -- Photographs Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America -- Arizona -- Photographs Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America -- New Mexico -- Photographs Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tohono O'odham Reservation (Ariz.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America -- Social life and customs Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Jicarilla Indian Reservation (N.M.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Jicarilla Apache Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tohono O'odham (Papago) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Correspondence -- 1910-1920 Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Marriage certificates Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Arizona Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Dulce (N.M.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
New Mexico Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indian land transfers -- New Mexico Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographic prints Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Negatives (photographic) Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indian land transfers -- Arizona Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Aspaas, Ralph Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wirt, Emmet Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Aspaas, Allie Ward Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Aspaas, Ralph Ward Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wirt, Emmet Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Aspaas, Carl Henry Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Aspaas, Max Herndon Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Aspaas, Ellanette Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Museum of the American Indian
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nmaiarchives@si.edu