Ralph Aspaas collection

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sova.nmai.ac.086

GUID: https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sv4ebcf03e5-d6a8-4a9d-8b49-2ed98e210847

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)

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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).