Verne Frederick Ray, (1905 – September 28, 2003) was

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

, with a B.A. and M.A. in anthropology from Washington and a Ph.D. (in 1937) from

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

. Ray was one of the first

anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

s at UW, was head of the Department of Anthropology and associate dean of the graduate school. He is known best for assisting Northwest tribes with tribal land-claim settlements and is viewed as pioneer in the field of

ethnohistory Ethnohistory is the study of cultures and indigenous peoples customs by examining historical records as well as other sources of information on their lives and history. It is also the study of the history of various ethnic groups that may or may ...

. The Cowlitz tribe, which he helped gain federal recognition, made him an honorary member in 2000."OBITUARIES - Verne F. Ray (1905-2003)" by William R Seaburg ''American anthropologist''. 107, no. 1, (2005): 180 Some of his papers are held at

Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) ( ) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington, United States. It is Higher education accreditation in the United States, accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges ...

. He was married to fellow anthropologist and author Dorothy Jean Ray.

Bibliography

He is the author or editor of 52 books dealing with the anthropology of the American Indians of the Northwest.Worldcat
/ref> In particular, his work with the Interior Salish Tribes of Washington following the passage of the Indian Claims Commission Act in 1946 led to the publication of a number of important articles on the tribes, including the following: *Ray, Verne F. "The Columbia Confederacy: A League of Central Plateau Tribes." In

Stanley Diamond Stanley Diamond (January 4, 1922 in New York City, NY – March 31, 1991 in New York City, NY) was an American poet and anthropologist. As a young man, he identified as a poet, and his disdain for the fascism of the 1930s greatly influenced ...

, editor, ''Culture in History: Essays in Honor of

Paul Radin Paul Radin (April 2, 1883 – February 21, 1959) was an American cultural anthropologist and folklorist of the early twentieth century specializing in Native American languages and cultures. The noted legal scholar Max Radin was his older brothe ...

''. Columbia University Press: New York, 1960, pp. 771–789. *Ray, Verne F. "Cultural Relations in the Plateau of Northwestern America." Publications of the

Frederick Webb Hodge Frederick Webb Hodge (October 28, 1864 – September 28, 1956) was an American editor, anthropology, anthropologist, Archaeology, archaeologist, and historian. Born in England, he immigrated at the age of seven with his family to Washington, DC ...

Anniversary Publication Fund, Vol. III. Los Angeles, 1939. *Ray, Verne F. "Ethnohistorical Notes on the Columbia, Chelan, Entiat, and Wenatchee Tribes," Interior Salish and Eastern Washington Indians IV. Garland Publishing Inc.: New York, 1974. *Ray, Verne F. "Native Village and Groupings of the Columbia Basin," ''

Pacific Northwest Quarterly ''Pacific Northwest Quarterly'' (commonly referred to as ''PNQ'') is a peer-reviewed academic journal of history that publishes scholarship relating to the Pacific Northwest of the United States, including Alaska, and adjacent areas of western Can ...

''. Vol. 27 No. 2, April, 1936. *Ray, Verne F., The Sanpoil and Nespelem: Salishan Peoples of Northeastern Washington (New Haven, Human Relations Area Files, 1954) riginally published as Vol. V, University of Washington Publications in Anthropology, 1933

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Verne 1905 births 2003 deaths University of Washington faculty 20th-century American anthropologists Yale University alumni