Barbara Drake Collection, 1933-2020 and undated

Summary

Creators:

Drake, Barbara

Abstract:

Assembled by Barbara Drake (1940-2020), a Gabrieleño/Tongva Elder, educator, and community advocate, this collection contains Drake's educational materials, personal files, and research materials. Drake was a founding member of numerous organizations including Mother Earth Clan, Cultural Keepers, the Chia Café Collective that provided classes, workshops, and material aid to the community. She was also a longtime teacher, leading courses in ethnobotany, ecology, Native American art, and cultural renewal at San Bernardino schools, Pitzer College, the University of California, Riverside, the Leadership in Environmental Education Program (LEEP), and at the Idyllwild Arts Summer Program. Drake was deeply involved in the Gabrieleño/Tongva community, serving as the Tribal Secretary for many years and facilitating the revitalization of Tongva festivals, cuisine, and crafts while advocating for federal recognition and the proper treatment of sacred land. This collection consists of materials related to each of these areas of her life, containing curricula, research materials, and personal files that offer a clear picture of her educational strategies, traditional knowledge, and non-professional interests. This collection will be most useful for researchers interested in Barbara Drake's life, Southern California Native American history, indigenous ecology, education, and community advocacy.

Extent:

13.4 Linear Feet (9 records boxes, 2 document boxes, 2 flat boxes, 1 oversized folder)

Language:

Languages represented in the collection: English .

Background

Scope and content:

The Barbara Drake Collection primarily consists of printed matter with some artifacts and multimedia, and includes articles, correspondence, employment records, recipes, genealogical material, curricula, and artwork. It covers the years 1933-2020 and includes many undated documents.

The collection is divided into three series. The Educational Materials series consists of the curricula Drake developed for the different organizations where she taught as well as handouts, activity guides, and reference materials. It also contains correspondence directly related to Drake's teaching career, including invoices, contracts, notes, and program materials for educational events. The Personal Files series includes correspondence, recipes, genealogical material, legal documents, non-professional projects, cultural events, and newspaper clippings of personal interest. The Research Materials series consists of documents and resources that Drake used to develop her curricula, spanning a wide range of topics but mostly centered on botany, zoology, ecology, and the histories and cultures of different Native American peoples, specifically the Gabrieleño/Tongva, Navajo, Nez Perce, and Sioux.

The greatest strength of the collection is its comprehensive portrait of Barbara Drake as an educator and advocate. It provides an in-depth look at the materials with which she crafted her curricula and illuminates some of her strategies for effectively communicating the importance of Native American ecology and traditions. The collection also offers a personal perspective on the ongoing struggle toward federal recognition for the Gabrieleño/Tongva community as well as the work necessary for cultural revitalization. The collection is light on personal correspondence and Drake's everyday voice, although she speaks clearly through her curricula.

Acquisition information:

Gift, Gary Drake (spouse) and Lori Reisbig (daughter), 2021.

Arrangement:

The collection is organized into the following series:

• Series 1: Educational Materials, 1933-2015 and undated
• Series 2: Personal Files, 1945-2020 and undated
• Series 3: Research Materials, 1947-2020 and undated

Folders are arranged alphabetically by folder title within each series.

Physical location:

Please consult repository.

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Related resources

Related material:

The Barbara Drake Memorial Library at Pitzer College's Robert Redford Conservancy for Southern California Sustainability is a resource related to Tongva and Native American culture and includes book selections by Barbara Drake and Craig Torres with a focus on Tongva culture, history, language, and California native plants. Click on the link above to view Barbara Drake Memorial Library resources in The Claremont Colleges Library catalog.

Separated material:

The following culturally sensitive items were removed from the collection and returned to the Drake family. The Drake family donated these items to a representative of the Tongva community to be housed at a Tongva archival center.

• Basket fragments, basketry fibers, and two arrow form shafts contained in a cardboard box found in a larger box labeled by Barbara Drake as "artifacts."
• Five photographs found within an envelope labeled, "Puvungna burial pictures," which contain rare photos of Barbara at California State University, Long Beach during a reinterment of a burial located on campus.
• Dried plant medicine (sage and cedar) removed from an "Honor Kit." Photographs have been taken of the dried plant medicine and inserted into the packet in lieu of the actual plant.

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Animals
Ecology
Gabrielino/Tongva Nation
Geography
Indigenous peoples
Medicinal plants
Native Americans-Educators
Native Americans-History
Native Americans-Music
Native Americans-Study and teaching
Plants
Plants, Edible
Teaching-Aids and devices
Artifacts
Correspondence
Recipes

Location of this collection:

Claremont Colleges, Honnold/Mudd Library

800 N. Dartmouth Ave.

Claremont, CA 91711, US

Contact:

(909) 607‑3977

specialcollections@claremont.edu

Website