SEPTEMBER 6, 1960

FAMED POMO BASKET WEAVER ANNIE TOMASIA RAMON BURKE DIED

Annie Burke was born in 1876 near Mendocino, California (CA) and lived in the Cloverdale area. Annie learned basket weaving from her mother, Mary Arnold (1845–1925) and eventually passed her skills along to her daughter, famed weaver Elsie Allen. Annie, along with her daughter Elsie and Edna Sloan Guerrero, formed the Pomo Mother’s Club, later renamed the Pomo Indian Women’s Club. The club’s mission is to support the community through education and fundraising and to counter anti-Indian discrimination in California. The Club’s basketry exhibits and demonstrations are instrumental in educating others about the Pomo people. Pomo custom dictates that when a basket maker dies, their baskets are buried with them or burned. However, to preserve the basket-weaving tradition, Annie convinced Elsie not to destroy her baskets upon her death. Annie Burke died on September 6, 1962, in Mendocino.

Source: Kimberly Brown, “Annie Burke and Elsie Allen, Pomo Basket Weavers,” Cal@170 by the California State Library.  Retrieved 11/22/2023, Annie Burke and Elsie Allen, Pomo Basket Weavers - Cal@170 by the California State Library.

Photo:  A.O. Carpenter (   - 1919), 1898.  Nellie Burke (Annie’s mother) weaving a no. 3 type twined basket. Public Domain.  Source: Sonoma Heritage Collection -- Sonoma County Library:   ANNEX PHOTO 19602 http://heritage.sonomalibrary.org/digital/collection/p15763coll2/id/3809