Tuesday, February 10, 2026 6:30 PM EST
Attend IN-PERSON (North Port Library, 13800 Tamiami Trail, North Port, FL 34287) or join us via ZOOM (Meeting ID: 818 8487 5930 Passcode: 472140)
RE-AWAKENING ANCIENT SALISH SEA BASKETRY
Dr. Dale Croes
In retirement, Dale Croes has been working with Ed Carriere (age 91), a Suquamish Elder and Master Basketmaker, and together they wrote Re-Awakening Ancient Salish Sea Basketry, Fifty Years of Basketry Studies in Culture and Science (2018). Perishable wood artifacts from a site near Seattle, Washington, the Biderbost wet site, were studied and are preserved at the University of Washington Burke Museum. We define our work into these artifacts as a new approach called “Generationally-Linked Archaeology” (GLA).
Together, we have replicated ancient wet site museum basketry as old as 4,500 years. Ed has learned from over 200 generations of his grandparents, compiling layers of weaves from 4,500, 3,000, 2,000 and 1,000 year old styles in one basket which he calls an “Archaeology Basket,” analogous to a Salishan 4+ millennia history book. We also recently added a new example of GLA in a book, comparing how Ed used 44 natural resources in the first half of his life to support his Great Grandmother Julia Jacobs (b. 1874). Dale compared Ed’s natural resource use to the fauna/flora remains in 9 archaeological shell midden sites located within 20 miles of Ed’s home allotment, accounting for 4,000 years of deposition. In researching both ancient basketry and fauna/flora, we saw continuity and sustainability for 4,000 years and added to our original GLA approach, calling it “Generationally-linked Ecological Knowledge” (G-LEK). This new book is titled: “Living-Off-The-Land” for 4,000 Years on the Salish Sea (2025). In April 2023, Ed and I received the Award for Excellence in Archaeological Analysis from the Society for American Archaeology.
Dale R. Croes received his B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Washington (UW). He did his Ph.D. dissertation research on basketry and cordage artifacts from the Ozette Village wet site. He conducted his post-doctoral research with the Makah Tribal Nation at the Hoko River wet site and Hoko Rockshelter shell midden. He directed the first-ever archaeological excavations at the National Historic Landmark wet site of Sunken Village wet site with the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Indian. He also co-directed excavations of the QwuɁgwǝs wet and dry site with the Squaxin Island Tribe. Croes is a Pacific Northwest wet archaeological site specialist who encourages others to pursue investigating these well-preserved archaeological sites, where approximately 90% of the ancient material culture is preserved. He worked closely for decades with his close friends and renowned wet site specialists/scholars, the late Dr. Barbara Purdy (UF) and the late Dr. Glen Doran (FSU). Together, they had numerous exchanges and international conferences together across opposite corners of our country regarding wet site research.