Erna Gunther was an American anthropologist who taught for many years at the University of Washington

University of Washington

University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...

 in Seattle.

Gunther's work on ethnobotany is still extensively consulted today.

Biography

Gunther graduated

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 in 1919 as a student of Franz Boas

Franz Boas

Franz Boas was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology" and "the Father of Modern Anthropology." Like many such pioneers, he trained in other disciplines; he received his doctorate in physics, and did...

, and received her MA

Master of Arts (postgraduate)

A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 in anthropology

Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...

 from Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

 in 1920, studying under famed anthropologist Franz Boas

Franz Boas

Franz Boas was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology" and "the Father of Modern Anthropology." Like many such pioneers, he trained in other disciplines; he received his doctorate in physics, and did...

. After graduating she moved with her husband, Leslie Spier, to the University of Washington in 1921. After leaving for a short period of time with her husband she returned in 1929. When her husband left in 1930 she stayed at the University; at that time the marriage dissolved.

She formed part of the core of the newly formed anthropology program at the University of Washington in the 1920s, along with Spier and Melville Jacobs

Melville Jacobs

Melville Jacobs was an American anthropologist known for his extensive fieldwork on cultures of the Pacific Northwest. He was born in New York City. After studying with Franz Boas he became a member of the faculty of the University of Washington in 1928 and remained until his death in 1971...

. In 1930 the Washington State Museum named her Director. As head of the University's anthropology department. she built the faculty from two residents in 1930 to ten in 1955. In 1966 she moved to the University of Alaska Fairbanks

University of Alaska Fairbanks

The University of Alaska Fairbanks, located in Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska System, and is abbreviated as Alaska or UAF....

, becoming chair in 1967.

An American Indian

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 specialist, her research focused on the Salish and Makah peoples of western Washington State, with publications on ethnobotany

Ethnobotany

Ethnobotany is the scientific study of the relationships that exist between people and plants....

, ethnohistory

Ethnohistory

Ethnohistory is the study of ethnographic cultures and indigenous customs by examining historical records. It is also the study of the history of various ethnic groups that may or may not exist today....

, and general ethnology.

Her students included anthropologists Wayne Suttles

Wayne Suttles

Wayne Suttles was an American anthropologist and linguist.He was the leading authority on the ethnology and linguistics of the Coast Salish people of the Northwest Coast of North America.-Biography:...

, Dale Croes and Wilson Duff

Wilson Duff

Wilson Duff was a Canadian archaeologist, cultural anthropologist, and museum curator.He is remembered for his research on First Nations cultures of the Northwest Coast, notably the Tsimshian, Gitxsan, and Haida, and especially for his interest in their plastic arts, such as totem poles...

.

In 1949 she helped finance the archaeological investigation run by Charles E. Borden at Walen's farm (DfRs-3) on Boundary Bay

Boundary Bay

Boundary Bay is situated on the Pacific coast of North America on the border between the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. state of Washington....

.

Works

• An Analysis of the First Salmon Ceremony, American Anthropologist, Vol 28 (1926)
• Ethnobotany of Western Washington: the Knowledge and Use of Indigenous Plants by Native Americans, University of Washington Press, Seattle (1973)