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Ethel Adair

Quiltmaker

  Oklahoma, United States    

North American Indian and Native Hawaiian Quilt Collection

Nancy Ethel Adair was a Cherokee quiltmaker from Oklahoma.
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When Ethel's mother died, she and her sister Pearl, and her half sister Rose went to live with their paternal grandmother, Ellen West. Ellen was Cherokee and very tiny - they called her Big Grandmother. When Ellen's first husband (Clifton's dad) died, Ellen married his brother Dave West. It was Ellen West who taught Ethel to quilt, can and cook.

While Ethel lived in Oklahoma she had a quilt frame that she raised and lowered from the ceiling for quilting. Sometimes it was moved out to a veranda when the weather was warm. Ethel and Mack went to Oakland in 1941 or 42. They returned to Oklahoma in 1969.

Was the maker a woman, man or a group?

Female

When was the quiltmaker born?

04/29/1901

Date and place of death.

1993

Ethnic background/tribal affiliation:

Native American; Cherokee

Educational background:

Ethel went to two different local schools through the 8th grade. She did not go to a Cherokee seminary girl's school.

Occupation (if retired, former occupation):

Shipyard worker and nurse's aid after 1941 at Highland Hospital in Oakland, CA and retired from that job.

Where was the quiltmaker born?

Wagner Prairie Indian Territory, Oklahoma (OK), United States

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

West

Father's Name:

Clifton Preston West

Mother's Name:

Rose (or Betty) Davis

Spouse's/Spouses' name(s):

Mack Adair

Spouse's/Spouses' occupation:

In Oklahoma, farming and horsetrading; in Oakland, shipyard worker.

Number of children:

8

Number of female children:

4

Number of male children:

4

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