- Term
Julia Parker
- Alternate Term
Parker, Julia
Parker, Julia F.
Julia F. Parker
- Occupation/Role
basket weaver
- Nationality/Ethnicity
Kashia Pomo
- Geography
Midpines, California, near Yosemite National Park
- Remarks
Julia Parker was born in Graton, California, to a migrant farm worker family. When she was six her father died, and soon after her mother Lily Pete (Kashia Pomo). Together with two younger sisters and two younger brothers, Parker was raised by a foster mother. In the eighth grade, Julia and her siblings were sent to a Indian boarding school in Stewart, Nevada. In that school, she met her future husband, Ralph Parker (Yosemite Miwok/Paiute). In 1948, they moved to Yosemite National Park, where they raised their four children. In 1956, after the death of Lucy Parker Telles, Parker become a cultural demonstrator for the Natonal Park Service. As cultural demonstrator, and more recently supervisor, for Yosemite's Indian Cultural Program, Parker has been instrumental in preserving Yosemite Miwok/Paiute traditions, including traditional acorn and soaproot brush making, basketry, games, and tools. In 1983, she presented Great Britain's Queen Elizabeth II with one of her baskets.
- See Also