The 1st Native American Woman Archeologist.

Bertha Parker was born to the Seneca tribe in Chautauqua County, NY on Aug. 30, 1907. As a child, she would join her father on archeological digs until her parents divorced. Parker moved to Los Angeles with her mother, and as a teenager, Parker would work as an actor in circus renditions of “Pocahontas”. Eventually, her uncle would hire her as a cook and excavation secretary for archeological digs, and Parker took this opportunity to explore archeological sites and teach herself the practice. In 1930, during a trip to the Gypsum Cave sites in Nevada, Parker would explore some of the smallest caves in the cave system and discovered 10,000-year-old human tools and a giant ground sloth skull—the earliest signs of humans in the Americas at the time. Parker was offered a position as an archeologist at the Southwest Museum where she founded 2 additional archeology sites and documented Native American history. She would author over 21 publications without a formal education and became a strong advocate for respectful Native American representation in the film industry.