Thomas Talbot Waterman (April 23, 1885 – January 6, 1936)[1] was an American anthropologist who studied indigenous groups in North and Central America, particularly Northern California.
[2] Waterman initially planned to study linguistics with a focus in Hebrew,[3] hoping to become a clergyman as his father had.
[1] However, after enrolling in a phonetics class taught by Pliny Earle Goddard and assisting with fieldwork on Pacific Coast Athabaskan languages, Waterman developed a strong interest in anthropology.
[1] According to Susan Marie Wood, after graduating he secured a position at the University of California's Museum of Anthropology working for Alfred L. Kroeber on the strength of Goddard’s recommendation.
[4] Waterman wrote anthropological articles and books on a wide range of indigenous groups in North and Central America over the course of his career.
During this period, Waterman made connections with California ethnographer Constance Goddard DuBois and field collector Edward H. Davis, who had existing relationships with the Kumeyaay.
Waterman, along with Ishi, Kroeber, and Saxton Pope went on a mapping expedition in the area of Deer Creek, Tehama County in 1914.
The collections he made for the Heye Foundation, which include artifacts, recordings, and photographs, are now held at the National Museum of the American Indian.
[1] Waterman died on January 6th, 1936 at the age of 50 in Honolulu, shortly after being appointed Territorial Archivist at the University of Hawai’i.