California and the Great Basin Baskets
California and the Great Basin Baskets - Some of the very finest baskets were and are the California and the Great Basin Baskets, crafted by the native peoples of California and the Great Basin of present day Utah and Nevada. Since they did not make pottery, baskets served many purposes in the daily life. The baskets constructed by the Washo and Pomo are of unparalleled quality. These were among the first collected and appreciated for their artistry by anthropologists, historians and collectors of Native American arts, and they remain among the crowning achievements of world basketry. The Pomo who lived north of San Francisco Bay created the most sophisticated and creative American baskets. Both men and women created baskets – men made the utilitarian baskets and women concentrated on the more difficult decorative and ceremonial pieces. The Pomo were masters of both twining and coiling; no other tribe employed both techniques, and only the Pomo used four different twining techniques. Some of their baskets were so tightly woven that they held water and were used to boil acorn mush. The Pomo are also renowned for the unique decorative embellishments they added to some of their baskets, including feathers, glass, clamshell beads, pieces of magnesite and cared abalone shells.
The Native Americans of the Great Basin were nomadic and well-made lightweight utilitarian baskets were essential for hording water and food. The Great Basin Indians primarily coiled their baskets. Baskets makers fashioned burden baskets, water jars, seed beaters, winnowing trays, cradles and bowls. Basket making traditions in the region are traceable back at least nine thousand years.
In the last years of the 19th century, California and the Great Basin Baskets and well as those crafted by other tribes became extremely popular with the American public who perceived them as relics of a conquered and dying culture. Before the start of World War I, many museums were being built and many major natural history museums financed field expeditions that gathered native American artifacts from tribes and traders throughout the country. Dealers and trading posts played an important part in the early twentieth century revival of Native American basketry that centered on the highest quality California and Great Basin baskets. Today, many of the ancient basket making traditions of California and the Great Basin are endangered. There are few tribal elders remaining to pass their knowledge on to new generations. The tradition is alive for the time being, but it continues to be undermined. In recent years, California and the Great Basin Baskets have been bolstered by the efforts of the California Indian Basketweavers Association, a non-profit advocacy group centered in Nevada City, California. Some other links regarding California and the Great Basin basket makers: Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology California Indian Basketry; Shapes and Uses of California Indian Basketry
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