Author: Bev OrtizPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Indian baskets
Languages : en
Pages : 734
Book Description
Baskets have been woven for at least 10,000 years in the area now known as the western United States. Originally created by California Indians as utilitarian objects for everyday family use, by the late 1800s baskets had become a commodity that provided much-needed income. Collector interest in baskets resulted in an expanding literature that focused on their collectability, promoted their making with largely store-bought, imported materials, and compared their techniques of fabrication. While most basketry literature, whether scholarly or popular, has largely concerned itself with the object (form, design, materials, technique, and function), since 1970, the literature on basketry has begun to shift its focus to the process and the weavers themselves. The present study begins by surveying the worldwide literature about basketry, with an emphasis on California Indian basketry. It recounts the history of the practice of basketry in California, which began to decline in the 1930s because of lack of need and interest, the economics of the Depression, and a desire to not stand out as Indian. Attention then shifts to organizational efforts by California Indians since 1940 to reverse this trend. By establishing basketry organizations, California Indian women sought to gain respect for their cultures within the dominant society, while, at the same time, rebuilding pride among the young. Based on 30 years of field research with hundreds of California Indian basketmakers statewide, the present study examines the effectiveness of organizational efforts to renew basketry, as well as impediments to its continued practice, including (1) lack of time to learn and weave, and (2) lack of access to properly managed basketry materials growing in safe areas free from chemical contamination. After detailing these issues and the solutions that California Indians have devised to resolve them, the study illustrates the diverse reasons why California Indians continue to make baskets and the varied ways they learn, through the stories of individual weavers, including biographies of four elder basketmakers whose influence was widespread. The humanity, tenacity, and resourcefulness of the weavers are highlighted, as they continue to find new ways to bring an old practice into the future.
