Weaving Plants: An Overview of Southwest Native American Basketry
Southwest Native American basketry is a rich tradition that traces back centuries, if not thousands of years. These baskets traditionally served utilitarian purposes in people’s daily lives, but they have also played an important role in ceremonial life, as well as in commerce. While it is widely agreed that basketry is one of the first Native American arts and crafts to die out in many tribes, there are still Native basket weavers throughout this region who continue to weave baskets from local, natural plant fibers. These contemporary baskets have become a true art form, beyond utility. The baskets made by innovative artists today still take their roots from a traditional and time-intensive craft that reaches back through time all the way to antiquity.
Many similarities in basket-making technique, style, and materials exist amongst the Southwest Native American tribes. For example, the materials used in basket-making are mostly natural plant fibers gathered from the local flora. Baskets are distinguished by the weaver who made it and their tribal heritage. Due to this typical method of categorization, it is easy to overlook the fact that tribes learned from each other, traded ideas, and even traded the merchandise itself.
Southern Paiute Basketry
For instance, the Navajo (Diné) would often procure their wedding and ceremonial baskets from San Juan Paiute weavers, owing to a common superstition that is was bad luck for a Navajo person to make their own ceremonial basket.
The San Juan band of the Southern Paiute tribe are located in close proximity to the Navajo, and in general the two cultures are closely integrated, so their technique and imagery in their baskets can appear similar. San Juan Paiute and Navajo baskets are made primarily out of sumac. After gathering sumac twigs and plants for dyes, they make an incision into the end of each twig. One part they clamp between their teeth, tearing the other strips off with their fingers. Each piece of bark is then scraped clean and dyed, and only then does the actual weaving process begin. Today, weavers will often dye sumac vibrant colors using aniline dyes to achieve a variety of colors for their intricate pictorial designs. Natalie Edgewater of the San Juan Paiutes distinguished herself for her design in striking red, black, and white colors using sumac.
Lightning Basket by Natalie Edgewater
Navajo Basketry
The Navajo Ceremonial Basket, also known as the Navajo Wedding Basket, is a traditional Navajo basket design using sumac. This basket features red bands and a central star that opens up to the east. Learn more about the Navajo Ceremonial Basket in our blog post here.
Navajo Ceremonial Basket
Branching from traditional designs, there are also stunning contemporary Navajo baskets that incorporate pictorial designs or even tell a story. Navajo (Diné) basket weaver, Sally Black has made quite a name for herself through her innovative, intricate, and colorful designs in her contemporary baskets. Her mother was another famed basket weaver, Mary Holiday, and her brother Jonathan Black is a talented weaver of contemporary baskets as well. As seen below, Sally modified the classic Navajo ceremonial basket design to create the shape of a turtle.
Apache and Yavapai Basketry
Perhaps most famous for basket-making historically in the Southwest were the Apaches. Like the Paiutes, the Apache tribe is divided into different bands. The Jicarilla, Mescalero, Chiricahua, and Western Apaches were considered among the finest Native American basket makers around the turn of the century. Apache baskets are made from willow, devil’s claw, and sometimes yucca root. Devil’s claw is used for the black illustrative details that stand out against the background of willow. The willow starts out white and over time becomes a golden, caramel color. Some of the most iconic creations by the Apache are their burden baskets. Learn more about Apache burden baskets in our blog post here.
The Yavapai were also expert basket weavers. They created many designs similar to the Apaches, and they used similar materials as well. There are few Yavapai or Apache baskets made today, so they are highly collectible and a treasure to find. Other tribes from Northern Arizona make baskets using the willow and devil’s claw plants as well, including the Hualapai and Havasupai peoples of the Grand Canyon.
Tohono O'odham and Akimel O'odham Basketry
Tohono O’odham (formerly known as Papago) and Akimel’ O’odham (also known as Pima) make beautifully intricate baskets in Southern Arizona. Basket makers from the Pima tribe mainly use willow in their work. This is particularly due to their location along the Salt River, where they had easy access to willow along the river banks. “Akimel’ O’odham” means “People of the River.”
Tohono O'odham Cloud Plaque by Laura Pablo
Tohono O’odham (which translates to “People of the Desert”) at one time used willow in their baskets as well, but over time they transitioned to using both dyed and undyed yucca in order to differentiate their baskets from their tribal neighbors. Today, Tohono O’odham weavers make some of the finest baskets in the Southwest. In addition to their traditional baskets made from beargrass, yucca, and devil’s claw (for the black designs), the Tohono O’odham have introduced horsehair into their basketmaking. Horsehair baskets are so intricate and fine, it’s hard to believe! Read more about horsehair basketry in our blog post here.
Hopi Basketry
In Northeastern Arizona, basketry is just one of many traditional art forms the Hopi are known for. Hopi basketmakers are primarily women, and the types of baskets they weave can be dictated by which mesa they hail from. The Hopi traditionally live on one of three mesas in the Northeastern region of Arizona. Hopi wicker plaques are made on Third Mesa. The wicker plaques are made using willow, rabbit brush, and a plant called dune broom. They can be a variety of colors and depict symbolic images such as plants, animals, or Kachinas.
Dorleen Gashweseoma of Hopi Third Mesa is known for her brightly-colored eye dazzling designs in Hopi sifter and piki (traditional Hopi bread made from blue corn) trays. Dorleen uses aniline and some vegetal dyes to achieve the brightly-colored strands of yucca with which she weaves her baskets and trays. She will also sometimes use a wire frame to make her piece the desired shape. The Hopis have always made “yucca ring” baskets used throughout time for many purposes.
Coil basketry is the other traditional type of basketry for the Hopi, traditionally woven by women on Second Mesa. Hopi coil baskets are split yucca wrapped over bear grass. These baskets are also famous for their symbolic imagery, as well as for their four primary colors: red, black, white, and a faint, natural yellow. These colors come from either vegetal sources or different treatments of the yucca plant itself. Black comes from sunflower seeds, and red comes from sumac berries. For white, Hopis leave the yucca fibers in the sun to naturally bleach away the color it would otherwise remain, sometimes maintained by covering it with snow! Once the artist achieves their desired colors in the yucca fibers, they then weave them around bundles of galleta grass to form baskets and plaques in all shapes and sizes. Annette Nasafoti is one of the best Hopi coil weavers today.
Hopi Coil Bowl by Annette Nasafotie
Bring The Textures of the Southwest into Your Home
After learning so much about the different types of Southwest Native American baskets and the artists who make them, the only thing left to do is pick out your favorite and take one home with you to enjoy for years on end! Basketry is truly a timeless art form, and due to the limited number of fine baskets today, they continue to be a good investment. Whether displayed proudly for all to see, or on a special shelf just for you, the perfect basket could be waiting here at Garland’s for your collection. Why not take a look?
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