Illustration: Range of Apache basketry, 1907.
The Apache people were skilled basket makers who traditionally produced a wide range of baskets for a number of domestic uses. The main categories of basketry that were produced include wide shallow trays that were used for winnowing, vase shaped baskets that were used for storing grain, bowls for preparation, and what are termed burden baskets for the general carrying of firewood, food and any other domestic item that needed instant and easy transportation.
Illustration: Apache basket.
Traditional Apache basketry was made using locally gathered willow shoots which although virtually white in colour when harvested and when the baskets were initially woven, changed colour gradually over time and with contact with direct sunlight, into an attractive and subtle warm yellowish tone. The baskets were produced using the coiled technique, which can be both a slow and sometimes fairly difficult skill to master. Including a range of pictorial and geometrical decorative motifs within the design, which was relatively common amongst much of the Apache produced basketry, was all the more demanding and therefore much more challenging to achieve.
Illustration: Apache burden basket.
Apache basketry production is seen by many to have reached its high point both creatively and technically, during the late nineteenth century when tourism took over from the domestic production of basketry. The level was maintained until well into the twentieth century, but by the 1930s, the depression produced a dramatic drop in the number of tourists, leading to an obvious lack of demand. However, since the end of the Second World War Native American basketry techniques and skills have been widely and generally recognised, as some of the finest achieved within the craft anywhere on the planet and antique baskets are both highly collectable and expensive. Contemporary basketry, while not perhaps reaching the standards of previous generations, at least in the opinion of collectors who are always going to be biased towards the antique, is still impressive in both technique and within its skill base.
Illustration: Apache girl with a burden basket, 1902.
There are a number of websites that deal specifically with Native American basketry, most being dealers and retailers of antique basketry, though they are relatively fluent and detailed in their knowledge and are worth visiting even if you find that you cannot afford the prices charged for antique basketry. A good place to start is the Medicine Man Gallery run by Dr Mark Sublette, where a comprehensive article on the history and forms of Apache basketry can be found. He has a beautiful and wide range of baskets for sale with a very impressive gallery.
Illustration: Apache basket.
I am also listing a range of websites that you might find interesting. They are sites dealing with some, but by no means all, of the large and diverse regions that make up the Apache nation. These include: Chiricahua, Yavapai/Apache, Jicarilla, White Mountain, Mescalero, Lipan, San Carlos. All in some way share in the great achievement of maintaining, through a whole range of political and cultural disasters, the traditional craft and skills base of the Apache nation.
Further reading links:
Medecine Man Gallery
Chiricahua Apache Nation
Yavapai/Apache Nation
Jicarilla Apache Nation
White Mountain Apache Nation
San Carlos Apache Nation
Mescalero Apache Nation
Lipan Apache Nation
Apache Indian Baskets
American Baskets: A Cultural History of a Traditional Domestic Art
Culture and Customs of the Apache Indians (Culture and Customs of Native Peoples in America)
Apaches: A History and Culture Portrait
Basketry of the San Carlos Apache Indians (Rio Grande Classic)
The People: Indians of the American Southwest
Indian Basketry Artists of the Southwest: Deep Roots, New Growth (Contemporary Indian Artists)
Discover Native America: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah
Chiricahua Apache Women and Children: Safekeepers of the Heritage (Elma Dill Russell Spencer Series in the West and Southwest)
The Desert Southwest: Four Thousand Years of Life and Art
Traveling Indian Arizona
The Apaches (Native American Histories)
