Illustration: Traditional Klickitat basketry.
The Klickitat, Klikitat, or more correctly the Qwu'lh-hwai-pum (prairie people), lived along the shores of the Colombia River between the present day states of Washington and Oregon. They were well known as enterprising and adaptable traders, but they were also accomplished basketmakers with a long tradition of women handing down skills from one generation to the next.
Nettie Jackson is the product of this long line of basket makers and was steeped in the history and traditions of the craft skill. Both her Mother and Grandmother, along with her mother-in-law, were all accomplished basketmakers and although Jackson did not immediately take to the craft, she is now, through her own expertise of trial and error and skills she learnt from her family, an expert in many of the traditions of Klickitat basketry.
Illustration: Nettie Jackson with one of her baskets.
Jackson produces a range of coiled basketry using traditional natural materials such as red cedar and beaver grass. She is aware of the long line of accomplished basketmakers that she follows, and though happy to both conserve and preserve her traditional craft heritage, she is very much a contemporary craft artist as she both incorporates the traditional while innovating and creating her own traditions. Weaving the two together, she is able to produce basketry that is both a homage and continuation of her Klickitat heritage, while at the same time allowing her to maintain an element of creative integrity so that she can express her own ideas and inspirations.
Nettie Jackson has probably done more to highlight, but more importantly revive, the fortunes of Northwest basketry and that of the Klickitat in particular. Her 1982 book The Heritage of Klickitat Basketry
produced by herself, and in collaboration with her grandmother and mother-in-law, became a focus for that revival. It was however, through her work with the Northwest Native American Basketmakers Association (NNABA) that Northwest basketry traditions, along with contemporary innovation, truly found a voice. This multi-tribal association has worked tirelessly for the maintenance, preservation, and creative future of basketry in the Northwest. It is through this association, along with the high profile of basketmakers and artists such as Jackson, that the true skill of indigenous basketry will be maintained.
produced by herself, and in collaboration with her grandmother and mother-in-law, became a focus for that revival. It was however, through her work with the Northwest Native American Basketmakers Association (NNABA) that Northwest basketry traditions, along with contemporary innovation, truly found a voice. This multi-tribal association has worked tirelessly for the maintenance, preservation, and creative future of basketry in the Northwest. It is through this association, along with the high profile of basketmakers and artists such as Jackson, that the true skill of indigenous basketry will be maintained.
Illustration: Klickitat woman weaving a mat 1906.
The NNABA is a charitable organization that helps to promote and perpetuate both the traditional and contemporary basketry of Native Americans throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and British Columbia. Donations are always welcome and should be sent through this link.
Some of Nettie Jackson's work can be seen here, while an original Klickitat basket from the first half of the twentieth century can be found here. A couple of interesting articles concerning Jackson and her work can also be found here and here. Jackson's book The Heritage of Klickitat Basketry, can be bought on Amazon at the link given below in the reference links section, along with a link to the Yakama Nation Cultural Heritage Center.
Further reading links:
The Heritage of Klickitat Basketry: A History and Art Preserved
Northwest Native American Basketweavers Association
Yakama Nation Cultural Heritage Center
Baskets of the Northwest People
The North American Indian. Volume 7 - The Yakima. The Klickitat. Salishan Tribes of the interior. The Kutenai.
Forgotten Voices: Death Records of the Yakama, 1888-1964 (Native American Resources)
The Yakama (Native American People)
Strings: The Lives of Two Yakama Women in the 1800s
Yakama People: Plateau Region (Native Americans of North America)
Ghost Voices: Yakima Indian Myths, Legends, Humor and Hunting Stories
Strangers on the land ;: A historiette of a longer story of the Yakima Indian Nation's efforts to survive against great odds,
