Illustration: Variety of Quinault basketry.
The Quinault have always lived on the Olympic Peninsula in what is now present day Washington State. The Quinault used basketry throughout their culture for a variety of domestic uses from cooking, storage and gathering, to even costume as can be seen in the two photographs showing a woman wearing a woven hat.
Quinault basket weavers used a wide variety of locally sourced and renewable materials including grasses, seaweed and cedar bark. They wove an extremely diverse number of baskets of differing shapes and sizes.
With the coming of European Americans, traditional forms of basketry inevitably began to decline. With the introduction of metal based cooking pots, kettles and a host of other domestic items, the need for traditional basketry skills were not seen as being as vital to survival as they once had been.
Illustration: Quinault woman with traditional woven hat, 1913.
However, ironically, basketry while in decline amongst indigenous people was becoming popular amongst European Americans, many of whom were building up large and specific private and public collections of indigenous basketry examples. This new market allowed traditional basket weavers to spend less time focusing on the practical qualities and perceived limitations of wholly domestic basketry and more time on the creative aspects of their work. This inevitably led to a number of indigenous basket makers producing work that was much more sculptural and decorative in theme, than it was useful.
The Quinault were enthusiastic basket weavers and produced work both for their own domestic market, but also for the European American collectors market as well. There was a certain amount of dual purpose weaving, with decorative pattern work in particular being used in traditional domestic weaving, but much more vociferously for the European American market as it was commonly thought that decorative basketry work seemed more indigenous than any of the real traditions.
Illustration: Quinault woman with traditional woven hat, 1913.
To be fair, although in many cases this was true, a number of European American collectors of the purist strain, were well aware that a percentage of indigenous basketry was being doctored for the market. Some collectors were keen procurers of specifically authentic basketry, the older the better. There are a number of fine collections across the US of traditional basketry untainted by contemporary moods in the marketplace. Today they are seen as valuable libraries of the complex skills base of generations of indigenous basketry weavers.
This is not to say that Quinault basketry, for example, produced specifically for the European American perceived taste, was inconsequential. There were fine examples of Quinault basketry work produced throughout the twentieth century, though it must be remembered that much of the work was not necessarily produced with the practical requirements of everyday living in mind. There was also an element of borrowed techniques and styles from other cultures in order to cater for the market.
The power of the consumer market is a double-edged sword. It allows craft skills to find a truly commercial outlet and often much needed financial and economic help. It can also help to develop new and exciting creative possibilities for the individual maker. However, it is also ruthless in its demands, often forcing makers trained in traditional based creative skills, to drastically transform their work and use of materials in order to suit the market. There are many examples around the globe of craft skills that have been irrevocably altered in order to appeal to the commercial market, basketry is one case.
Further reading links:
Quinault Indian Nation website
Olympic Peninsula Community Museum
Land of the Quinault
Basketry of the Quinault
The Art of Native American Basketry: A Living Legacy (Contributions to the Study of Anthropology)
American Indian Basketry [Two Volumes Bound as One, With 460 Illustrations]
Native American Basketry
Native North American Art (Oxford History of Art)
Native Basketry of Western North American: The Condell Collection of the Illinois State Museum (Handbook of Collections Series : No 3)
