Pima Basketry

Illustration: Selection of Pima basketry.

The Pima, or to be more accurate, the Akimel O'odham, live on both sides of the border between Arizona and Mexico, with many living alongside the banks of the Gila River. The Pima are closely related to a number of peoples throughout the region including the Tohono O'odham.

The Pima have always depended largely on a patchwork of traditional farming, hunting and gathering, though trade has also played an important role in the culture. Part of that trade was in the Pima's own craft skills, in particular basketry and woven textiles.

Illustration: Decorated Pima basket.

The basketry of the Pima is considered to be of an extremely high and defined status by collectors. The basketry produced by the Pima over a long period has such definite individual characteristics that it is said that often collectors can distinguish individual makers by the tell tale style of both weave and decorative pattern work. The finished pieces were usually so fine that older pieces can be extremely fragile. However, this very fineness has produced such extraordinary basketry that it is considered by many collectors to be some of the finest produced in the region.

Willow and indigenous and easily available native grasses that grew along the banks of the Gila River were used to produce the coiled basketry. Although the decorative pattern work looks timeless, it can very often be the result of feeding the European American market with work that suited their own aesthetic, so at least a certain proportion of the decoration could have been manipulated to appear 'authentic' and 'Indian' at least to untrained European eyes. After all, much of the basketry produced over long periods by indigenous peoples across North America, dealt with the practicalities of everyday domestic necessity that the craft provided, rather than that of the aesthetics of an ornament to be admired. This does not mean that decoration was an anathema to indigenous basketry weavers, but the tastes of the dominant American European culture has always muddied the origin of decorative indigenous crafts.

Illustration: Decorated Pima basket.

Basketry work amongst the Pima, as in much of North America, was the work of women. Grandmothers traditionally taught their granddaughters the often difficult and complex skill of coiled basketry. This skills base was then passed down from generation to generation in order to perpetuate the craft and the integral part it played in the life of the culture. Some of the last Pima names to be associated with the art of basketry are Marcela Brown, Ruth Giff, Madeline Lewis and Frances Peters.

Today, much of the basketry skills practised for countless generations has faded away. Because of irrigation dams further up stream from the land set aside for the Pima, rivers have dried up and the localised vegetation needed for this specialised form of basketry has faded away with the river. This has left an ageless craft skill along with the future generations that were to be the custodians of that skill, abandoned.

 Illustration: Pima dwellings 1900.

There are a number of online sites where Pima basketry can be both bought and viewed, the links are given below, along with a couple of links to Pima community websites and interesting books on Pima basketry to be found at Amazon.com

Further reading links:
Medicineman Gallery
East West Basketry
Gila River Indian Community
Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community
Indian Basket Weaving: How to Weave Pomo, Yurok, Pima, and Navajo Baskets
The Pima and His Basket
Basketry of the Papago and Pima Indians (A Rio Grande Classic, 86)
AKIMEL O'ODHAM
The Tohono O'odham and Pimeria Alta (Images of America: Arizona)
Neither Wolf Nor Dog: American Indians, Environment, and Agrarian Change
Big Sycamore Stands Alone: The Western Apaches, Aravaipa, and the Struggle for Place (New Directions in Native American Studies)
Cultures of Habitat: On Nature, Culture, and Story
The Desert Southwest: Four Thousand Years of Life and Art
Indian Basketry Artists of the Southwest: Deep Roots, New Growth (Contemporary Indian Artists)
A History of the Southwest: The Land and Its People

Chemehuevi Basketry

Illustration: Selection of Chemehuevi basketry and pottery.

The Chemehuevi, like so many indigenous cultures across the South West of the US, were and still are expert basketry makers. The Chemehuevi have a long tradition of basketry that extends across countless generations. The basketry craft itself was the traditional domain of women as it was across much of North America.

Coiled basketry was the norm with the Chemehuevi and was made using mainly willow. It is said that the craft technique was so sophisticated that liquids could be carried without leaking. Basketry dominated the Chemehuevi domestic life as it was used for a wide range of containers, carriers, and storage jars.

The decorative work used to highlight areas of some of the basketry, was unusually often painted onto the surface rather than woven into the fabric of the basket.

Illustration:  Chemehuevi basket maker, 1903.

The Chemehuevi or Nuwu as they refer to themselves, have a close and long relationship with the Mohave Desert of southern California and western Arizona. They, along with a number of other indigenous and independent cultures, have shared the desert for countless generations. It was a highly balanced and at times precarious existence, but the Chemehuevi were able to use the resources that were available including the raw materials for their basketry, which they used on a much larger scale than that of clay-based pottery, even though clay was used extensively throughout the South West.

The Chemehuevi have had a tough and tangled history with the US government, state governments, the US army, railway companies, and various European settlers. However, the Chemehuevi are still with us and though they may have lost most of their traditional lands, some of their customs, language and people, they have been able to maintain their connection with traditional basketry.

Illustration: Chemehuevi boy, 1907.

Mary L. Claw, a Chemehuevi basket weaver, is considered an artist in her field and teaches her traditional basketry skills at various venues including the Arizona Western College. Her skills have been handed down to her by previous generations of women and she is now one of the custodians of the cultural basketry heritage of the Chemehuevi.

The Chemehuevi have a comprehensive and interesting website dealing with aspects of the people and culture, past and present. The website can be found here. Also, if anyone is interested in the work of Mary L. Claw, there is an article with illustrations of her at work on the Smoki Museum website, a museum dedicated to the indigenous cultures of the South West and their arts & crafts contributions. Their website and the relevant article can be found here.

Further reading links:
Chemehuevi website
The Smoki Museum
The Chemehuevis by Carobeth Laird by Carobeth Laird by Carobeth Laird
Mirror and Pattern: George Laird's World of Chemehuevi Mythology
Chemehuevi Indians of Southern California
Chemehuevi people of the Coachella Valley: A short history of the Sovereign Nation of the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians Indians of Southern California

The Basketry of Botswana

In Botswana the traditional and until fairly recently, neglected craft of basketry, has been turned into an art form.

Basketry had always been an important part of everyday life in Botswana, particularly within the agricultural world. Various forms were used in order to carry food, winnow grain and for many other vital necessities within a farming community. Most were at that time, plain, unpatterned and practical.

Basketry design and making has generally been dominated by women in Botswana, and many generations have added to the skills base and design parameters of this ancient craft form. It is believed that basketry was one of the first forms of textile developed by early humans. Basketry was certainly the base for both the weaving and ceramic industries and without the initial time and effort spent on the development of the medium, the two other forms would not have been able to develop, or at least not been able to reach their full potential.

Although basketry is one of the most ancient human crafts, it is also still very much relevant and contemporary. In Botswana new patterns are being integrated into the traditional craft, and artists are being encouraged to open up the diversity in both weave and colour techniques. The standard of basketry is always being tested in the country through various educational upgrading courses, competitions and exhibitions. This all helps to maintain the level of basketry in Botswana at such a high level, that it is not surprising that it is now considered that the country's basketry makers produce some of the best examples of contemporary work in the world.

Many of the designs are personal to the artist though some are from traditional sources. Basketry in Botswana was originally unpatterned but through both outside influences and innovation within the country, a whole complex system of patterns are now used with an increasingly widening colour palette.

There are now a number of well-known basketry artists within Botswana. In fact basketry has become part of the fabric of the country with many being exported successfully to both Europe and North America. A typical basket takes about a month of constant work to produce. All are made using natural and locally sourced materials, which includes the dyes used to colour the different vegetable fibres that go to make up the many and varied patterns and design work that helps to make these some of the most distinctive coiled baskets within the medium.

All the baskets shown in this article are available for sale through the comprehensive and well-stocked Botswanacraft website. Botswanacraft was established in 1970 by the Botswana Development Corporation in order to develop rural based handicrafts within the country. It is now the leading retailer and exporter of crafts in Botswana and has been one of the main instigators in the resurgence of the traditions of basketry, placing many of the makers on the same footing as a fine artist.

A list of Botswana's leading basketry artists appears below. Each artist has a short biography with examples of their work. The list, part of the Botswanacraft website, can be found here.

Kapanyi Mponda
Diidhi Disho
Mayowa Kushonya
Khumo Setabosha
Mahurero Twapika
Kathiko Muyevu
Maria Thomas
Dishaka Morao
Tukarenao Phethatho
Mokhwahepo Muronga
Thimporeni Muronga
Kayana Twapika
Mashe Mbombo
Napemba Mashupa
Keitumetse Morite
Kurushe Diyeve
Kare Maramo
Kushamona Keemetse
Tupwemo Mafuta
Moshinga Thomas
Nashira Thinkongo

Further reading links:
Botswanacraft
African Basketry: A Gallery of Twill-Plaited Designs and Patterns
African Basketry: Grassroots Art from Southern Africa
Revered vessels: custom and innovation in Harari basketry.(Critical essay): An article from: African Arts
Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art
A comprehensive bibliography of African basketry traditions
The Dove's Footprints: Basketry Patterns in Matebeleland
Botswanacraft and Hambukushu basketry: The effects of a major marketing operation on a group of African people, their traditional craft and their natural resources