“I love [basket weaving]. You create something that is alive. You put your heart and spirit into it, and it's alive. Whatever's in you, you put into the basket.”– Rochelle Marie O'Rourke, Tolowa/Yurok/Achumawi, from the book edited by Malcolm Margolin, “The Way We Lived”
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The jobs that American Indians held for hundreds and thousands of years varied.
There were specialists in each group who were hunters, arrowhead makers, gatherers, fishermen, shamans and more.
Another vital job was that of basket weaver. As the renowned Pomo basketmaker, Elsie Allen (Sept. 22, 1899 – Dec. 31, 1990) said, it was “the supreme art.”
California and Lake County Indian basket weavers constructed containers for innumerable uses for hundreds and thousands of years.
There were ceremonial baskets, fish traps, food storage baskets, baskets for cooking acorn meal, winnowing baskets, burden baskets and many more.
One basket was unique among all others – the cradle basket for carrying babies.
The California Indian Museum and Cultural Center in Santa Rosa recently held an exhibit of cradle baskets and childbirth traditions called “Precious Cargo.” There was a variety of shapes, decorations and materials used in cradle construction.
Like a car baby seat of today, the Indian cradle basket was vital in the hunter-gatherer times, for keeping babies safe.
Through the use of the cradle, the Indian women had their hands available for working at gathering food and a variety of other jobs.
Each region of our county and state, as we now know them, used a different type, however, the babies were always fastened into a cradle which had them lying on their back or seated straight up.
To build a basket, first the Indian women needed to spend time gathering the proper materials. This involved traversing down a creek or hillside to find willow.
The willow, white to gray tone was selected most often in the spring season, or sometimes during fall. Then, twigs were cut in accordance to the size of basket being made.
Now came the difficult job of preparing each switch for use, by cleaning, stripping and drying.
After the bark was removed the size or thickness was made uniform with a knife, since the willow is wider at the end.
Another necessary tool for basketry was the awl. In the early days it was a sharp tool made of bone, and later, a steel tip. The awl was used to ensure spaces between basketry pieces for ease of weaving.
Then, as now, having a baby was a big event in a family's life. Mortality rates were high then, so many cultural customs were followed.
Many times conceiving was difficult, so a “baby rock” was incorporated into a ritual using the special rock's dust.
The rock dust was taken from incising marks or grooves into the stone and sometimes layered onto the skin of the mother-to-be.
It was necessary for a mother of a newborn to keep from consuming salt or meat. The father of a newborn needed to refrain from hunting. Instead, he was encouraged to perform character-building feats like games or races.
When a Pomo Indian baby was born gifts were traded between the group's families. The Indian girls of various tribes learned vital mothering skills through the use of their own, “toy”-sized baby baskets.
Today, many vital components of native culture – including baby basket weaving skills – are passed on from the older generation to the younger members.
Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is a retired educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also writes for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.