Book sample (PDF) - Heyday

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Evolving Forms 79Glass BeadsBy the end of the nineteenth century, a multicolored palette of glass beads hadbecome available to weavers. Beads of increasingly smaller size were woven intoever more intricate patterns that often carried the entire design of the basket.Pomo weavers became particularly renowned for their fully beaded baskets. Ason the older beaded baskets, a sewing strand of split sedge root passes throughthe eye of each tiny “seed bead” and secures it to the surface.About the basket on the left, Pomo weaver Susan Billy comments, “This is a morenormal or expected response to weaving, using the glass beads for a two-tone pattern,following traditional light and dark contrast. It is a traditional interpretation, butwith a new medium.”The center basket, most likely woven by a Pomo woman who lived in the SantaRosa vicinity during the early twentieth century, Mary Mora, is highly unusual: boththe outer and interior surfaces are beaded, each surface receiving different patterns. 11Susan Billy comments that “conceiving both the interior and exterior patterns is acomplicated matter. The splicing and adding of weaving material is an extra challengebecause of the beads on both sides of the basket. It’s like she’s painting with beads.The designs stem more from introduced beadwork traditions than Pomo basketry.”Generally, the small, single-rod beaded baskets woven by Pomo and AlexanderValley Wappo weavers do not include woven patterns, relying solely on glass beadsto carry the design. The inclusion of bulrush on the rim of the basket on the right tocoincide with the convergence of the black bead pattern is a nice surprise andexemplifies both the climate of experimentation and the individual spirit of theweaver. As Susan Billy comments, “I like how she terminated the design with stitchesof black bulrush. It ties it all together very nicely.”Pomo beaded basketsCollected by H. H. WelshSonoma County–Mendocino County,c. 1910Left: 51976.d6Center: 51976.d13, by Mary MoraRight: 51976.d21
116 Essential ArtMabel McKay (1907–1993)Mabel McKay, 1973Photograph by Spence BillingtonCourtesy Pacific Western TradersMabel (Boone) McKay, a sickly child, spent most of her childhood with herWintun grandmother, Sarah Taylor, near Rumsey in Yolo County. Althoughshe lived in relatively recent times—born early in the twentieth century—duringher childhood virtually all of her female relatives still wove baskets. Sherecalled watching her grandmother weave but attributed her own knowledgeof weaving to a series of powerful dreams. By the age of twelve, Mabel McKayhad already had a number of spiritual experiences by way of her dreams, whicheventually led her into the life of a traditional healer, or “doctor.” The spirit hadprovided the direction of her life and the inspiration for her basket making.Mabel McKay became well known throughout Northern California forher doctoring, knowledge of Pomo and Wintun traditions, fluency in theWintun language, and impeccable basketry. She demonstrated her basketryskills on numerous occasions at the fledgling State Indian Museum (thenlocated within the State Capitol) during the 1920s and 1930s. The museum’sThe Sacramento Union reported onbasketry demonstrations by MabelMcKay (Katunum Kahum) at the StateIndian Museum. This clipping is datedJanuary 23, 1934.
Page 2 and 3: INTRODUCTION Basketry in Native Lif
Page 4: TolowaYurokChilulaWhilkutWiyotBear

Book sample (PDF) - Heyday

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?