Linda Yamane

The basket traditions of the Ohlone—the indigenous peoples of Point Sur, Monterey Bay, and lower Salinas Valley—had essentially vanished, the result of missionization and the other cultural impacts that followed.  There were no remaining Ohlone basketweavers, and the baskets themselves are rare, with only two to three dozen of the old baskets known to exist worldwide.

About 20 years ago, Ohlone basketweaver Linda Yamane began researching these remaining baskets.  Studying ethnographic field notes and tapping into the knowledge of contemporary basketweavers who use the same plant materials as the Ohlone, Linda made her first traditional basket in 1994.  It was the first Ohlone basket to be made in over 150 years.

Ohlone baskets are made of plants native to California's Central Coast, primarily willow shoots, sedge rhizomes, and bulrush rhizomes.  These must all be harvested in their season, processed, dried for several months, then cleaned and trimmed before weaving.  The process is slow and labor-intensive. 

In 2000, Linda participated in ACTA's Apprenticeship Program with apprentice Carol Bachmann.  Linda taught Carol to make a twined walaheen, a complex, twined work basket used for winnowing and seed roasting.  It is made from willow, sedge, and other roots, twined together in a complex "herringbone" pattern, revealing a diamond design.  The diamond pattern is made not by introduction of a different plant material, but by a unique variation of the twined stitches.

Linda and Carol are again participating in the Apprenticeship Program in 2010, this time constructing a feathered basket.  Ohlone feathered baskets involve a labor-intensive three-rod coiling technique.  In addition to the delicate work of incorporating fine mallard duck feathers throughout the outer basket wall, the baskets are adorned with quail topknot feathers and abalone shell dangles.