In the Yokuts family of tribes of the Central San Joaquin Valley, basket weaving is a vital tradition involving skills ranging from gathering and preparing materials to weaving itself, and knowledge about the appropriate use of baskets.
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Lois Conner, who is of the Chukchansi Tribe and has been weaving 20 years, learned the techniques of coiling and twining from her grandmothers and aunts.Lois uses the twining method of basketweaving to make a cradleboard.
Photo courtesy of Lois Conner |
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Lois will share her knowledge of making twined baby baskets with her apprentice, Dee Dominguez, of the Yowlumne Tribe, who plans to make a "receiving baby basket" or hoop, which is the temporary basket used immediately after birth to hold the child. They will then make a full-sized cradleboard or pasuk, of which the design motifs indicate the child's sex and which is traditionally made by a the paternal grandmother of the baby. |
| Dee displays a basketcap and gift basket at the California Indian Basketweavers Association fundraiser in 1997.
Photo courtesy of Dee Dominguez |
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| In a two-day session at Dee's home, Lois (left) guides Dee in starting to weave her cradleboard |
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| Dee weaving redbud through the sourberry sticks of the cradleboard |
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