Linda Yamane, Rumsen Ohlone, (left) and 2023 apprentice Violet Smith, Rumsen/Ramaytush Ohlone, (right). Yamane holds coiled baskets she has made; Smith, willow and sedge plant materials ready for weaving. The basket mural in the background is also by Yamane. Photo: Linda Yamane.
Linda Yamane
Ohlone Basketry
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 thirty years ago, basketweaver Linda Yamane (member of the Rumsen Ohlone Tribal Community) 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.
Apprenticeship Program
2023
During the 2023 round of ACTA’s Apprenticeship Program, Linda and Violet Smith (Rumsen/Ramaytush Ohlone), will weave Ohlone fine coiled basketry, using Whiteroot Sedge (Carex barbarae) and Sandbar Willow (Salix exigua), with a dark pattern of Bracken Fern (Pteridium aquilinum). They will gather and prepare weaving materials (such as digging for and cleaning Bracken Fern Root), while incorporating Rumsen language and songs into their activities whenever possible.
2014
Linda shared with her apprentice Vera Bocanegra Powers the cultural significance, practical functions, and medicinal attributes of Ohlone native plants.
2010
Linda trained Carol Bachmann in the construction of 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.
2000
During the inaugural round of ACTA’s Apprenticeship Program, Linda taught Carol Bachmann to make a twined walaheen, a complex 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.
Gallery
Master basketweaver Linda Yamane's feathered basket, made from willow sticks, sedge rhizomes, redwing blackbird feathers, mallard duck feathers, and olivella shell beads. Photo: Courtesy of Linda Yamane.
Master basketweaver Linda Yamane gathering sedge. Photo: Courtesy of Linda Yamane.
Master Ohlone basketweaver Linda Yamane. Photo: Courtesy of Linda Yamane.
Master Ohlone basketweaver Linda Yamane. Photo: Courtesy of Linda Yamane.
Master Ohlone basketweaver Linda Yamane. Photo: Courtesy of Linda Yamane.
Vera Bocanegra Powers, 2014 apprentice to master Ohlone basketweaver Linda Yamane. Photo: Courtesy of Linda Yamane.
A basket by Vera Bocanegra Powers, 2014 apprentice to master Ohlone basketweaver Linda Yamane. Photo: Courtesy of Linda Yamane.
