Walking past this large woven basket is an occassional experience for many folks. It could be here or it could be there. For certain it is protected in a large plastic box that helps to keep the air currents from adding decadent particles and movement to the surface of the delicate intricately woven basket circumference. This basket may have taken at least a year to construct or more. It is carefully woven out of the fibers of local branches of surrounding trees. Usually the darker color is from the RedBud tree. Not always however.
I have sat on more than a few occassions, with Julia Parker who weaves in the Native American Museum in Yosemite National Park. Her work is time consuming and requires great patience and digital dexterity, in order to weave the fibers of the tree threads in and out among the stronger sturdier basket stays...the pieces that support the warp and weft of the fiber threads. It requires tight manipulation of the fibers to make a basket to look similar to the one above. I tried it one time and my construction looked as wiggly as the Merced River Waters, and afterward my fingers hurt. That was the end of my basket weaving day.
For the native Americans it was not a one time moment attempt at craft deliverance...the baskets were created individually for special functions. Some baskets were for holding, some for decorating, some for carrying special things, like grasses, or acorns, or fruits, or nuts, or berries, or children or water. Some were used for cooking...although I am not certain how that one worked. Some baskets were used for storing things and some just wore out and were cast off...some have lasted for hundreds of years, like the one pictured above.
Above the larger one is several smaller versions. These are all ancient works of art and are located in the National Historic Hotel, the Ahwahnee, located at One Ahwahnee Way in Yosemite National Park, California. Come take a look.
