One of the oldest Native American crafts known is that of basketry. Archaeologists have identified baskets of the Southwest that are almost 8000 years old.

Baskets made by the ancient tribes were purely for functional reasons. They were tools for every day life, for gathering, harvesting, storage, cooking and serving food, and for ceremonial use. The baskets used for ceremonies did not have to hold anything. It was simply the basket itself that was needed and contained prayers and good energy.

The materials used for weaving the baskets were all natural. Grasses, reeds, wood, bark, roots, canes and plant shoots were used by the basket makers, and the choice of material depended on their environment and location. A traditional basket maker knew, from many years of learning, what skills were required to produce the desired container for each particular use. They had to learn from an elder, who was in tune to Earth, the seasons and the plant's growth habits, where the appropriate plants grew, how to identify them, which parts of the plants to use and how to prepare them. These materials were gifts from the Creator and the experienced basket maker knew not only which plants to look for, but how to give thanks to the plants and respect Nature by not taking more than what was needed.

Each tribe had their own method of weaving techniques, shapes and patterns. In the northeast the baskets were made from ash splints that were pounded till flexible enough to weave and sometime sweetgrass was braided for weaving. Southeast baskets, such as the Cherokee weavers made, were woven with pine needles they formed into bundles or rivercane wicker. Southwest peoples made basket from tightly coiled sumac or willow wood. On the Northwest coast, the people used cedar bark, swamp grass and spruce root. Tribes like the Ojibwe in the north made birchbark baskets. The Inuit of Alaska made basket of whale baleen.

After European contact, when the Native Americans were being displaced from their natural lands, the traditional basket weaving styles of each tribe began to change. Their lifestyles were now different and they lived in different locales, therefore had to adapt to new materials and customs of new neighbors were blended in with their old traditional ways. Most of their original styles and designs were retained, however.

An experienced basket maker would use different materials in one basket to give them colors to work with for specific patterns on their baskets. Sedge grass root for white, bullrush root for black and new shoots of redbud for a reddish-brown color was used by Northern tribes like the Ojibwe, Mohawk and Iroquois Peoples.

The Pomo Peoples of California used willow as the foundation for their coiled baskets. Young willow shoots were chosen and to gain a uniform size, the shoots were forced through holes or scraped. The shoots of willow had to be gathered in early spring when they were tender and pliable. The horizontal coils of the willow formed the foundation of the basket. Pomo baskets, as well as the Washo Paiute baskets, are considered some of the finest and most beautiful in the world.

Often, when faced with poverty in their new homes, women who were left with children to raise on their own, or women alone, supported themselves by selling their baskets or traded them for necessities. These baskets today are worth thousands of dollars. Collectors find great joy in owning an authentic, Native American basket.

Basket weavers like Dat So La Lee (1829 - 1925) of the Washo Paiute, and Lucy Parker Telles (1870 - 1956) of Yosemite Miwok and Mono Lake Paiute made such beautiful baskets that collectors search for them even today. And many of their baskets, along with those of other famous weavers, are in museums. Some of Dat So La Lee's baskets are in the Smithsonian Institute and worth over a million dollars.

Cultural arts such as the basketry of Native Americans, went into a decline for many years, but, are being revived today by individuals who are dedicated to not let the traditional arts die out.

In most tribes, the basket makers were women. In the Pomo tribe, some men also learned to make rough baskets for use as fish traps. William Benson (1862-1930), band chief and historian, was just one of the few Pomo men to have learned fine basketry. He used the feathers of oriole, black and orange and the tufts of the red-headed woodpecker to decorate his baskets.

Feathers are still used today for decoration, but, since most birds are now protected by law, the feathers are no longer available. Basket makers must use the feathers of dead birds or those of game birds, like the pheasant or mallard duck.

As with other Native American arts, when the baskets were made, the maker wove good energy and prayers into them. Sometimes the weaver would fast before starting the basket and would not eat during the process. This was seen as a purification to receive guidance from Great Spirit.


Oh our Mother the earth, Oh our Father the sky,
Your children are we, and with tired backs
We bring you the gifts you love.
Then weave for us a garment of brightness;

May the Warp be the white light of the morning,
May the weft be the red light of the evening,
May the fringes be the falling rain,
May the border be the standing rainbow.

Thus weave for us a garment of brightness,
That we may walk fittingly where birds sing,
That we may walk fittingly where grass is green,
Oh our Mother Earth, Oh our Father Sky.

- Native American Prayer
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