Basket-weaving Traditions and methods

Basket-weaving Basket-weaving is one of the oldest known Native American crafts--there are ancient Indian baskets from the Southwest that have been identified by archaeologists as nearly 8000 years old. As with most Native American art, there were originally multiple distinct basketry traditions in North America. Different tribes used different materials, weaving techniques, basket shapes, and characteristic patterns

Northeast Native American baskets traditionally made out of pounded ash splints or braided sweetgrass

Southeast Native American baskets traditionally from bundled pine needles or rivercane wicker.

Northwest Native American Baskets typically woven with cedar bark, swamp grass, and spruce root.

Southwest Native American Baskets Southwest and California Indians make baskets from tightly coiled sumac, yucca, or willow wood. Hopi, Navajo, Apache and Tohono O'odam (Papago) produce the hand- woven baskets that we use as a selection base

Traditions Passed down by the women in the family In earlier days, baskets accompanied Native American people throughout their lives Babies were carried in baskets, meals were prepared and cooked in them, worldly goods were stored in them, and people were buried in them.

Basket-weaving Today Today, baskets serve as markers of cultural pride and inheritance. Some are used on religious occasions. Currently, hundreds of weavers make baskets for sale.

Weaving techniques Basket weaving techniques Four basic weaving techniques are used to construct baskets: wicker, plaiting, twining, and coiling

Wicker Weaving traditional “over-under” style of weaving

Plaiting weaving technique

Twining weaving technique

Coiling Coiling begins at the center of a basket and grows upon itself in spiral rounds, each attached to the round before In coiling, designs are not made by changing the weave, but rather by using a different color sewing thread.

Native American Coil Baskets

Examples of what we will be doing for our coil baskets

What elements of art pertain to this project? Use the elements to sketch ideas for your basket in your sketchbook. Take a few minutes to look through the yarn choices before sketching

Let’s watch how to start our basket! 2y98chttps:// 2y98c