The 34th annual California Indian Basketweavers’ Association Gathering brought enthusiasts from throughout the state to the Soboba Indian Reservation, June 27-29. This year’s theme was “Weaving Our Culture One Stitch at a Time.”
While many attendees have been weaving since they were very young, others have just returned to the tradition in recent years so they can pass down the skills to their own children and grandchildren. Starla Madrigal is serving her third term as CIBA Chairperson and previously served as secretary for two years. The last time the gathering was held at the Soboba Indian Reservation was 2006.
She said the purpose of the event is to carry on weaving traditions with teachings on Friday and demonstrations on Saturday, showcasing different styles and materials. Madrigal has been weaving her whole life and recalls helping her mother with gathering materials when she was only 5 or 6 years old.
The three-day gathering began with a day of teaching for voting members only. Skilled instructors walked students through the process of making various types of baskets, from coiled to twined. On Saturday, June 28, the public was invited to share in the learning through demonstrations from several talented weavers who used various materials for their works.
At the entrance to the Soboba Sports Complex, CIBA Secretary Ericka Lopez, from Pechanga, was working on a hat for her young cousin’s coming of age ceremony. She has been with CIBA for two years. One of the items available for purchase at her table was the official tee shirt for this year’s event, featuring a logo graphic designed by Soboba Tribal Member Mariah Morreo.
The interdisciplinary artist explained the inspiration behind her design was a story about her three-time great-grandmother Juana Apapas who wove a basket that incorporated the Milky Way because of a spiritual experience she had.
“Without Juana Apapas, her Milky Way basket, and her strength obtained by Indigenous traditions and knowledge, my entire family and I would not be here today,” Morreo said. “My ancestor’s resilience exists through me and my art.”
Morreo’s grandmother is Rosemary Morillo, also of Soboba, who is a CIBA member and enjoyed Friday’s classes and seeing lots of familiar faces during the weekend.
“The past remains, influencing the present shaped by the hands of the past,” Morillo said.
Natalie Smith has been a CIBA member for many years, following in her mother’s footsteps. She has taught and demonstrated at several events and shared how to make a Mono miniature white root hoop used to make miniature baby-carrier baskets for dolls. From North Fork in the Sierra Nevada mountains, she is actively involved with the Sierra Mono Museum & Culture Center. The nonprofit is hosting its annual Indian Fair Days and Pow Wow Aug. 2-3. This is one of California’s longest running pow wows, which attracts thousands of attendees. Those seeking more information, can email monomuseum@gmail.com, call 559-877-2115 or visit www.monomuseum.org.
Smith said that as a teacher it fills her heart with joy when she sees her students teaching another student. “Teachers are so important,” she said. “It takes patience, preparation and readiness to be able to teach a class.”
She explained that it can take a full year of gathering materials that are available in different seasons to be ready for one class. She also said that nobody is left behind because when they are ready, they can come and learn, and she will teach them.
Smith’s sister, Jodie Bowlan Ramirez, demonstrated to eager learners how to split and core redbud so it can be used to weave a trinket basket. It is a strong material that is more flexible when it is split. She shared that baby-carrier baskets and doll-carrier baskets traditionally use redbud.
Ramirez said that among the 14 Mono Tribes recognized in the state, there are more than 2,000 Tribal Members. She said she attempted to make her first basket when she was 13 and has been gathering and learning how to split redbud for years. She has been an Indian dancer since the age of two and began teaching that to others when she was only four.
“I’m so grateful to be here,” Ramirez said. “I have my mom (Haroleen Bethel Bowlan) in me.”
One of the weavers at her table, Janice Mendez, is from Bridgeport in Mono County and found it interesting to learn about using different materials and to learn from others. She has been a CIBA member for five years. She said this year’s gathering has been very enlightening, educational and really exciting.
“The knowledge here is out of this world,” she said. “I’m now teaching my children and grandchildren so they will learn these arts and carry it on.”
Mendez said being part of CIBA has given her the opportunity to learn how to take care of the environment and to understand it. She said cultural burning is essential. “We are always lobbying to build partnerships and collaborations so we’re safe when gathering,” she said, noting that the park services department at Yosemite National Park works closely with Native Americans that gather there.
Mark Farris, from the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians, was demonstrating how to make various twining baskets. He has been a CIBA member since 2009 and a demonstrator for the past three years. Utilizing yucca hearts, sumac for color outlines, juncus for the coil and deergrass for the rods, he had a large variety of baskets on display at his table. Most of those who chose to weave copied the sample he had of a small tray used for game pieces or other small items. He said in 2009, he sat in with Eva Salazar who taught him how to weave his first coiled basket.
“I haven’t put it down since,” Farris said. “I work on something every day.”
Johnny Sartuche, from Fresno County, stayed busy demonstrating how to make decoy ducks from tule. Almost 20 years ago, he took a class like this and kept improving until he got to the point he could start teaching it to others. “It’s fun for kids and adults—that’s what I like about it,” he said.
He took time to explain that tule grows in marshy areas and the city of Tulare got its name from Tulare Lake, where it is found in abundance. He said the Natives there use it in many different ways. The reeds are used to make huts, boats and mats and the roots would even be eaten but today the water is probably too polluted to consume them. He enjoys recreating the decoy ducks that have been traditionally made for hunting.
Soboba Tribal Member Carrie Garcia taught a class on Friday and let her students as well as newcomers join in weaving with juncus on Saturday. On Sunday she offered to lead a caravan into the canyon to gather juncus for anyone that wanted to join.
One of the weavers at her table was Marquita Polk, of the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe. She has been a CIBA member for about three years and was using juncus for the first time. “I love learning about baskets and plants and bringing them back,” she said. “I love using Native plants—it awakens something inside of you.”
Another highlight of Saturday’s event was the Basketweavers Showcase, held in a separate room at the sports complex. A photo of the weavers holding their work, accompanied by a detailed explanation was included with each basket on display. CIBA Chair Madrigal shared her open-weave basket with lid that is traditionally used for gathering and leaching. “It’s special because it was made from juncus at Cahuilla where I have been gathering since I was a child,” she wrote. “Juncus is strong and resilient like our people.”
Garcia shared a spaghetti jar basket she had made. “I’m always experimenting with different styles and techniques to help shape the basket,” she said. She also displayed a twined gathering basket made from green and red willow she had gathered in the spring and peeled.
“For many years, I’ve admired baskets made by Wilverna Reece, Ennis Peck, Shiwaya Peck and Dee McDaniel. I finally decided to give it a try after getting one of the books Wilverna and Carolynn Ann Smith had written,” Garcia said. “I’m going to keep this basket so I can look at it and learn from it in my future baskets.”
Her young daughters, Clementine Swan and Clover Swan, also made baskets they were proud to display at the showcase. Clementine chose to weave a twisted juncus basket and Clover made a twined open-weave bowl. “My basket makes me happy,” Clover said.
Soboba’s Avareign Lindsey, who is headed into fourth grade in the fall, shared a Cahuilla open-twined basket she had made. “This is my first basket and I’m giving it to my daddy,” she wrote.
CIBA was established not only to increase the number of active California Indian basket weavers but to also increase awareness of California basketry and Native California cultural traditions among both Native and non-Native audiences. CIBA was created out of a deep concern shared by a small group of weavers who feared that traditional basketry knowledge was rapidly disappearing and that soon living “master weavers” would cease to exist. Today CIBA has grown its membership to nearly 1,000 people. CIBA works hard to provide these members with access to programs and activities that build a larger community of California Indian basketweavers.
CIBA’s vision includes increasing California Indian access to traditional cultural resources on public and Tribal lands and traditional gathering sites and encouraging the reintroduction of such resources and designation of gathering areas on such lands. And also to monitor and discourage pesticide use in traditional and potential gathering areas for the safety of weavers, gatherers and others in Tribal communities.
The organization also hopes to preserve, promote and perpetuate California Indian basketweaving traditions while providing a healthy physical, social, spiritual and economic environment for basketweavers by raising awareness and providing education for Native Americans, the public, public agencies, arts, educational and environmental groups of the artistry, practices and concerns of Native American basketweavers.
For more information, www.ciba.org.
Photos courtesy of the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians
