Baskets were used as game mats, bowls, jugs, racquets, pots, cradles, and eventually, as a source of income. Weaving styles and techniques vary from tribe to tribe and even from person to person. With a trained eye, it is even possible to recognize the work of particular weavers.
Basket (ca. 1920 - 1930) by Carrie BethelOriginal Source: National Park Service Yosemite Basketry Exhibit
Basket
Carrie Bethel (1898-1974) learned to weave as a child, finishing her first basket at the age of twelve. She became an accomplished weaver, known for coiled baskets with intricate, two-toned patterns, as well as beaded and miniature baskets.
Basket by Carrie BethelOriginal Source: National Park Service Yosemite Basketry Exhibit
This miniature beaded basket is less than two inches in Diameter. Weavers such as Carrie Bethel and Julia Parker made these and other finely woven miniature baskets to sell to tourists.
Beaded Basket by Nellie CharlieOriginal Source: National Park Service Yosemite Basketry Exhibit
Nellie Charlie was raised in the Mono Lake area. She and her younger sister, Tina, were excellent weavers and regular competitors in basket competitions including the Yosemite Indian Field Days and Bishop Harvest Days.
Beaded Basket by Maggie HowardOriginal Source: National Park Service Yosemite Basketry Exhibit
Unlike other weavers who created their patterns by counting out beads as they wove, Maggie Howard would sometimes bead directly onto a pattern to avoid having to count beads. Maggie stitched the pattern to this basket and then beaded over it.
Basket (1975–1976) by Julia ParkerOriginal Source: National Park Service Yosemite Basketry Exhibit
Julia Parker worked as a cultural demonstrator at the Yosemite Museum for 55 years, retiring in 2015. She learned to weave from multiple master weavers including Tina Charlie, Carrie Bethel, and Minnie Mike.
Julia’s pieces often exhibit a combination of Pomo, Miwok, and Paiute styles. By the 1970s, Julia was known throughout California for her exceptional skills, and was traveling to other areas to demonstrate and teach workshops in making baskets.
Basket (1986) by Julia ParkerOriginal Source: National Park Service Yosemite Basketry Exhibit
Coiled Basket
Julia Parker frequently combines the weaving styles of different traditions. This basket exhibits characteristics of both Paiute and Pomo weaving styles. The butterfly and quail plume patterns were inspired by designs often woven by Julia’s grandmother-in-law, Lucy Telles.
Julia Parker Demonstrating Basketry Making at the Yosemite Museum, Yosemite National Park (2006)Original Source: National Park Service Yosemite Basketry Exhibit
Julia Parker Demonstrating Basketry Making at the Yosemite Museum, Yosemite National Park
Basket by Lucy TellesOriginal Source: National Park Service Yosemite Basketry Exhibit
Lucy Telles, also known as Pa-ma-has, was born in 1885 near Mono Lake to Miwok and Paiute parents. She learned traditional weaving from her mother, and quickly became an adept weaver.
Lucy TellesOriginal Source: National Park Service Yosemite Basketry Exhibit
Lucy Telles
Lucy Telles is pictured here at Yosemite, seated beside her largest basket, completed in 1933 after about four years of work.
Lucy Telles was a frequent prize-winner of Yosemite Indian Field Days basket competitions, and in 1939, her largest and most recognized basket was exhibited at the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco. Lucy demonstrated basket weaving to park visitors from the 1930s until her death in 1955.
Basket by Lucy TellesOriginal Source: National Park Service Yosemite Basketry Exhibit
Basket
Pedestals were introduced to Yosemite basketry early in the 20th century. These baskets were expressly made for sale to tourists and collectors.
Basket (ca. 1930) by Lucy TellesOriginal Source: National Park Service Yosemite Basketry Exhibit
Basket
Lucy demonstrated basket weaving to park visitors from the 1930s until her death in 1955.
Basket by Leanna TomOriginal Source: National Park Service Yosemite Basketry Exhibit
Basket
Leanna Tom was known for twined basketry, especially her twined cooking baskets, and for blending traditional and beadwork-inspired patterns.
Leanna TomOriginal Source: National Park Service Yosemite Basketry Exhibit
Leanna Tom
Leanna Tom regularly entered her baskets into competitions including the Bishop Harvest Days festival and the Yosemite Indian Field Days and was a frequent prize-winner.
Basket (ca. 1926) by Leanna TomOriginal Source: National Park Service Yosemite Basketry Exhibit
Basket (ca. 1920 – 1930) by Louisa TomOriginal Source: National Park Service Yosemite Basketry Exhibit
Basket
Louisa Tom, the older sister of Leanna Tom, was known for her sifting trays. The two sisters married Mack “Bridgeport” Tom, a Paiute healer, and together spent summers in Yosemite Valley and winters at “Bridgeport” Tom’s ranch near Mono Lake.
Basket (ca. 1920) by Alice WilsonOriginal Source: https://www.nps.gov/museum/exhibits/yosemite_basketry/index.html
Basket
The daughter of “Bridgeport” and Louisa Tom and younger sister to Lucy Telles, Alice Wilson was born near Mono Lake in 1899.
Alice Wilson lived most of her life in Yosemite Valley and worked as a cultural demonstrator at the Curio Shop of the Ahwahnee Hotel and later at the Yosemite Museum.
Alice WilsonOriginal Source: https://www.nps.gov/museum/exhibits/yosemite_basketry/index.html
Alice Wilson
Alice (Tom) James Wilson, at the opening of the Ahwahnee Hotel posed with a variety of Mono Paiute & Washoe Baskets, wearing an "Indian Style" dress of her own making. Copied by Michael Dixon, Nov. 1980.
Basket (1897) by Lucy HiteOriginal Source: https://www.nps.gov/museum/exhibits/yosemite_basketry/index.html
Basket
The rattlesnake design on this basket is composed of rows of hollow diamonds filled with solid diamonds using redbud and bracken fern root.
Basket (ca. 1920 – 1930) by Louisa TomOriginal Source: National Park Service Yosemite Basketry Exhibit
Sifting Tray
Geometric patterns can serve as abstract representations of elements in the natural world. The spiraling stepped line pattern decorating this coiled sifting tray is called “flying geese.”
Like many other traditions, basket weaving is an art that is still practiced today with techniques passing down from one generation to the next. Learn more about basket weaving in the Yosemite National Park Basketry Exhibit.
Joan Bacharach, Senior Curator
Amber Dumler, Museum Specialist and Web Designer
Dara Shore, Museum Technician
Scott William, Photographer [Petrified Forest National Park]
Yosemite National Park
Greg Cox, Curator of Collections
Brittany A. Puhrmann, Museum Technician
