[SCA-AS] basket weaving

[Cash, John Joseph]

Dear Allessandra,

> (...what difference is there) between what we are doing now and historically?
> Are there references specific to times/locations for baskets?

There can be a great difference between our attempts to reproduce a 
basket with physical accuracy, and the actual relationships involved in 
producing a basket in a given historical society. These are excerpts 
from an encyclopedia entry I wrote on basketry for the _Encyclopedia of 
American Folklife:_

"Basketry techniques are common across cultures, and assimilation of 
styles and materials is frequent. What tends to make basketry 
traditions distinct, and innovative, is the use of resources available 
in the environment in which a community lives/lived. Competence in 
basketry traditionally meant knowledge of how to select proper 
materials, prepare and store the plant fibers, and work them into 
recognizable forms. As well, baskets frequently had connections to the 
sacred, and their role in sacred stories reflected the role of the 
basket maker in a society."

"As an example of how complex this interaction can be, there are Navajo 
'jewel baskets.' For the Navajo, jewel baskets were present in the 
actions by which the medicine ways came to the Navajo at the time of 
the First World, the origins of the Navajo. 'Before the earth was 
created as we know it now, there were the jewel baskets – one of white 
shell, one of turquoise, one of jet, one of abalone, and two others. 
When First Man and First Woman were created, then the regular 
ceremonial basket came after these baskets. The ceremonial basket is 
all of the jewel baskets combined into one.' So, the sumac used to make 
the basket is blessed before removing strips; the materials must be 
stored properly; and the maker must have the proper attitude while 
weaving, as the artifact becomes part of its creator as well as a 
channel for the creative processes -- the typical design of the broken 
ring allows the artist a clear path out of that process. As part of the 
respect shown during use and storage after completion, one doesn’t 
rotate the basket, as this disturbs thoughts and causes memory loss. 
Altogether such a basket is said to have 'personhood.'”

These two resources might help:

Law, Rachel Nash, and Cynthia W. Taylor. Appalachian White Oak 
Basketmaking: Handing Down the Basket. Knoxville: University of 
Tennessee Press, 1991.

Simpson, Georgiana Kennedy. Navajo Ceremonial Baskets: Sacred Symbols, 
Sacred Space. Summertown, TN: Native Voices, 2003.

-- johannes v.n.