Gift of Mrs. Frederic B. Pratt

single twist rope fragment

single twist rope fragment

This set, made from materials found and growing around Clear Lake was used by hunters in balsa boats for killing waterfowl. The birds would have been secured by throwing stones with this type of sling or snared. The basket with the clay balls was commissioned by Stewart Culin. Almost all of these utility baskets are similar to this, fairly coarse and quickly woven. The basket is filled with shredded tule and the balls are laid out on this when stored in the canoe. While the balls are not fired in a kiln there is some plant matter mixed with the clay and they are sun baked. See also 08.491.8581.

Intricately woven bag with two different design motifs. One side has twin lines of squares oriented on the diagonal the other side has zig zag pattern.

Mrs. Ann Barber, the Maidu owner sold this belt to the Museum curator Stewart Culin. According to another Maidu informant, Mrs. Azbil, when she came into the country everyone of any wealth and importance had a belt. People could marry with them. The man gave it away. They also wore it in the War dance and this was the only way a man used it because it actually was a women's belt. This particular belt had been given to Mrs. Barber by her first husband, Pomaho, who married her with it. When he died it became hers and she was criticized for not burning it. The belt would be wrapped around the waist of the dancer twice for the Hesi, Toto of Kenu dances. The patterns on the belt mirror those used on baskets. The red triangles are composed of the scalps of twenty-five woodpeckers and are called grapevine leaves. The two narrow strips, composed of duck feathers, were named after the tongs used to lift the boiling stones out of the baskets when boiling mush. The knot of the belt where the threads come together is called the navel. Feather belts were the supreme Maidu representations of wealth and as such were prime candidates for destruction at death of the owner. Thus they are rare.

This Doctor's headdress was probably made by Dr. Hudson using gull feathers his wife gathered with special permission from the game warden. The Big-Head headdress or Kuksu shna, a ceremony involving the impersonation of a god. The feathers are attached to a twined redbud or dogwood framework, and a projecting snout, representing the long nose of the Kuksu spirit, is composed of short feathers attached to a stick. There has been some confusion as to if this is made correctly or it may have been rendered slightly differently by Hudson after a particular Pomo group.

This is probably a Wasco basket. The center section design of this cylindrical basket has 2 brown zigzag bands (unusual pattern that possibly signifies a storm) that form rectangles or a step design on the inside spaces. These stepped designs may be viewed as positive growth or migration in stages either by people and/or sturgeon or they may be viewed as negative designs of abstract stars. Inside the spaces formed outside of the zigzags are interlocking, square shaped U's. These U forms are sturgeon gill design. The object is a cylindrical basket. Its self-edged rim, which is reinforced with stiff wire, has a band of light and medium beige materials between two thin dark brown bands. The dark brown hue on the rim and throughout the basketry design is probably applied dye made from berry juice. The body of the basket has two strong zigzag patterns outlined in dark brown. Inside these outlines are narrow tan borders; inside the tan borders are filled-in dark brown triangles producing a continuous chain of tan diamond shapes through the middle. Under the rim of the basket, between the bold zigzags, are delicate three-sided shapes made from a single flagged vertical line surrounded by linear flagged U-forms. Towards the bottom of the basket, between the bold zigzags, are additional delicate shapes, this time four-sided forms, made from flagged U-forms, around a horizontal centered "I". Encircling the base of the basket are plain parallel borders. The overall condition of the basket is fragile with walls slightly collapsed and very buckled. The interior has edges of fibers used to create false embroidery. All of these projecting edges are fragile; some have become detached.

This tightly woven bag has an elegant, dark blue, thunderbird design woven on natural color one side and a blue and natural stripe with a orange/red stripe on the reverse. Reviewed by Matha Gradolf, Winnebago (Hochunk) weaver from Nebraska 5/3/05.

The yarn is red. The cloth is dark blue.