Basketry Bowl, c. 1940
Karok Basketry
Northern California
hazel sticks, bear grass imbrication
4" high x 8" diameter
The history of Karuk basketry is intertwined with the Karuk people's culture, identity, and survival. Traditional Karuk baskets are made from materials like hazel sticks, willow, pine root, bear grass, maidenhair fern, and woodwardia. The materials are gathered at specific times of the year and prepared before weaving.
Karuk weavers use a variety of techniques, including plain twining, three strand twining, and lattice twining. The rims of Karuk baskets are often trimmed almost perfectly. The baskets often feature designs on one side, usually the outside. Skilled weavers may add decorative elements like woodpecker feathers, dentalium shells, or dyed porcupine quills.
The turn of the 20th century led to a surge in basket collecting during the period known as “salvage ethnography” when anthropologists, museum curators and collectors rushed to collect material culture from what they considered to be a “vanishing race.”
With the efforts of a handful of traditional weavers from various cultures, traditional basketry is still being created. Today, contemporary weavers blend both tradition and innovation. Some weavers prefer to maintain the techniques perfected by generations before them, and others are experimenting with new materials and styles.
