Wasco Woven Pouch Necklace
by Pat Courtney Gold, Wasco
Waxed linen embellished with beads and charms
24” long x 2” wide x 2” deep
Pat Courtney Gold (b. 1939) is a Wasco Native fiber artist and basket weaver from the Columbia River Gorge area of Oregon. She graduated with a BA in mathematics and physics from Whitman College and worked as a mathematician-computer specialist before beginning her career in basket weaving.
Gold harvests traditional plant fibers to use in her work—including dogbane, cattail, sedge grass, red cedar bark and tree roots. Her pieces often reflect the natural world along the Columbia River, mixing traditional motifs such as condors and sturgeon with contemporary figures like airplanes. Gold has also become an environmental and cultural educator, helping to spread knowledge of her ancestral heritage and basketry skills.
Gold's art is on show in museums around the world, including the High Desert Museum, The Portland Art Museum, Royal British Columbia Museum, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University, and the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. As well, she was featured in a 2009 episode of the PBS series Craft in America.
