Image provided by: Oregon Historical Society; Portland, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 28, 2002)
Spi [yay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon Page 10 November 28, 2 0 0 2 Weaving' together the pieces o f a lost art Warm Springs Native revitalizes Wasco basket making s even generations later, Pat Courtney Gold, traditional basket w eaver o f W arm Springs, graciously cradled a “sally bag.” She had been studying the intricately woven basket for a week at the Peabody Museum o f Harvard University. The basket was made by a Wasco woman prior to 1804, the year o f the Lewis and Clark Expedition. W hen they returned to the E ast Coast, Lewis and Clark took the bas ket with them. The first time Gold saw the basket in a picture, the beauty o f the design awed her. She promised herself when she became a “good enough” Wasco weaver, she would recreate that design. T hat day came, and the Peabody Museum sponsored her trip to study the design of the basket. While there, she not only studied the weaving tech nique but, through her intuition, slowly realized the significance of the design. Wasco tribal tradition says that de cisions should be based on how they will affect the seventh generation, she explained. Ironically, Gold realized she was the seventh generation, and the basket had affected her. Furthermore, she discov ered that the diamond-shaped zigzags on the basket signify fishing nets, and inside are pictograph faces. The two symbols together represent the meet ing o f the new generation and tradi tions o f the past, she concluded. “It was one o f the most profound spiritual experiences I’ve had. The in formation flowed from the basket to me,” she remembered fondly. Search for a beginning and an end Just 11 years ago Gold was “turned on” to the Wasco weaving style when she received a phone call from her sis ter. “She told me there would be an op portunity to learn how to basket weave in the Wasco tradition,” remembers Gold. A non-Indian woman named Mary Schlick, wife to a BIA employee, pieced together the remnants o f the Wasco sally bag tradition by talking with elders on various Indian reservations where she had lived. Without the knowledge o f how to begin or end a sally bag, Schlick of fered a class in hopes of returning the knowledge to the Wasco people. “She learned enough from the el ders to spark my interest,” said Gold o f Schlick’s class. In fact Gold’s interest was sparked enough to make a career change. In 1991 she devoted her full atten tion to the pursuit o f Wasco basket weaving, and quit her job as a math ematician. Before long Schlick solved the mys tery o f the beginning and the end of a sally bag. One Yakama elder from the n o rth side o f the C olum bia River named Julia Sohappy had retained the knowledge o f how to begin and end a sally bag. Before her death, she was able to share the missing piece. When the Wasco people relocated to the reservations, the Wasco word for sally bag, “I-schkul-le,” stuck but the art was nearly lost. “We lost about two generations of basket weavers,” says Gold. She estimates the last generation of Wasco who were experts at the craft ended in the 1940s or 1950s. Bill Bachhuber Trish Reynolds Story by Shannon Keaveny pounded into a concentrated form,” explained Gold, as she indicated the ap proxim ate rectangular size w ith her hands as being about five inches by three inches. “By doing this, they (the Wasco people) could fit roughly 90 to 100 pounds o f salmon in a sally bag,” she elaborated. Sally bags come in a variety o f sizes, anywhere from a large 2-gallon to small quart to a cup size. Families created basket designs, used am ong family members but also open to use by the tribe, said Gold. Traditional fibers for baskets come mostly from water plants. Some ex Bringing it back to life amples are dogbane, cattail, beargrass, N o one knows for sure where the sedge, cedar, bull rush or tule. Some name sally bag, the traditional geometri are peeled and shredded with a razor cal designed basket o f the Wasco edge seashell until soft and fluffy. Af people, came from. terwards they are twined. It seems likely it’s the white man’s Plant fibers are gathered in the ap interpretation of the similar sounding propriate season, washed and then dried Wasco word for basket, “I-schkul-le,” anywhere from three months to a year, hypothesizes Pat Courtney Gold. depending on the plant. Sally bags were used for storage. A 20-minute water soak prepares Gold says pounded dry salmon was of them for weaving. ten put in the basket when trading with Gold says fiber collectors need to other tribes. be aware o f chemical sprays, and o f “A 20 p o u n d salm on could be preserving plant populations when har- FROM CLOCKWISE,TOP LEFT: Pat Courtney Gold stands among cattail grass, a common plant fiber gathered for W asco, basket weaving. TOP RIGHT: Gold’s basket created for the 2004 Lewis-and Clark anniversary. The design was inspired by a Wasco basket acquired by Lewis and Clark in 1804 and presently exhibited in the Peabody Museum of Harvard. On the top of the basket, Gold added a picture story based on the journals of Lewis and Clark. She hopes to utilize the Lewis and Clark Anniversary by sharing with the public a Native American version of the arrival of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. MIDDLE RIGHT: Gold weaves a Wasco sally bag. BOTTOM RIGHT: Gold processes Some dogbane with a seashell, as her ancestors did. ABOVE CENTER: Miniature sally bag attached to a necklace designed by Gold. ABOVE LEFT: “Yuppie Indians” designed with a traditional weave and a contemporary motif by Gold atthe High Desert Museum. Shannon Keaveny/Spilyay vesting. Like the knowledge o f the weave, many aspects o f fiber process ing were lost and had to be fediscov-, ered. “It was hard for us to continue our traditions on the reservation, when we were a Colombia River based people,” acknowledged Gold. Just four years after Gold’s first class in 1995, she and her sister formed the N o rth w e st N ativ e A m erican Basketweaver Association (NNÁBÁ). Their mission was to promote, preserve and maintain the tradition o f basket weaving. Tribes on the original Columbia River trade routes were encouraged to participate. “We wanted to be really inclusive and include all tribes that traded together,” said Gold. Today tribes participate from O r egon, Washington, Idaho, western Mon tana, Alaska, A lberta (Canada) and so u th w e stern B ritish C olum bia (Canada). NNABA embraces the tradition of baskets mixed with a modern day con temporary twist. “Current weavers maintain traditions but also want to express new interpre tations, by using their traditions to ex clothes. T he man’s baby blue socks press contemporary views,” explained match his tie. NNABA participants gather for con Gold. G old realizes basket weaving has ferences. Elders come and the younger always evolved according to what ma generation hopes to learn from them. “Often instead o f teaching classes, terials were available. Blankets from the fur traders were unraveled and the the elders will just sit down and start colorful wool was woven into sally bags. weaving, as weavers do. If someone In the 1920s the Wasco people trav wants to learn, they can sit and watch eled to the Willamette Valley and re and learn,” said Gold. A fter G old and her sister started cycled the cotton twine leftover after agricultural hops were harvested. Old NNABA, they discovered there were clothes are often shredded and incor p o ck e ts o f p eo p le w ho knew th e Wasco basket weaving tradition but porated into baskets. G old herself shares a photo o f a didn’t know who each other were. “It was so rewarding to find other wall hanging that she created with a tra ditional weaving method. The weave is weavers,” said Gold. done with old dry cleaning bags, col Pat Courtney Gold will receive the 2002 ored shopping bags, audiotape, and film Community Spirit Award from the First canisters hanging from the bottom. N e x t year an an tiq u e w oven People’s Fund in Denver on December 13. barbwire wall hanging, created by Gold, First People’s Fund is committed to support ing the creative work o f American Indian will be exhibited in London. She has a basket woven from hous artists. Gold resides in Scapoose near the Colum ing wire. These are materials available bia River, where she practices her art. today. Her work can be found at the Museum O ther baskets she makes are more traditional but have contemporary de at Warm Springs, Lillian Pitt Art Gallery, signs. One example is the piece called and other galleries throughout the Pacific “Yuppie Indians,” a basket featuring Northwest. To contact Pat Courtney Gold N ativ e A m ericans w ith expensive directly call (503) 543-3584.
