Shallow Basketry Bowl with Star Design [SOLD]

The name for the Papago Indians comes from the Pima word Papavi-ootam, meaning "Bean People," which was converted to Papago by the Spaniards. The people have, in the last few decades, returned to their original tribal name, Tohono O'odham.  The word used by tribal members for themselves is Aw-aw-tam, meaning “the people.” 

Dyes are not used in their baskets. The materials are used in their natural colors. The foundation is comprised of bear grass and the covering materials are yucca leaves, in a sun-bleached state, and devil's claw for the brown decoration.

Taking two bundles of several strands each of the coiling material and tying them into a knot from which the loose ends extend in four directions is the manner in which the basket is started. Bending one bundle of the loose ends to the left then makes the start and sewing this bundle to the knot starts the coiling. All four bundles are eventually bound around the knot, and then the weaving is underway.

The tribe inhabits the second largest reservation in the United States, second to the Navajo Reservation.  It is approximately 3 million acres, about the size of Connecticut.  The Government established the reservation in 1916 with the tribal headquarters located in Sells, Arizona, sixty miles west of Tucson.  The town was originally known as Artesia, then Indian Oasis, and finally being named after Cato Sells in 1918, a Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

It is often quite difficult to distinguish between baskets of the Tohono O’Odham and their neighbors, the Akimel O’Odham, because of the proximity of the two tribes and intermarriage amongst the members.  Generally, the former’s baskets have larger coils and looser stitches than those of the Akimel O’Odham, which generally are of finer stitch and finer quality.

We originally posted this basket as an Akimel O’Odham because of its high quality, better than most baskets of the Tohono O’Odham weavers, but it was brought to our attention that the attribution was in error so we are posting it now as having been made by a Tohono O’Odham weaver.

Condition: excellent

Recommended Reading: The Papago Indians and Their Basketry by Terry deWald.  This book is currently not available from Adobe Gallery

Provenance: from the collection of a resident of Albuquerque