Tending the Wild with California Indian Basket Weavers

For thousands of years California Indian basket weavers have used little known techniques to shape California’s landscape. They have known when to harvest important plant materials and how to do it so that the surrounding area was kept intact.

It's amazing, when you think about how important those plant materials were to everyday life, including baskets, cradlebaskets and more it.  Even with my limited knowledge about the cultural values Native Calfornians held for the land they lived on, I know that they worked with and for the land that sustained them.

I recentlly was asked to help promote the California Indian Basket Weaver's Assocation first workshop on the topic of basketry to be held at Pepperwood Preserve in Santa Rosa.

It is an honor to provide some information about the event here:

Tending the Wild – The Workshop features Master Basket Weavers, like Susan Billy, Clint McKay, and Linda Navarro who will lead interactive programs that provide hands-on experience for those interested in learning more about the cultivation, preparation of plant materials and related cultural values embedded in their ancestral skill.

The one-day workshop will be held 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday Oct. 27 and again on Sunday, Oct. 28 at Pepperwood Preserve Road in Santa Rosa.

This educational workshop is designed to give participants a clearer understanding of the historic impact of Indigenous Stewardship Methods on California’s natural environment as well as information about how to reintroduce those techniques. Topics include the historic use of fire and periodic burning of undergrowth to optimize plant regeneration in traditional gathering sites and identification and preparation of regional basketry plant materials, such as how to peel willow; split and trim redbud shoots; dig “white root”; and clean and prepare bracken fern.   

Tending the Wild – The Workshop is based on the book Tending the Wild: Native American Knowledge and the Management of California's Natural Resources by Ethnobotanist M. Kat Anderson. Anderson, is the National Ethnoecologist of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service and a lecturer in the Department of Environmental Horticulture at University of California, Davis as well as associate ecologist with the Agriculture Experiment Station and on the Faculty in the Graduate Group in Ecology and the Faculty in the Graduate Group in Geography at UC Davis. She will sign copies of the book, published by University of California Press ($29.95). All proceeds benefit CIBA.

Established in the early 1990’s, CIBA’s mission has been driven by a shared concern of California Indian basket weavers that California Indian basketry traditions were fast disappearing. Now with nearly 1,000 members statewide it provides opportunities for weavers to convene, learn, exchange information and showcase their work. 

 They also collaborate with local, state and federal agencies to increase basket weavers’ access to traditional gathering areas, reintroduce Native basketry plants to the natural environment and to limit the use of harmful pesticides.  These efforts reflect the non-profit’s vision to preserve, promote and perpetuate the basketry traditions of California Indians.  

Funding for Tending the Wild – The Workshop has been provided by a major grant from the Yocha DeHe Community Fund and other generous supporters of the Arts.

Cost for the event ranges from $30 for students to $50 general public. Space is limited and pre-registration is required. For details, call 530-668-1332 or visit www.CIBA.org.

I hope you have a chance to attend and see all of this for yourself!