Collection place: North America / Culture or time period: Southern Humboldt Athabaskan / Taxon: Xerophyllum tenax - Hearst Museum Portal Search Results

Start Over Collection place North America Culture or time period Southern Humboldt Athabaskan Taxon Xerophyllum tenax

Hearst Museum object titled Bowl basket, accession number 1-2551, described as Bowl. Tag: "Tcunus Lassik". Second tag: "Lassik". Per Ralph Shanks: Twined basket bowl, not used. Crossed warp starting knot. Peeled shoot warps and conifer root (Pinophyta) wefts with an overlay of beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax) and maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum). Starting at the starting knot there is three strand twining for 1/2 inch, followed by 1 inch of plain twining, followed by one weft row of three strand twining, followed by plain twining for 4 inches, followed by one weft row of three strand twining, followed by two weft rows of diagonal twining over two warps. The rim is trimmed, with the warp sticks extending up slightly. The overlay design is a horizontal band with a beargrass background and two horizontal rows of polygon designs in maidenhair fern. The workface is on the exterior. The overlay design is on the exterior and interior faces. The basket has a rightward work direction and an up to the right slant of weft twist. There are several hairs woven into the base of the basket.

Hearst Museum object titled Bowl basket, accession number 1-2538, described as Bowl. Tag: "Lassik", second tag "tcunus". Per Ralph Shanks: Twined "fancy basket" bowl, with no residue. Crossed warp starting knot, not Northwestern California style. Warps are probably hazel (Corylus cornuta californica) and the wefts are conifer root (Pinophyta) with a beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax) and maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum) overlay. Starting at the starting knot there is three strand twining for 3/4 inch, followed by plain twining for two weft rows, followed by one weft row of three strand twining, followed by 1/2 inch of plain twining, followed by one weft row of three strand twining, followed by plain twining for 1/2 inch, followed by one weft row of lattice twining, followed by one weft row of three strand twining, followed by 1/2 inch of plain twining, followed by one weft row of three strand twining, followed by 1 inch of plain twining, followed by one weft row of three strand twining, followed by 1 1/4 inches of plain twining, followed by one weft row of three strand twining, followed by 1 inch of plain twining, followed by three weft rows of lattice twining one of which has a larger rod than others, followed by one weft row of plain twining. The rim is trimmed, with many of the warp sticks extending up to 1/16 of an inch above the rim. The design is a beargrass background with maidenhair hair fern in three design bands, one plain horizontal line, one undulating, and one vertical line band. The lattice twining has some beargrass woven into it and the three strand twining also sometimes has beargrass woven in with it. The basket has an exterior workface. The overlay is primarily on the exterior and irregularly on the interior. The slant of weft twist is up to the right; the work direction is to the right. The basket slightly undulates.

Hearst Museum object titled Bowl basket, accession number 1-255006, described as Per Ralph Shanks and Justin Underhill: 1 tag "Wailacke or Wintum (att)" twined bowl basket with irregular double-sided overlay. Starting knot is missing and it appears that the last coil row is missing as well. Basket is mildly irregularly shaped. The materials are conifer root weft and an overlay solely of bear grass. Warp is peeled shoots. The basket has an up to the right slant of weft twist with a rightward work direction. The bottom of the basket is encrusted with food debris. Rim is trimmed. The basket appears more likely to be Wailaki rather than Wintun because of the irregularness of the double-sided overlay. Design consists of narrow horizontal bands, one of which is zigzags and two consist of irregular patterns, and then 4 bands are horizontal single weft row bands. Bowl shaped. Twined with hazel shoot warp and pine root weft, overlay of Xerophyllum tenax in geometric pattern. Bottom broken out and missing, top edge broken.

Hearst Museum object titled Bowl basket, accession number 1-2549, described as Resembles a large crude cap. Tag "Lassik", second tag "Tcunus". Per Ralph Shanks: Twined basket bowl, which is within the range of size for being a hat. Crossed warp starting knot, not Northwestern California style. Warps are a peeled shoot, and the wefts are conifer root (Pinophyta) with a beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax) and maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum) overlay. Starting at the starting knot there is three strand twining for ⅓ inch, followed by two weft rows of plain twining, followed by one weft row of three strand twining, followed by 1 inch of plain twining, followed by one weft row of three strand twining, followed by 2 inches of plain twining, followed by one weft row of three strand twining, followed by 2 1/4 inches of plain twining, followed by one weft of three strand twining, followed by one weft row of plain twining. The rim is trimmed; the warp sticks extend slightly beyond the last weft row. The design has a background of beargrass with four horizontal bands of mixed maidenhair fern and conifer root. The basket has an exterior workface. The overlay is on the exterior and irregularly on the interior. The slant of weft twist is up to the right; the work direction is to the right. Several hairs are woven into the basket; many are visible on the exterior of the basket.

Hearst Museum object titled Bowl basket, accession number 1-255009, described as Probably bowl shape, badly broken and crushed. Twined with hazel shoot warp, pine root weft, overlay of Xerophyllum tenax. Tag: "Wailacke or Wintum". Per Ralph Shanks: Close twined basket bowl, damaged and crushed. Crossed warp starting knot, overlaid with crossed conifer root wefts. Peeled shoot warps. Conifer root wefts, with a design overlay of bear grass and a black material, probably maidenhair fern. Starting at the starting knot there is three strand twining for 3/4 inch, followed by plain twining to the rim. The rim is trimmed with the warp sticks extending above the rim; however this may be due to missing wefts. The warps are often doubled. The overlay is double sided. The design is five horizontal bands of bear grass, with the first band having mixed black material and beargrass, and subsequent bands are beargrass only.

Hearst Museum object titled Burden basket, accession number 1-10528, described as Old, mended. Grimy and worn, in fragile condition. Hoop broken. Newer coarse twined bottom sewn on with buckskin thong. White overlay, 2-faced. Horizontal diamond bands. 2 rows of triangles like sawteeth just below rim. All plain weave. Label "Nongatl". Per Ralph Shanks: Close-twined conical burden basket, used. No starting knot due to repair. The base is an added on separate basket, made of willow (Salix), tied on with leather lashing. The main basket is probably willow warp with conifer root (Pinophyta) wefts and beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax) weft design overlay. There is a reinforcing rod at the interior rim that is a shoot that is attached to the upper weft rows, using a leather cord, with up to the right slanted leather lashing going through the basket every inch or so. Starting after the base repair there is plain twining to the rim. Starting at the base there is about 3 1/2 inches of vertical lines of beargrass followed by five beargrass horizontal diamond bands, with one plain beargrass band separating every two diamond bands. At the rim there are two rows of beargrass triangles separated by a row of plain conifer root. The rim is trimmed. The basket undulates. The workface is on the exterior. The basket has a rightward work direction and an up to the right slant of weft twist. The overlay is two sided, with the primary design on the exterior. The basket has a flattened side, probably to go flush against the carrier's back. The lashing technique and the undulation of the body of the basket are probably Southern Humboldt Athabaskan characteristics and the conical shape with a narrower flat bottom is Southern Nongatl characteristics.

Hearst Museum object titled Burden basket, accession number 1-2533, described as Small, close-woven. 3 Tags "Lassik" Per Ralph Shanks: Twined conical burden/gathering basket, used. Crossed warp starting knot. Warps are a peeled shoot and the wefts are conifer root (Pinophyta) with a beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax) overlay, a leather strap and leather lashing at the rim. Starting at the starting knot there is three strand twining for 2 1/4 inches, followed by plain twining to the rim. The rim is trimmed, with the warp sticks extending up to 1/8 of an inch, the rim has a reinforcing rod in the interior lashed on with leather with a rod affixed at the top/interior of the rim with leather lashing, which is threaded through the wefts of the basket. Ten horizontal design bands including plain, zigzag, and triangles. At the rim there is a design of 2 bands of horizontal triangles bordered above and below by a plain beargrass band.The basket has an exterior workface. The overlay is primarily on the exterior and some irregularly on the interior. The slant of weft twist is up to the right; the work direction is to the right. The basket undulates.

Hearst Museum object titled Cap, accession number 1-10526, described as Basketry hat. Dirty and grimy, worn. White overlay; thin horizontal zigzags and stripes; 2- faced overlay. Mostly plain twined; 3-strand twining 2 cm radius from start; also a single row defines the design zones at 2.5 cm and 9 cm from rim. Tag "Nongatl". Per Ralph Shanks: Dome-shaped twined basket hat. Crossed warp starting knot. Probably hazel (Corylus cornuta californica) warps and conifer root (Pinophyta) wefts, with a beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax) overlay design. There is some string at the rim holding on a remnant portion of three weft rows of plain twining. Starting at the starting knot there is 3/4 inch of three strand twining, followed by 1 1/4 inch of plain twining, followed by one weft row of three strand twining, followed by 2 1/2 inches of plain twining, followed by one weft row of three strand twining, followed by 1 inch of plain twining. The rim is trimmed. The design is primarily three horizontal rows of beargrass zigzags. The overlay is primarily single-sided with the main overlay on the exterior and some design on the interior. The workface is on the exterior. The basket has a rightward work direction and an up to the right slant of weft twist. The basket undulates. Three Cabins, where the documentation says this hat was made, is 16 miles south of Blue Lake, in Wiyot territory. It looks like other Wiyot hats Dawson described to Shanks, and the design is similar to what is called a man's design, but not enough is known about Wiyot or Nongatl hats to assign this as a men's hat from either culture.

Hearst Museum object titled Carrying basket, accession number 1-2534, described as Close-woven. Tag "Lassik". Second tag "Lassik". Per Ralph Shanks: Twined conical burden basket, used. Crossed warp starting knot. Warps are a peeled shoot and the wefts are conifer root Pinophyta) with a beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax) overlay, a leather strap and leather lashing at the rim. Starting at the starting knot there is three strand twining for 3 1/2 inches, followed by plain twining up to one row below the rim, where there is one weft row of three strand twining. The rim is trimmed, with a rod affixed at the top/interior of the rim with leather lashing, which is threaded through the wefts of the basket. The basket has a small reinforcing rod in the interior base. The design, starting at the base, is one horizontal row of triangles, followed by one plain horizontal row, followed by one horizontal band of zigzags, followed by a lesser band of zigzags, followed by one plain horizontal row, followed by one horizontal row of triangles. The basket has an exterior workface. The overlay is on the exterior and irregularly on the interior. The slant of weft twist is up to the right; the work direction is to the right. The basket undulates.

Hearst Museum object titled Cooking basket, accession number 1-2550, described as Bowl. Tag "Tcunus Lassik". Per Ralph Shanks: Twined basket cooking bowl, not used. Crossed warp starting knot, not Northwest California style. Warps are a peeled shoot and wefts are conifer root (Pinophyta) with a beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax) overlay. Starting at the starting knot there is three strand twining for 1 1/2 inches, followed by plain twining to the rim. The rim is trimmed, with many of the warp sticks extending up to 1/16 of an inch above the rim. The design is three horizontal bands, with beargrass outlining diamonds followed by a beargrass zigzag, followed by another band of diamonds. The basket has an exterior workface. The overlay is on the exterior and interior. The slant of weft twist is up to the right; the work direction is to the right. The basket undulates.