Columbia River Basketry: Gift of the Ancestors, Gift of the Earth

By Mary Dodds Schlick

Baskets made by the people of the mid-Columbia River are among the finest examples of Indian textile art in North America, and they are included in the collections of most major museums. The traditional designs and techniques of construction reveal a great artistic heritage that links modern basketmakers to their ancestors. Yet baskets are also everyday objects of a utilitarian nature that reveal much about mid-Columbia culture- a flat twined bag has greatest value when it is plump with dried roots, a coiled basket when full of huckleberries.

Written with deep understanding and appreciation of the artists and their work, Columbia River Basketry will be an inspirational sourcebook for basket weavers and other craftspeople. It will also serve as an invaluable reference for scholars, curators, and collectors in identifying, dating, and interpreting examples of Columbia River basketry.

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