Northern Great Basin Archaeological Perishables Collection

Native American Ethnographic Basketry Collection

List of Cultural Groups Included in the MNCH Collection

A note about cultural designations:
Cultural affiliations have been assigned to baskets with varying degrees of specificity. For example, “Northwest California peoples” is used for basketry that has not been identified to a specific group within this region. “Yurok or other Northwest California peoples” is used when a basket is most likely attributed to Yurok but could still have been made by a weaver from another group within this region, or by a weaver who is from more than one group. Siletz and Grand Ronde Reservations of Oregon refers to the modern communities that were formed after 1850, which included Oregon coastal and valley peoples who were moved to the reservations. Because of this, “Southern Oregon coastal peoples”, or “Tillamook”, etc. will often be included with Siletz or Grand Ronde Reservations when the basketry tradition indicates a more southern, central, or northern Oregon coast style.

Glossary of Key Words

Basketry

A class of textile woven by hand that may include baskets, mats, bags, hats, sandals, traps, and other structures.

Beading

In basketry, this term refers to plaiting using a separate element over and under the coiling weft used to create patterns. It is often placed in quotations- 'beading'- to differentiate it from actual beadwork.

Bundle Foundation Coiling

Coiling over a number of small warp elements such as straws or splints in a bunch. The bundle may be split or completely coiled over as in one rod coiling.

Chase Weave

Any weave in which the maker uses separate courses or rows of weaving in combination, spiraling or 'chasing' around a basket. They may be the same weave but in multiple 'sets' or they may be different weaves. The two or more weaves are designated in descriptions. For example, a row of plain plaiting alternating with a row of plain twining (2-6851).

Close Twining

Twining with weft courses or rows tight against one another, so that the warp elements are completely covered.

Cornhusk Bag

Refers to the flat twined bags from the Columbia Plateau that are usually decorated with cornhusk false embroidery.

Catlow Twine

A term used in archaeological basketry for a type of close-twined semi-flexible basketry made of split tule stems common throughout the northern and western Great Basin. The warps are two-ply Z-twist cords, and the wefts are paired tule fibers twisted in a counter-clockwise direction (down to the right, or Z-twist). Catlow Twine is commonly decorated, usually by overlay or false embroidery.

Chirality

Direction of twist of a spiral. May be designated as S or Z.

Coiling

Sometimes called sewn basketry; this class of basketry involves a horizontal foundation element (which can be single or multiple rod, splint, etc. or a fiber bundle), with each successive coil being stitched (or sewn) to the previous one. If successive stitches are tightly spaced, they may form a sheath that entirely encloses the foundation element(s). See open warp coiling, open weft coiling, interlocking coiled stitch, and split stitch.

Cordage

Fiber material twisted together to form thread, rope, string, etc., cordage may be single ply, or multiple ply but two-ply is the most widespread. Plies may twisted in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction- S or Z- and these plies are generally twisted together using the opposite twist or chirality.

Course

A row or round of weaving in a basket.

Crossed Warp Twining

A form of open twining in which warp elements are crossed or interlaced between rows of open twining.

Diagonal Twined Weave

Also called Twill Twined Weave. Twining using paired warps in which adjacent warps are alternately separated and paired again in subsequent courses to create a diagonal texture.

Discreet Courses or Rows

Separate courses that start and stop fully in each row. This may be done with any kind of weaving but can be an important factor in plaiting. In plaiting or plain weave (over one under one) each course must be opposite the row below to hold together. If the number of warp elements is even, the maker has a few options- they may create discreet bands of plain weave, skip a warp in one place, or add a new one in order to keep the plain weave. If the warp elements are odd in number, the maker may keep weaving in a spiral fashion.

English Randing (See Randing)

English Randing is a plain weave done one weft at a time in discreet bands of one or more withy. Each withy is woven over two warps at the beginning of the row and rows are offset by one warp each course, which creates a spiral around the basket, usually in the work direction.

False Embroidery

A decorative technique used in twining, employing a single fiber that wraps around the structural weft fibers alternately but does not interact with or pass behind the warps. The slant or twist of the false embroidery is usually the opposite of the twist of the structural twining. (See basket 2-6838).

Fort Rock Sandal

Archaeological sandal from the Northern Great Basin, with (usually) five rope warps arrayed in an arc at the heel and extended to the toe, and close-twined to form a flat sole. Weft twining proceeded back and forth across the sole from heel to toe, covering the warps. At the toe the robust warps were subdivided into finer cords and turned back to form an open-twined toe flap. The tie system has a series of interlocking loops fixed to one edge of the sole and at the heel; these were then looped with a tie rope attached to the other edge and cinched tight around the ankle. Most commonly made of sagebrush bark.

Foundation

The element(s) that make up the coil structure in coiled basketry; this can consist of single or bundled elements.

French Randing (See Randing)

French Randing is a plain weave done in large blocks of rows using multiple wefts of the same length. The width of the block is determined by the length of the wefts. It is started by inserting one (or more) withies per warp all around the basket in the first course. Each course proceeds weaving all the wefts in turn around the basket at once. Thus, all wefts start (and end) on a single course.

Full Turn Twining

This is the same as wrapped twining. These terms are both used within different weaving communities and in the literature. To avoid confusion, basket object records refer to this as “full turn (wrapped) twining.” Full turn twining has two or more elements as in plain twining but the active element(s) twists all the way around the other element and does not engage with the warps. The other element passes behind the warps and holds the weave in place. This weave is often used in combination with plain twining to form complex patterns. The plain twined stitch changes the color of the active strand if multiple weft colors are used.

Herringbone Stitch

A term sometimes used by weavers to designate some patterned weaves that have 45-degree angles in relation to the warp and weft. In rim overstitching it resembles a braid (e.g. Plateau coiling). In plaiting, the term is used to designate a 2x2 twill offset by one (e.g. Hopi trays).

Hop Twine

Hop twine in the MNCH collections refers to the commercially made jute or sisal twine or string used to grow hop vines for the beer industry. Native Oregonians who worked as migrant farm workers in the hop fields are known to have repurposed this twine for use as warp cordage in basketry. In the MNCH collections, hop twine is most commonly present in the Wasco and Wishram Plateau twined bags. Cotton or “mailing” twine is often used.

Imbrication

A decorative element in coiled basketry in which an additional material is folded under each stitch on the outside of the basket only, the design is not visible on the inside. Common in coiled basketry of Washington and western Canada.

Inside/Outside Workface

See Work Face and Work Direction Interlocking and Non-interlocking Stitch

In coiling, the weft strand may either engage the weft of the previous row- interlocking stitch- or engage only with the foundation- non-interlocking stitch. See Split stitch.

Lattice Twining

Also called Ti weave from the Pomo use of the technique. A bound weave using plain (or other) twining and incorporating a horizontal exterior or interior raised element in addition to the warp. Variations include twill lattice twining and three-strand lattice twining.

Multiple Warp Sandal

Archaeological sandal from the Northern Great Basin. Twined, with from eight to more than a dozen warps, arranged in an arc around the heel. The sole is not flat; The heel is twined to form a pocket, and when complete the sides of the sole are pulled up around the sides of the foot. Weft rows are close-twined (typical for archaeological sandals) or open twined (rare in archeological specimens, typical in historic examples) from heel pocket to toe. At the toe, loose warps are bent back to form a toe cover but were not twined. Tie loops were built into the sole, typically by extending wefts beyond the last warp, twisting them into a cord loop, and then returning them as sole wefts. A separate cord was then run through the loops and tied across the top of the foot.

Open Coiling

Coiled basketry where successive coils are spaced, usually by a knot or other spacing device.

Open Twining

Twining with weft rows spaced, leaving the warps visible between weft rows.

Overlay, One and Two Face

A decorative technique used in twining, employing a decorative fiber that is used to cover (overlay) the structural weft fiber (the decorative fiber has the same orientation as the structural fiber). Two-face overlay is also called full turn twining.

Plain Twined Weave

Twining using two plies going around single warp elements, or if warps are paired or otherwise grouped, the elements are not separated in subsequent rows.

Plain Weave

Any weave with a single weft in which the weft goes over one under one warp.

Plaiting, Plaited Weave

A type of basketry weave, usually using fairly flat weft elements in a plain weave. Warp and weft elements engage each other by over-and-under interweaving, without crossing. Often opposing elements are of the same dimensions and degree of flexibility, but this is not always the case. Plaiting with rigid or differing textural elements has sometimes been called wickerware. See Twill plaiting.

Ply, Plies

The elements, bundles or wefts used to make cordage or twined basketry are referred to as plies (e.g. two-ply, three-ply).

Randing, English

Randing, a plain over/under weave, is a word used specifically in European style willow (or other withy) basketry. These styles were exported and learned by peoples all over the world and techniques are shared but using different terms. It is not a word usually used by itself but in combination, such as English Randing and French Randing.

Raffia

Refers to the commercially made packaging material often repurposed for use in basketry.

Rim Overstitching

A selvage technique that may be used with any basketry structure in which one or more weft elements are sewn around the rim after the basket is finished. This may be plain overstitching which resembles coiling, or it may be a complex braid or 'herringbone' stitch.

Sally Bag

Columbia Plateau twined cylindrical bags were often referred to as Sally bags. ‘Sally’ comes from the old English word for willow, “Sallo’, from the genus Salix.

Selvage

The edge finish of a woven structure or cloth.

Siletz Style

Refers to the complex of features common to twined baskets of the Siletz Reservation. This includes hazel warps, spruce root weft, plain S-twining, one-face overlay in bear grass, a double braided handle, and some other technical features.

Slant, Twist

See Z twist, S twist

Spiral Weaving

Any weaving in which the maker keeps going with each course in a spiral fashion. See Discreet courses.

Spiral Weft Sandal

The sole begins like a basket start, with a weft beginning along the main axis of the sole and warps perpendicular to the foot. Twining of the wefts continues outward in a spiral from the center to form a flat sole. Warp cords extending from the sides of the sole are formed into loops, then gathered with a tie cord across the top of the foot. A heel pocket may be added at the end.

Splice

An element that has been added in to either extend the length of the warp or to create additional warps to shape or widen the diameter of the basket.

Split Stitch

In coiling the working weft may pierce the weft stitch of the previous row on the work face or on the non-work face. (See Interlocking stitch) This may be either the stitch towards the work direction or backwards.

Three-strand Braid

A twining technique (related to three strand twining) in which the three weft strands interlace with each other in several variations to form a braid on the exterior of the basket.

Three (or more) Strand Twining

A twining technique using more than two weft elements in the same way as plain twining. Each weft in a series crosses the others and passes behind the next warp. Used as both a decorative and strengthening element. (See Waling)

Trac Border

A rim finish in which warps are folded and woven like wefts with a plain or plaited weave in a series in the work direction. Variations include folding multiple warps and weaving over and under more than one. Many patterns exist.

Twill Plaiting

Plaited weave in which elements go over and under more than one of each other in any direction or combination. To describe the weave, use the number of weft elements over and under. For example, 2-3-1 plaiting. Complex patterns can be formed as seen in trays from many traditions around the world.

Twill Twining

See Diagonal Twined Weave

Twining

A class of basketry that involves interlocking weft elements that cross, twist or interlace around passive elements (warps). Plain twining uses two weft elements. See Three or more strand twining, waling, close twining, open twining, crossed warp twining, diagonal or twill twining, full turn twining, and wrapped twining.

Two and Three-rod Coiling

Refers to the number of horizontal rigid or semi-rigid rod foundations, usually a stick, splint or reed.

Waling

A European English basketry term for twining with three or more wefts.

Warp

In twined weaving, warps are the vertical elements. In coiling, warp refers to the foundation of coils.

Weft

The horizontal element which crosses over warps in twined weaving In coiling, weft refers to the sewing element.

Work Direction

The direction, left or right, that the weaver proceeds with each row of weaving. This is a culturally conditioned feature and does not vary for handedness generally with coiling, but with twining left-handed and right-handed directions can be seen. Older literature often uses the words clockwise and counterclockwise, but this is misleading in the case of open baskets like trays as the work face changes while the direction does not. (See Work Face).

Work Face

The side of the basket, exterior or interior, that the weaver holds toward her or himself while working. This is a culturally conditioned feature and must be observed in relation to work direction. (See Work Direction).

Wrapped Twining

See Full Turn twining.

Wrapped Twined Overlay

A decorative technique (related to False Embroidery) in which a single fiber is wrapped around the crossing place of the two weft strands. It appears like wrapped or Full Turn twining on the basket interior but is structurally stronger.

Z or S-twist

These letters are used to differentiate the chirality or twist direction of cordage plies, or of twined basketry wefts. The letter is superimposed horizontally on the cord or twined row. Z-twist is a counter-clockwise twist resulting in a down-to-the right slant or stitch orientation. S-twist is a clockwise twist resulting in an up-to-the right slant or stitch orientation.