Cradleboard

Traditionally each baby has at least two cradleboards. The first cradleboard is the receiving basket, called the "PA-SAK". The "PA-SAK" is made before the baby is born. There are no gender-specific markings on the "PA-SAK" to distinguish it as a boy or girl cradleboard.

After about three or four months the baby moves from the "PA-SAK" to the second cradleboard, called the "HUUP". The grandmother will begin working on the "HUUP" right after the baby is born. This basket tells the gender of the baby, with straight lines or arrows for a boy and zigzag or diamond patterns for a girl.

The cradleboards were never reused. Once the baby had outgrown the cradleboard it was placed in a young pine tree in the belief the child would grow up straight and strong like the pine tree.

The cradleboards I make are the "HUUP" variety. Materials used are sourberry shoots, split winter redbud, chaparral (buckbrush) shoots, split sedge roots, red earth pigment, yarn, buckskin, glass beads, and bull pine nuts. They are approximately 31 inches long x 18 inches wide and 12 inches deep.

Price: $4,500