Yokuts Baskets: Techniques


Techniques Materials used in basket weaving vary greatly among California Indian tribes. Baskets were made from locally available materials and through trade among tribes. The materials used by California Indians consists mainly of grasses, roots, ferns, and young shoots. The four materials I use in my baskets are deer grass, sedge, bracken fern and redbud.
				Dried Redbud Coils

		The materials I use cannot be purchased anywhere and are increasingly difficult to locate. Materials require extensive processing before use in baskets. They may need to be de-barked, peeled, split, dried, soaked, naturally dyed or sized. World-class baskets require superior materials and I am pleased that I can still deliver them. Below are more details on the traditional materials I use. As you will see, to reach the point where a material is ready for use in my baskets, a great deal of time and labor is required.
Dried Sedge Coils, Basket Starts and Deer Bone Awls

Deer Grass Deer grass is a bunch grass native to California. The flower stalks (spikes) are used in the foundation of coiled baskets. Thousands of spikes are needed for a single basket. Gathered in the fall of the year, tests are started in September. The outer casing is pulled away leaving the inner spike. If there is a popping sound and the outer casing stays with the plant, the spikes are ready to harvest. Cleaning should be done immediately before drying Deer grass requires lots of water. If few spikes are found, that indicates lack of water and also lack of care by burning or cutting back.

		Sedge The yellow-white color is used for the basket background weft. Sedge grass grows in sandy soil wetland. The clumps of grass are carefully dug around revealing the fibrous rhizome rootstock used for the basket. The rootstock’s outer covering is removed and split down the middle. It is best to harvest sedge when the soil is slightly moist and the weather cool.

Bracken Fern The root of the bracken fern forms the shades of dark brown and black. Bracken fern is a highly prized material. Difficult to gather, the really good roots grow 3 to 4 feet underground, in sandy soil near water. Only one side of the root is used, while the other side is thrown away. Digging up the bracken fern roots is hard work. The cleaning and processing of the bracken fern root is both time consuming and unpleasant.

		Redbud California redbud is highly valued for its wine-red branches used in the design of baskets. Gathered after the first freeze, you can shake the branches to see if the leaves fall off. If so, they are ready to harvest. There is a small window of opportunity for gathering, with December the best month. Splitting redbud takes practice. It must be split while still "green". If the sticks are allowed to dry before splitting, they are worthless. Redbud must be seasoned for a full year before used as basket material. Redbud sticks can also be used in twine gathering baskets.



Two Days of Sedge		Dried Materials		Day of Digging Bracken Fern		Bracken Fern Root

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