Wicker-work

Wicker is one of the most wide-spread types of craft in North America that was known to all of its inhabitants. It was most developed among the peoples of the Pacific coast and the adjoining regions – the Aleuts, Tlingits, Kwakiutl, Seish, and Californian Indians. Wicker was a female occupation. The Aleut women demonstrated exceptional mastery in making baskets, mats, bags, purses. The only instrument that a woman used was her own nail with which she split a grass blade into two stripes. Stems of wild grass were the main material. When preparing material for wicker-work some grasses were dried for a short time, while others were dried for a long time, and thus different shades of color were obtained, from dark to light yellow.

The Tlingit women were occupied with wicker-work in the winter, but the material – roots of young fir-trees – was prepared in the end of spring or in late autumn, when roots acquired a homogenous color and it was easy to take bark off them. To create a pattern dried stems of fescue grass (Panicularia nervata) were interwoven into roots so that its stems were only visible on the exterior side of an object. Such technique was called “false embroidery”. Traditional women’s Tlingit baskets were cylindrical and had a cover with an extension in which small stones or shells were put. Such baskets, called “noise inside”, served for keeping working tools.

Californian women also achieved perfection in the technique of wicker-work. They made baskets, mats and vessels from wigs and thin roots of cedar, pine, nut-tree and maple. Inclusion of darker fibers created a pattern, mostly in the form of zigzags and triangles. Wicker objects were also decorated with valuable shells.

Wickered hat. USA, Russian America. The Kodiak Eskimos. Early 19th cent.		Aleutian women at provision of grass for wickerwork. USA. Attu. The Aleutians. Iohelson V., 1909		Aleutian woman at basketwork. USA. Umnak. The Aleutians. Iohelson V., 1910.