Weaving Weavers Together

Hello, welcome to the California Indian Basketweaver Association's web site, or as we sometimes say, CIBA's web site. This is where you'll find out who we are, what we are doing since we were established in 1993.

Our Basketweaver Support Program seeks to provide the conditions necessary for the basketweaving traditions among California's diverse native cultures to once again thrive. One of the primary ways we do this is to bring basketweavers together at annual statewide and regional gatherings, and in their communities, to teach, learn, support and inspire one another. Our gatherings have succeeded in fostering solidarity among weavers from throughout California and beyond. As younger weavers learn from their elders, they learn not only the skill of basketweaving, but the associated spiritual and cultural values of their tribal heritage.

We have been successful in recruiting the participation of youth in our gatherings, and in otherwise renewing interest in basketweaving among the younger generation. Basketweavers gatherings also provide opportunities for weavers of all ages to demonstrate, talk about, showcase and sell their work.

Additional income-earning opportunities for basketweavers are provided through our California and western regional basketweaver resource directories, which list indigenous basketweavers who sell baskets and provide services such as demonstrations, lectures, repairs and appraisals. Originally published in 1998 in response to ongoing inquiries for sales and services, the California directory will be updated and republished in 2001.

Through our Basketweaver Support program, we promote cooperative relationships between basketweavers and curators of basket collections, collaborate with museums and others on local, state, and national basketry exhibits, and help return basket collections to Native ownership, control or access. Examples of our work in this area include participation in the planning of Carriers of Culture, a proposed national exhibit of contemporary Native basketweaving. As cooperative relationships between curators and basketweavers increase, so do income-producing opportunities for basketweavers, as consultants, demonstrators and providers of exhibit materials.

Our Basketweaver Support program also advises and assists other groups in the US and overseas who are striving to preserve their indigenous basketweaving traditions. Our model has inspired native basketweavers in Maine, the Southwest, Northwest, Great Lakes and Great Basin areas to form their own organizations and hold their own gatherings. We have played a supporting role in all of these efforts. In 1999, CIBA's Western Regional Indigenous Basketweavers Gathering brought together hundreds of weavers from 12 states. In 2000, we co-produced a gathering with Great Basin native basketweavers, providing them with a leg-up for their organizing activities.

Fundamental to the perpetuation of native basketweaving traditions is protection and proper management of the dozens of different kinds of plants used by weavers. Many basketweavers also gather other kinds of plants, as well as animals, for subsistence or other traditional purposes (cordage, regalia, ceremonies, medicines, teas, etc.). At the same time, basketweavers require safe and convenient access to the natural areas where such resources are found. However, few California tribes have a sufficient land base from which weavers can gather and manage resources, and access to private lands is difficult. Therefore, basketweavers rely to a great extent on public lands to meet their needs. But, both public and private land managers engage in or allow practices that can degrade or destroy basketry resources and gathering sites. On forested lands in particular, herbicides are used to control "undesirable" plants, destroying or contaminating fish, wildlife and other plants, and threatening the health and safety of gatherers. Furthermore, some agencies have regulations and policies that limit access by Native Americans to public lands and traditional resources.

Through the Resource Protection Program, we strive to halt the use of pesticides on public and private wildlands where they threaten the health of basketweavers and their communities. We do this by conducting research and educating and advocating to bring about change in government resource management policies and programs at the state and federal levels. At the same time, we work to empower and support native communities in their efforts to influence local resource management planning and decisions that affect their environment and health. In place of herbicides, we promote alternative, less environmentally harmful resource management practices. We seek also to improve and enhance safe, convenient access to gathering areas and cultural sites, to educate policy makers and land managers about traditional Native natural resource management practices, and to promote the active participation by basketweavers in the stewardship of plant populations.

Through our Outreach and Education Program, we work to educate the public, government policy makers, and arts, educational, and environmental groups about the artistry, practices, and concerns of basketweavers, including the need to protect California Indian basketweaving traditions and basketry plants. We respond to requests from cultural centers, museums, organizations, and agencies for assistance with or participation in exhibits, conferences, and workshops. Board members represent CIBA on numerous government agency citizen advisory committees, speak on behalf of native basketweavers at various functions and events, and actively promote the goals of the organization in their own communities.

We produce written and audio-visual materials and work with the media to keep the public informed. Our quarterly newsletter, Roots & Shoots, has a circulation of about 1,500. Profiles of basketweavers, timely information on issues, and announcements of opportunities to study, exhibit and sell baskets are contained within its 16 pages, and mailed to every identified California Indian basketweaver and member of CIBA, as well as to others we feel should be kept apprised. We have produced a 28-minute educational videotape on California Indian basketweavers, From the Roots, which has been aired on public television and at museum exhibitions. It is available for sale to educational institutions and individuals.

The area of northwestern California comprising Del Norte, Humboldt, Trinity, and Siskiyou counties encompasses the aboriginal territory of some 12 California Indian tribes, among whom are approximately 250 traditional basketweavers, the highest density of any region in the state. The purpose of the field office is to support the efforts of these basketweavers to protect, restore, and expand their basketweaving and gathering traditions. This is accomplished by developing and carrying out projects and activities designed to meet the challenges and special needs faced by weavers in this area. The NWFO serves, among other things, as a meeting place and forum where we can come together to discuss issues of mutual concern and how CIBA and its resources can be brought to bear to help us find and carry out solutions. Projects and activities designed to meet our needs in this region are carried out in CIBA's three organizational program areas: Basketweaver Support, Resource Protection, and Outreach and Education.