UNLV Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art
Las Vegas, Nevada
We believe everyone deserves access to art that challenges our understanding of the present and inspires us to create a future that makes space for us all.
MessageWhen Fawn Douglas explains the origins of this basket she has to tell the story of a rupture between Southern Paiute matriarchs and their community. The disruptive effects of colonization have made it harder for Indigenous mothers to retain skills and pass them on to their daughters, and so the practice of traditional weaving with natural materials is in danger of being lost.
“The art of basket weaving was a skill of the Southern Paiute,” she explains. “Today, very few know these ways and this art form has been dormant for many years. I organized a revitalization of these ways by hosting a Great Basin Basket Weaver, Loretta Burden, to share her knowledge. Although it is not within the tradition of passing knowledge from elder to daughter and so on, we have to be innovative. What of the tribal members that want to learn and unfortunately, their mother or grandmother didn’t practice the art? Or their families are suffering from drug or alcohol abuse and cannot touch traditions? Burden is a Northern Paiute elder and was happy to pass the ways to Southern Paiute attendees. The practice of cross-cultural knowledge has been an important tool for cultural continuity.”
Documentation of the weaving workshop can be viewed on Douglas’ website at https://www.nuwuart.com/paiute-winnowing-basket
- Created: 2019