Potawot Basket Weaving Demonstration Area

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The basket weaving demonstration area at the United Indian Health Services (UIHS) Health Village is an essential aspect of integrating cultural activities into health care. Providing an area for cultural activities such as basket weaving is one way Potawot incorporated aspects of the UIHS core philosophies into the creation of the health village.^[1]

[edit] Location

The basket weaving demonstration area is part of the 40-acre conservation easement to restore and enhance freshwater wetlands. The effect of the wetlands is to facilitate production and growth of native plants for uses including basket weaving. The location of the basket weaving area is near the center village of Potawot, as seen in Figure 1.

Figure 1: The Hazel and Bear Grass garden and basket weaving area located at the top right of this map.

[edit] Plants

Figure 2: Plants in the basket weaving area. Photo by Ashley Ragus

Native plant species have been planted on the conservation easement and are managed by traditional techniques such as burning sections of the fields. The native plants have been used by many generations for food, medicinal purposes, ceremonial events, basket weaving, and other textiles. Some of the plants used for basket weaving are seen in Figure 2.

Some important plants used in basket weaving, such as hazel and beargrass, are planted in fields larger than an acre. Background colors of the baskets are made from spruce and pine roots. Other plants used in decoration and details of the baskets include beargrass, woodwardia fern, and maidenhair fern.

What Plant is Used?	What Does It Look like?	Which Parts of the Plant are Used?
Bear Grass		Leaves
Woodwardia Fern		Leaves, stems
Willow		Roots, new stems

Figure 3. Some native plants grown at Potawot and their uses in basket weaving. ^[2]^[3]

[edit] Uses

Figure 4. A view of the health village central buildings from the basket weaving demonstration area. Photo by Ashley Ragus

Basket weaving is an integral part of the lives of the native people of the Northwest California region. The area provides recreation opportunities including basket weaving classes on site for tribal members. Education is an important part of the basket weaving area. Information on kiosks and signs are available throughout the gardens and paths of Potawot. The information promotes awareness of the cultural values of the indigenous people of Northern California. Information about the effects of pesticides on basket weaving is also at the demonstration area. ^[4]

Classes for basket weaving and mat making are held at the basket weaving demonstration area and are open to tribal members. Cultural activities such as basket weaving are aligned with the health care ethic at Potawot (as seen in Figure 4) for patients to heal themselves by connecting with the earth.

Not only is the art of basket weaving an important cultural practice, but the baskets themselves are important aspects of the culture. Baskets of tribes in northern California are renowned for their beauty and stability.