Most
Pomo utility baskets are twined. They tend to be larger than the coiled gift
baskets, but are just as finely made. Twining begins with a crossed warp stick
arrangement held by the weft, such as you see in the drawing on the left and
in the twined start on the right, which was made especially for the museum by
Laura Somersal, well known Pomo weaver and teacher (1892-1990). 
The
most common method is the plain two-strand twining, using willow as the foundation,
sedge roots for the weft, and redbud for the designs. Occasionally, as in the
case of many cooking baskets, the weft is of conifer root (Pinus sp.).
The
basket below on the right is an example of a plain twined cooking basket made
with a conifer root weft and bulrush designs. It measures 13 inches in diameter.
Diagonal twining is often found in Pomo basketry, and sometimes may include
redbud designs made in the wrapped twining method. The small basket (8 1/2"
by 3 1/2") below on the left was made with the diagonal twining technique.
The lattice twining method is also common, particularly on baskets where extra strength is needed. For example, the center bottom of most twined baskets is lattice twined, and open twined burden baskets, where the weft rows are separated showing the foundation, often incorporate lattice twining. The acorn gathering basket exhibited below is a fine example of the Pomo craftsmanship of open lattice twining. It is made with a hazel stick foundation and a conifer root weft.
Size: 20" in diameter; 19" high |
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Baskets
were traditionally used in all stages of food gathering, storage, and preparation.
Acorn-processing baskets and tools were especially efficient. Burden baskets
such as the one above were used for the collection of acorns. Full of acorns,
they would be carried on the back within a carrying net held by a tump line
wound around the forehead. Acorns (and other foods) were stored in large baskets
such as the one on the left. 
This
fine example of a large (27" in diameter) lattice twined storage basket,
was made by Annie Burke (1876-1962), mother of Elsie Allen (1899-1990), the
well known Pomo weaver. When a woman wanted to prepare acorn mush, she first
shelled and cleaned the acorn meats, using a winnowing tray such as you see
on the right (14 1/2" in diameter). Next she processed the acorns into
a flour by pounding them in a stone mortar with a pestle. As in the display
seen below on the left, a hopper basket was often used in the mortar to keep
the acorns in place. After leaching the tannic acid from the acorn meal with
water, she cooked in another large basket, such as the one below on the right
(18" in diameter; 12" high) using very hot stones as the source of
heat.
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The cooking basket you see above also illustrates a special Pomo basketry feature called the dau. The dau is a purposeful design deviation which alters the symmetry or introduces additional shapes in an otherwise consistent pattern. (See the blue arrows.) Found mainly on baskets with horizontal design bands that completely encircle the body, the dau acts as an opening, a door or pathway through which spirit entities are said to enter and leave the basket.
Traditionally,
women were the primary weavers of baskets, but Pomo men made certain types of
woven containers and devices, such as the open twined burden basket exhibited
on the left (20" in diameter; 19" high), woodpecker and other traps,
and baby cradle baskets like the one on the right (18" high). The baby
sits, wrapped in soft coverings, in a Pomo cradle basket, which can be carried
on the mother's back or hung near her workplace.
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This text is adapted from From Straw Into Gold by Foley Benson, SRJC Museum, Santa Rosa Junior College, 1986 and from Guide to the Collections of the Jesse Peter Native American Art Museum by Margaret N. Bond, SRJC Museum, Santa Rosa Junior College, 1994.
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