How Were Baskets Used by the Takelma?
The Takelma collected many basket-making materials in the spring and summer, but focused on basket-making during the winter. Some materials used for Takelma basketry included hazel shoots, maidenhair-fern stems, willow shoots, beargrass, pine roots, porcupine quills, and iris leaves. Baskets were used for cooking, transportation of goods, and storage. They came in all shapes and sizes, from large storage baskets, to small plates and cups, and even the artistically woven caps worn by women. Baby cradles were made of large baskets, tightly woven and lined on the inside with rabbit fur. Tightly woven baskets were used for cooking because they were watertight. The Takelma filled them with water, added hot rocks from the fire, and boiled numerous plant and animal foods (Gray 1987).
- 1987 The Takelma and their Athapascan Neighbors: A New Ethnographic Synthesis for the Upper Rogue River Area of Southwestern Oregon. Eugene, Oregon: University of Oregon Anthropological Papers No. 37.
Basketry Materials
Want to learn more about RMPs for Western Oregon?