Kumeyaay Basketry
By : Bev Ortiz
The art of basket making is still alive with the Indians in Baja California. Celia Silva, age 65, and her daughter, Gloria Castenada, age 47, began weaving at young ages. Celia began basket making at age ten under her mother and grandmother’s direction; Gloria began at age eight, guided by her maternal grandmother and great-grandmother.
Learning began with both women joining their elder relatives on gathering trips, and each received a “basket start” from her teacher, around which she practiced coiling. After two years of practice they began to make their own starts.
Celia’s mother (Gloria’s grandmother) taught weaving classes in the San Jose village school, near Tecate, in Baja California. Today, Celia and Gloria teach the rewarding art of Kumeyaay basketry to anyone who wishes to learn: men and women, Indians and non-Indians alike.
Celia and Gloria do not speak English, they speak to each other in Kumeyaay. They also speak Spanish, although are less comfortable with that language.
Celia and Gloria are prolific weavers. They specialize in making miniature coiled trays with split juncus, an old-style Kumeyaay basketry form. They also make tray and turtle earrings and barrettes.
Other creations are willow baskets, some woven old-style and others fashioned like ducks, an innovation of Celia’s. The Kumeyaay used full-sized willow baskets to store mesquite beans, pine nuts and acorns.
Celia and Gloria harvest the native black, red, golden, arroyo, and sandbar willows, as well as weeping willow, during late spring, summer and fall. Juncus for the foundation of their baskets is harvested throughout the year, but only picked during full moon. Juncus harvested during the full moon is believed to be tougher than Juncus picked at any other time.
For a fine, even basket, each juncus-sewing strand must be trimmed to a uniform thickness and width. Bone was the earliest Kumeyaay awl-making material, but Celia and Gloria have always used metal awls.
Celia and Gloria have kept the art of Kumeyaay basketry alive, teaching young and old alike how to create these painstakingly beautiful, timeless baskets.