Design

While baskets serve a specific utilitarian purpose, they are also a tangible medium for weavers to express their creativity and exhibit their skills. Design elements vary from tribe to tribe and even from family to family. The Miwok traditionally wove single-color patterns into their basketry, whereas the Yokuts and Western Mono were both known to make baskets with two-color designs. The red and black designs on baskets are created by incorporating strands of redbud (red) or bracken fern root (black) into the weave. Designs range from plants, insects, or animals to the more traditional geometric shapes that symbolize elements of the natural world. As basket usage has shifted over time from utilitarian to more artistically focused pieces, the designs have also changed. Baskets made for sale often include both red and black design elements and have more intricate patterns, some of which have been adopted from patterns found in commercial needlepoint pattern books.