RARE Shasta Basket Bowl or Hat, ca 1920. Shasta, Klamath of Modoc

Description

RARE Shasta Basket Bowl or Hat, ca 1920. Small Bowl 5" Diameter, 3 1/4" Tall. Shasta, Klamath or Modoc
A beautiful RARE piece of Shasta basketry. In my collection since 1992.
Incredible condition!
An important item for Shasta households were baskets which principally came from the Karuk. Baskets made by Shasta were generally a composite of plant materials gathered from the Ponderosa pine,
California hazelnut
,
several species of Willow
,
Bear grass
, and the
Five-fingered fern
.
Their designs took influences from the nearby
Hupa
, Karuk and Yurok peoples.
Pigments were made by the Shasta for the beautification of baskets and other personal possessions. Red and black dyes were the most commonly used and come from acorns and alder bark respectively.
Ropes, cordage and manufactured goods such as mats, nets and clothing were largely derived from
Indian hemp
.
During the winter snowshoes were often necessary to traverse their homeland. These were made primarily from deer hide with the fur left on.
Dentalium shells
were an important possession for the Shasta. Principally they were used for ornamentation through being sown into clothing, in addition to usage as a bartering medium.
In 1887, the Dawes Act was passed by Congress, leading to the breakup of most of the more significant Indian Reservations, with the subsequent sale of the stolen lands to white settlers. In 1938, the Shasta Dam construction completed the removal of the Shasta from their native areas. Today, the Shasta who remain live on either the Grand Ronde or the Siletz Reservations. Pre-contact, the Shasta population in California was estimated at around 6,000 people. Today, the estimate is less than 1,400. No Shasta languages are spoken today, and the people have very little working knowledge of the culture of their ancestors.
By the early years of the 20th century perhaps only 100 Shasta individuals existed. In 1934, efforts to establish the Quartz Valley Indian Reservation in Fort Jones, California began, and by 1939, some members of the tribe moved there with the Klamath Karuk Indians. Today, this group is federally recognized. However, the Shasta, as a separate tribe are not. Some Shasta descendants still reside at the Grande Ronde and Siletz Reservations in Oregon.
Hupa Karuk Yurok and Shasta basketry is similar in many ways
Payment in full is expected within 48 hours after item closes. I add for insurance.
No returns unless item is grossly misrepresented. Please contact me if you are unhappy in ANY WAY before posting any negatives remarks.
I work very hard to assure authenticity and show item in detail including any flaws. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have.
Please view photos closely as we try to offer up-close details at different angles. The pictures are important but they are not professional.
All pieces have been collected or purchased at auctions, earlier years on Ebay, galleries and from private collections etc. The information offered on each piece is a combination of personal research or information received when it was purchased.
Unless otherwise stated, documentation and provenance are not available on most pieces. We offer all the available information and background that we have on each piece in our descriptions. If variation of color, etc... is important to you, please ask for more information before purchasing.