Panamint Coiled Baskets

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Panamint Coiled Baskets

The Panamint are a small branch of the Shoshone who make their home in the Death Valley area of Southern California. Archeological records indicate the Panamint have inhabited the Death Valley area for at least one thousand years. The Tribe, however was only officially recognized by the federal government as a sovereign nation in 1983, when they renamed themselves the Timbisha Shoshone. This group is historically known for some of the finest, tightly-coiled Native basketry on the continent.

Made of desert plants such as bunchgrass, sumac, willow, bulrush, yucca, and devil's claw, baskets were historically a necessary part of Panamint life. They were used for transporting food and belongings between summer and winter camps and for gathering materials during transit. After Euro-American settlement, the fine quality of Panamint baskets created a collectors' market, which lasted well into the mid-twentieth century. For Panamint and other American Indian weavers, adapting utilitarian baskets to saleable ones preserved Native basket-making techniques and provided much needed income for many families still trying to live a traditional life.

Today, some twenty Timbisha Shoshone (Panamint) women continue these weaving traditions. Baskets like those held in the Portland Art Museum collection are some of the best-preserved and highly prized among collectors of American Indian basketry.

coiled baskets

Native American art