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Object Monday: Apache Basket

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Jicarilla Apache Basket
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This basket bowl, with geometric designs in brown, yellow, and red, is made from sumac and willow. This item was made by Jicarilla Apache basketmaker Lydia Pesata from Dulce, New Mexico. She began work on this basket at a workshop presented at the Maxwell Museum in February of 1990. The Maxwell Museum purchased the basket from the artist later that year for inclusion in the museum’s collection.

Lydia Pesata (b. 1942) is an award-winning basketmaker and a member of a multi-generational basketmaking family. Lydia learned basketmaking from her grandmother-in-law, Tanzanita Pesata, who was part of a dedicated group of Apache basketmakers working to ensure the art of basketmaking wasn’t lost in their community. Lydia has continued the tradition over the years by teaching many classes and workshops to share her knowledge with new generations of Jicarilla basketmakers.

 Object: 90.23.1
Origin: New Mexico
  Date: 1990
Culture: Jicarilla Apache
Collection: Ethnology

By: Lauren Fuka

: Jicarilla Apache Basket

Additional Resources:

Herold, Joyce. "The Basketry of Tanzanita Pesata." American Indian Art Magazine. 3.2 (1978).

Lee Tanner, Clara. Apache Indian Baskets. University of Arizona Press, 1982.

https://econtent.unm.edu/digital/collection/acpa/id/15101

Paper basket weaving demonstration