Kumeyaay Basketmakers

When Mexico and the U. S. divided California between them, the line they drew across the map cut the Kumeyaay Indian homeland in half. Just as there are Kumeyaay Indian reservations on the U. S. side of the border, so are there Kumeyaay Indian ejidos in Baja California. Located halfway between Ensensada and Tecate is the ejido called San Jose de la Zorra or St. Joseph of the Vixen. The men and women who live there speak their Indian language Ti’paia, and most of them speak Spanish as a second language, just as the Kumeyaay who live in the States speak English. The ejido is far from the cities and there is no work there for the men and women; to keep starvation from the door, the people there make beautiful baskets and decorative pottery for sale to outsiders.

These crafts are thousands of years old and have been passed down from one generation to the next without a break for more than 5,000 years. The fancy baskets are made from Juncus, a rush which dries to a variety of golden colors. A fancy basket 10 " in diameter takes 60 to 70 hours to stitch and another 50 hours to gather and prepare the Juncus. Juncus baskets are able to withstand the test of time, many in homes and museums are well over 100 years old. Other baskets are made more quickly from willow in the style of gigantic baskets used long ago to store acorns and mesquite beans. These baskets will keep their delightful fragrance for many years and will dry to a soft grey-green with mahogany accents.

These articles are available for sale at Pow Wows and Fiestas throughout Southern California or you may contact me for more specifics ddozier@palomar.edu.