Basket weaving comes to Jasper Ridge with Corine Pearce
Corine Pearce teaching basket weaving to Stanford students (photo by Tadashi Fukami)
Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve ('Ootchamin 'Ooyakma) collaborated with Fiber Optics, a workshop with the Stanford Humanities Center, to host a basket weaving workshop with Corine Pearce. Corine is a Native California basketweaver from the Redwood Valley Little River Band of Pomo. Held at the Leslie Shao-ming Sun Field Station on November 9, 2024, this event was co-organized with Ciel Haviland, a PhD student in the History of Science, and Katie Glover, Associate Director of Environmental Education at Jasper Ridge.
A total of 32 participants attended this workshop. Students, faculty, staff, and docents came from a variety of disciplines, including Biology, Earth System Science, History, Native American Studies, Religious Studies, and more. In addition, we were honored to have several members of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area join us.
Workshop flyer made by Ciel Haviland
Most attendees were brand new to basket weaving, and Corine skilfully made the technique accessible to all with pliable strands of rattan. In addition to demonstrating weaving skills, she shared personal stories of her craft and touched on a variety of topics ranging from California plant diversity to Pomo mythology and Indigenous math. For example, she told us about the concept called da:w, which means door in Pomo. She explained that every hole made by a beginning weaver, even accidentally, is a da:w, and that all of them will have meanings. Master basketweavers often make holes intentionally, as holes in baskets become spirit doors that connect people across generations. You can listen to Corine explain this concept and more here:
All in all, the event was a wonderful hands-on learning experience emphasizing the reciprocal relationships that humans can share with one another and with plants.
A group of graduate and professional students show their basket creations (photo by Katie Glover)
In her book Tending the Wild, Kat Anderson writes: "Basketry captures the apotheosis of California Indian cultures." Her extensive research has led her to realize that "the basketry craft, all over California, was more than a mechanical exercise, and baskets were more than utilitarian objects. They were absolutely central in the worldviews, cultures, and everyday lives of native people in California."
Funding for the program was provided by Fiber Optics, Jasper Ridge, and a SPICE grant through the Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education.
By Tadashi Fukami
