Apache Baskets at Rockhound State Park

Rockhound State Park Visitor Center, NM

The other day I was in Rockhound State Park, a bit southeast of Deming, NM. Delightedly, I found a trio of Apache baskets in the small visitor center.

Among the Apache people, basketry was a part of everyday life. Their utilitarian baskets, such as water bottles and gathering baskets, are made by twining. In the twining technique, a fiber or weft is twisted over and under a stable base material or warp. Sumac (Rhus trilobata), willow (Salix nigra and S. lasiandra), and devil’s claw (Proboscidea, in the family Martyniaceae) are the three primary types of plants used by Apache weavers.

The exhibit photo here depicts a pair of Chiricahua women. From the left, there is a fringed gathering or burden basket on its side, then she is holding what looks to be a tus, a small water bottle. These two baskets are made by twining. The woman on the right has a basketry tray to the right of her knee, and a large olla just behind her. These two baskets were made using the coiled technique. In coiling, the weaving material or weft is stitched around the foundation, or warp. Among the Apache, most coiled basketry is made of willow with the design work done in black devil’s claw.

Chiricahua Apache Camp circa 1885, photo Ben Wittick, courtesy Museum of New Mexico

1   "Modern Mesalero Apache Basket"

2  "Mescalero Apache Burden Basket"

3   White Mountain Apache Burden Basket"

The three baskets on display were hard to see up close and photograph due to some wicked glare in the visitor center. They are twined of split sumac with a sumac rod as their foundations. 

Basket 1 is diagonally twined of sumac, the color used in the design is the bark of the sumac, the white is peeled sumac. Basket 3's design is made the same way, yet it is plain twined. Basket 2 is diagonally twined on the lower part, with several rows of plain twining at the top edge. The bright orange and black banded design is achieved through the use of commercial dye on the sumac. All of the baskets have leather (deerskin?) trim and fringe. 

Baskets 1 and 3 have metal tinklers. The purpose of the decoration is to add audio and visual pleasure to those within ear-shot and eye-view, while also serving to scare away rattlesnakes from food-gathering areas in the desert.  At the visitor center, the volunteers said that there were four types of rattlesnakes in the immediate area to watch out for: diamondbacks, Mojave green, blacktail, and banded rock rattlesnakes. Luckily, I didn't see any snakes while hiking.