Photos: Exploring the culture of Sonoma County’s Native tribes through basketry

Since 1990, November has been recognized as Native American Heritage Month. According to the National Congress of American Indians, the month is “a time to celebrate rich and diverse cultures, traditions, and histories and to acknowledge the important contributions of Native people.”

The colorful heritage of Indigenous peoples in Sonoma County — namely the Pomo, Miwok and Wappo tribes — has often been seen through traditional artwork and histories presented in local museums, cultural sites and festivals.

In the fall of 1970, the Sonoma County American Indian Council held a festival to commemorate American Indian Day, according to a Sept. 18, 1970, Press Democrat article. The Sonoma County American Indian Council president, Pomo member Genny Marrufo, said in the article that she hoped the fair’s events and art exhibit representing different tribal cultures would help foster a better understanding of local tribes.

Two local basket weavers attended the 1970 fair to display their world-famous basketry: Elsie Allen and Laura Somersal.

Elsie Marie Allen was a legendary Pomo basket maker and tribal scholar who taught and preserved the Pomo art of basket weaving, in addition to recording and preserving various Pomo dialects.

Allen was recognized by the Smithsonian Institution for her mastery in basket making and honored by the Women’s Foundation of San Francisco in 1986 for her achievements in preserving Pomo culture, according to a Jan. 4, 1991, Press Democrat article announcing her death. Santa Rosa’s Elsie Allen High School, established in 1994, was named in her honor.

Laura Somersal, of Wappo and Dry Creek Pomo ancestry, was another prominent basket weaver. According to a Oct. 23, 1980, Press Democrat article, she taught the art of basketry for years, and many of her baskets are on display in museums and collectors’ homes around the world. Somersal’s obituary in 1990 noted her role in teaching and preserving the Wappo Pomo language at local schools and universities, and she was a consultant on basketry to the Smithsonian.

Pomo baskets, while beautiful with strikingly intricate designs, were largely utilitarian, as they were strong enough to be used for cooking and weaved tight enough to hold water. In a Dec. 9, 1982, Press Democrat article, Somersal said the process of making a basket can take years; even a small, thimble-sized basket can take at least a week.

Pomo healer Mabel McKay, known as one of the finest Pomo basket makers in the nation, made the world’s tiniest basket, the size of a pinhead, which needed to be viewed under a magnifying glass to see the woven designs.

McKay was a “spiritual sister” to another famous local basket weaver: Essie Pinola Parrish, a Kashia Pomo spiritual leader, doctor and expert of Native traditions. In 1968, Parrish greeted Senator Robert Kennedy as he came to visit the Kashia Pomo Reservation, according to a Fort Ross Conservancy report. Parrish gifted Kennedy one of her most treasured baskets, which ended up in the Smithsonian after his death.

Learn more about California’s Native tribes and cultures — including local tribes such as the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, the Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians, the Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo Indians and the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians of the Stewarts Point Rancheria — at the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center in Santa Rosa.

See the gallery above for photos of local Native American art and basketry.