Back to my story. With my harvest happily in hand, we continued to the hot springs where we discovered not only more sagebrush around our campsite but also vibrant yellow flowering Rubber Rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa ). The bright flowers had been adorning our drive through the high desert for as far as the eye could see, brilliant bright yellow covering the desert floor in a miraculous show of color.

When we arrived at our hot spring destination, I couldn't wait to plop in my camping chair and get to work. My husband was amazed at the aroma of the sage. I later did some research and learned the plant is 40% camphor and 20% pine resin! I harvested some of the flowers from the Rabbitbrush for splashes of color and went to work. 2 hours later I had this basket.

Our hot tub situated in a meadow filled with rust, gold, and green grasses also had a panoramic view of the surrounding mountains and miles of the flowering yellow rabbitbrush. One day while soaking, I felt a tickle on my arm. I jumped and turned around and found this little guy sitting on the edge of the hot tub looking up at me. He decided to become a regular visitor so I'm including a photo of this very personable little Blue Belly Lizard.

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A couple years ago a member of my local basket guild, Debbie Zimmerman, had told us about a Native American basket collection in Independence, near Bishop. In the last century her grandmother owned a store and had collected baskets from the local Indians. She would document information on little tags and kept a ledger with documentation on the baskets and artists. This is rare. So many magnificent baskets in museums have no personal information about the weaver. Her grandmother said weavers were often standing in the backyard early in the morning waiting to sell their baskets. She had lifelong friendships with many of these women. In the 1950's she closed the store and put the baskets out to auction. The Eastern California Museum http://www.inyocounty.us/ecmsite/ was fortunate to obtain hundreds of these incredible baskets. It's one of the largest exhibits of Owens Valley Paiute-Shoshone and Death Valley Panamint-Shoshone basketry in the nation. Ornamental and functional baskets, along with cradleboards, projectile points, bows and arrows, and rare examples of Paiute beadwork are included in the extensive exhibit.  We made a stop at the museum and I got goosebumps looking at all the remarkable, finely woven baskets. The plant fibers had been stripped to nearly fine threads and the intricate weaving showed amazing skill. Many of the patterns I had never seen before.

 

The museum administrator was excited that a basketweaver was viewing the exhibit and he shared a lot of additional information about the pieces and their history. When he learned I teach basketry we started talking about my possibly offerering a workshop at the museum sometime in 2017....so keep an eye out for future newsletters for more information!

 

This museum is a definite "must" for anyone travelling along Hwy 395 through the Bishop area. The museum has several fascinating exhibits and a special permanent exhibit displaying some of the few remaining artifacts from the Manzanar World War II Internment Center, which is located six miles south of Independence.

 

The museum had an upcoming basketry workshop being offered by one of the nation's most highly respected Native American basketweavers, Julia Parker, along with her daughter and granddaughter. We were going to be home before the workshop so I was unable to attend unfortunately. There is a book about Julia Parker "Scrape the Willow Until it Sings". It is a very poignant book telling her life and that of her tribe. The book is filled with inspiration, wisdom, memories, knowledge, and touching stories.

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