Mission Basket Essay

The Baskets of the Luiseño People: From Past to Present
The Luiseño people of the San Diego region in Southern California, also known as Mission Indians, are distinguished as six different tribes known as the: Pechanga, La Jolla, Rincon, Pala, Pauma, and Soboba. The Luiseño people lived a hunter-and-gatherer way of life; the sea life along the coast, the acorns from several species of oak tree, berries, and animal products provided adequate nutrition for the Luiseños. The way in which these items were gathered had been through the use of coiled baskets. Luiseño coiled baskets are seen as one of the hallmarks of the pre-contact period prior to Spanish colonization in 1769. Although baskets are seen today as a curio

displayed in a museum; rather than a useful tool intended for use of gathering, straining and cooking, there is a movement that has brought into question: how far has the American Indian gone from their ancestral way of life? Has the Eurocentric way of life brought disease to the native people? James Luna, a Luiseño and Mexican American artist brings to light the topic of disconnection between the past and present American Indian way of life with his performance, Emendatio which has been displayed at the George Gustav Heye Center located in New York City, from November of 2007 to February of 2008. However, before going into further detail with the connection between the Luiseño coiled basket and James Luna’s Emendatio, it is important to look into the materials used, the construction, and the purpose served by the coiled basket.
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According to the creation story of the Luiseño people, the first two created beings were a male and a female. Whaikut Piwkut, the male, was known as the sky, and Harurai Chatutai, the woman, was known as the earth. When Whaikut Piwkut was ready to give birth, Ushla Pikla, also known as the wild blackberries, and kwila, an oak tree; were several of Whaikut Piwkut’s children. The Luiseños had a belief system that had been based on their natural surroundings, and a creation story of how their sources of nourishment came into existence. The wild black berry and the edible acorn from the oak tree were staple foods that were to be collected using coiled baskets, also known as “mission baskets” that were made around the early 1900s. The materials used for the coiled baskets were local plant sources such as: the deer grass (for the coiling), Juncus (for the stitching), and split sumac (also for stitching). The deer grass, a common plant found in southern California was used to make the coil foundation of the basket, and at times, “scrap Juncus was also used when deer grass was scarce, or when the weaver needed to be frugal when deer grass supplies were short” (Farmer 7). The negative patterns of the coiled baskets were made by use of juncus that had been bleached by the sun, or with split sumac, by use of the paper thin “cambium” layer, which is in between the bark and the core of the branch. The patterns of the coiled baskets were hardly dyed synthetically, often, “natural red Juncus, dyed black Juncus (dyed through the use of iron water and tannin from strained acorns), and split yucca root were used for their colors ranging from a beautiful black to the reds and maroons” (Farmer 8). The negative patterns of the Luiseño baskets often depicted natural phenomenon, such as lightening, natural shapes, such as diamonds, triangles, and squares, as well as animals native to the region such as, deer, and rattlesnakes.

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In order to determine if a basket is a “Mission Basket,” it must have been made through the coiling technique.

As stated earlier, the deer grass was the most common plant material to use for the coiling. For the patterns, Juncus or split sumac, would be used using a “pierce and penetrate” method which would be sown to the “underlying coil.” According to Justin F. Farmer, “an important diagnostic trait of the mission basket would be the Bound Under Fag End Stitch, or BUFES” (Farmer 10). The fag end stitch is the beginning strand of the basket that the weaver subtly blends into the coiled basket as a whole. The strand is also kept short, and even on rare occasions, cut away to make it less conspicuous. It is also worthy to note that a great majority of mission baskets are made to go into a clockwise direction. The time spent by the weaver to produce a good quality basket had proved rather tedious, and according to Farmer, “depending on whether the weaver uses juncus or sumac, it could take the exact time to weave the basket as it does to process the materials” (Farmer 13). Although, at times, some baskets were weaved quickly using the seeds of the juncus plant; and were called, “throw away

baskets.”
Between the creation story that described how the oak tree, and the acorn came to be, and the acorn being an important staple food for the Luiseños, it is no wonder that the acorn is an important symbol, and one of the main purposes of the coiled basket. The acorns that were gathered, were in most instances, placed in what is known as a small burden basket made for the purpose of gathering and storing food. Due to the acorns containing tannins, which is a bitter and poisonous substance; the acorns would be cracked open, peeled from a thin layer (like a peanut), and then pounded into a fine powder with a mortar and pestle. The powdered acorns would then be placed in a leaching tray; from which water would repeatedly drain the powdered acorns of the tannins. The result would be a tannin free acorn powder that could be turned into
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an acorn mush that would be served cold. The coiled baskets were also used for other purposes, besides gathering and leaching foods; they had also been used for cooking, drinking, and gambling. For example, the large, deep Luiseño basket would be used for cooking with hot stones that would be routinely moved in order to prevent burning the bottom of the basket. The small Luiseño baskets were possibly used for dishes, cups, and utensils for eating. Luiseño gambling trays were used for rolling dice, and interestingly, had been seen as a woman’s past time activity. The coiled baskets of the Mission Indians of Southern California, serves as a representation of how life had been prior to the coming of the Spaniards, which is why the basket, and the acorn, serve as an important ceremonial symbol representing the La Jolla people in James Luna’s performance, Emendatio.
Emendatio, according to the definition provided by James Luna, means to “correct what is faulty, to alter for the better, and to remove corruption.” Due to the colonization of the Luiseno people by the Spaniards, their way of life had been permanently altered through the indoctrination of the Catholic religion that replaced their own religion, the exploitation of their physical labor, when they originally would forage their environment, and ultimately, the change of their diets. No longer were the Luisenos hunters and gatherers, foraging for local produce, instead; they had been made into farmers taking on an agricultural way of life to provide not for themselves, but for the Spaniards who came to take advantage of the Luiseno sovereign nation. The art of basket weaving had been diminished in favor of metal pots and pans imported from Europe, and is now only practiced by only a few who wish to keep the tradition going. In James Luna’s exhibition, Emendatio, the connection between the past and present American Indian way of life is brought into consideration. Due to the introduction of foreign foods, American Indians
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had not only lost their traditional way of cooking with baskets and pots, there is also the risk of diabetes and cancer from the standard western diet that is high in sugar and fat, which is also cheaply produced and cheap to buy.

According to Linda Tuhiwai Smith from IPinCH, her podcast, Decolonizing Research, focuses on the decolonization movement going on in aboriginal nations, such as in New Zealand, which is seeking to deconstruct the effects of colonialism that had been imposed on native youth through western education. The effects of colonialism, has always been an ongoing project, but through statements made through artistic means, it is possible to regain sovereignty for aboriginal nations. James Luna, an artist who is of La Jolla Luiseño Indian, and Mexican American descent, has made a strong statement in regards to the health of the native people. Luna performs a ceremony through use of sand, rocks that are formed into a circle (aligned with the spot light that is provided on stage), a Luiseno coiled basket filled with acorns in remembrance of Luna’s California Indian heritage, sugar packets, medical needles, and a can of spam to demonstrate how the current way of life of the Luiseño Indian is radically different from the traditional Indian way of life because of colonial influences. The American Indian is twice as likely to develop diabetes because the food their ancestors relied on for nourishment had been replaced by processed, cheap food that leads to the

need for medical intervention by injecting insulin.
The mission basket and the acorn will always represent the sovereignty of the Luiseno people, and the way of life they had lived by foraging through their natural environment and attaining nourishment from their local produce, while the sugar packets, can of spam, and insulin needles represent the illness and disconnect that James Luna demonstrated through Emendatio. The American Indian had suffered fierce colonialism at the hands of early Europeans for many
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centuries, but with art serving as a means to deconstruct the deep rooted false image that portrays the American Indian as a child like being living a primal way of life, there could be a return to re exploring the ways of the pre-contact Indians, at least for the purpose of sustainability in a world that is fast becoming depleted.