Customer Reviews

Tradition and Innovation: A Basket History of the Indians of the Yosemite-Mono Lake Area

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I agree there are problems with this book, but the section that has the baskets is very beautiful. That part was my favorite. I agree that better research could have been done on the weavers themselves, but the baskets make this book a beautiful addition just on the baskets themselves. I know what the other reviewers are talking about and sometimes it can be frustrating that such things have been done, but the photos of the baskets and basket work is great.

As a basketmaker taught by Yosemite weaver Julia Parker to follow the traditional ways, I highly recommend this book to anyone who wishes complete and indepth information on the basketry of the central Sierra Nevada peoples. Complete information (well, as much as a book can have) on the plants used, how the materials are gathered, and how basic weaves are done with good line illustrations. Numerous pictures, both from the archives of the Yosemite museum and from the weavers' families, richly illustrate this large book.

Photo after photo places the baskets in historical context, relates them to the individual weavers, and shows how their construction changed over time, from pre-contact styles to the later baskets produced for tourists and Field Days competitions. Also discussed is the topic of how baskets were used in trade between the other nearby tribes, such as the Mono, Paiute and Yokut. An interesting intermingling of styles is sometimes seen as local Miwok weavers incorporate the forms and designs of these other baskets into their own work.

Additionally, the author Craig Bates has been both married to a Miwok traditional basketmaker and has been curator of the Yosemite museum for many years. His expertise on the subject of Yosemite Indian basketry is unsurpassed. The book is used extensively in the Indian Museum itself and was personally recommended to me by Julia Parker herself, who said "everything you need to know is in that book." That's not quite true as there isn't anything on the various taboos you must observe while weaving, but I'm very glad that I was able to get a copy of this book when it first came out, because now it's difficult to get. A real treasure for anyone wanting extremely detailed information on this topic.

(P.S. -- If you detect sour grapes from previous reviewers, it's political and has to do with what bands are recognized by the state and thus allowed to have lucrative casinos. Sadly, the erasure of California native history continues in the name of greed.)

This book is biased towards Miwoks and I don't have a casino. Not one of the most famous basketmakers in Yosemite were Miwok. Bates and Lee write in this book that Young Charlie was a Miwok. That is false. Bates and Lee write that Tom Hutchings was a Miwok. That is false. Bates and Lee write that Capt. Sam and Susie might have been Miwoks. No they weren't. Nellie Washington was not Miwok, but Yokut. Lena Rube-Brown-Wilson was not Miwok, but more likely Washo/Paiute. Susie Lawrence was not Miwok, but Casson Yokut and 1/2 white. Indian Mary (Leonard) was not the daughter of Capt. Paul, but first it was written that she was the daughter of Capt. John the Paiute and then Indian Bob the Yokut. If Maria Lebardo was the grand daughter of Tenaya she would have to be 3/4s Paiute and not full blooded Miwok. Mary Wilson was not full blooded Miwok, but half white and Paiute. Sally Ann Dick was the daughter of Paiute Capt. Dick....etc. If anyone is biased it seems that the authors were. Maybe the marriage to a Miwok clouded the author. What college or University degree did the author Bates have to write enthnology of the Indians of Yosemite? Being married to Miwok does not qualify someone to be an expert on Yosemite Indians.

Lafayette Bunnell, the doctor of the Mariposa Battalion and one of the first persons to encounter Chief Tenaya, wrote "Ten-ie-ya was recognized, by the Mono tribe, as one of their number, as he was born and lived among them until his ambition made him a leader and founder of the Pai-Ute colony in Ah-wah-ne. His history and warlike exploits formed a part of the traditionary lore of the Monos. They were proud of his successes and boasted of his descent from their tribe, although Ten-ie-ya himself claimed that his father was the chief of an independent people, whose ancestors were of a different race."
That would indicate that the Ahwahnees were not related to any other tribe, not even the Miwoks. Lafayette Bunnell writes "Major Savage was our best authority. He could speak the dialects of most of the mountain tribes in this part of California, but he confessed that he could not readily understand Ten-ie-ya, or the Indian guide, as they appeared to speak a Pai-ute jargon." "The Yo-sem-i-tes had been the most warlike of the mountain tribes in this part of California; and the Ah-wah-ne-chee and Mono members of it, were of finer build and lighter color than those commonly called "California Digger Indians." California Digger was the what the Miwok, Yokut, Maidu and Washoe tribes were indentified as, but not the Ahwahnees or Paiutes. The Ahwahnees had already been absorbed into the Mono Lake Paiutes. Because Tenaya's father took a handful of Ahwahnees to Mono Lake, yet brought back into Yosemite from Mono Lake 200 to 300 people. Where they 200 to 300 Miwoks? Not likely. Chief Tenaya was born and raised by his people the Mono Lake Paiutes and took back mostly Paiutes into Yosemite.
The book does not even mention the story of Tenaya, which is the most important part of the story of the Indian basketmakers of Yosemite.
The book also has a photo of Tom Hutchings, the first mailman of Yosemite, as Miwok, yet he was Paiute. The book indicates that Young Charlie was a Miwok chief, yet he was Paiute. There are many, many more wrong tribal indentifications in the book. Bates and Lee also state that a lot of the Miwok women were Captains, yet old Indian census rolls only show men as Captains or Chiefs. I agree with the some of the other reviewers. Then to leave out the most important story of Chief Tenaya? That was odd. Chief Tenaya was born at Mono Lake of a Paiute mother and then he married a Paiute woman who he had children with. Where was that story? Also I noticed that the Miwoks are always written as they were inside the park and the Paiutes were just visitors. Yet the old US and Indian census rolls show those same Miwoks living outside the park in Coulterville, Bull Creek, Red Cloud, Mariposa, and Bear Valley which are miles away. In the 1880 census roll the only persons living in Yosemite were Paiutes Charlie, Tom Hutchings and Captain Rueben. All the rest of the so-called Yosemite Miwoks are living in other towns outside of the park. Mono Lake was closer to the eastern entrance of Yosemite then the other towns where the Miwoks lived at. I have also read that Craig Bates was married to a Miwok woman and had a son with her. That could explain the way the book was written. I would not buy this book.

Great review, Walter! Finally, someone has said what a lot of us Indians were thinking.

Sure the book is packed with a lot of fabulous photos, but the context of the book is so flawed. I am surprised Yosemite Park Service approved this book.

The book is so inaccurate I was wondering why both of the authors could do this, but then again the Southern Miwoks are going for recognition. They needed books like this printed. It could be possible that is why this book was done. It now makes a lot of sense why someone would do a book so filled with inaccurate information. Best to check this book out of the library and just look at the nice pretty pictures, because the "historical" info is inaccurate.

I saw this book at the university and the writers had Mary Wilson, Lena Brown and Sally Ann Dick in the Basket Weavers section.

Yet there is no proof that those three women made any baskets. So why are they classified as Yosemite California Indian basket makers if they didn't make baskets?

The most prolific basket makers of Yosemite were Paiutes and Yokuts.

Than there is no proof they were even Miwoks. Then to put them falsely as basket weavers is incorrect. What happened to the Murphys, Jims, Sams, Harrisons, Joes, Jamiesons, and others.

Then to read the people who created this book are Yosemite federal employees creating a book about their fellow employees who are applying to become a tribe.

In fact some of those same family members of those WHO DID NOT MAKE BASKETS are going for federal recognition. Is that why they were featured in the book?

I would never buy this book...or even use it as a reference source on California Indian basketry.

I like the pictures, but there are many, many historical facts wrong with this book. I have seen the census rolls of most of the "Yosemite Miwoks" and they are basically Paiutes and some Yokuts from Madera. Madera is a town over 60 miles away from Yosemite.

So how does that make them "Miwoks". Yokuts are from a totally different tribal and langauge group. They were San Joaquin Valley floor Indians and not Miwoks.

The rest are mainly Paiutes from around Mono Lake. So how is that Miwok?

The book is full of "could be's" and "might be's".

I thought this book was supposed to be a book on the Indians of Yosemite and not a Federal Recognition of the Southern Sierra Miwoks paid by the National Park Service?

Nice pictures though, some are misidentified as "Miwok" when they are from another tribe.