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December 05, 2018

The Tapestry of Time

Long-held Shoshone traditions like cradleboard-making gain new currency

 
december 5, 2018
Roger Ike holds up willow branch threads during his presentation at the Barrick-sponsored career and cultural fair.

Roger Ike holds up willow branch threads during his presentation at the Barrick-sponsored career and cultural fair.

Roger Ike holds up a willow branch and cleaves it into three string-like threads. Then he begins deftly twining the threads together while a group of Western Shoshone youth watch and listen to Ike talk about basket weaving.

“You can make the strings large or small,” he says, “and you usually get the branches wet so they don’t break when whittling them down.”

Ike’s presentation was part of an annual career and cultural fair for Shoshone youth sponsored by Barrick. About 160 students from eight Shoshone tribes converged on Great Basin College in Elko, Nevada, for the two-day event in July. While there, they were exposed to long-held Shoshone traditions like hand games, tribal song and dance, storytelling, and of course, basket weaving.

Baskets and cradleboards have been an important part of Native American life for centuries. Some Native American baskets, preserved in the dry climate of the southwest United States, are believed to be as much as 8,000 years old. Baskets were used to store food, transport supplies, and carry children. There is a well-known picture, immortalized on a U.S. collectible coin, of the Shoshone woman who guided Lewis and Clark on their famous expedition in the early 1800s. In the picture, the woman, named Sacagawea, carries her infant son on her back on a cradleboard.

Roger Ike restored the cradleboard that once belonged to Judy Sam. It is more than 100 years old. Above: Roger and Deneana Ike.

The Shoshone were master basket weavers, plaiting, coiling, and twining willow or sumac branches into baskets of various shapes and sizes. Beads and yarn often adorned the baskets. During his presentation, Ike showed one basket that he had woven and decorated. Its beaded lime green base was bisected by a zigzag pattern of silver, violet, teal, blue, burgundy, red, orange, and yellow beads. The basket took Ike about a month to complete. It was stunning.

Shoshone families often bequeath baskets and cradleboards as heirlooms. The cradleboards are especially poignant, as they not only help sustain the memory of cherished loved ones they also provide shelter and warmth to the next generation. Ike, who was joined by his wife Deneana for his presentation, showed a cradleboard that belonged to his grandmother, Judy Sam. It was more than 100 years old. Judy used it for her four boys: Nelson, Homer, Roy, and Ernest. Roy inherited it after Judy died in 1982 at the age of 100. The original cover and buckskin wrap had deteriorated but the frame was still intact. Roy’s son, Bill Sam, asked Ike to restore it. Ike, who is Bill’s first cousin, strengthened the frame, crafted a new cover, and replaced the buckskin wrap.

“Bill was so pleased that Roger was able to give Judy’s cradleboard new life,” says Cherie Fricke, Roger’s niece. “It’s a tangible connection to the past.”

While there are still some gifted Shoshone basket weavers like the Ikes, the skill is in decline. The goal of the Ikes’ presentation was to expose Shoshone youth to rich traditions like basket weaving and cradleboard making in hope it ignites a spark.

“It’s part of who we are as a people and it would be a shame to lose that,” says Brian Mason, Manager of Native American Affairs for Barrick in North America.

Ike has also taught basket weaving in Shoshone communities across northern Nevada with funding from Barrick. Fricke says the classes have had an impact.

“It is being picked up, which is wonderful to see,” she says.

Students participate in traditional Shoshone hand games. “Our culture is connected to the language and sweat lodges,” says Anthony Maggio (pictured in bandana). “You can’t separate them.”
Students participate in traditional Shoshone hand games. “Our culture is connected to the language and sweat lodges,” says Anthony Maggio (pictured in bandana). “You can’t separate them.”

Cradleboards with an X design on the shade are gender neutral and can be used for a boy or a girl.

Fricke herself has taken up the craft under her uncle’s tutelage. When she gave birth to her first child, a daughter, Ike made a cradleboard for the baby. Fricke’s second child, a boy, is due in December. This time she is making the cradleboard herself.

“I am beyond proud and thankful that this tradition has been passed down for so many generations,” Fricke says. “My children will be held in a cradleboard that was made from materials gathered from our lands [traditional territory] and fashioned in the same methods that we have used since time immemorial. I will take care of their cradleboards so they will be able to use them for their children and grandchildren.”

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