Washo/Maidu

Washo

Baskets by Washo Indian weaver Datsolali are among the most valuable in the collectors' world. Experts have appraised some of them at over twenty-five thousand dollars. Born in northern Nevada sometime in 1835, Datsolali, also known as Louisa Keyser, died in 1925. The basket pictured below was begun September 6, 1905 and completed September 5, 1906. The circumference is forty-six and onehalf inches, and the design represents “Our ancestors were great hunters . . . we are the descendants of great hunters.” Using thirty stitches to an inch, Datsolali used willow for the white, bracken fern root for the black and western red bud for the red. All Datsolali baskets are registered and numbered. The one below is LK (Louisa Keyser) 43. BK-58 The grouping of Washo baskets pictured below shows a variety of weaving techniques.