For many Pomo women, baskets have often served as a kind of currency. They were marketable goods that helped sustain families and communities in the late 1800s and into the 1900s when Euro-Americans colonized present-day California. Susan Billy acknowledges that the mini baskets she makes are not utilitarian. She says: “ As the baskets got smaller, people asked me what I put in them, and I realized what I put in them is intention.”

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From the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery website:

“Women have long been the creative force behind Native American art, yet their individual contributions have been largely unrecognized, instead treated as anonymous representations of entire cultures. ‘Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists’ explores the artistic achievements of Native women and establishes their rightful place in the art world.”

Best to view in "Original" because other versions resized by Pbase are decidedly unsharp.

Backyard surprise, posted earlier: