Great Basin

The Great Basin stretches across portions of Idaho, Montana, California, Nevada, and Wyoming. The MPM collection contains items from the Washoe (1), Paiute (1), as well as the Northern Paiute of Pyramid Lake (4) and Walker River (2) Reservations. Cradles of the Great Basin were either basket-like, woven of woody shoot materials like willow or sumac, or they were the “inverted U” shaped cradles influenced by those of the northwestern Plains. The cradles in MPM’s collection are of the first variety. Newborns were placed in woven oval receiving baskets or temporary openwork cradles, and were given more personalized cradles after a few weeks. These cradles were trapezoidal in shape, with rods hitched vertically with plant fiber, and stout willow sticks hitched horizontally across the cradle back, to which a tumpline was attached. Children were swaddled with cloth and then laced to the cradle. A piece of cloth or hide was sewn to the bottom of the frame to protect it from the damage incurred when the cradle was set upright. More elaborate forms of this woven cradle were similar to Plains “inverted-U” cradles, which included a woven hood and a hide covering that was wrapped around the wooden frame, into which the child was laced. The woven hood was often decorated with line designs depending on the child’s gender. Boys received diagonal lines, girls received diamonds. Neutral designs were used if the gender was not known, or if the family planned for several children to use the cradle.

Collection Items

Catalog Number : 22152
Accession Number : 5294
Accession Date : 12/08/1916
Tribe : Northern Paiute - Pyramid Lake Reservation, NV
Region : Great Basin
Material : woody plant -willow, cotton, yarn
Source : Dr. Samuel A. Barrett - MPM Curator of Anthropology (1909-1921)
Catalog Number : 22153
Accession Number : 5294
Accession Date : 12/08/1916
Tribe : Northern Paiute - Pyramid Lake Reservation, NV
Region : Great Basin
Material : woody plant - willow, gingham (cotton) cloth ties
Source : Dr. Samuel A. Barrett - MPM Curator of Anthropology (1909-1921)
Catalog Number : 22154
Accession Number : 5294
Accession Date : 12/08/1916
Tribe : Northern Paiute - Pyramid Lake Reservation, NV
Region : Great Basin
Material : Woody plant - willow, buckskin, glass beads, seed beads, shell, cotton, wool yarn
Source : Dr. Samuel A. Barrett -MPM Curator of Anthropology (1909-1921)
Catalog Number : 22251
Accession Number : 5294
Accession Date : 12/31/1916
Tribe : Northern Paiute - Pyramid Lake Reservation, NV
Region : Great Basin
Material : woody plant - willow, leather, beads, wood, wool yarn, buckskin, cotton textile and cotton thread
Source : Dr. Samuel A. Barrett - MPM Curator of Anthropology (1909-1921)
Catalog Number : 21873
Accession Number : 5293
Accession Date : 12/08/1916
Tribe : Northern Paiute - Walker River Reservation, NV
Region : Great Basin
Material : Woody plant material - willow or sumac, cotton
Source : Dr. Samuel A. Barrett - MPM Curator of Anthropology (1909-1921)
Catalog Number : 21874
Accession Number : 5293
Accession Date : 12/08/1916
Tribe : Northern Paiute - Walker River Reservation, NV
Region : Great Basin
Material : woody plant material - willow or sumac, cotton, dye/stain
Source : Dr. Samuel A. Barrett - MPM Curator of Anthropology (1909-1921)
Catalog Number : 22276
Accession Number : 5294
Accession Date : 12/31/1916
Tribe : Paiute
Region : Great Basin
Material : willow, wood, cotton textile-canvas
Source : Dr. Samuel A. Barrett - MPM Curator of Anthropology (1909-1921)
Catalog Number : 18302
Accession Number : 5199
Accession Date : 10/10/1916
Tribe : Washoe, collected from one of the communities of Lake Tahoe, Gardnerville, Nevada, or Woodford, CA
Region : Great Basin
Material : wood, woody plant - willow, leather, wool yarn, cotton ties
Source : Dr. Samuel A. Barrett - MPM Curator of Anthropology (1909-1921)