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Baskets
- 1. Baskets
  2. Miniature Baskets
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- Basketry is probably the oldest and most wide-spread craft and art developed by the American Indians. Baskets can be made from many kinds of materials, but generally plant stems, either whole or split, are used. In some cases the stems or stalks are peeled for the bark or interior fibers, or root fibers and leaves and grass stems are used. Baskets can be woven out of almost anything, but it requires great skill and much knowledge. The roots, stems, bark, leaves and flowers of different plants produce the broad range of colors in most baskets. Identical plant materials gathered in different seasons may produce different colors. Some basketmakers used commercial dyes to obtain colors not available from plants or to alter or intensify the effects produced by vegetal material. But most basketmakers today prefer to produce their colors in traditional ways or experiment with plants near their homes. Basketmakers must be knowledgeable about which plants in their area are suitable for the kind of baskets the maker intends to create and the colors desired: where they grow, their special properties, the best season to gather them, and how they must be processed and stored. This kind of knowledge is passed down from one generation to the next.
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Kachina Dolls
- 1. Traditional Dolls
  2. Contemporary Dolls
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- Katsina dolls, or kachina dolls as many people know them, are representations of the Katsina spirits. The carved figures are given as ceremonial gifts to young girls by the Katsinam. Each gift represents a prayer wish for good health, growth and fertility. The figures are carved from cottonwood roots with knife and rasp. Carvers fashion simpler dolls from several pieces fit together with tiny wooden pegs. Each doll is painted and decorated to accurately depict important features of a specific Katsina.
  
  Since the mid-20th century, these carvings have developed as an impressive art form, with known carvers working in several general styles. Some carvings exhibit traditional, stylized forms, while others reflect a modern trend toward more active, lifelike figures. Innovative sculptural forms and multiple-figure tableaus are the most recent trends. Few American Indian arts appeal so powerfully to both the eye and the imagination as these unique creations by Hopi carvers.
Navajo Textiles
Pottery
- Linked to an agricultural lifestyle, pottery is an art form most utilized by tribes of the American Southwest. Pueblo cultures adapted the soils of their environments, creating beautiful vessels meant to serve utilitarian purposes. Despite the everyday intention of their creations, American Indian potters took great pride in their work. Pottery artists today combine traditional and contemporary techniques, methods and designs, often creating stunning pieces of artwork.
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