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Updated Mar. 15, 2011: Shirley Slee and Rachel Hess, Native American sisters of Miwok and Paiute descent who have been weaving baskets since childhood, in 2010 led the Autry’s Basketweaving Collaborative, an ongoing program that showcases their artistry and gives audience members a hands-on demonstration of this ancient tradition.

Shirley Slee with a basket she wove as a girl (Photo by Tessie Borden)

The Community Basket program returns to the Autry after a hiatus as part of American Indian culture days on the first Saturday of every month, from April until September, 2011. Museum teachers will help weave what’s known as a community basket.

“This is the fun part,” said Slee in a 2010 interview while she wove the Autry’s first community basket, now part of the Autry’s current basketry exhibition. “The hard work is in gathering and preparing the materials.” Slee explained that long before a weaver sits down for the days or weeks it might take to weave a planned basket, she begins to gather, prepare and peel the grasses, canes and reeds she thinks she will need.

How much and what kinds are required depends on the size, flexibility, sturdiness, intended use and decoration of the baskets, not to mention the weaver’s environment. Slee said preparing them might involve stripping, splitting and sizing the materials, then letting them cure.

Rachel Hess with one of her cradle boards (Photo by Tessie Borden)

“Ideally, you should let them cure for at least a year,” she said. Saturday’s weaving involved willow and California redbud branches, as well as devil’s claw.

For more on how weavers gather and prepare materials for their baskets, check out the Autry’s videos featuring Ruby Chimerica (Hopi) and John Paul Darden (Chitimacha)

One of Rachel Hess's cradleboard (Photo courtesy Rachel Hess)

describing the process on two very different reservations, one in Arizona and the other in Louisiana.

The basket Slee wove Saturday has been in the works for about two months. Slee says it is called a community basket because more than one weaver typically works on it. She has been using it throughout the Collaborative series to teach participants. About 50 collaborators have worked on it so far. When it is finished, it will become part of the Autry’s “The Art of Native American Basketry: A Living Tradition” exhibition, which is at the Autry until May 6, 2012.

While Slee focuses on baskets, Hess specializes in cradle boards, which Native American mothers have used for centuries to safely carry and shade their babies. They are a framework of flexible reeds lined with a sort of pouch made of rawhide or leather into which the baby can be strapped. A canopy over the top part of the cradle board provides shade. Hess, who with her sister grew up in Bishop, now lives in Pasadena, where weaves her artistry out of her home. You can see some of her custom work here.

Lisa Woon, the Autry’s public programs director, said about 115 people showed up for Saturday’s program. If you missed it, Hess and Slee will return to the Autry on May 15. Want more on basketry? Check out Justin Farmer’s lecture.