PAIPAI

Paipai artisans specialize in the creation of traditional ceramics, agave fiber cordage and carrying nets, agave fiber sandals, palm and pine basketry, cloth dolls, bows and arrows, war clubs, rabbit hunting sticks, digging sticks, bark skirts, yucca honey buckets, leather lariats and whips. The artists work in their homes, using materials such as natural clay soils, agave (Agave desertii), palm leaves (Washingtonia filifera), willow (Salix nigra), and yucca (Yucca whiplei, yucca schidigera) found throughout the 68,000 hectare Indigenous Community of Santa Catarina.

Although most artisans speak Paipai and Spanish, many also speak Kuatl, another Yuman language more closely related to Kumiai. A few also have close ties with the Kiliwa community further south. This cultural diversity within the Paipai community is the result of many years of contact, intermarriage and trade between native groups of the region.

KUMIAI

Most Kumiai artisans live in the village of San Jose de la Zorra. The Kumiai of Baja California are relatives of the Kumeyaay of Southern California, since long before the imposition of an international border through the heart of their territory, these groups all shared a common language and culture. Today some 20 artisans create basketry from willow and juncus leaves and stems, using traditional technology passed on from their ancestors to make a variety of forms and designs.

The basketmakers’ harvesting techniques have been sustained over countless generations because they involve a relationship with the plants used. Willow and juncus are pruned in such a way as to ensure (and improve) the next year’s harvest. Furthermore the artisans need only a small amount of natural resources to weave these unique creations; the real value added to these raw materials is in the traditional knowledge, skills and talent the artisans bring to their work.