Tohono O'Odham
Basketry
The Tohono O’odham is a
tribe of the Sonoran Desert region of present-day southern Arizona and
northern Sonora, Mexico. Formerly known as the Papago (which was an
English mispronunciation of a Spanish mispronunciation of another
tribe’s name for them) Tohono O’odham is a Uto-Aztecan
word meaning 'Desert People' and is their name for themselves.
A Tohono O’odham "hoh" or basket is made from a coil of
bear grass (Nolina microcarpa, called moho in their language) sewn
with bleached white yucca (Yucca elata, tokway). Other materials used
include green or yellow-green unbleached yucca, black from the seed pod of
the devilsclaw plant (Martynia parviflora, eehuk) and on occasion,
red from the root of the Spanish or Shin Dagger (Yucca arizonica, oh’eetock).
There are two styles: the split-stitch, which is
used for utility or storage baskets; and covered stitch baskets, for
those which are subject to more wear, like baskets for parching or winnowing.
(C) BAHTI Indian Arts, 1977--2007
MAZE PATTERN
The Tohono O'odham maze pattern, sometimes referred to as
the Maze of Life, is a pattern found as a petroglyph in many
areas of the Sonoran Desert that is the traditional home of the O'odham and their ancestors,
the Hohokam.
The design is generally believed to represent the path that
I'itoi --Elder Brother-- took to his home near the base of
Baboquivari Peak in order to evade anyone who might follow him. Their relatives,
the Pima ( Akimel O'odham ), are recorded
as having said that it was the floor plan of a home built by
Se-eh-ha to confound his enemies.
In recent the past century the story has evolved into the maze
as a symbolizing the path of life. There is some disagreement
as to whether the figure is entering or leaving the maze.
The version that has the figure entering goes on to say that the
small 'nook' near the center where one sits and reflects upon one's
life before completing the journey.
Regardless of the version, the design lends itself well to the
path-of-life interpretation as while it has no shortcuts, there are
no dead-ends either, and the entire path must be followed
in order to complete the journey.
Copyright 1997-2009 Bahti Indian Arts
