I spent several days in San Diego this summer, and saw some pretty neat things: Tide pools, sea lions, rock formations (which Google now tells me are not, in fact, called tafoni), traditional crafts, and much, much more. For now, however, I want to post about some of the aforementioned traditional crafts!
The Chemehuevi are an indigenous people of the Great Basin, and as part of the Southern Paiute people traditionally lived in the Colorado River basin and Mojave Desert. Taken directly from the Wikipedia page: "Chemehuevi" has multiple interpretations. It is considered to either be a Mojave term meaning "those who play with fish;"[6] or a Quechan word meaning "nose-in-the-air-like-a-roadrunner."[7] The Chemehuevi call themselves Nüwüwü ("The People", singular Nüwü)[8][9] or Tantáwats, meaning "Southern Men."[7]
When visiting the Seeley Stable Museum in Old Town San Diego we saw some very nice baskets and pottery, of which I know for sure that the baskets are by Chemehuevi weavers but unfortunately cannot remember whether the pottery was by the same people. Unable to find anything to either prove or disprove it, I'm afraid I'll simply assume for now that the pottery is also by the Chemehuevi.
Look at this, though! Isn't it gorgeous?
The sign reads "As a consequence, by 1975, there is no Chemehuevi basket weaving being done." Not only a rather sad message, but also unindicative of the origins of these pots.
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