Dead, Not Forgotten

Lilly Baker contributed greatly to preserving the art of Maidu basket weaving, and in doing so she has preserved so much more.

I first heard of the ConCow Maidu people from a TV documentary which in part described a shocking and shameful event when these original inhabitants of Northern California were deprived of their lands by the U.S. government and sequestered in a corral where many died from deprivation and disease. Now through the art of Lilly Baker I am pleased and saddened to learn more of the Maidu people. The abuse that they suffered at the hands of government and settlers alike is very hard to read about but I am happy to say that they survived and continue to contribute to our world.

A wonderful way that they have done so recently, and Lilly Baker was part of it, is through a pilot land management program in cooperation with the National Forest Service. Forest Service land in the area of the tribe’s original range are now being cared for by tribe members using traditional Maidu husbandry techniques that selectively trim or remove vegetation to encourage the health of the natural environment.

So what do you do with the trimmings? That’s right, you make baskets! Lilly taught her students that one must weave the energy of the plant materials into the baskets they made and collecting your materials yourself while you improve environmental health can only help to understand this.

Her family’s story of basket making was documented in a video produced by the Plumas County Museum called “Dancing with the Bears.”

Born July 6, 1911, Lilly Baker died at the Indian Valley Long-Term Care Facility in Greenville, CA on Monday, Nov. 2, 2006 at age 95.

Read the Plumas County News obituary

Learn more about the Maidu people

See Maidu baskets

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Too often, things that should be cherished and revered are rolled over by the next “civilization” to come down the pike. Anyone who helps to undo that destruction should be remembered for their good works. William Bright is such a man. He died on October 15, 2006 in Louisville, Colorado at the age of 78.

Having spent more than 50 years studying the indigenous languages of the United States, Bright was professor adjoint of linguistics at the University of Colorado, Boulder and was emeritus professor of linguistics and anthropology at the the University of California, Los Angeles. He was an authority on the native languages and cultures of California and was known in particular for his work on Karuk (also spelled Karok), an American Indian language from the northwest part of the state.

The tribe recently published a Karuk dictionary, compiled by Mr. Bright and Susan Gehr. Now, Karuk children learn their language in tribal schools and with the help of Bright and Gehr are bringing the language back from the brink of extinction.

His books include “American Indian Linguistics and Literature” (Mouton, 1984); “A Coyote Reader” (University of California, 1993); “1,500 California Place Names: Their Origin and Meaning” (University of California, 1998); and “Native American Placenames of the United States” (University of Oklahoma” , 2004).

For more information:
Go to William Bright, Linguistic Home Page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bright

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