Spotlight on Native American Basketry

Through May the gallery is featuring several quality historical baskets from a private collection. One basket we are very excited about is this Chehalis Basket depicting Chinese Railroad workers from the 1880s.

We found this cross-cultural documentation of history very intriguing, and did some research into the relationship of the Chinese Rail Workers to Native Americans. We came across a very informative article by Kerry Brinkerhoff, Forest Ranger at Golden Spike. He outlines how dramatically the railroads affected the lives of Native Americans.

On July 1, 1862, The Pacific Railway Act was passed. In order to give the Union Pacific Railroad Company rights to build the railway it stated that "The United States shall extinguish as rapidly as may be the Indian titles to all lands falling under the operation of this act..." Col. Connor and 700 Volunteers were sent from California to Utah to clear the way. Col. Connor and his volunteers killed many Native Americans. On Jan. 29, 1863, the same month that the Central Pacific would break ground, The Bear River massacre took place, where Col. Connor and his California Volunteers surrounded a Shoshone tribe and massacred over 450 men, women and children.

Needing cheap labor, in many cases The Union Pacific would hire Native Americans to work alongside the Chinese. Many of the workers they hired were Native American women who were drastically underpaid at 15 cents per hour in comparison to the men who were paid $1 an hour. The railroad formed a close alliance with the Pawnee tribe, even paying them to stage battles and war dances along the railway for tourists.

The Northern Pacific Railway cuts directly through Chehalis. No doubt, the creation of this railroad dramatically impacted the lives of the Chehalis, as outsiders were brought in and cities sprung up. This basket is an important artifact in the documentation of this history.

You can read Kerry Brinkerhoff's complete article here: http://www.nps.gov/archive/gosp/history/Native_American_RR.html


On a side note, Bonnie is also very interested in the relationship between Native American culture and The Freemasons. If you have any information or art work exploring this relationship give us a call!