Unknown Maker, A:shiwi (Zuñi)

The Narragansett and other New England tribes weave baskets from ash and oak trees for everyday use and the commercial market. The flowerlike stamped designs on the example at center are common across the region.

Sa’lakwmana, cloud spirit and bringer of rain, is depicted on this plaque woven from plants in the Hopi homelands in Arizona. Hopi gardener Susan Sekaquaptewa explains that the relationship with plants “is reciprocal. We offer gratitude for what they give us, and we pray for the rains and the sun that nourish them.”

Water also is precious in the Zuni homelands of western New Mexico. Pottery ollas like this one (right) were made to collect, store, and carry water.

-SB