J-1-22 Western Mono sifter.
The Western Mono (also known as the Monache Indians) traditionally were a Paiute speaking people of the Numic branch of the Uto-Aztecan linguistic family. They migrated from the Great Basin region (Mono Lake and Owens Valley) of eastern California to the western flank area of the Sierra Nevada Mountains south of Yosemite in the North Fork River region. Although the Mono Lake peoples had a pre-migration coiled basket tradition, their coiled basketry changed after their arrival in the North Fork region due to contacts with their neighbors, the Yokuts. As a consequence, Mono and Yokuts baskets can be quite similar. This is especially true of many of their twined utilitarian baskets.
These winnowing trays were called “to’o tiua” by the Mono and according to some researchers there is some question if the Yokuts may not have obtained most of their sifters from the Mono. These baskets were used for processing and winnowing various food such as seeds and acorns. Construction is open diagonal twining with the two design bands done in closed diagonal twining. The warp rods are whole peeled cottonwood rods (Populus) and the weft is split sedge root (Carex) for the white and split unpeeled California redbud (Cercis) for the red.
A large and elegantly shaped utilitarian basket. 24"long by 19"wide. Circa 1910. $950.00