Sadie

My artwork is making Tohono O’odham baskets. I’m also Hopi, so my baskets combine Hopi with Tohono O’odham tradition. But mine are a little different than other basket weavers because they have different colors. I don’t dye my materials. They’re from Tohono O’odham reservation–banana yucca root is the red, yellow yucca, green yucca, white yucca, and devils claw, which is black. O’odham dancers use my baskets when they’re dancing, and also for coming out into womanhood. So that puts me close to the culture. I never had a coming out, but my daughter did. And I did baskets for her. She’s a basket weaver too. My greatest joy is to be among the O’odham people. We are like a family. We go a lot of places, to New York, or Reno, Nevada to do our basketry, and that brings me a lot of joy.

-Sadie