Folk Arts - Master Artist - Theresa Parker

Theresa Parker. Photo by Fritz Dent.

With the excavation of 500-year-old Makah artifacts at Ozette, many tribal members have become interested in learning to weave and replicate the functional Makah baskets, which were among the relics unearthed. Original basketry styles had been disappearing when European encroachment and colonization at the turn of the 18th century forced drastic lifestyle changes in Makah culture. As a result of these changes, basketry styles changed and became hybridized. Originally these utilitarian baskets were a part of everyday life, and they still play a key role in Makah traditions.

The art of Makah basketry takes into account every part of the process, from the elements of gathering materials to the techniques of restoring baskets if they are damaged. Materials are gathered from specific places that have spiritual significance, and certain grasses are only gathered at particular times of the year.

As a recipient of a 1998 Apprenticeship grant, Theresa Parker taught Keely Parker traditional Makah basket weaving.

A recipient of a 2007 Folk Arts Apprenticeship grant, Theresa Parker taught apprentice Melissa Streun of Kingston, Washington how to work with the various styles of wrap twining cedar, beargrass, and other traditional materials, as well as right-handed and left-handed techniques in basketry.