Artwork copyright Nettie Kuneki Jackson. Photo courtesy of the artist, 1986.

Artwork copyright Nettie Kuneki Jackson. Photo courtesy of the artist, 1986.

T' at' atiya Basket, 1985

Nettie Kuneki Jackson
(American | Yakama Nation | Klickitat, born 1942, died 2013)

Location: Washington State Arts Commission, Olympia

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

T' at' atiya Basket is part of late Native American artist Nettie Kuneki Jackson's body of traditional Klickitat baskets. This basket is an example of "schklup", a type of functional basket made from redcedar that would have been used to collect and store fruit and berries.

This artwork is part of Beyond Blue Mountains, a collection that was curated by late Tlingit (Native Alaskan) artist Jim Schoppert. It presents the work of Native American artists of diverse heritage, ideas, materials, and styles. The collection takes an in-depth look at the artists’ unique voices and interpretations of tradition.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Department of Corrections.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Native American artist Nettie Kuneki Jackson (Yakama and Klickitat, 1942-2013) is a celebrated and respected Klickitat basket maker, descended from a family of master basket weavers. The Klickitat people are from Central Washington and Oregon.

Kuneki Jackson did not learn basket weaving until age thirty, as it seemed unimportant to modern life. Growing up, she spent her summers with her Klickitat grandmother, Mattie Spencer Slockish, who was a skilled basket maker. Later she watched her mother-in-law, Elsie Thomas, make baskets using traditional shapes and materials such as beargrass and split cedar. Jackson was inspired by these women and by her mother's wish before her death in 1972, that her daughters take up tribal traditions. She carried on those traditions as a prolific and creative basket maker who was also dedicated to keeping the tradition of Klikitat basket weaving alive.

Kuneki Jackson co-authored a book titled "The Heritage of Klickitat Basketry" (1982). She was also featured in the award-winning documentary film "And Woman Wove It In a Basket" (1989) that examines the spiritual and cultural importance of basket weaving as a way for contemporary Klickitat women to reclaim their native heritage. She was honored with a Washington State Governor's Heritage Award in 1992 and a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2000. She lived and worked in the small town of White Swan, near Yakima, Central Washington.