Tohono O'odham Basket w Deer &Saguaros

This Tohono O'odham (Papago) basket showcases their tribe's ancestral Sonoran Desert home in the design, with deer & saguaro cacti revolving around the center. This was made by the artist Verna Miguel. She wove it the traditional way: bundles of beargrass or cattails were wrapped with natural colored yucca & dark brown devil's claw. An usual greenish orange color was used to weave the saguaros, which is sourced from the root of another variety of yucca which is used less often by the Tohono O'odham (I imagine is is more difficult to harvest as it underground.)  The deer have stitched legs and antlers. The edge was detailed with ticking in the same orangish green as the cactus. This is unsigned but was found in a collection with Verna Miguel's tagged work, with the same oversewn detailing used to create other desert animals (wild cats & Rocky Mt bighorn sheep!)  It measures approx 7" H x 7" W x 1/2" D. See the other Verna Miguel baskets in the shop! 

Excellent Condition! New old stock from the 80's.

Note: The Tohono O'odham were formerly known as the Papago. Their name translates to "people of the desert." They are closely related to the Tohono Akimel, formerly known as the Pima, whose name translates to "people of the river."