Tina Charlie (born Tina Jim in

Mono Lake Mono Lake ( ) is a saline soda lake in Mono County, California, formed at least 760,000 years ago as a terminal lake in an endorheic basin. The lack of an outlet causes high levels of salts to accumulate in the lake which make its water a ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

; 1869–1962) was a Native North American basketweaver. Affiliated with the Kucadikadi tribe, she wove baskets for her own use and that of others in the tribe. An innovative weaver, she incorporated materials and motifs that were not common in the

Mono Lake Paiute The Kucadikadi are a band of Northern Paiute people who live near Mono Lake in Mono County, California. They are the southernmost band of Northern Paiute.Fowler and Liljeblad 437Arkush, Brooke S"Historic Northern Paiute Winter Houses in Mono Basi ...

basketweaving tradition. In the 1920s, she produced fancy three-rod woven baskets for non-Indian markets and continued making them until her death. In the 1880s, she married Young Charlie, a

Paiute Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three groups do not form a single set. The term "Paiu ...

man from Yosemite. She was married to the same man as her sister, Nellie. She lived with her sister for the rest of her life, and they likely influenced each other's craft. In 2006, one of Tina Charlie's baskets sold for a then-record price of $336,250, three times the presale estimate. Another of her baskets sold for $248,250. Both were collected by Ella Cain of

Bridgeport, California Bridgeport is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Mono County, California, United States. It is the Mono county seat. The population was 553 at the 2020 census. The first post office at Bridgeport opened in 1864. T ...

in the 1920s, and were formerly displayed at the Bridgeport Museum.

Work

Tina Charlie is recognized as an innovative weaver for her finely crafted baskets. She received recognition during the Yosemite Indian Field Days, for which she was known to enter baby baskets. Competitive events such as these would allow her to earn additional income and reputation. She created one of the earliest-documented negatively patterned baskets at the 1925 and 1926 Yosemite Indian Field Days basketry competitions. The baskets had black backgrounds, using black-dyed

bracken fern Bracken (''Pteridium'') is a genus of large, coarse ferns in the family (biology), family Dennstaedtiaceae. Ferns (Pteridophyta) are vascular plants that have alternating generations, large plants that produce spores and small plants that produ ...

root as the main sewing material, and patterned with buff-colored sedge root and red-brown split

redbud ''Cercis'' is a genus of about 10 species in the subfamily Cercidoideae of the pea family Fabaceae, native to warm temperate regions. It contains small deciduous trees or large shrubs commonly known as redbuds. They are characterised by si ...

. Her motifs were derived by adapting patterns from the

Maidu The Maidu are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of northern California. They reside in the central Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada, in the watershed area of the Feather River, Feather and American River, American ...

tradition.

Exhibitions

This list of exhibitions was sourced from the St. James Guide to Native North American Artists. *Bishop Harvest Days,

Bishop, California Bishop (formerly Bishop Creek) is a city in California, United States. It is the largest populated place and only incorporated city in Inyo County. Bishop is located near the northern end of the Owens Valley, at an elevation of . The city was ...

(1916) *Indian Field Days, Yosemite Valley, California (1925) *Indian Field Days, Yosemite Valley, California (1926) *Indian Field Days, Yosemite Valley, California (1929) *Wai-Pai-Shone Trading Post, Stewart, Nevada (1930s) *Mono County Museum,

(1970-1988) *

Yosemite Museum The Yosemite Museum is located in Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park in California. Founded in 1926 through the efforts of Ansel Franklin Hall, the museum's displays focus on the heritage and culture of the Ahwahnechee people who lived ...

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ...

, California (1971-1996)

Collections

This list of collections was sourced from the St. James Guide to Native North American Artists. *Redding Museum and Art Center, Redding, California *

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

References

External links

Tina Charlie baskets in Bonhams auction catalog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charlie, Tina 1869 births 1962 deaths Native American basket weavers Northern Paiute people Artists from California People from Mono County, California 20th-century American women artists Native American women artists Women basketweavers 20th-century Native Americans 20th-century Native American women

Work

Exhibitions

Collections

Further reading

References

External links