Archives for April 2012

 

The Burundi Baskets are a blend of Native American and traditional Tanzanian weaving styles both using a single-rod coil with a self-coiled rim finish that has been primarily employed to make serving and storage containers in both cultures for centuries.(1)  These unique specimens are the artistic endeavor of Venantia Mukangeruka a Rwandan born women who spent twenty-three years in a refugee camp in Tanzania before being relocated to Boise where she and most of her family live currently.  Mukangeruka belonged to a cooperative association of Burundi women who worked full-time making baskets to support their families and she now supplements her income in Idaho selling her unique integrated style, using plastic shopping bags as her medium.  These baskets, while artistic, are at their core a means of survival for Mukangeruka and her family here in Idaho as well as back in Africa.(2)

1. Turnbaugh, Sarah P., and William A. Turnbaugh. Indian Baskets. Atglen, PA: Schifter Publishing, 2004.

2.”Congo Refugee Weaves New Life.” Idaho Statesman, , sec. A9, March 04, 2012.

Photos Provided by Idaho State Historical Society:

-Burundi style baskets (2010.19.17, .20, .32): Made by Venantia Mukangeruka in 2010, plastic woven over wicker

•   Traditions in Transition: A Recipe for Change
  
• Venantia Mukangeruka: Burundi Basketry

 

 

For many centuries, basketry has been an artistic staple in the lives of Native American women in Idaho. With their mastery of several weaving techniques, Native American women of the Great Basin have been able to provide this art form for a multitude of uses – for trade, storage, décor, and accessory. This craft form is not a lost art either; the importance and utilitarian purposes remain today, as made evident by the Burundi baskets. With it’s multitude of uses, basketry is a craft that will likely continue and remain important to both the women and communities of  Idaho.