The Great Basin/Pacific
Plateau comprises the area between the Rocky Mountains
on the East and the Sierra Nevada on the West.
The barren deserts of Utah, Nevada and Southern
Oregon.
The scattered bands of
Paiute and Shoshone People living in this region
are the most primitive of any in the United States.
A bare subsistence economy based on seed gathering,
supplemented by hunting left little time for artistic
production. Basketry is the highest development
in this area along with some sculpture in stone.
The Ghost Dance Religion
started here by the prophet WOVOKA in 1889. A
Paiute from Pyramid Lake, his visions had profound
implications for the Tribes to the East where
its tenants if practiced properly would relieve
the suffering of the European invasion. The Plateau
area of Idaho, Washington, Inland British Columbia
and Northern Oregon were somewhat less isolated
than the Great Basin.
The People largely subsisted
on roots and berries supplemented with the abundance
of fish from the two great rivers of the area,
the Columbia and Fraser River. In the early days
the people lived in semi-subterranean houses but
later adopted the Plains Tepee. Basketry was highly
developed as well as a highly sophisticated use
of hide for clothes embellished with geometric
designs in beadwork, wood and bone.
Carving was highly developed
by the groups along the Columbia River;bowls,
ladles, and figures were carved in a distinct
style showing the skeletal framework of a figure.
The Plains people showed great influence on this
area in beadwork designs and patterning of clothing.
Twined Cornhusk and trade cloth containers later
to become known as Friendship Bags made of beadwork
on cloth were made throughout the area.
The Nez Perce were noted
for their breeding of the Appaloosa Horse and
are made resplendent to this present day at Fairs
and Parades with elaborately decorated Horse Trappings
in the form of Saddles, Martingales and Cruppers. |
