Art history students study the ancestral practices of the Pomo Weavers Society

Graduate students enrolled in Jessica Horton’s curatorial seminar, ARTH602: Woven Vessels, Pomo Futures, stuck their hands in the mud during a unique 2025 spring break field study in northern California. Led by members of the Pomo Weavers Society (PWS), the students dug for sedge roots, harvested willow branches, split red bud stems and tried to weave cordage from dogbane throughout Pomo homelands, which span present-day Mendocino, Sonoma and Lake Counties. The group studied family basket collections in regional museums and listened to weavers’ stories of colonialism, survival and artistic revitalization. They practiced relational and collaborative methods for curating with (rather than about) Indigenous communities in preparation for an exhibition of historical and contemporary Pomo baskets that will open in Mechanical Hall Gallery at University of Delaware in spring 2027. 

The students learned firsthand that weaving a Pomo basket “takes a thousand years,” as weaver Susan Billy put it. Many generations have tended the wild plant gardens needed to produce strong, straight, healthy roots and stems that eventually become superlative weaving fibers. For millennia in California, tending basketry plants has promoted the wellbeing of entire ecosystems. The stunning woven, beaded and befeathered vessels that have boosted Pomo artists to international fame are only the final step in a complex relational process. Yet the reciprocity between environmental health and Indigenous arts has suffered from centuries of colonial land theft, fire suppression policies, development, pollution and climate change. 

Revitalizing weaving practices

Formed in 2019, the all-ages PWS is bringing back their ancestral harvesting weaving practices. The group emphasizes that “reclaiming our lands, sharing ecological knowledge and restoring our ancestral gathering sites” are necessary steps to “foster, support, uplift, nurture and inspire the next generation of weavers.” 

Silver Galleto, vice chairperson of Cloverdale Rancheria and founder of the Pomo Weavers Society, Meyo Marrufo, Eastern Pomo of Clear Lake/Robinson Rancheria artist and curator, and Sherrie Smith-Ferri, Ph.D., Dry Creek Pomo Tribal Historic Preservation officer and the foremost scholar of Pomo baskets, generously co-taught the field study alongside Horton.

The March 2025 trip launched a two-year-long process during which graduate students at University of Delaware will conduct historical research into the Penn Museum’s unparalleled collection of early 20th century Pomo baskets in dialogue with contemporary weavers and their arts. In spring 2027, the loan exhibition will tell the multi-generational story of Pomo baskets with behind-the-scenes documentation of the field study process. Fundraising is underway to bring PWS members to the mid-Atlantic region in 2027 to celebrate the exhibition, study their ancestor’s baskets firsthand and share their knowledge with our campus community.

The ARTH602 group is grateful for the generous collaboration of the PWS, University of Delaware Museums Staff and the Penn Museum. Funding for the field study was provided by the Mellon Foundation Curatorial Track Ph.D. Grant and the Interdisciplinary Humanities Research Center Collections-Based Course Grant.