A name that points to baskets
The name Jicarilla is a Spanish word usually translated as “little basket” or “little cup”, and it is commonly connected to the small gourd bowls and baskets associated with the people. The Jicarilla Apache Nation today has its reservation in northern New Mexico. The Jicarilla speak an Eastern Apachean language and have their own name for themselves; the Spanish term is one that outsiders applied.
Basketry and micaceous pottery are both real Jicarilla traditions, and the Jicarilla Apache people are the group most often associated with the two crafts together, though the Western Apache are also widely noted for basketry. The connection between the word and any particular object is a matter on which sources differ, and it is safest to treat the explanation as likely, not certain.
Coiled baskets
Jicarilla baskets are generally described as coiled work, built in a spiral from a foundation of plant material bound with thin stitching strands. Sumac, willow and yucca are the materials most often named, with the dark designs created from devil’s claw or from dyes in some pieces. The preparation of those materials, including splitting, scraping and soaking, takes much of the effort. The wider subject of basketry plant materials explains why access to land matters for the craft.
Forms include shallow trays, bowls and jars. Trays were used for sifting and parching seeds and for serving food. Designs often use bands and repeated geometric shapes, and some baskets are decorated with colored elements. Like other makers, Jicarilla artists decide their own patterns, and a pattern cannot be reliably read as having a fixed meaning.
Basketry in a changing economy
Jicarilla territory in earlier times included parts of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, and the people have long known neighbors including Pueblo communities and Spanish and Mexican settlers. Jicarilla reservation history was long and complicated, with a reservation established formally in the late nineteenth century; readers who need dates should consult dedicated historical sources.
Reservation life brought hardship, and basket sales became one source of income for some families, as did beadwork and other crafts. Basket production is often described as increasing around the turn of the twentieth century for sale to visitors, with the railroad and tourism bringing in more buyers. Baskets made for sale could differ from those made for home use, being sometimes more decorative and varied in shape. As with other Apache work, this belongs to the history of the Native American art market Apache makers participated in.
Over the course of the twentieth century, the number of active basket makers is generally reported to have fallen as other work and store-bought goods became available. Accounts differ about how sharply, and anyone seeking firm numbers should consult the Jicarilla Apache Nation directly.
Micaceous pottery
Jicarilla potters traditionally used clay containing mica, which gives the pots a faint sparkle and good resistance to repeated heating. These pots are generally associated with cooking, and the technique is shared in part with some northern Pueblo communities, with whom the Jicarilla traded. In this context of the Jicarilla, it matters mainly because it shows a craft that combined Apache and Pueblo contact: Jicarilla and Pueblo trade included clay, pots and food.
Pottery is an example of how a craft can be both a longstanding tradition and a minority one within a nation. Many Jicarilla families made baskets or beadwork without making pots, and some knowledge was concentrated in a few makers.
Other Jicarilla crafts
Jicarilla artists are also known for beadwork, hide work, and for leatherwork and moccasin making, and the Eastern Apache position on the edge of the Plains meant that Plains-influenced decoration is common. Jicarilla ceremonial life, including public events held at the reservation, is not described here; some aspects are not shared with outsiders.
Continuing traditions
Jicarilla artists today work in many media, and families and cultural programs continue to teach crafts. Those interested in buying work or learning more are best served by the Jicarilla Apache Nation’s own official channels, which provide current information on events, museums and programs. Work should be bought from the artist or a reputable seller, with a clear statement of the maker’s nation, so that income reaches the makers and fakes do not undermine them.