Lucy Parker Telles (/1885–1955/6) was a Mono Lake Paiute - Kucadikadi ( Northern Paiute) and Southern Sierra Miwok (Yosemite Miwok) Native American basket weaver.Giese, Paula
"Miwok-Paiute Tradition."
''Yosemite Basket Makers - Native American Art.'' 14 Oct 1996 (retrieved 7 Dec 2009)

Background

Lucy Telles was born near Mono Lake, in Mono County,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Her native name was Pamahas, which translates to "Meadows" in the Northern Paiute language."The Town Meeting."
''National Park Service.'' (retrieved 7 Dec 2009) Her parents were Louisa and Mack Tom. Her maternal grandparents were Mono Lake Paiute Captain Sam and Mono "Yosemite Paiute" Susie Sam. She and her family lived in

Yosemite Valley Yosemite Valley ( ; ''Yosemite'', Miwok for "killer") is a U-shaped valley, glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountains of Central California, United States. The valley is about long a ...

and at

Mono Lake Mono Lake ( ) is a Salt lake, 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 Hypersaline lake, high levels of salts to accumulate in the lake ...

. As a child, Telles played near

Galen Clark Galen Clark (March 28, 1814 – March 24, 1910) was a British North American-born American conservationist and writer. He is known as the first European American to discover the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoia trees, and is notable for his ro ...

's cabin. To supplement her family's income, she caught fish in the Valley to sell to hotel keepers. Telles' first husband was Jack Parker, a Paiute. In 1902 they had a son, Lloyd Parker, but shortly after he was born, Jack died. She later married John Telles, a

Mexican-American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

from

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. John worked as a truck driver and laborer for the Yosemite Park & Curry Company, and the couple lived in

. Lucy Telles was one of a group of Mono-Paiute women that "became known for their exceedingly fine, visually stunning and complex polychrome baskets." Other

basket weaving Basket weaving (also basketry or basket making) is the process of weaving or sewing pliable materials into three-dimensional artifacts, such as baskets, mats, mesh bags or even furniture. Craftspeople and artists specialized in making baskets ...

artists in this group included Nellie Charlie and Carrie Bethel.

Art career

Telles, who learned

as a child, was well known for her fine basketry during her lifetime. Her innovations in basket weaving had a lasting influence on Yosemite weavers. While traditional Miwok baskets had one color, she used two colors per basket. She created black from bracken fern root ('' Pteridium aquilinum'') and red from split redbud twigs. She created new basketry designs, some inspired by

Plains Indian Plains Indians or Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies are the Native American tribes and First Nations peoples who have historically lived on the Interior Plains (the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies) of North ...

geometric beadwork. Lucy sold her baskets to Yosemite visitors. By the 1920s, Telles was regarded as the best basket weaver in Yosemite Valley. In 1924, she won a prize of $100 for her baskets. Her most famous basket was the largest known to have been woven in Yosemite Valley. It sold for $250 in 1939. An enormous basket with a 36" diameter that took her four years to weave took first prize at the 1933 World's Fair. In 1950, Telles raffled off this basket, her son won it, and the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

purchased it for their Yosemite Museum. Lucy demonstrated basket making to park visitors from 1930 until her death in 1955 or 1956. She taught her grandson's wife, Julia Peter Parker ( Kashaya Pomo) how to weave baskets. She was one of the most prolific

and Yosemite – Mono Lake Paiute basket makers. Several of her baskets are featured at the

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The p ...

Indian museum.

Legacy

Two of her baskets were part of an exhibition on the art of Yosemite which appeared at the Autry National Center, the

Oakland Museum of California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

, the Nevada Museum of Art and the

Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art The Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art is an art museum in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The Eiteljorg houses an extensive collection of visual arts by indigenous peoples of the Americas as well as Western Ame ...

from 2006 to 2008. One of her baskets from the collection of the California Academy of Sciences, is currently on exhibit at the California Museum in Sacramento.

References

External links

Photo of Lucy Telles with her largest basket.

Lucy Telles demonstrating basketmaking in Yosemite National Park.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Telles, Lucy Native American basket weavers Miwok people Northern Paiute people Weavers from California 19th-century births Year of birth uncertain 1956 deaths People from Mono County, California 20th-century American artists 20th-century American women artists Native American women artists American women basket weavers American basket weavers 20th-century Native American artists 20th-century Native American women Native American people from California

Background

Art career

Legacy

See also

References

External links