Mat

Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) artist

c. 1930s

Bulrush, pigment, cotton

Minneapolis Institute of Art

A woven mat with a repeating diamond pattern in green, purple, and tan. A woven mat with a repeating diamond pattern in green, purple, and tan. Baskets, like cloth textiles, are woven: they are composed of multiple elements that cross and bind one another. However, baskets are fashioned primarily by hand, without the use of a loom. With its combination of reeds traditionally used in basketry and an off-loom diagonal weaving technique, this two-dimensional mat demonstrates the affinities between textile weaving and basketry. The Anishinaabe woman who created this bulrush mat would need to depend upon her deep understandings and relationships with the intellectual, cultural, spiritual, and physical worlds