Wa’paas basket weaving workshop with Chestina Dominguez
To honor Indigenous and traditional ways of healing, join us to practice and learn how to make a Wa’paas. You may bring your own materials and projects to work on. We have materials on hand as well.
This learning event is led by Chestina Dominguez, an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of Yakama Nation and descendant of the Warm Springs tribe. Chestina uses contemporary materials to create baskets using the ancient techniques of her ancestors.
Cultural and traditional teachings are the threads that tie us to our way of life. They are our link between the past and the present. Cultural and traditional values guide us and protect us. They are our resiliency.
— Chestina Dominguez
All ages and all levels are welcome. Light refreshments are served after the class.
There is no cost to participate. All participants receive complimentary admission to the museum on the day of the event.
The workshop takes place monthly between March and November. The final date for 2025 at Maryhill Museum of Art is Saturday, November 8.
What are Wa’paas?
From OregonHistoryProject.org:
Sally bags, known as wapaas and aqw’alkt respectively among the Wasco and Wishxam people, are woven with a unique full-turn twining method long practiced by Native Americans of the mid-Columbia River region. The baskets were used primarily by women engaged in gathering roots and medicines during the digging season, but they were also used to gather nuts, seeds, and mushrooms. Traditional human figures and animal motifs, such as frogs, condors, dogs, salmon, and sturgeon adorned these highly valued baskets, making them easily distinguishable from other basketry styles. Prior to contact with Euro Americans in the early nineteenth century, the baskets were constructed primarily of dogbane (Apacynum cannabinum, also known as Indian hemp); after contact, they were often made with manufactured cotton, hemp, or jute twines.
— Written by Joshua Binus, © Oregon Historical Society, 2005.
Press about Wa’paas at Maryhill Museum of Art
Article: Indigenous basketry workshops weave community in the Columbia Gorge
With a view of the Columbia River, Wa’paas helps heal