Christine Navarro Paul
Christine Navarro Paul | |
---|---|
Born | December 28, 1874 Charenton, Louisiana, U.S. |
Died | 1946 (aged 71–72) |
Occupation | Chitimacha basket maker |
Spouse | Benjamin Paul |
Parent(s) | Joseph Auguste Navarro and Augustine Marguerite Pladner |
Christine Navarro Paul (December 28, 1874 – 1946), a member of the
Beginning in her 20s, she led the efforts of the Chitimacha women to create and sell beautiful woven baskets made from dyed wild river cane. Through this work they were able to support the tribe both financially and politically. Christine Navarro Paul collaborated with several European American women, who acted as intermediaries for the marketing and sale of the baskets. The friendships that she developed with these women helped her to gain additional support for the Chitimacha tribe.
She and her husband, Benjamin Paul, Chief of the Chitimacha, took care of orphans and other children in need in their community.[1] Christine advocated for the establishment of a school within the community for Chitimacha children. In 1935, when the school was finally established, she became the lead teacher of basket weaving, which helped to ensure that the skills and artistry needed to continue to create Chitimacha baskets would not die out. Christine Navarro Paul died in 1946.[2]
Early life
Older Chitimacha women taught younger women to weave baskets from wild river cane, Arundinaria gigantea, to supplement their income. In addition they harvested food from gardens and gathered wild plants. Christine's mother died when she was seven years old and her father died when she was nine. She likely lived with her step-mother and was a student at the nearby Catholic school. There she would have learned English, a valuable skill which later enabled her to become the communication link with the white women she collaborated with to sell the Chitimacha baskets.[3]
Later life
Christine married Benjamin Paul, son of John Paul, chief of the Chitimacha.[4] Like other men in the Chitimacha tribe, he would have done seasonal work on the sugarcane plantations, logged cypress trees, as well as hunted and fished for food. At his father's death Benjamin Paul became the chief of the Chitimacha tribe.[5] Christine and Benjamin did not have any children of their own, however they did care for orphans and other needy children in their community.[6] Sara McIlhenny, one of Christine's collaborators wrote of her, "The needy, sick and orphans all turn for help to the Chief and his wife..."[7] Christine continued in her role as communicator and mediator for the Chitimacha people throughout her life. Her husband said of her to the Assistant Commissioner of Indian Affairs, that it was his wife that "is the one doing the Indian's business."[8]
Anthropologist
Her granddaughter, Ada Thomas was also a notable basketmaker.[10]
Basket making
Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands are known for crafting baskets and mats from rivercane. Chitimacha in particular are known for their complex and curvilinear designs in their rivercane baskets. The baskets, as cultural objects, also helped to establish the Chitimacha tribe as a unique Native American nation.[11]
Christine likely learned her skill at weaving baskets from Miss Clara Darden, one of the older women in the tribe who was a skilled weaver.[12] The baskets were made by collecting wild river cane, (Arundinaria gigant), which had once been plentiful, but had become increasingly difficult to find. They cut the cane and then while it was still green, split and peeled it into narrow splints to be dried and then dyed with natural dyes of yellow, black or red. It took weeks to prepare the splints before weaving could begin. The baskets were woven in one of 16 or more different patterns, with basket shapes that included mats, trays, bowls, and boxes with lids.[13] A reporter from the New Orleans Daily Picayune observed a large trunk basket and basketry cigar case which Christine Paul had made.[14]
Marketing the baskets
Mary McIlhenny Bradford, a member of the upper-class McIlhenny family on
Collections
Her work is included in the collection of the U.S. Department of the Interior Museum.[19] The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian has two unfinished, double-weave basket made by her that reveals construction techniques,[20] as well raw materials for basket making, and six finished baskets by her in different styles, from a sieve to a cow-nose basket.[21] Her work is also included in private collections.[22]
Death
Christine Navarro Paul's husband, Chief Benjamin Paul died in 1934. She continued her work of supporting the tribe by weaving baskets and teaching younger generations to weave until her death in 1946.
Notes
- ^ Usner, Daniel (2015). Weaving Alliances with Other Women. The University of Georgia Press. pp. 6–7.
- ^ Usner, Daniel (2015). Weaving Alliances with Other Women. The University of Georgia Press. pp. x.
- ^ Usner, Daniel (2015). Weaving Alliances with Other Women. The University of Georgia Press. p. 29.
- ^ Usner, "From Bayou Teche to Fifth Avenue," p. 343.
- ^ Usner, Daniel (2015). Weaving Alliances with Other Women. The University of Georgia Press. p. 14.
- ^ Usner, Daniel (2015). Weaving Alliances with Other Women. The University of Georgia Press. p. 44.
- ^ Usner, Daniel (2015). Weaving Alliances with Other Women. The University of Georgia Press. p. 47.
- ^ Usner, Daniel (2015). Weaving Alliances with Other Women. The University of Georgia Press. p. 63.
- ^ Smith, Maegan A. (2016). A Public History Meditation: Collaboration's Role in Public History with Two of Louisiana's American Indian Tribes (Master's thesis ed.). Lafayette, LA: University of Louisiana. p. 21. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
- ^ "Ada Thomas". National Endowment for the Arts. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
- ^ Usner, Daniel (2015). Weaving Alliances with Other Women. The University of Georgia Press. p. 7.
- ^ Usner, Daniel (2015). Weaving Alliances with Other Women. The University of Georgia Press. p. 6.
- ^ Usner, Daniel (2015). Weaving Alliances with Other Women. The University of Georgia Press. p. 7.
- ^ Usner, "From Bayou Teche to Fifth Avenue," pp. 343–44.
- ^ Usner, Daniel (2015). Weaving Alliances with Other Women. The University of Georgia Press. p. 6.
- ^ Usner, "From Bayou Teche to Fifth Avenue," p. 349.
- ^ Usner, Daniel (2015). Weaving Alliances with Other Women. The University of Georgia Press. pp. 8–9.
- ^ Usner, Daniel (2015). Weaving Alliances with Other Women. The University of Georgia Press. pp. 53–54.
- ^ "Lidded Basket Christine Navarro Paul (1874-1946) and Culture of Origin: Chitimacha1900/1925". U.S. Department of the Interior Museum. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
- ^ "Basket (unfinished)". National Museum of the American Indian. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
- ^ "Collections Search: Christine Paul". National Museum of the American Indian. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
- ^ Wilmot, Judith (August 2020). "Art of the Weave". Cowboys and Indians Magazine. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
References
- Kladzyk, Pamela. The Sacred Hoop: Native American Women Designers in Women Designers in the USA, 1900–2000: Diversity and Difference. Yale University Press, 2000.
- Usner, Daniel H. Weaving Alliances with Other Women: Chitimacha Indian Work in the New South. Athens, CA: University of Georgia Press, 2015.
- Usner Jr., Daniel H. (May 2013). "From Bayou Teche to Fifth Avenue: Crafting a New Market for Chitimacha Indian Baskets". The Journal of Southern History. 79 (2): 339–74. JSTOR 23795560. Retrieved December 23, 2021.