The Jicarilla Apache have been, historically so well-known for their unique basket making techniques that during colonial times, the Spanish called them, “Jicarilla” which means basket makers. Their former traditional homelands in Southern Colorado, and Northeast Mexico along the sacred rivers, consisting of the Arkansas, Rio Grande, Pecos, and Canadian Rivers, as well as streams and lakes, have been the gathering areas for willow and sumac bushes for coiling and weaving of the baskets. The basket is held in great respect by the Jicarilla because it plays a very important part in their religious ceremonies. There are specific traditional ways to make a basket in which every basket maker is to follow. A young Jicarilla girl starts learning how to make baskets as early as her sixth birthday. Under the guidance of a seasoned and skilled basket weaver, usually an adult female relative, the future artisan learns the special techniques from splitting and curing of the sumac/willow, to the central start of the spiral weaving of the materials to create the various shapes the baskets ultimately have. The designs/style are the creation of the basket weaver and can even be attributed to family and clan groups. A characteristic of   Jicarilla basket making is the final row which has a fish tail braid and a spiritual line starting from the center to the top of the basket.

Today this tradition continues through the training here at the Jicarilla Cultural Arts & Heritage Center. Many of our basket weavers have won numerous prizes and state and regional art shows and have become well-known in their own right.