Paiute Seed Beater Mono Sifter Basket

Early 20th Century

5.875" H x 14.375" L x 12" W

Hand Coiled Sifter Basket from Reno, NV

In Very Good Condition with a Hole Next to the Rim

Paiute Seed Beater and Mono Sifter Baskets are traditional woven baskets crafted by Northern Paiute people (including the Mono Lake Paiute, also known as Kucadikadi or Eastern Mono Paiute) from the Great Basin region of eastern California and Nevada. They played essential roles in gathering and processing wild seeds, a key food source in their subsistence lifestyle.

The seed beater is a twined, scoop-shaped tool with an open weave and often a looped or open-ended handle. Weavers used willow shoots for the warp and weft to create a lightweight, durable racket-like form. Women held it in one hand and struck seed-bearing plants (like grasses or wild grains), dislodging ripe seeds that fell into a separate gathering basket (often a conical burden basket) held in the other hand or on the ground.