Marion Steinbach
Indian Basket Museum



Tahoe City, California

Welcome to the Edmund S. Barnett wing of the Gatekeepers' Cabin Museum, which houses the Marion Steinbach Indian Basket Collection. The two names associated with this collection each have a reputation for expertise and community service.

Marion Steinbach's lifelong interest in Native American art and culture led her to study and collect representative baskets and artifacts, and by the time of her death in 1991, she had gathered over 800 rare and diverse baskets, dolls and artifacts, each of which she carefully described and documented - truly a collection of world-class stature.

Marion was herself a weaver of considerable skill and artistry, and taught basket weaving classes each summer at the Museum. Several of her works are displayed within its walls, along with the representative works of over 50 tribes, including our local Washoe and Paiutes, as well as other tribal weavers from the Great Plains to Alaska. Baskets of several tribes of the Klamath Lake and River region are well represented.

It was Marion's intent to collect a variety of basket and artifact types for as many tribes as possible, and the woven works range in size from burden baskets measuring nearly three feet in diameter to highly detailed sample pieces as small as 1/4". Adding to the intriguing diversity of the collection are such artifacts as gambling trays and caribou hoof rattles. One display cabinet contains nothing but woven hats.

Edmund S. Barnett, for whom the Museum wing which houses the basket collection was named, also passed away in 1991. For more than 30 years, Barnett had practiced law in Incline Village, selflessly devoting his free time and multiple talents to countless civic causes on the North Shore and beyond. He had been an active member and supporter of the North Lake Tahoe Historical Society since its inception, serving as its President, attorney and dauntless guiding light. Thus it was most appropriate that the new Museum wing bear his name.



Volunteer, Aleta Drake, cleaning the baskets


The Museum's changing gallery features extraordinary baskets of the great Washoe artists Lena Frank Dick and Tillie Frank James, on loan from the State of California.

Open April 30- Sept 28, 2003
April 30 - June 15 Wed-Sun 11am-5pm
June 15 - September 28 Open daily 11am-5pm

Open October 2003 - April 2004
Wednesday - Sunday by appointment.
Please call 530-583-1762 for information

 

Marion Steinback Indian Baskets Museum
130 West Lake Blvd.
Tahoe City, CA 96145-6141
(530) 583-1762
nlths@tahoecountry.com


North Lake Tahoe Historical Society | Gatekeeper's Museum | Watson Cabin
Indian Basket Museum | Membership Information




Photos by Kathie Hoxie


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