Meet the Maker: Hopi Artist Creates a Basket to Unite the World

In a small room that connects Iskasokpu Gallery to the home of Iva Honyestewa, floor-to-ceiling shelves line the walls and a window looks out over an Arizona canyon striated in color.

Iva—Hopi name Honwynum, which means Female Bear Walking—weaves two traditional Hopi baskets, the coil (poota) and the sifter (tutsaya).

For Iva, basketweaving is both a spiritual endeavor and a communal activity. When she weaves alone, it's meditation. When she weaves with others, it’s a time to talk and laugh.

Iva's creation, the pootsaya, emerged in 2014, during her artist residency at the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe, and it's the first of its kind in the world. Now, Iva and her niece Reba Ann Lomayestewa, whom Iva taught how to weave the pootsaya, are the only basketweavers making it.

To purchase the coil, sifter or pootsaya basket from Iva Honyestewa or Reba Ann Lomayestewa, contact Iva or Reba, or check out the Hopi Arts Trail.
Iva: https://hopiartstrail.com/members/bas...
Reba: https://hopiartstrail.com/members/bas...
Hopi Arts Trail: https://hopiartstrail.com/

More Arizona makers: https://www.visitarizona.com/meet-the...