Nisenan Mural - "solim ni" ("i sing")
A Tribute to the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe
309 Neal St, Grass Valley, CA ~ 2021
Cultural Context:
Baskets are alive. The plant material and the weaver agree to this partnership. The basket feeds the people, and the people care for and respect the basket. Nisenan people sang to their baskets, gave them water, and kept them clean. Baskets were usually burned with their maker or "owner". After a life of service they were put to rest just like humans. Basket patterns usually belonged to a single family or to an entire Nisenan district. Many of the complex patterns require an advanced skill to successfully create a design that moves across a conical surface.
Though mostly seen adorned by men today, traditionally, flicker feather regalia was used by both men and women in the Nisenan Tribe, and was significant in Ceremony and indicated leadership. We are singing life back into our endangered Nisenan Culture.
Image Description:
The Solim Ni - I Sing mural features local Nisenan Tribal member Jennifer Plunkett. As she sings out to the baskets beneath the sacred Black Oak tree, her song takes on the ghostly shape of a basket pattern used by our Nisenan Ancestors, while the flicker feather regalia comes from the Earth and entwines itself around her. Culture is embedded in the Nisenan people in this way. Now is the time to sing...
