Precious Cargo: California Indian Cradle Baskets and Childbirth Traditions

Precious Cargo: California Indian Cradle Baskets and Childbirth Traditions is a unique and alluring history of the baby basket in Native Californian cultures. It includes full-color photographs of specially commissioned baskets from twenty of California's tribes - from the heavily forested northwest to the deserts of the south - as well as historic photos, interviews with weavers, and details of how these sturdy and lovingly constructed baskets are created. Equally special, and gathered here for the first time, is a wealth of information on California's indigenous childbirth and child-rearing traditions: beliefs and practices to ensure fertility, easy labor, and healthy babies, stabilize families, and introduce children to a world of order and harmony.