News From Native California - Spring 2015 Volume 28, Issue 3 | Page 30

Ending with a Story
To close, I leave you with this story. A story full of power,
knowledge, and the capacity our ancestors and Old Ones had
to communicate with the spirits of the land.
This story was told to me by my father. He started making baskets at the age of seven. He was raised by his aunts
and grandmas. He did not speak fluent Mono but had a high
level of understanding. He ended up being honored by the
National Endowment of the Arts as the first California Master Basketweaver. My mother was raised by her grandparents, and left school in the eighth grade. She spoke several
languages and many dialects. Her grandparents were born in
the late 1830s. She was an owl woman, a great horned owl
walked along the trail with her when she was five years