A century and two years later, 70-year-old Santa Barbara native Susanne Hammel-Sawyer took a class out of curiosity to learn something about her ancestors’ basket-making skills. The basket reeds often develop a reddish tint at the bottom part of the plant when they’re drying. The baskets at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and the Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultural Center belong to family members who were willing to loan them out for display. (Sara Prince / For The Times)AdvertisementAfter Hammel-Sawyer’s first marriage ended, she worked as an assistant children’s librarian in Santa Barbara and met a reference librarian named Ben Sawyer. Most Chumash baskets have some kind of pattern, although today people have to guess at the meaning of the symbols, Timbrook said.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 08, 2026 21:31 UTC