Aurelia Ojeda's magnifacent rattlesnake basket tray wins the kumeyaay.info editor's prize for outstanding ethnographic tribal basket, for its simplicity and design. She has the gift and drive for this work and Aurelia is in my top three favorite California Indian basket weaving ethnographic artists.

Aurelia's oldest daughter is in the background with a big smile on her face, photo taken by Gary Ballard on November 2, 2005. The image was framed this way in camera, only minimal cropping off the right side. If you look, you can see the village pride in the faces of the children for these genuine basket artifacts.

Canasta Cesta de Indios Americano Nativo

BELOW: This is the first time I met Aurelia and her three children, on December 21, 2004 at her ranch home in San Jose de la Zorra. She is holding the actual prize-winning Indian basket as a basket start in the lower photo.

I recall she said she had about two months work in the basket start (below) -- add time to complete her prized snake basket -- and she would have 3-4 months full time work in a basket such as this.

Aurelia completed the famous Campo band Kumeyaay basket over 4-5 months working full time in 2006:

Aurelia Ojeda, Kumeyaay Basket Maker Biography

Photos, Writing and Web Page Design Contributed by webmaster, GARY G BALLARD, San Diego.