Mural
About Louisa Keyer
Considered one of Nevada’s most important artists, Louisa Keyser, known commonly as Datsolalee (daćiló·liɁ), was a Washoe woman known for making extraordinary baskets. She lived in and around Carson City, Carson Valley, and Lake Tahoe, where she made and sold baskets from about 1870 until 1925.
In 1871, she traveled to the mining town of Monitor in Alpine County, California, and worked for the Harris Cohn family as a domestic worker. Around 1895, she met Abe and Amy Cohn, owners of the Emporium store located in Carson City. The Emporium, which was initially a men’s clothing store, quickly became known as a place to purchase made-for-sale basketry and other Native American made curios. In 1899 her baskets were carefully recorded in a ledger, where each basket received a unique catalog number, description, and name. From 1895 until 1925, Louisa manufactured baskets that were sold at the Emporium and the Cohn’s Tahoe satellite shop, the Bicose (after bík’us, the Washoe word for cradle basket). In return, Abe and Amy provided room and board to Louisa and Charlie. Lousia Keyser made baskets exclusively for their Emporium for almost 30 years.
She is best known for her degíḱɨp or “day-gee-coop” baskets. This type begins with a small, circular base, extends up and out to a maximum circumference, then becomes smaller until the opening at the top is roughly the same diameter as the base. By 1902 some of Louisa’s baskets sold for up to $2000. Louisa Keyser died in December 1925.
About The Artist
Gregg Deal, Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, is a multi-disciplinary award-winning artist, activist, and “disruptor.” His grandparents attended the Stewart Indian Boarding School in south Carson City. His work is informed by his Native identity and includes exhaustive critiques of American society, politics, popular culture and history. Through paintings, murals, performance work, filmmaking, spoken word, and more, Deal invites the viewer to confront these issues both in the present and the past tense.
Gregg Deal has exhibited his work at notable institutions both locally, nationally, and internationally including the Denver Art Museum, RedLine Gallery, and The Smithsonian Institution. The artist currently lives with his wife and five children along the Front Range of Colorado.
Under One Sky Basketry Gallery: Waší∙šiw GuwáɁ
We invite you to visit
Under One Sky Basketry Gallery: Waší∙šiw GuwáɁ
featuring the works of well-known Washoe weavers such as Louisa Keyser (Datsolalee), Scees Bryant Possock, Sarah Jim Mayo, Maggie Mayo James, Lena Frank Dick, Lizzie Toby Peters, and Neola Pete Esqueda.
The gallery provides information about how baskets are made, and the materials Native weavers use for manufacturing baskets. Waší∙šiw GuwáɁ translates to “Work of the Washoe People.”
