The neighborhoods surrounding the University of Arizona hold a bounty of local treasures, from the Postal History Museum to an Ace Hardware with unrivaled vintage ambience. Also on this list of UA area unique institutions is Ha:san Prepartory and Leadership School “a bicultural public high school for Tohono O’odham youth and Native students interested in a college prep curriculum.” Ha:san, its name comes from the O’odham word for saguaro cactus, occupies a former church at the corner of 10th and Santa Rita, just south of campus.

Lois Liston has taught basketry at Ha:san for over 12 years. Every spring term roughly fifty 10th graders learn to weave in her classroom, which is well stocked with traditional basketry materials that the students have gathered on fieldtrips or grown on-site: yucca (ta:kwi), beargrass (mo:ho), devil’s claw (i:hug) and red banana yucca root (howi tatk). Three classes meet twice a week from January through mid-March in a program that integrates weaving and attendant cultural practices with the more formal curricula of writing, biology, and math.

Instituted by Tohono O’odham basketry artist Terrol Johnson, who also was a co-founder of the school that opened in 1998, the basketry program at Ha:san Prep began in 2000. “I was so thrilled when we went to the state to apply for charter school status and were successful,” Johnson recalls. “Our goal was to have O’odham students exposed to important aspects of their culture such as basketry and storytelling along with college prep curriculum.” Johnson is now the executive director and CEO of TOCA (Tohono O’odham Community Action), a nonprofit organization based in Sells dedicated to compatible goals of preserving traditional O’odham foods and life ways, including basketry.

Lois Liston first began working at Ha:san as an aide to Terrol Johnson. She comes from a long line of fine basket weavers, having first learned the craft from her maternal grandmother, Christine Johnson. When Terrol Johnson moved on to the TOCA directorship, Liston took over the cultural arts program that, in addition to basketry, also includes pottery making, storytelling, games, the calendar and harvesting traditional plants.

“Students come to Ha:san in order to learn more about who they are and where they came from,” notes Liston. “One thing I love about my work is how every group of students is different. Most are Tohono O’odham, but we also have Yaquis [Yoemem] and Mexican O’odham students.” Liston continues: “Perhaps one-third of my students are somewhat familiar with basketry processes, but the rest have had no exposure, and they are wowed when we go out gathering materials and then bring them back to process and to begin weaving.”

Ha:san student Taylor Miguel remembers the first time she tried basketry as a little girl, at the age of six or seven. Now, almost a decade later, she is happy to return to the craft, learning from Lois Liston who was her original teacher as well. “Starting a basket is like starting a memory in my head. It reminds me of who I am.” “Ms. Liston has told us that we should give our first basket to an elder, someone we love,” She adds, “That is the hard part, for me to choose, because I love so many people.” Lexi Lopez plans to give her first basket to her grandfather. “He helped me through a lot of stuff through the years, with school and all. I never gave him anything in return, and now I can. I think he will like it.”

Ryan Pablo Moreno also was introduced to basket weaving when he was very young, which he thinks has helped him this time around. “I’m surprised that I’m catching on quicker than I thought I would. But weaving really takes a lot of patience!”

Students proudly include their basketry at the end of the school year when Ha:san holds its annual Academic Showcase. Have any students gone on to become full-time basket weavers? “Not that I know of,” says Ms. Liston. “But a few have continued to weave and all of the students come away with knowledge of how to make baskets. They learn patience and appreciation for the hard work that goes into the craft. Some have written about their experience with basketry as part of their course work at Tohono O’odham Community College or other schools they have enrolled in.”

The students also are able to assist their elderly O’odham relatives by bringing them yucca and beargrass, having been shown the proper ways to gather these materials. The process includes offering blessings and taking care to not injure the plants while harvesting the leaves and roots.

“I encourage the non-O’odham students in my class to use what they learn about our culture as a launching point to explore their own traditions,” adds Ms. Liston.

The Arizona State Museum (ASM) has enjoyed partnering with Ha:san over the 15 years of the high school’s existence. The students have been exposed to ASM’s collections of Tohono O’odham and other Native cultural arts, and have learned about museums from a behind-the-scenes perspective. Museum programs such as the recent exhibit, Through the Eyes of the Eagle: Illustrating Healthy Living, have been immeasurably enriched with refreshing youthful Native perspectives about their cultures and the world at large.

Perhaps at a future Arizona State Museum Southwest Indian Art Fair one of Lois Liston’s students will receive a blue ribbon for basketry or some other artistic endeavor in the juried competition. Ha:san students and members of Lois Liston’s family will be at Arizona State Museum this Saturday for our Culture Craft Saturday family program. They are part of the  No:Ligk Traditional Singers and Dancers performing group. Lois’s daughter Lyn Liston will demonstrate traditional Tohono O’odham basket making. Lyn and others from her family will lead a hands-on basket weaving activity. Come join us!

This blog was written by Diane Dittemore, ASM’s ethnological collections curator and lead curator for the Basketry Treasured exhibit.

Editor’s Note:  This Saturday’s Culture Craft Saturday family program celebrates the museum’s 120th birthday with the theme of continuity and change in traditions. Join us for music and dance, demonstrations by master craft artists, hands-on activities, and a chance to meet with curators and see special collections. Check out the full schedule!