Tohono O'odham horsehair baskets by Rochelle Enos are featured at Bair's.

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Tohono O'odham Man in the Maze Basket
The Tohono O'odham people are world-famous for their intricately woven miniature horsehair baskets, many of which feature pictorial themes, such as the ones on this page. The horsehair is all natural colors of black, white and shades of brown.

Basketweaver: Rochelle Enos
Biographical information on Indian basketmakers of the Southwest.

Natural horsehair, miniature basket.

Miniature Man in the Maze horsehair basket by Rochelle Enos.

Man in the Maze, or Elder Brother
Material: Natural black and white horsehair.
Size: 2.5" diamenter " and 1/2" deep.
Handmade by: Rochelle Enos, of the Tohono O'odham Nation.
Comes with a clear acrylic stand (not pictured), at no charge.

Itol, the Man in the Maze, by Rochelle Enos

This side view shows the proportion of the basket depth and Iitoi, the man in the maze.
Order with confidence as your Satisfaction is Guaranteed.

Item Number: 65-RE-702
Price: $180.00
S/H: $7.90, includes insurance.

To order this item, use our secure Shopping Cart or contact us.

The "Man in the Maze" legend is of Iitoi, also known as Elder Brother. Spared from death by his creator because of his true and honest ways, he was chosen to help create the Hohokam people from whom the Tohono O'odham descended, after a flood killed all the other desert people who had turned sinful. The legend goes on, and takes on deeper meanings of birth of the individual, the family and the tribe, and of one's confrontation and coming to terms with their own death.

Members of the Tohono O'odham tribal nation (formerly known as Papago Indians), live along the Arizona, Mexico border. Their present tribal lands, established in 1874, consist of a three parcel reservation of 2,854,881 acres (approximately 5,000 square miles), in the Sonoran Desert in south central Arizona and into Mexico, an area comparable in size to the state of Connecticut, but with a population of 27,500 members. Basket making is a long-honored tradition of the Tohono O'odham people who make baskets from various materials such as willow, yucca (most common today), and horsehair. Traditionally, the men harvested the materials and women were the basketmakers. Some families began making the natural material harvesting a family event leading to a transition where now there are some men who are basketmakers in their families as well.
Decorative Tohono O'odham basket patterns include fret designs, turtle back designs, coyote tracks, dragging coyote tracks, cross designs, stars, squash blossoms, dust-devils, human figures, saguaro fruit picking scenes, the well-known "man in the maze" pattern, and representations of antelopes, bats, bees, ducks, humming birds, rattlesnakes, and turtles. Some designs are done in the negative using devil's claw as the the background and yucca or willow for the contrasting design.

See books for sale about American Indian Baskets.

PLEASE NOTE: Orders of multiple items may result in a reduction of the total
amount charged for shipping/handling/insurance that is listed per item.
Any such reduction will occur before charging your credit card.

Free Shipping/Handling/Insurance on all Navajo rug orders over $500.00
Free Shipping/Handling/Insurance on all other orders over $250.00
(S/H/I fees posted on orders of multiple items that when added together total over $500.00 for
rugs, or over $250.00 for all other items will be adjusted off before charging your credit card.)

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