The 100 year old building that houses the Sisson Museum in Mount Shasta was buzzing Friday evening for the season opening History Night event.
Featuring an extensive display of Native American basketry, donated by the Linebarger family and accented with pieces borrowed from Redding’s Turtle Bay Museum, basket weaving demonstrations by Karuk tribe member Wilverna Reece, the Boy Scout’s centennial display and the rejuvenated Italian American Heritage display, the evening was a well attended success, said museum director Perry Sims.
“As always, it’s wonderful to see the community come together to support the museum,” Sims said to the crowd of about 125 who gathered for the event. “This non profit is an organization we can all be proud of.”
Sims said the Native American basketry came to the Sisson Museum as a generous donation from the Bruce and Lynn Linebarger family trust.
“The 36 baskets were part of the Stella and Ernest Wheeler, Sr. collection,” Sims said. “We wanted the collection to stay here. It’s important to me that we honor the Native American cultures on whose shoulders we stand as we occupy their lands.”
Sims said many members of the community came together to raise the $2,850 needed to provide a safe and secure display for the aging baskets, and thanked each of them for their generous contribution.
To accent the newly acquired collection, Sims explained that pieces from the Fort Jones Museum and the Turtle Bay Museum in Redding were borrowed and will be on display until May 9.
Turtle Bay curator Julia Pennington Cronin told the crowd that the majority of the baskets were Karuk, Yurok and Hoopa, or a combination of the three.
“My favorite basket isn’t the decorative one, it’s the basket with the burn in the bottom from a hot rock, or the gathering basket with rub marks from a woman’s shoulder with her hair caught in it... the baskets that were made to be used and loved,” Pennington Cronin said.
“It’s wonderful to see that people are still making baskets and passing along the art,” she said of Reece’s demonstration. “This is an art that is not dead.”
Sims then discussed several of the changes that had been made in the museum over the winter, including the revitalization of the Italian American exhibit which opened last year and the update of the chronology wall by docent and former Mount Shasta Elementary School teacher Jean Nels.
Eagle Scout Anders Dombroski then spoke about the Boy Scouts, who are celebrating their 100th anniversary this year.
A large display of Boy Scout enthusiast Dick Lange’s personal collection of memorabilia will continue to be on display throughout the year.
Furious bidding then took place for a large Native American stone mortar and pestle, which is thought to be of regional origin.
Mount Shasta’s Carol Ross finally made the $550 winning bid.
Food was donated to the event by Cornerstone Cafe, Cafe Maddalena, the Tree House and the Mount Shasta Resort. A large selection of raffle prizes were donated by various local businesses.
The Sisson Museum is now open for the season. Currently, the hours are 1 to 4 p.m. seven days a week.
Mount Shasta, Calif. —
