Gift courtesy of Carl E. Fisher
Commercial cotton string was used to loop around the rods in twin half-hitches holding the cradle together. Other materials like jute was also a popular cordage string used on Pomo cradles. It was readily available in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to the Pomo Indians who worked in the local hop fields. If a Pomo mother was working in the fields, the cradle, with the infant safely secured inside, would be set upright in a small hole that kept the rounded base from rolling over. Pomo cradles are also “sitting” cradles with the child’s legs extending over the bottom edge. The cotton strap was worn around the mother’s forehead and the cradle extended down her back.
