The Native Americans of northern California were highly skilled at basketry, using the reeds, grasses, bards, and roots they found around them to fashion articles of all sorts and sizes. Of all these experts, none excelled the Pomo - a group who lived near the coast during the 1800's. The Pomo people were masters of decoration. Some of their baskets were completely covered with shell pendants； others with feathers that made the baskets' surfaces as soft as the breasts of birds. Moreover, the Pomo people made use of more weaving techniques than did their neighbors. Pomo baskets made by Pomo Indian people are recognized worldwide for their exquisite appearance, range of technique, fineness of weave, and diversity of form and use. 

       Making the baskets required great skill and knowledge in collecting and preparing the needed materials. Materials for weaving baskets changed with the seasons and years, so did the materials used for the baskets. The materials used to make the baskets - including but not limited to, swamp canes, saguaro cactuses, rye grass, black ash, willow shoots, sedge roots, and the root of the gray pine—were harvested annually. 

       Although a wide variety of materials was available, the Pomo people used only a few. The warp was always made of willow, and the most commonly used welt was sedge root, a woody fiber that could easily be separated into strands no thicker than a thread. For color, the Pomo people used the bark of redbud for their twined work and dyed bullrush root for black in coiled work. Though other materials were sometimes used, these four were the staples in their finest basketry. Although the basketry materials used by the Pomo people were limited, the designs were amazingly varied.