William Pink

CALIFORNIA TRIBAL ARTS

WILLIAM PINK

Above: William Pink demonstrating Southern California coiled basket weaving at PWT. Materials are natural and dyed juncus and deer grass. Below are three baskets in progress.

Born at Hemet in Southern California in 1950, William Pink’s Native California heritage derives from his Pala Cupeño mother. He trained under Ruby Modesto, a Desert Cahuilla traditionalist, in traditional crafts, language, and religion, has performed with the Cahuilla Bird Singers, conducted interviews with elders from various Southern California tribes, and served as Executive Secretary for the California State Native American Heritage Commission from 1980 to 1983. He is also a Vietnam War veteran, an experience that left on-going physical restrictions.

One of our most talented and versatile California tribal artists, he is equally skilled in the traditional craft areas of basket weaving, pottery making, flint knapping, arrow making, and soapstone carving. He has conducted lectures at the university level regarding Southern California Indian history and culture and is a regular demonstrator of the many uses of native materials at PWT.

Above: A yucca stalk quiver, sinew backed hunting bow, soapstone arrowshaft straightener and arrows — some of the tribal arts replicated, using traditional materials and techniques in their manufacture.
Left: Soapstone or steatite vessels and images are traditional to Southern California’s coastal Gabrielino and Chumash and the Central Valley Yokuts. Pink masterfully captures the unique stylings of these people in native soapstone.

	Ancient Southern California clay sources, native fibers and pigments, provide the materials for fascinating effigies William Pink creates in the spirit of traditional “Travel Companions” of the Cahuilla and California’s Colorado River people, and reminiscent of pictographic images from the Southern California mountains and deserts. Each piece is individually designed and decorated. The traditional pit firing adds its own hues and clouds. The paints are from one of the oldest known aboriginal paint quarries in the Southwest.

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