Laura Somersal

Laura Fish Somersal (born Dolores Fish; December 10, 1892 – July 30, 1990) was a Pomo-Wappo basketweaver, educator, and the last speaker of the Wappo language.

Biography Fish was born Dolores Fish in Geyserville, California on December 10, 1892. She was the daughter of Bill Fish, of the Southern Pomo tribe and Mary John Eli of the Wappo people. In 1915, she moved to the Dry Creek Rancheria, where her ancestors cultivated sedge for basketmaking in the Dry Creek Valley before the arrival of white settlers. Over the course of her lifetime, she was witness to the dwindling and near loss of her tribes, the land they called home in California's Sonoma Valley, and the traditional materials used to create the intricate baskets she became known for.

Basketry

Her cousin first taught her the Pomo basket weaving style at age eight. The tight weave of the Pomo baskets let them to a myriad of uses. Somersal recalled how her mother used the baskets for everything, including cooking acorn mush, gathering water and carrying babies. Somersal was vocal in her opposition to the displacement of the land, people and flora of the Warm Springs region, where her grandmother had lived before "whites threw the tribe out". When those efforts by her and her fellow tribe members failed, she concentrated on encouraging the transplanting of Californian sedge that would be displaced by the dam's construction. The roots of the sedge were unique to the area and integral to the creation of Pomo basketry. In 1979, due to efforts by Somersal and other Pomo basket weavers, 39,000 plants were transplanted by the Army Corps of Engineers to make way for the creation of Lake Sonoma. Despite their efforts, attempts to cultivate the roots and reeds elsewhere were not successful. Tribal members were cited for trespassing while collecting spring water, herbs and clay. The dam, created in 1983 has continued to be a source of tension for the native people who resided at the site for 10,000 years, and who considered the basin's hot springs to be sacred.

Wappo language Laura would become the last fluent speaker of the Wappo language, after learning to speak the language with her mother, who was blind. Working with language scholars, she helped to create an English-Wappo dictionary and helped with translating the language for its preservation. With her death, the Wappo language became formally extinct.

Later life, death and legacy Laura Somersal died at age 97 on July 30, 1990. Somersal's nephew, Clint McKay has continued in her tradition as a Pomo basket weaver.

Collections and exhibitions

Sense of Place, Sonoma County Museum, 1991 Woven past and future, Oakland Museum 1996 "Miniature basket", National Museum of the American Indian "Miniature basket", "Basket Start" Santa Rosa Junior College