Feather gift baskets (also called jewel baskets) represent the highest accomplishment among Pomo weavers and reached peak production between 1890 and 1920. Few weavers today maintain this practice, making the baskets highly valued. Each one would take several months or a year to make and require thirty to fifty feathers per square inch—so dense that the feathers obscure the basketry material completely. Baskets also contain the prayers of the weaver. As explained by Pomo weaver Elsie Allen (1899–1990) “We would fast before starting on a red feather or woodpecker feather basket. We would work at it as long as possible, then when we were too hungry, we would eat but no longer work on the basket. The fasting was for purification, so as to receive help from the Great Spirit for whatever we did.”