Christine Navarro Paul (December 28, 1874 – 1946), a member of the Native American Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana, was a celebrated basket maker and teacher.

Beginning in her 20s, she led the efforts of the Chitimacha women to create and sell beautiful woven baskets made from dyed wild river cane.

Christine Navarro Paul collaborated with several European American women, who acted as intermediaries for the marketing and sale of the baskets.

There she would have learned English, a valuable skill which later enabled her to become the communication link with the white women she collaborated with to sell the Chitimacha baskets.

[4] Like other men in the Chitimacha tribe, he would have done seasonal work on the sugarcane plantations, logged cypress trees, as well as hunted and fished for food.

They cut the cane and then while it was still green, split and peeled it into narrow splints to be dried and then dyed with natural dyes of yellow, black or red.

[13] A reporter from the New Orleans Daily Picayune observed a large trunk basket and basketry cigar case which Christine Paul had made.

Gradually Mary and her older sister Sara McIlhenny developed an extensive network of upper-class White women to help market these baskets.

Christine, as a member of the chief's family and someone who could read and write English, became the liaison with the McIlhenny sisters and organized the fulfillment of the orders.

However, in the 1930s Christine, along with her sister-in-law Pauline Paul, developed a relationship with another White woman, Caroline Coroneos Dorman, a writer and teacher, who helped them to continue marketing their baskets.