n'oo'o (Basket)

Basketry filled a vital need as containers for storage domestic use and transportation of goods. Some had multiple uses; others were made for specific functions. After European contact, used for trade and sale items. Forms have been altered to meet European tastes. Basketry making was and is a women's art.

domestic storage; cooking; transport

Birch bark was cut to size, steamed, folded and sewn at corners. Wood rim is lashed with spruce root, outside scraped to decorate.

Oblong, brown birch bark basket with an oval-shaped top and a rectangular bottom. Bark is bent and laced into place, with a twig splint around the rim overcast with thin strips of root; decorative bands of dark crabapple bark (?) beading are featured along the rim in several spots. Geometric and linear patterns are scratched onto the exterior sides, revealing a lighter shade of bark.