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.

Rectangular bottomed container with gently expanding walls to an oval rim. The wooden rim is lashed on with spruce root. Four pieces of green-blue cellulose cloth are also woven into the rim. Purple and pink pieces are beaded into the lashing. To make the walls of the container the bark has been folded and stitched along two sides with spruce root. The walls have horizontal scraped decorative patterns with triangles on four of the lines and two lines separating each band--the triangles have faded. On the bottom of the container are two bands of four lines diagonally crossed.