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BASKETRY OF THE NORTHWEST COAST

Archaeology of Southeast Alaska

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COLLECTING SPRUCE ROOT

Must go out duringthe spring or earlysummer

The best spots werenear sandy shores

A digging stick wasused to help get theroots

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PREPARING FOR STORAGE

Spruce roots would beheld over the coals of afire until the bark starts topeel

The roots would then bepulled through an éena, asplit stick or board stuckinto the ground, to remove

outer bark They would then be split

once and then coiled

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PREPARING FOR WEAVING

Before weaving, theroots from storagewould be split

additional times The split roots would

be divided into warpsand wefts

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WEAVING WITH SPRUCE ROOT

With the weft, theweaver wouldbegin twining

around the warps Different twining

techniques wereused for thedifferent types ofbaskets

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TLINGIT & HAIDA BASKETRY DIFFERENCES

(Alaska State Museum II-B-1696)

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BASKETS IN EVERYDAY LIFE

Baskets were used for: Storage Food gathering Serving food

Cooking Ceremonies

Cradles

“A hole was dug in the ground, and inthis the cooking basket was placed...After the pot had been thus securedagainst accident, the food and waterwere placed in it, and with a pair ofwooden tongs the stones which hadbeen heated were dropped into thecooking.” (Shotridge 170)(Alaska State Museum II-B-311)

(Alaska State Museum II-B-480)

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BASKETS NOT IN USE

Baskets that werenot being used weredampened andfolded away and

stored.

(Alaska State Museum II-B-420)

(Alaska State Museum II-B-1324)

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THORNE RIVER BASKET

Oldest basket foundon the NorthwestCoast

Dates to beapproximately 5,400years old

Found in 1994 by

archaeologist DavidPutman

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Reconstructiondrawing of the

Thorne RiverBasket byMargaret Davidson

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Interpretation ofthe Thorne RiverBasket made byDelores Churchill

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(Alaska State Museum 2004-17-1)

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BARANOFF ISLAND BASKET

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BASKETRY ORIGIN LEGENDS

Tlingit Legend:There was once a girl with so muchbeauty that everyone desired her,even Sun. So Sun took her as hiswife and they lived in the Sky-Landfor many years and had many

children. But the children were ofEarth, and the mother worried forthem. One day in the field while shewas worrying, she idly andunknowingly wove a basket. Herhusband knew she was worried, so

he took the basket and made itlarge enough to hold his wife andchildren. In this basket, they werelowered back to Earth (to theYakutat area). This is where the firstbasket came from.

Haida Legend:In early spring when everyone washungry and there was little food, alittle girl took some food when shewas not supposed to. Her mothercaught her and scratched her face,

so the girl and her older sister ranaway. They came to a place to rest,and there met a young man. Theytold him what had happened. He toldthe older girl to weave a small basketaround her thumb and to fill it with the

food growing in that area. They didso, and as they filled the basket, itkept growing larger and heavier withall of the food. They went back totheir village to get help to bring backtheir basket full of food. Everyone

feasted and celebrated.

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KÁKW TLÁA – MOTHER BASKET

The Mother Basket isan at.óowu of theWhale House of the

Gaanaxteidí clan ofKlukwan, Alaska.

Honors the story of the“Mountain Dweller” 

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CHANGE IN BASKETRY 

Around the mid-1800s,basketry was no longerneeded for utilitarian

purposes Basketry became

popular among touristsand collectors

The women no longermade baskets for use,but to sell

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BASKETRY TODAY 

The high demand forbasketry died out duringthe Great Depression

The knowledge of

basketry almost died outas the elders starteddying out

Basketry was revitalized

by Selina Peratrovichand her daughterDelores Churchill

Today, basketry is an art

(Alaska State Museum 90-5-1)