Manufacturing Technique

Most raw materials used in weaving are harvested or gathered at specific times of the year.  This ensures that the materials are collected when they are best suited for weaving. Most materials are collected in the Spring or early Summer. Cedar is often collected in the spring. After they are gathered, the roots are bundled and heated over a fire.  After heating, the roots are unbundled and pulled through a split wooden stick which removes the outer bark.  The roots are then split one or more times, rebundled and stored until needed. Materials are soaked in water before they are used for weaving.
There are several techniques to create baskets similar to this object.
Coiling is a technique which involves sewing.  A foundation material (such as split root bundles) is coiled upwards and stitched into place.  A pointed tool called an awl is used to pierce a hole in each coil.  The sewing element (such as the shiny outer surface of a split cedar root) is then threaded through the hole and sews that coil down to the coil below it. Coiled baskets can be woven so tightly that they hold water.  In the past, coiled baskets were also used for cooking.

Twining is a technique in which two wefts cross over each other between warps.  There are numerous variations of twining, including variances in the number of wefts, the number of warps crossed by the wefts and the angle of the warps.  Each of these variations changes the surface appearance of the object. Color designs on twined basketry can be achieved with false embroidery or overlay. Both these techniques add a third, colored weft to the usual two wefts.  False embroidery is only incorporated into the outside wefts, making the design visible only on the outer surface of the object.  False embroidery slants in an opposite direction to the rest of the twining.  The name of this technique is based on the definition of true embroidery, in which decorative material is added to the surface of an object after it has been completed.  False embroidery is added to the surface of basketry during its making. Overlay differs from false embroidery in that overlay’s extra weft is woven into both the outside and inside wefts of the object.  Depending on the overlay twining technique used, the design may or may not be visible on the inside surface.  Unlike false embroidery, overlay slants in the same direction as the rest of the twining.

Materials

Cedar and bear grass. Pounded ash-splints and braided sweet grass. Dying red can be obtained from wild cranberries, nettle, hemlock bark, alder bark, alder wood and sea-urchin juice.  Lichen, wolf moss and Oregon grape root provide yellow.

Designs/Symbolism

Reflective of their whaling heritage, Makah and Nuu-chah-nulth basketry often includes images of whales and canoes filled with whalers.  These images originally appeared on whaler’s hats, but later were incorporated into twined baskets, mats and basketry-covered bottles made for sale.  Whales are sometimes shown being chased or harpooned by a canoe-full of hunters.  This tribe relied on the marine life to survive which could have influenced the pattern on this box.

Size

5.398 cm tall with a circumference of 22.86 cm.

Other Information

In the mid twentieth century the Makah tribe from Washington State emphasized the production of this style of basket, often called a trinket basket, for sale to tourists. Basket weaving is one of the oldest known Native American art forms. 

Donated By Robert and Ruth Dathan .. Artifact research by Katy Griffith, Karess Pinter & Sarah Bosler