Basket Item Number: 2911/6 from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

Rectangular basketry tray of wrapped slat construction. The tray has a small wrapped handle on the upper edge at both ends. The interior base of the tray has a geometric decorative pattern of dark red imbricated diamonds, and there are small panels of imbrication on the exterior edges.

Narrative

Lutia Bidin was the mother of the donor, Rina Honderich. The Bidins had immigrated to Canada in the early 1900s, and moved from Deroche, BC to Woodfibre, BC c. 1918. Rina remembered women from Squamish canoeing over to Woodfibre to trade with her mother. Her mother would trade things like knitted socks, clothing and mats that she had made, for baskets that the Squamish women had made. Each would make a pile and when both sides agreed the exchange would take place. The baskets were used during the daily life of the family.