Basket Item Number: 2911/9 from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

Rectangular cedar basket with two side handles. Basket is made of cedar slats with root wrapping. Two inverted triangles of dark brown and red imbrication decorate each long side, while an inverted triangle of red and white imbrication decorated each short end. There are a few bars of Imbrication also embellishes the base. The basket is topped with several rows of wrapped looping in a loose triangle pattern, each culminating in a long, wrapped, semicircular handle.

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.