Basket Item Number: 2911/14 a-b from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

Small rectangular cedar basket with lid. The basket is straight sided with sides flaring slightly toward the mouth. Imbricated inverted triangles in dark red, black and light brown decorate each side. The lid is flat with a slightly raised edge and is decorated with three lines of imbrication down the centre and an encircling line around the edge.

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.