Basket with lid Item Number: E432835-0 from the National Museum of Natural History

Notes

Oval woven basket with lid. Basket body decorated with faded green (?) designs on natural ground, one on each side: two equilateral crosses with four arms bent at right angles (right-facing swastikas) are found opposite one another and two "Z" patterns opposite one another. On the lid, there are what appear to be two birds (?) (possibly hell-diver bird motif?) opposite one another in the same faded green (?).Note: The swastika is usually considered a non-traditional Northwest Coast basket design symbol. It was popular in the early 20th century in Europe and North America as a good luck symbol but disappeared from use after it became negatively viewed because of its association with the Nazi party.