Basket
Item number 3207/7 from the MOA: University of British Columbia.
Item number 3207/7 from the MOA: University of British Columbia.
This page shows all the information we have about this item. Both the institution that physically holds this item, and RRN members have contributed the knowledge on this page. You’re looking at the item record provided by the holding institution. If you scroll further down the page, you’ll see the information from RRN members, and can share your own knowledge too.
The RRN processes the information it receives from each institution to make it more readable and easier to search. If you’re doing in-depth research on this item, be sure to take a look at the Data Source tab to see the information exactly as it was provided by the institution.
These records are easy to share because each has a unique web address. You can copy and paste the location from your browser’s address bar into an email, word document, or chat message to share this item with others.
This information was automatically generated from data provided by MOA: University of British Columbia. It has been standardized to aid in finding and grouping information within the RRN. Accuracy and meaning should be verified from the Data Source tab.
Burden basket. Rectangular with three separated rows of animal designs covering all four sides. The figures are reddish-brown bark, with a lighter (yellowish) grass as background. The upper outside edge is reinforced with a rectangular loop of thick metal (telegraph) wire, held on with hide and fibre loops. The inside base is reinforced with a rectangular loop of root, bent at three corners.
Burden baskets were often used for berry collecting. Coiled baskets in a range of sizes, embellished with distinctive patterns and motifs of animals and humans, have long been made and used by Tsilhqot’in people. Spruce roots are usually preferred over cedar roots as the foundation for these strong and functional containers, which are often made in this flared, burden-basket form. Unique to Tsilhqot’in baskets is the strengthening rib of wood or other material tied on the outside, below the rim, to provide an attachment for a tumpline. On this basket, the inventive maker used pieces of telegraph wire left over from the Yukon Telegraph Line -- a project that was started by Americans in the 1860s and abandoned when the British succeeded in laying the Trans-Atlantic cable.
Purchased by the donor from a Vancouver antique store in the 1970s.
Made of coils of split and bundled spruce tree roots, stitched together by long, fine strands of spruce root. Beginning at the base of the basket, the weaver gradually builds up the form out of a continuous coil, stitching the upper layer to the coil below. Each stitch splits the one directly below as the root is drawn through the coil. At the same time, the weaver folds or imbricates strands of grass and bark into each stitch on the outside of the basket, creating dark patterns on a light background.
The depiction of animals and other designs on baskets often resemble pictographs and petroglyphs found in Tsilhqot’in territory [Linda Smith, 2019]. A group of elders said the animal on the basket represents grouse [2020].
This data has been provided to the RRN by the MOA: University of British Columbia. We've used it to provide the information on the Data tab.
Burden baskets were often used for berry collecting. Coiled baskets in a range of sizes, embellished with distinctive patterns and motifs of animals and humans, have long been made and used by Tsilhqot’in people. Spruce roots are usually preferred over cedar roots as the foundation for these strong and functional containers, which are often made in this flared, burden-basket form. Unique to Tsilhqot’in baskets is the strengthening rib of wood or other material tied on the outside, below the rim, to provide an attachment for a tumpline. On this basket, the inventive maker used pieces of telegraph wire left over from the Yukon Telegraph Line -- a project that was started by Americans in the 1860s and abandoned when the British succeeded in laying the Trans-Atlantic cable.
Burden basket. Rectangular with three separated rows of animal designs covering all four sides. The figures are reddish-brown bark, with a lighter (yellowish) grass as background. The upper outside edge is reinforced with a rectangular loop of thick metal (telegraph) wire, held on with hide and fibre loops. The inside base is reinforced with a rectangular loop of root, bent at three corners.
Purchased by the donor from a Vancouver antique store in the 1970s.
Made of coils of split and bundled spruce tree roots, stitched together by long, fine strands of spruce root. Beginning at the base of the basket, the weaver gradually builds up the form out of a continuous coil, stitching the upper layer to the coil below. Each stitch splits the one directly below as the root is drawn through the coil. At the same time, the weaver folds or imbricates strands of grass and bark into each stitch on the outside of the basket, creating dark patterns on a light background.
The depiction of animals and other designs on baskets often resemble pictographs and petroglyphs found in Tsilhqot’in territory [Linda Smith, 2019]. A group of elders said the animal on the basket represents grouse [2020].
Let the RRN community answer your questions
With an account, you can ask other users a question about this item. Request an Account
Share your knowlege of this item with the RRN community
With an account, you can submit information about this item and have it visible to all users and institutions on the RRN. Request an Account