Woven baskets were important to the Northwest Coast nations. One display in the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma features Nisqually and Puyallup baskets. Both of these tribes are Southern Coast Salish and had villages along the Puyallup and Nisqually river systems in the Puget Sound area. While the two tribes had distinctive cultures, their basketry techniques are similar.
With regard to the contemporary names given to the Puget Sound tribes (Nisqually, Puyallup, Muckleshoot, Duwamish, Snohomish, Skagit, and Suquamish), Alexandra Harmon, in her entry on these tribes in the Encyclopedia of North American Indians, reports:
“Names assigned to these so-called tribes did not all reflect the named peoples’ usages or important affiliations. Few if any of the groups had unifying political institutions, although some shared language, resources, and cultural traditions.”
Salish women used cattail, beargrass, sweetgrass, wild cherry, and western red cedar as well as other materials in making their baskets. According to the display:
“Whether twined, coiled or plaited, the making of a basket required skill, imagination and an understanding of the natural world. Basket making activities followed the rhythms of the seasons: cedar bark was easiest to strip in June, cattails were collected in August and sweetgrass was gathered in late summer right before the autumn rains.”
With regard to making the baskets, Reg Ashwell and Roger Hancock, in their book Coast Salish: Their Art and Culture, write:
“The Coast Salish women made their baskets during the long winter, but the tedious and time-consuming process of gathering and preparing materials had to be done in the summertime when the spruce and cedar roots and grasses were at their best.”
Indians 101
Twice each week, Indians 101 explores different American Indian topics. More about American Indian baskets from this series:
Indians 101: Some Northern Northwest Coast Baskets (Photo Diary)
Indians 101: Columbia River Basketry (Photo Diary)
Indians 101: Klikitat Baskets (Photo Diary)
Indians 101: Northwest Coast Baskets in the Maryhill Museum (Photo Diary)
Indians 101: Arctic Baskets (Photo Diary)
Indians 101: California Indian Baskets in the Maryhill Museum (Photo Diary)
Indians 101: Southeastern Indian Baskets (Photo Diary)
Indians 101: Traditional Basketry of Grays Harbor (Photo Diary)