Basket Item Number: 2911/18 a-b from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

Rectangular cedar basket with lid. Basket bottom is pedestal style with four triangular legs. The shape of the pedestal influences the interior of the basket, with small ledges in each of the short ends, and the centre of the interior base lays at the centre bottom of the pedestal. Horizontal lines of imbrication in alternating dark red, light brown and black encircle the basket and base. The lid is flat with a rim that sits inside the basket and is also decorated with lines of imbrication in black, dark red and light brown.

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.