Undecorated basket with an overcast rim while the interior portion of the bark is to the outside.

Model version of an Eastern woodlands style canoe. Canoe is made from birch bark lashed to a wooden frame with root lacings. Upper edge of the canoe is rimed with a slender branch that is overcast with strips of root. Black, resinous pitch is used to patch seams and holes in the birch bark.

Birch bark body of basket bent and laced into place with birch twig stitched border around the rim. Overcast with natural, pink, purple aniline dyed root. Zig-zag stitch for joining creates a portion of the design. The overcast stitch is zig-zagged. The dyed root occurs at the ends with bands of natural root on the sides. Darker side of the bark is on the outside.

Long canoe that is stitched together at each end and around the outer edge to create tapered ends and a wide opening. Bark on outer surface of canoe has been dyed reddish-brown to expose natural light-brown bark with alternating horizontal patterns of double lines and triangular-shaped designs.

Model birch bark canoe with three cross-beams and one end covered in rawhide. Sides of the canoe have been dyed red, with a linear pattern marked into the bark near the top of the gunwales. A small black and brown carved wooden paddle is attached to one of the cross-beams with a fibre cord.

Cuff-like ring of dark brown birch bark with a interlocked edge.

Child size birchbark canoe. Wood frame, with lengthwise wood slat construction; sheets of birchbark stitched together using long strips of root. Black resin applied along base and seams.

« The collection contains three covered birch bark baskets, each made from a single piece of folded and sewn bark with a rectangular bottom and sides that taper inward slightly. The dark inner surface of the bark, which is peeled in spring, faces outward. A separate rim of birchwood is lashed to the outer edge of the bark with spruce root. A tight-fitting lid consists of a flat, oval top and a vertically placed, recessed rim approximately 3.5 cm wide lashed to the top with spruce root (figs. 10-12). The largest specimen has a narrow cloth carrying strap (fig. 12). The method of construction of this form of basket is described in detail by Speck (1937) and Lips (1947, pp. 51-59). A fourth basket is similar in construction to those just described, but is much smaller and narrower and has no lid (fig. 9n). A characteristic feature of these baskets is the presence of etched designs on tops and sides. The primary method of producing this ornamentation is by laying cut-out birch bark design patterns on the surface and scraping away the dark inner bark everywhere except where the design has been traced with the point of a knife. The positive design thus stands out dark against a light background (Speck, 1937, p. 71). Ornamentation on the three covered baskets consists exclusively of stylized floral designs. All sides of the two larger specimens are decorated (figs. 11-12), while on the smaller, the two ends have been left undecorated (fig. 10). » Vanstone, James W. "The Speck Collection of Montagnais Material Culture from the Lower St. Lawrence Drainage, Quebec." Fieldiana. Anthropology. New Series, No. 5 (October 29, 1982), p.9, fig 10 (p.38), 11 (p.39), 12 (p.40). « The collection contains a set of four birch bark cut-out patterns of floral motifs (fig. 13) used on one of the illustrated covered baskets (fig. 12). Another set of nine patterns, which includes human forms, a fish, a canoe, and floral stencils, is described by Speck as having been used for bead and silk work (fig. 14). However, one of the patterns, that of a fish, was used on a previously described comb case (fig. 91). Speck (1935, pp. 190-191) has noted that for the Montagnais, the symbolic pictorial representation of a plant or animal was equivalent to the actual plant or animal and those portrayed were believed to come under the control of the individual human spirit. Dreams played a major part in suggesting the relationship between specific animals or plants and an individual. The spirit was strengthened by having its dream promptings obeyed and success in subsistence activities was thereby assured. » Vanstone, James W. "The Speck Collection of Montagnais Material Culture from the Lower St. Lawrence Drainage, Quebec." Fieldiana. Anthropology. New Series, No. 5 (October 29, 1982), p.10, fig 12 (p.40), 13 (p.41).

« The collection contains three covered birch bark baskets, each made from a single piece of folded and sewn bark with a rectangular bottom and sides that taper inward slightly. The dark inner surface of the bark, which is peeled in spring, faces outward. A separate rim of birchwood is lashed to the outer edge of the bark with spruce root. A tight-fitting lid consists of a flat, oval top and a vertically placed, recessed rim approximately 3.5 cm wide lashed to the top with spruce root (figs. 10-12). The largest specimen has a narrow cloth carrying strap (fig. 12). The method of construction of this form of basket is described in detail by Speck (1937) and Lips (1947, pp. 51-59). A fourth basket is similar in construction to those just described, but is much smaller and narrower and has no lid (fig. 9n). A characteristic feature of these baskets is the presence of etched designs on tops and sides. The primary method of producing this ornamentation is by laying cut-out birch bark design patterns on the surface and scraping away the dark inner bark everywhere except where the design has been traced with the point of a knife. The positive design thus stands out dark against a light background (Speck, 1937, p. 71). Ornamentation on the three covered baskets consists exclusively of stylized floral designs. All sides of the two larger specimens are decorated (figs. 11-12), while on the smaller, the two ends have been left undecorated (fig. 10). » Vanstone, James W. "The Speck Collection of Montagnais Material Culture from the Lower St. Lawrence Drainage, Quebec." Fieldiana. Anthropology. New Series, No. 5 (October 29, 1982), p.9, fig 10 (p.38), 11 (p.39), 12 (p.40). « The collection contains a set of four birch bark cut-out patterns of floral motifs (fig. 13) used on one of the illustrated covered baskets (fig. 12). Another set of nine patterns, which includes human forms, a fish, a canoe, and floral stencils, is described by Speck as having been used for bead and silk work (fig. 14). However, one of the patterns, that of a fish, was used on a previously described comb case (fig. 91). Speck (1935, pp. 190-191) has noted that for the Montagnais, the symbolic pictorial representation of a plant or animal was equivalent to the actual plant or animal and those portrayed were believed to come under the control of the individual human spirit. Dreams played a major part in suggesting the relationship between specific animals or plants and an individual. The spirit was strengthened by having its dream promptings obeyed and success in subsistence activities was thereby assured. » Vanstone, James W. "The Speck Collection of Montagnais Material Culture from the Lower St. Lawrence Drainage, Quebec." Fieldiana. Anthropology. New Series, No. 5 (October 29, 1982), p.10, fig 12 (p.40), 13 (p.41).

« The collection contains three covered birch bark baskets, each made from a single piece of folded and sewn bark with a rectangular bottom and sides that taper inward slightly. The dark inner surface of the bark, which is peeled in spring, faces outward. A separate rim of birchwood is lashed to the outer edge of the bark with spruce root. A tight-fitting lid consists of a flat, oval top and a vertically placed, recessed rim approximately 3.5 cm wide lashed to the top with spruce root (figs. 10-12). The largest specimen has a narrow cloth carrying strap (fig. 12). The method of construction of this form of basket is described in detail by Speck (1937) and Lips (1947, pp. 51-59). A fourth basket is similar in construction to those just described, but is much smaller and narrower and has no lid (fig. 9n). A characteristic feature of these baskets is the presence of etched designs on tops and sides. The primary method of producing this ornamentation is by laying cut-out birch bark design patterns on the surface and scraping away the dark inner bark everywhere except where the design has been traced with the point of a knife. The positive design thus stands out dark against a light background (Speck, 1937, p. 71). Ornamentation on the three covered baskets consists exclusively of stylized floral designs. All sides of the two larger specimens are decorated (figs. 11-12), while on the smaller, the two ends have been left undecorated (fig. 10). » Vanstone, James W. "The Speck Collection of Montagnais Material Culture from the Lower St. Lawrence Drainage, Quebec." Fieldiana. Anthropology. New Series, No. 5 (October 29, 1982), p.9, fig 10 (p.38), 11 (p.39), 12 (p.40). « The collection contains a set of four birch bark cut-out patterns of floral motifs (fig. 13) used on one of the illustrated covered baskets (fig. 12). Another set of nine patterns, which includes human forms, a fish, a canoe, and floral stencils, is described by Speck as having been used for bead and silk work (fig. 14). However, one of the patterns, that of a fish, was used on a previously described comb case (fig. 91). Speck (1935, pp. 190-191) has noted that for the Montagnais, the symbolic pictorial representation of a plant or animal was equivalent to the actual plant or animal and those portrayed were believed to come under the control of the individual human spirit. Dreams played a major part in suggesting the relationship between specific animals or plants and an individual. The spirit was strengthened by having its dream promptings obeyed and success in subsistence activities was thereby assured. » Vanstone, James W. "The Speck Collection of Montagnais Material Culture from the Lower St. Lawrence Drainage, Quebec." Fieldiana. Anthropology. New Series, No. 5 (October 29, 1982), p.10, fig 12 (p.40), 13 (p.41).