Round basket with pattern and imagery. Basket is a light brown-yellow colour with images in darker brown. Narrow round base flares upward toward midpoint, lower half embellished with human figures standing square to front, arms hanging at sides, feet turned outwards. Figures are interspersed with large geometric designs resembling ‘C’s. Above midpoint basket recedes toward rim, with alternating open and closed square designs. Rim is short and flares slightly outward, and a dark weave edges the lip.

Dish shaped basket with rounded base, wide sloping wall and wrapped rim. Dark brown designs decorate both exterior and interior, with narrow colour blocks emanating off brown circle at centre, and surrounded by several layers of geometric line designs and colour blocks from the rim. Basket has a square where weaving starts, visible on underside.

Large round basket. Tightly woven willow wood basket has a small, flat base from which the wall flares upward toward the wide mouth. A rattlesnake pattern decorates the midpoint: rust coloured diamond shapes outlined in dark brown, with brown border lines running above and beneath.

Round, tightly woven willow wood basket. From a small, flat base the wall flares upward toward the wide mouth. A stepped line pattern in light brown repeats in encircling lines, visible on both exterior and interior, and small light blue beads are evenly placed just below the rim, incorporated into the weave.

« The consulting of oracles so as to determine where and when to hunt and to know the future with reference to the weather, illness, and personal matters was extremely important to the Lake St. John Montagnais. It is a subject that has been discussed in considerable detail by Speck (1935, pp. 138-147). A more recent discussion of the subject, with a different interpretation, is found in Tanner (1979, ch. 6). » 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.19. « A bundle of narrow bark strips is described simply as "willow bark medicine." According to Speck (1917, p. 315), the bark of the red willow was scraped and steeped to make a mash that was put in a bandage on the head for a headache. It was also dried and smoked as a substitute for tobacco. » 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.21.

Birch bark basket. Basket is made from white bark on exterior, with a rectangular base from which sides flare widely upwards toward rim. Interior is made of a sheet of brown bark, which also covers the upper exterior sides. Rim is made of a thin branch, pink in colour, attached to the basket by bark wrappings. Corners of the basket are slit and stitched into place with willow thongs.

The Elizabeth Cole Butler Collection.

The Elizabeth Cole Butler Collection.

The Elizabeth Cole Butler Collection.

The Elizabeth Cole Butler Collection.