UNIDENTIFIED THOMPSON RIVER SALISH (NLAKA'PAMUX) ARTIST
Burden Basket, 19th century
cedar bark, cherry bark, natural and dyed bear grasses, and doe skin, 10 x 12.25 x 14.75 in (25.4 x 31.1 x 37.5 cm)

Provenance
A Vancouver Collection.

Named aptly for their function, burden baskets are a crafted mix of purpose and design. The trapezoidal shape of the basket is one of the oldest examples of Indigenous basketry, the gentle slope allowing for large amounts of food or raw ingredients to be carried without everything at the bottom being crushed under the weight. The wide, flat sides of the basket allow for a large canvas for design, in this instance bifurcated in the centre to create two distinctly different areas of design. The tight and neat stitches of the woven designs sit like geometric rows of corn kernels, punctuated by the colours of the cherry bark and dyed grasses.

References: For a detailed introduction to Thompson River Salish (Nlaka’pamux) baskets, see Karen Petkau, “Baskets: Carrying a Culture. The Distinctive Regional Styles of Basketmaking Nations in the Pacific Northwest”, Bachelor, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, 2022. See also Sarah Peabody Turnbaugh & William A.Turnbaugh, Indian Baskets, (West Chester, PA: Schiffer Publishing Ltd. in collaboration with the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, 1986), pg 168. See “Thompson and Lillooet baskets” in Allan Lobb, Indian Baskets of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, (Portland: Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company, 1990), pp. 50-60.