Basket - W983.D.008.015
The basket is 30cm tall, 41cm wide and 29cm deep. The lid is 6cm tall, 43cm wide and 32cm deep.
The original Indigenous peoples of the Niagara region had to fashion all of their tools, utensils, clothing, and household goods from what nature provided. This basket, while from the late nineteenth century, still shows an ingenious way of decorating a basket. Designs were carved into a potato, which was used to stamp the blue designs on the black ash splints, some of which were also hand-painted and dyed yellow. This storage basket was made more beautiful to the eyes of the user through the use of the designs. Other baskets were made from reed, grasses, and native hemp.