Who do you think made this basket?

Where do you think it was made?

What was it used for?

Answers:

Who do you think made this basket? Where do you think it was made?

This basket was made in Kasaan village, in what is now present-day Kasaan, Alaska. It was made by the Haida people, native inhabitants of the Haida Gwaii archipelago off the coast of Western Canada. The basket allegedly belonged to Chief Sanhyte.

What was it used for?

This basket was used for cooking! The strands of cedar were woven tightly enough that it could hold water, which when heated kept the temperature of the materials even enough to prevent the cedar from catching fire. This basket was donated to the Karshner Center in 1930.

For more information, visit:

• This artifact in the Karshner Digital Collections
• Artifact Worksheets you can use in your classroom or for homeschool
• The Haida People and Their Culture [Smithsonian]
• Science project: Boiling Water in a Paper Cup

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