Description

"A small covered basket of natural-colored birch bark. The body of the basket is rimmed with a sweet grass trim, and both the cover and body are fringed with white porcupine quills. A rosette of red porcupine quills decorates the top of the cover. It came from the Yukon country and was given to me by Miss J. Lyne and Mr. White, both from the Yukon, on March 7, 1945, at Fairbanks Alaska."

The decoration on the cover is a flower made from woven white porcupine quills with a burst or rosette of red quills in the very center. There are 3 x's in red quills around the edges. The porcupine quills on this piece are tucked in to holes punched in birch bark. They are folded over like staples on the inside. The basket is lined with more birch bark to leave a smooth finish.

Indians of the Northeast Woodlands excelled in Porcupine Quillwork. Quillwork is perhaps the oldest form of Native American embroidery, and quill work on bark may be even older. The quills are gathered, dyed, soaked in water and flattened. The birch bark is punched with an awl along the edge of the desired design. The quills are then tucked into the holes and folded over much like a modern staple.