Creation Date

1934
1934 – 1935

Description

"Sweet grass, tinted green, red and blue, as well as left natural, is woven around birch bark to make this little basket, 8 inches in diameter and 1 3/4 inches deep. Two loop handles face each other on opposite sides of the basket, and the inside bottom of the basket is decorated with orange, white and blue beaded flowers, another example of the floral designs favored by the Ojibwas (Chippewas), as well as an example of three of their popular materials: birch bark, sweet grass and beads. This basket was made in 1934 by Nellie Weaver, a full-blood Chippewa from the White Earth, Minnesota reservation and given to me by Mr. and Mrs. Selkirk."

The Sweet Grass is actually coiled and wrapped with colored string of green, blue, red and yellow. It is not tinted. The beads are stitched to the flat bark surface. The floral motif is typical of the Ojibwe Indians. The outer sweet grass coils still have a delicate fragrance.