Antique Klickitat Salish Cowlitz Burden Basket

Late 19th Century

6.625" H x 7.25" x 7.75" D

Hand Coiled with Three Different Colors in a Geometric Zigzag Design - Illegible Label on Bottom "West Coast" A remarkable smaller berry basket with very small coils and fine stitch work with surfact that is mostly imbricated with design. Has several small openings under top coil likely used from leather straps / handles or for fern leaves to be stuck through to create a flexible lid. 

In Very Good Condition

A burden baskets (also called pack baskets or conical burden baskets) handmade by Indigenous weavers from the Klickitat, Cowlitz, and related Salish (Coast Salish or Interior Salish) groups in the Pacific Northwest, particularly Washington state and southern British Columbia.

The Klickitat people (part of the Sahaptin-speaking groups but closely tied to Salish basketry traditions through cultural exchange) are especially renowned for their coiled burden baskets. The Cowlitz (a Salish-speaking tribe) and other Coast/Interior Salish groups produced similar sturdy, functional baskets. These were often inter-related in style and technique due to shared regional influences.