Cedar Bark Basket
Northwest Coast weavers, above all Haida, Tlingit and Tsimshian women, weave baskets and hats from shredded cedar bark and split cedar root, some so tightly that they hold water and can be used for cooking by dropping hot stones into the liquid. The twined technique, in which wefts are twisted around warp strands, produces the fine diagonal patterns that distinguish each nation's basketry, from simple checkerwork to complex animal and mountain designs. Cedar itself is honoured as a giver: in Haida tradition the cedar tree appears as Ts'uu Jaas, the Cedar Woman, a supernatural being whose gener