Unangan Basket

When many people think of baskets, they think of the lovely baskets of the Southwest, or of the California tribes, but the baskets made in Alaska are also beautiful and very fine. Some are so soft they feel like cloth. They are often made of grass, which takes a long time to gather and prepare. Some basket makers split the grass with their fingernails, which they grow long especially for this purpose. The baskets were originally made to store things and for clothing and for other useful purposes. Today they are also sold around the world for their beauty. The designs on this basket are made by a technique called false embroidery using silk thread.

        --Marty, Potawatomi