bark, birch; root, spruce, white(?), dye, (faded) black; wood, ash (?); tanned hide, moose(?)

The basket (III-P-1a) is made of a single piece of birch bark, cut and stitched with white(?) spruce root. The bark's grain is perpendicular to the rim. The basket is rectangular in shape, and wider than high on the two seam-free sides. It tapers slightly towards the top.
On the two narrow seamed sides, one vertical flap folded up from the bottom and two horizontal flaps, are tightly stitched with natural coloured spruce root, making the seam look like an inverted rounded Y shape.
On each seamed side, a thin carrying strap made of a thin strip of pale, tanned hide (probably moose) has been fixed near the top through two holes pierced on either side of the spruce root stitching.
The rim of the basket, which is probably made of ash, has been covered up by tightly wound spruce root. Some of the root loops have been dyed (faded) black in groups of three, alternating with un-dyed loops, which creates the impression of six vertical dark stripes on the narrow walls, and seven on the broad walls. The rounded corners of the lip are left un-dyed.
The lid (III-P-1b) is made of two double-thickness pieces of bark held together by wide spruce root stitches. The top of the lid is rectangular with rounded corners and has a short row of close stitches in its center. A double-thickness strip of bark is fixed perpendicularly under the lid, modeled on the shape of the basket's rim; it fits tightly inside the basket's rim.

The basket is decorated with scraped motifs, using negative and positive stencil designs.
One side of the basket is decorated with symetrical geometric designs, using outlined or solid zigzagging triangles to fill and surround a large central chevron pattern. Underneath the rim of the basket runs a row of dark zigzagging triangles, pointing downward. It runs all around the basket.
The other side has been mostly scraped to create a white background from which emerge symmetrical geometric and bird figures (negative stencil.) In the middle, the profiles of two horizontally elongated ducks or geese facing in opposite directions meet at the tail. From their joined tails emerges a dark heart shape with a smaller pale heart in its center. Underneath the ducks are thin ladder pattern and a horizontal row of zigzagging triangles. On each rounded corner
One vertical flap folded up from the bottom of the basket has a thick scraped pale edge with no further ornamentation, except for a natural pattern in the bark, somewhat like a knot in a piece of wood. The other horizontal flap also has a wide pale strip along the stitching. This one is also ornamented with thin pale lines that create a lattice pattern in the darker part of the semi-circle.

Geometric designs are found on pre-contact artefacts. Ducks and geese are a post-contact type of design, inspired by the local fauna. The heart is of European origin, possibly borrowed from playing cards or Catholic imagery.

Water stains on the lid and under the basket suggest either use prior to its sale or accidental dammage. The basket is otherwise in very good condition, which suggests that it was probably bought new.

This basket appears to have been crafted with much skill and attention. The stitching on the sides of the basket and around its rim is precise and very tight, the lid fits perfectly and snuggly inside the rim and the scraped designs are perfectly symmetrical. The attention to aesthetics and detail in noteworthy.

1928: The basket looks new, which suggests that it was probably bought shortly after having been made. 1928-05-22: On May 22nd, 1928, G.D.T. Pickering, working for the Hudson's Bay Company in Oskelaneo, Quebec, wrote to Diamond Jenness, Chief, Division of Anthropology at the National Museum of Canada [Canadian Museum of Civilization]. In his letter, Pickering mentions the five artefacts he is planning on sending to Jenness the next day, suggesting that he had these artefacts (including the birch bark basket) in his possession at this time. Jenness' response, dated May 29th, 1928, states that the shipment was received at the Museum on Friday [May 25th, 1928].

Canadian Museum of Civilization. Library, Archives and Documentation. Ethnological records. Diamond Jenness’ Correspondence, (I-A-164M). Folder: Pickering, G.D.T. (1928). Box. 654 f.27.

The basket was bought for $2 (three baskets for $6) by G.D.T. Pickering, most probably at the Oskelaneo post, in Quebec, from Joe Dube or Solomon of Manawan. The Hudson's Bay Company Oskelaneo post journals for 1928 do not record Pickering ever leaving for Manawan in the Spring of 1928, but they do mention that on May 8th, 1928, "Joe Dube arrives on train and we get some furs from him and Solomon." The journals do not mention an exchange of artefacts between these men and Pickering, but this may be explained by the fact that he did not purchase the artefacts on behalf of the HBC.
Pickering claims to have bought the five artefacts (a model birch bark canoe, three birch bark baskets, and a moose skin pouch) for $12.50 cash, which is what he bills Jenness for. Jenness awards him a ten percent commission ($1.25) for his services, despite Pickering's claim that "I am not supposed to take a commission 'on the side'" to which he adds: "but at the same time if you find the value satisfactory it will help our business when we pay the Indians cash."

Part of "“Bo’jou, Neejee!”: Profiles of Canadian Art" presented at the Museum of Man [now the Canadian Museum of Civilization]. This exhibition ran from April to August 1976.

Loaned to to the Cobourg Art Gallery [now the Art Gallery of Northumberland] for an exhibition that took place from September to October 1979.

Ted J. Brasser. “ “Bo’jou, Neejee!”: Profiles of Canadian Art,” Ottawa, Museum of Man, 1976, p. 103.

For comparative examples (Atikamewk):
Davidson, D. S. “Decorative Art of the Tête de Boule of Quebec” in Hodge, F. W., ed. Indian notes and monographs, Vol. X, No. 9, New York, Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, 1928, pp. 115-153.

For historical context:
La nation Atikamekw de Manawan. [Online] www.manawan.org (11-11-2012)

A study of birch bark containers based on Algonquin examples. Provides general information and somes points of comparison with Atikamekw containers:
Speck, Frank G. “Art Processes in Birchbark of the River Desert Algonquin, A Circumboreal Trait,” Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 128, 1941.

Record based on research carried out as a student in ARTH 5210F: Indigenous Arts of the Great Lakes Region: Historical Contexts and Cultural Translations,fall term 2012, taught by Ruth Phillips (Carleton University) and Judy Hall (Canadian Museum of Civilization.)