Pack Basket
Name/Title
Pack BasketEntry/Object ID
L2024.3.175Description
Ash-splint pack basket with birch or maple rimContext
Every hunter carried his Indian pack basket into the field, and they sat in many bark and cedar & canvas canoes back in the day. Many others that I found, mostly with nailed or riveted rims retained that leather or fabric shoulder straps, but this one does not seem to ever had them, since there is no strap wear on the splints at all. I would surmise that this may have been used inside a camp or in a canoe. The distinctive loop handle allowed the basket to be slung from the stump of a tree-branch to keep some, but not all animals from finding food or other edibles. This is the only native-made pack basket I have found that has a good far-north central Vermont provenance from Averill, VT, near the Canadian Border. It has all of the distinctive characteristics of a handmade Native style pack basket that are accepted in Maine. The spear shaped prongs that hold the loop handle to the basket rim are especially distinctive. It still has its original copper-riveted web shoulder straps.Acquisition
Source (if not Accessioned)
Abenaki Cultural ConservancyMade/Created
Date made
circa 1900Place
State/Province
VermontCountry
United States of AmericaContinent
North AmericaEthnography
Culture/Tribe
Abenaki
Native American