Native materials used in these works include western red cedar and Alaska (yellow) cedar bark and root, cherry bark, honeysuckle vine, bear grass, sweet grass, cattails, needle rush, and bulrush. I'd like it to include general ethno-botanical information--particularly pertaining to our home the, Olympic Peninsula, as time goes on.

Much of he work in basketry is in the careful gathering of quality materials. In this photo Shar is stripping outer cedar bark from inner bark. This can be a tedious process--depending on the condition of the bark harvested. This bark was salvaged from a clear-cut logging operation near Sequim.

Leslie, Kathey & Shar at the same site.

Cedar bark bundles ready for drying, piled in willow basket. (The willow basket was made from various species of nonnative willow.)

A list of native materials used in basket making. Back to Main Page

Copyright © 1998 Steve Koehler