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Karen
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Karen
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PostFri Nov 26, 2004 9:41 am 
Here are some baskets that have been in our family for years ... can anyone tell me about the baskets and what stories they might tell? My knowledge is very limited on this matter but I understand that baskets tell stories. These came from our state from the Hood Canal region. Karen
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Baskets

stay together, learn the flowers, go light - from Turtle Island, Gary Snyder
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Newt
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PostFri Nov 26, 2004 9:58 am 
I don't know anything about baskets but they look pretty neat. Hope you get a reply. You seem to have and know a lot of history. Good for you. What is that long, curved item in front? Newt

It's pretty safe to say that if we take all of man kinds accumulated knowledge, we still don't know everything. So, I hope you understand why I don't believe you know everything. But then again, maybe you do.
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Karen
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Karen
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PostFri Nov 26, 2004 10:10 am 
Newt, I don't know what the curved instrument is but the next time I visit my cousin, I'll ask him. I've got a basket, too, which I'll take a photo of sometime in the near future and post here. I keep mine stashed away in a small, closed area because of the cats (the baskets become fragile as they age) and to also help them retain their color. My grandmother who settled near Union in the early 1900s wrote many of her tales and memories down from those early days. I won't even attempt to elaborate on those memories but I have many of the tales written down (she was also a writer) and this is a good time of the year to revisit such historical delights. My grandparents were "honorary" members of the Skokomish people and when my grandmother was young she went with her Skokomish girl friends to Mount Rainier and gathered berries there. They drove through a forest fire on their way back home and as if that were not enough, they had to stop because one of her friends went into labor and gave birth near the highway. Karen

stay together, learn the flowers, go light - from Turtle Island, Gary Snyder
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Dogpatch
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PostFri Nov 26, 2004 11:04 am 
That's quite a story--berry picking, forest fire, childbirth all rolled into one. What an incredible resource your grandmother's memories are. Any chance that anyone in your family will try to get these published? Seems like there might be some real historical value there. At any rate, thanks for passing that on to us.

"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." – Groucho Marx
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Ulrich
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PostFri Nov 26, 2004 12:48 pm 
A good place to start looking for information might be the Burke Museum in Seattle. They might be very much interested in the history behind.

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JVT
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PostFri Nov 26, 2004 8:12 pm 
I did alot of reading about them at Neahbay.Some are very valuable.The first store in the area traded supplies for them and then sold them. The Neahbay museum has several and claims that the ones made with small reeds are worth more.They have lots of photos and examples. It's worth stopping in.Hope this helps.

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Captain Trips
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PostTue Nov 30, 2004 10:34 am 
Karen, I would second the idea of checking with the Burke Museum or like organization about your baskets for indeed some baskets are valuable. My mom grew up around Lewiston and Lapwai in Idaho and her parents owned a store in Lapwai. They had a large collection of baskets. wampum and clothing accepted in lieu of cash payment and much of this was donated to the indian museum in Spokane while some was sold through an indian broker. It is worthwhile to know the value of an artifact as well as the area the artifact came from.

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