Wearing Basketry

For thousands of years, Native North Americans have made clothing through basketry techniques. The earliest evidence is from Oregon, where basketry sandals made 10,000 years ago were found in a cave.

Cedar hats and capes, woven like baskets, have been standard raingear on the Northwest Coast for more than 600 years. Similar basketry techniques were applied to mountain goat wool robes, and eventually adapted to create the famous Chilkat robes of Alaska.

Today, traditional basketry garments, tunics, aprons, and leggings, join woven hats, purses, and jewelry as regalia for important ceremonies.

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