This basket was used to carry grasshoppers to the brush and grass Wickiup where they were roasted on a long stick over a flame in preparation for eating.
There is nothing too unusual about mankind eating insects: The Holy Bible tells of the children of Israel—forty years in the wilderness—in the land of Canaan, eating locusts, as did John The Baptist while preaching in the wilderness. Today specialty stores retail grasshoppers, fried worms, bees and ants—many of which are chocolate coated! (See [Plate 14a])
GRASSHOPPER STEWING
Paiute—Nevada
Case No. 13:
This basket was made for cooking grasshoppers. After the grasshoppers were placed in the basket the top was tied with a buckskin thong and submerged in boiling water. The basket was removed from the water when the grasshoppers were sufficiently cooked and ready to be eaten. (See [Plate 10c])
WATER TIGHT
c. 1875
Thlinkit—Alaska
Case No. 5:
This water-tight boiling basket is made of spruce roots which have been finely split by hand. It is woven as tightly as commercially woven canvas water bags. These baskets are no longer made for cooking because metal containers are readily available.
The design motif of this unusually fine specimen is constructed of mountain grass, commonly called Squaw Grass. The grass is soaked in bog mud all winter, giving it the black color. The copper color is obtained by boiling the grass with copper ore, and the white is the same grass, sun bleached. (See [Plate 9c])