Basket with Geometric Design, c. 1920
Quinault Basketry
Washington State
spruce root, bear grass imgrication
7" high x 9.75" diameter
The Quinault are from western Washington state. They are a Southwestern Coast Salish people and are enrolled in the federally recognized Quinault Tribe of the Quinault Reservation. The name "Quinault" is an anglicized version of k ínayt / k inaj , the traditional name of a village at the mouth of the Quinault River, today called Taholah.
Quinault baskets were made from local materials like reeds, grasses, spruce, maple, and red cedar. The Quinault valued the western red cedar, calling it the "tree of life".
Quinault weavers mastered a great diversity of techniques -- coiling, twining and plaiting -- as well as distinctive decorative stitches. As a basketry region, western Washington is distinguished by a shared repertoire of techniques, materials and designs. Through ceremonial exchanges and intermarriage, techniques and designs were disseminated among the many village groups while certain individual and regional patterns remained distinct.
