Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
Cultural Services

Item's Choctaw Name:  Kishi

Item's English Name:  Basket

Age:  ca. 1900

Material: River cane and tanic acid tanned leather straps

Dimensions: Length 56.0cm, Top Width 66.4cm x 42.7. Cane splint width 0.6cm,

Origin:  St. Tammanay Parish, LA

Current Owner:  National Museum of the American Indian # 018442.000

Location: Smithsonian Cultural Resource Center

Notes:

Large pack baskets, such as this one, were used by Choctaw women for transporting many types of large or bulky objects.  These baskets were used to harvest fields, to collect wild food and other resources, to pack a family's belongings for travel, and even to carry the soil for constructing earth mounds.  Most pack baskets, including this one, have a leather tumpline, or strap that goes over the forehead to help stabilize the load.