Case No. 6:

The baskets shown in display case no. 6, are the finest weave known to have been made in North America.

Woven in about thirty days, the average size basket may have up to 10,000 stitches to the square inch. The finest machine made cotton sheeting has 3600 stitches to the square inch.

The dark toned baskets were made about 1860 and the lighter toned ones were made between 1939 and 1944.

These specimens are made by the Aleut Indian women of a beach grass (Wild Rye) which grows on Attu Island. The stems and blades are about the size of wheat straw, and the Aleut women split them with their finger nails.

In 1741, Russian explorers discovered and settled the Aleutian Islands. They later found that the native women were wrapping their dead with finely woven, narrow strips of grass fiber and placing the bodies in caves.

Russians then encouraged the Aleuts to weave baskets of this same product. In the normal course of events, the Russians influenced the use of silk and cotton thread decorations on the baskets.