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Baskets are made from a variety of materials; Native Americans made baskets with resources that were the most plentiful in their specific environment. For instance, some Native Americans made their baskets with swamp ash--a kind of wood that was abundant in the New England region. Other Indians would follow the same practice, but with different wood. In the Southwest, sumac and yucca leaves were used for baskets; while in the northwest, roots from spruce trees and cedar bark was used. But that's just basket weaving in America; the practice itself goes back much further. In fact, according to some historians, some of the earliest archaeological finds of basket weaving was in ancient Egypt some 12,000 years ago. Other baskets were found in the middle-eastern section of the world, estimated to be over 7,000 years old. But because many baskets were made of perishable material, like leaves and roots, in particular, it can't be known for certain when basket weaving originated. There are several types of basketry, and according to some of the more learned historians of basket weaving, the type depended on what material the basket was made of. Coiled basketry, for instance, were baskets made with grasses. Twining basketry were baskets made with tree bark. And wicker basketry--perhaps the most common ingredient in today's baskets--were made with oak or ash. But basket weaving isn't exactly a paint-by-numbers kind of art. It takes patience and practice to form the kind of baskets that will not only impress you but impress those who you give or sell them to. There is nothing quite like a homemade product, especially a basket, something that every person needs at one time or another for collecting eggs, gathering flowers, carrying food to the park or beach or for using as decoration for the kitchen table. No matter how you make a basket, whether it's a bushel basket, a casserole basket or a picnic basket, basket weaving is an art form and, in some small way, enables basket weavers to get in touch with the history of our civilization.
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