Baleen basketry is a particular type of

basketry Basket weaving (also basketry or basket making) is the process of weaving or sewing pliable materials into three-dimensional artifacts, such as baskets, mats, mesh bags or even furniture. Craftspeople and artists specialized in making baskets ...

, an

Alaska Native art Alaska Native cultures are rich and diverse, and their art forms are representations of their history, skills, tradition, adaptation, and nearly twenty thousand years of continuous life in some of the most remote places on earth. These art forms a ...

made from whale

baleen Baleen is a filter-feeding system inside the mouths of baleen whales. To use baleen, the whale first opens its mouth underwater to take in water. The whale then pushes the water out, and animals such as krill are filtered by the baleen and ...

developed in Barrow,

Point Hope Point Hope ( ik, Tikiġaq, ) is a city in North Slope Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 674, down from 757 in 2000. In the 2020 Census, population rose to 830. Like many isolated communities in Alaska, the c ...

, and Wainwright,

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

by North Alaskan Iñupiaq people. Created at the dawn of the 20th century, the

basket A basket is a container that is traditionally constructed from stiff fibers and can be made from a range of materials, including wood splints, runners, and cane. While most baskets are made from plant materials, other materials such as horsehai ...

s made with baleen (a flexible material found in the mouths of Mysticeti or

baleen whales Baleen whales (systematic name Mysticeti), also known as whalebone whales, are a parvorder of carnivorous marine mammals of the infraorder Cetacea (whales, dolphins and porpoises) which use keratinaceous baleen plates (or "whalebone") in their ...

) were based on willow-root prototypes. Thin strips of baleen are cut and attached to

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals is ...

disks at the start. A coiling method is used to sew baleen bands together, ending with a carved ivory knob on the handle.Molly Lee (1998)
Baleen Basketry of the North Alaskan Eskimo
University of Washington Press, Seattle Most baleen baskets are made by men for sale to tourists, but over time distinctive styles have developed, and since the 1970s more women have become involved in what was originally a predominantly male occupation. Expertly carved

finial A finial (from '' la, finis'', end) or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a d ...

s made by the Siberian Yupik people, Siberian Yupik of the St. Lawrence Island and Iñupiaq of the King Island (Alaska), King Island are often used as the handles. The first baleen (''suqqaq, qupitalik, savigaaq'' in Iñupiaq) basket (''aguummak, aguummaq'' in Iñupiaq) was made at Barrow after the termination of commercial whaling. The exact date is still in doubt, but the preponderance of available evidence suggests the event took place sometime between 1914 and 1918, after whaling ended and before the intensification of the North American fur trade. so this is one of the youngest basketry traditions in North America. Kinguktuk (1871–1941, also spelled ''Kiŋaqtaq'' in Inupiat language, Iñupiaq; and his wife: ''Qusraaq'') is recognized as the first baleen basketmaker with his first pieces made between 1914 and 1918 in Barrow. He was perhaps the only baleen basketmaker as late as 1931. Today, most baleen basketmakers live in Point Hope, Alaska. Kinguktuk's early baskets were woven in the single-rod coiling of their willow-root prototypes, and already had starter pieces, the perforated ivory discs used to attach beginning stitches, at the center of their lids and bases.

References

{{reflist Alaska Native culture Pacific Northwest art Indigenous basket weaving of the Americas Inupiat culture Whale products