Making History

The Wabit Basket

by Donna Wilkie with Patricia Pierce Erikson

Wabit baskets are used to carry food and other goods. Think of them as a type of grocery bag. Photo by Patricia Pierce Erikson.

The bottom of the wabit basket is made of strong strips of cedar. Photo by Patricia Pierce Erikson.

The outside of the basket often has a simple design. Photo by Patricia Pierce Erikson.

Washburn's General Store has been a landmark in Neah Bay since it opened in 1902. Courtesy of the Washburn Family.

Inside Washburn's original store, circa 1920. Courtesy of the Washburn Family.

Landis and Alice Anderson Kallappa, Donna Wilkie's grandparents.

Donna Wilkie, author of this article.

Makah elder Donna Wilkie recalls the special baskets her grandmother used to make. "Wabit," pronounced "Wah-biht" is the Makah word for "leftovers."

Grandma used to sit in a corner by the window and make baskets. She would show me how to weave, but I was clumsy and made many mistakes. It frustrated me that I just couldn’t seem to get it right.

Grandma would ask me to take the baskets to Washburn’s Store and trade them for groceries. "These baskets will buy the things we need from the store," she reminded me.

One day, Grandma sent me to the store with a basket to trade. It was shaped like a large purse, large enough to carry eating utensils and food to a party.

In our language, it was called a ‘wabit’ basket. It held food, and families used one when they went to a potlatch. It is made with cedar bark strips and handles. This was a special basket and the store paid me well for it, more than I needed for the groceries. I brought the change home to Grandma. "Look," she said. "We have money for the next time we go to Port Angeles on the bus." She put the money in her secret pocket.

I wondered about that big basket. I asked Grandma to tell me why the wabit basket was special. She told me this:

Long ago, before I was born, the Makah Tribe was very social with other tribes on Vancouver Island. A Makah canoe crew would paddle across that invisible line marking the United States and Canada to invite those tribes over here for ceremonies and potlatches. The Makah crew needed several days to paddle along the island, invite all of the tribes, and then paddle back. It was the custom that each village would welcome the crew to the Chief’s house to eat.

On one journey, after stopping at four villages, the Makah crew felt their tummies bulge with all of the good food. They ate so much that they got sick and lost their food in the water. But they still had to invite another village.

When they arrived, someone noticed that the crew was looking sick, and offered them a place to stay the night. The crew leader thanked them, but said they had to return home. The Chief stood up and thanked them for the invitation to the Makah potlatch. He asked them to take some wabit [some food] in cedar storage baskets to eat on their way home. The crew was relieved; they didn’t want to offend the Chief by refusing his hospitality. But they didn’t want to stuff themselves and get sick.

On the journey home the Makah canoe crew found themselves caught in a rip tide. They pulled hard to escape, fearful that the rip tide would capsize the canoe. They worked so hard. They were sweating and singing a spirit song to keep the water calm:

"Kl'eh-Koh, [thank you] k'leh-Koh, we have delicious wabit in the baskets to eat." The Spirit listened; the water started to calm. The crew kept chanting, "wabit basket, wabit basket, wabit basket," repeating over and over until the water calmed and was smooth again. Then they stopped and ate the food stored in their cedar baskets. When they returned home to Deeah (now known as Neah Bay), they told the story of the rip tide and the song of the wabit basket.

Grandma explained to me that we always used to carry our food to gatherings in baskets, but after that journey, the people started to call our food baskets "wabit baskets." We still use these baskets today when there is a tribal dinner. Following the feast, the leftovers are shared and we use the basket to carry the food home.

Find out more:

Want to know more about the Makah and their language? Try these links: http://content.lib.washington.edu/cmpweb/exhibits/makah/language.html.

Make sure to listen to the "20 Useful Phrases."

The Makah Cultural and Research Center
http://www.makah.com/mcrchome.htm

DONNA WILKIE (Makah) was raised by her great-grandparents in Neah Bay. They taught her about Makah cultural traditions, warning her to keep them secret because many non-Native American people wanted to end those traditions. Now, as an elder herself, Ms. Wilkie publishes her memories with cultural historian Patricia Pierce Erikson who has published articles about the Makah people as well as the book Voices of a Thousand People.