Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services

NNSL (Nov 08/99) - A 150-year-old basket, made of woven spruce root, sits in the Royal Scottish Museum, in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Meanwhile, back in the Deh Cho, no one remembers how to make these beautiful yet utilitarian baskets, which were once used for storage, carrying water and cooking.

Suzan Marie, of BushTea Resources in Yellowknife, decided to revive the technique by holding a workshop.

She met with the Trout Lake elders' council and the elders could not remember their mother's technique. Marie remedied this situation by going outside the NWT.

She found Mandy Brown, a First Nations elder from Lytton, B.C., who had been taught by her grandmother. Though in Brown's part of the country they use cedar root, the technique is the same. Brown agreed to share her knowledge.

"Most of the participants had already worked with spruce root," says Marie, about the experience.

"It's used for birch- bark baskets, and a long time ago for nets and fish traps. It's very strong."

The spruce roots first had to be harvested. It was done at the end of August, then stored and kept cool in plastic bags until the workshop, which was held the third week of October in Trout Lake. The root then has to be scraped.

"That takes a whole day's work, just to prepare enough to get started on a basket," says Marie.

During the making of the baskets, the material has to be kept moist and pliable. Bone, wood or metal awls can be used, though Marie found that bone or wood actually worked better than metal.

"It was challenging, but it was a very intense and exciting opportunity to be a part of this workshop," she says.

"Magic happens when the community does something together."

Finally, to wrap up the workshop, a breakfast was held and members of the community came by to take a look at what had been accomplished. The participants received much encouragement.

Encouragement, adds Marie, also came by way of the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, without which workshops such as this one wouldn't be possible.

The group has already received an order for a basket from NWT Senator Nick Sibbeston, who also bought a babiche bag -- the result of another workshop Marie organized to revive a lost Dene technique.