This Cree basket is very similar to birch baskets made by Michigan Native Americans. The design on the bark is drawn or cut with a knife into the first layer of bark. The sun does the coloring of the bark design.

This type of basket was used for storage. If the basket was sealed with pine pitch to make it water tight, it could also be used for cooking. Native Americans used such baskets to cook in before they began to trade with the Europeans for metal cooking pots.