Places, Traditions and Discoveries · Drawing 13 of 40
A basket at Odanak
Centre-du-Québec — Odanak
In Odanak, Abenaki craftswomen teach how to make baskets from ash, a kind of tree. Their hands cross thin strips of wood to make the baskets.
Look together
Can you follow one strip with your finger?
An idea to try
Using two wide paper strips prepared by an adult, play at putting one strip over and then under the other.
For the adult reading along
A little more to discover
At Odanak, the Musée des Abénakis presents W8banaki culture and skills passed on within the community. Its programming describes an ash basket-making demonstration with an Elder. Such encounters introduce stages of a practice through someone who knows it and shares it.
The page shows a basket being made, with crossing strips. Invite your child to follow one strip and then another to observe the interlacing. Present this as an example located at Odanak, not a representation of all First Nations practices. Paper-strip play explores crossing without claiming to teach Abenaki basket-making.
Sources and illustration notes (1)
An imagined craftswoman and basket; no real person or particular work is copied. This is not a traditional instruction guide.
These links lead to other websites. Explore them with an adult. References identify the institution and the related lesson; some linked pages are in French.
- Musée des Abénakis — Plan your visitPresentation of W8banaki culture at Odanak and a demonstration of the steps of ash basket-making with an Elder.
Page prepared on September 19, 2026. Illustrations simplify places and scenes; they are not historical documents.
This drawing is from the book Québec Treasures to Colour
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