The women from coastal Washington's Indigenous tribes are known for their basketry. They made twined, coiled, and plaited baskets for gathering clams and berries, storing and serving food, and many other purposes. Basketry techniques were also used for hats and other clothing. At the start of the 20th century, Indigenous artists in the Pacific Northwest were making baskets specifically for the tourist trade and were experimenting with form and design. Making baskets for sale became an import income source for many Indigenous families.

This 1926 photo shows five women making baskets on a beach, possibly at Taholah, in the Quinault Reservation on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. The Quinault are a Coast Salish people whose historic territory was the southwestern Olympic Peninsula.

Caption information source: "Northwest Coast Basketry,” by Silvia Koros for the Burke Museum, retrieved from https://www.burkemuseum.org/static/baskets/Teachersguideforbasketry.htm.
Caption information source: “Quinault,” by Justine E. James and Leilani A. Chubby, in “Native Peoples of the Olympic Peninsula: Who We Are,” by the Olympic Peninsula Intertribal Cultural Advisory Committee, University of Oklahoma Press, 2002, p. 99-106.