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Birch bark bowl

(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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Native Americans traditionally made containers out of many different materials such as clay, wood, animal skins and bark. Containers made out of bark were most common in northern New England because of the availability of birch trees which have pliable bark. After contact with Europeans, Native people continued to make household objects and also traded with Europeans for non-Native objects like metal pots and woolen cloth. This bowl was made in the late 18th century by a member of the Penobscot nation, a people who continue to live in their traditional homeland along the Penobscot River in Maine. This bark bowl is made of folded birch bark and most likely sewn together with string/cord made from split spruce or cedar roots.

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