BABY BASKET AND DENTALIA SHELL BEADED NECKLACES
Baby Basket and Dentalia-Shell
Necklace
Baby baskets like this one, woven from hazel sticks and willow roots, are still commonly used among the Hupa people to cradle their newborns. Over ninety percent of Hupa babies are still carried in a baby basket like this one.
The necklaces are used for ceremonial purposes and are made of dentalia shells worked into beads. Dentalia shells were an important item of trade to the Hupa and their neighbors and were considered valuable. Some finely worked dentalia shells were used as money.