Turtle shell inlaided lid, coiled sweetgrass basket #5 - Paul St John, Mohawk

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Turtle shell inlaided lid, coiled sweetgrass basket #5 - Paul St John, Mohawk:
$62.85

This small round coiled tidal sweetgrass basket has a center turtle shell inlay on the lid. It is the 5th inlaid turtle shell basket I have had from craftsman Paul St John, Mohawk, who collects shells from turtles killed by racoons and by cars. He lives across the road from a pond where the turtles live. This is from theundershell of a \"stink pot turtle\" also called the common musk turtle. The turtle is an important figure in Iroquois legends and mythology. The Iroquois Creation Story\" will be included in this basket. It begins \"Long before he world was created there was an island floating in the sky.\" And ends with North America being created from mud on the back of a big turtle. This type of basket is often used in Iroquois wedding ceremonies to hold the wedding rings. Paul has recently made 6 of these turtle shell baskets. The size and shape vary according to the shell fragment available to be used at medallion at the center of the coiled tidal sweetgrass basket . The baskets have birchbark at their bottom centers. See a photo in slideshow above. - Prices vary according to size of basket and the size of the turtle shell (This is a \"medium\" size in the series of 6 baskets - and has a larger amount of shell than most of the others)This round basket is 3.75\" in diameter and2\" high to the top of the basket lid.The turtle shell at center top is 2.25\" indiameter. There is a lovely braided border of tidal sweetgrass around the turtle shell medallion. Paul St. John lives in Maine, his mother is Passamaquoddy/MicMac/Maliseet. He grew up on the Mohawk lands in New York, his father\'s homeland and is a tribally enrolled member of the Mohawk. Other Paul St John items are available in this store - including several quill/sweetgrass baskets each with a different animal - and moccasins, bead and quill jewelry, beaded medicine bags, beaded dolls, knives & knife sheaths and more. See Paul St John and a couple of other items by Paul in the last photo in slideshow above