• Basket weaving has changed over the years from the traditional Native American styles.Jessica Boone/Photodisc/Getty Images
  
  Basket weaving has long been a craft and hobby of Native American tribes. Traditionally, each different tribe had a different basket weaving style based on the available elements in the area that they lived. However, many styles began to blend together over time, allowing the different forms of basket weaving and their evolution into the baskets we have now to represent the history of many Native American tribes.
  
  

Northern Native American Baskets

• Northern Native American Indian tribes used a variety of supplies for their baskets that varied depending on the location of the tribe. For example, Northeast Indian tribes made baskets out of ash splints that were pounded or braids of sweet grass. Northwest Indian tribes traditionally worked with cedar bark, spruce root and swamp grass for their weaving. Northern Indian tribes, such as the Ojibwe and Dene, created birch bark baskets, whereas the Inuit made baskets of whale baleen, a filtering structure found in most whales' mouths.
  
  

Southern Native American Baskets

• Southern Native American Indian tribes had other materials to work with while making baskets. For example, Cherokee tribes traditionally made baskets out of bundled pine needles or river cane wicker, as did other Southeastern tribes. Southwestern Indian tribes made baskets from willow wood or sumac that was tightly coiled.
  
  

More Modern Baskets

• Over time, Native American tribes were displaced from their lands and traditional lifestyles, which affected their basket weaving. New styles came about as tribes adapted to their environments and the styles of their new neighbors, which created a fusion of styles.