The materials – spruce root, grass, cherry bark, porcupine quills – and the design – pack horses, geese, their honking indicated by quillwork – are rooted in the Tsilhqot’in landscape and way of life on the Chilcotin plateau. The basket was purchased by Charles F. Newcombe at the Chilco River in 1914. In his collection notes, Newcombe recorded the Tsilhqot’in words, as he understood them, for packhorse (atsi), geese (hox), mountain sheep (tepe-mali-she-san), deer (ninq-s tsi), porcupine (choq) and ground hog (tede-tet-te).