This is a creative baleen basket by Alma Johnston, a daughter of noted basket-maker Don Johnston (Aleut).  She learned to weave and carve from her father.  Alma has created a distinctive “terrace” style of basket with square shoulders and sharp edges to create a layered appearance. Her style of basket weaving has a very modernist approach.  She has carved the whale tail lid from fossilized ivory. There is another tab of woven ivory on the bottom where the piece is signed.  The lid should be removed by the edge, not the finial.  There is always a locking lip on the bottom inside of the lid.”  Simply exceptional!  It is signed, “Alma Johnston” and was made in 2024.  We are pleased to have her work and that of her family in our galleries.

What is baleen?

Baleen plates have hair-like structures that filter out tiny floating organisms and fish and are found in the mouth these plankton-eating whales. Baleen was originally used for indigenous objects like water cups, buckets, and sleds. The Bowhead whale has been subsistence hunted by Alaska Coastal Natives, including the Yup’ik and Inupiat for over 1,000 years, and no part of the whale is ever wasted. A butchered bowhead whale can yield thousands of pounds of food. The community shares of meat and blubber are apportioned equitably to ensure that everyone benefits from a successful hunt.