Ną̄pą’ų
Making Baskets
by Myrtle Funmaker

ną̄pą Hōcąk basket
noixga the tree you pound to get wood for ną̄pą
Kōkjakąnąk Black Ash tree
wakiruxara a layer
   
Parts of a Ną̄pą  
   
hirarupiriš curls on the trimming
gisge part of the binding
hinąžįkere base or foundation; the staves
hi’ų sideways or lateral strips
hirowariš top binding
ną̄cawa ears
hūną handle
hūnągikoro swing handle
hūnąrokoro swing handle
hūnąiyakšiš swing handle
hūnąhaicak flexible handle
hūnąksac stiff handles
   
Steps for Making Ną̄pą
   
1 giwąk to knock down
2 waxoro to strip off the bark
3 hoixga to pound
4 ruxoro to peel (by hand)
5 hakiruxara to separate the layers
6 gik’es to shave off the rough edge
7 rucgis to cut, as with scissors
8 wacgis to cut
9 hogiha to dye
10 gizųc to weave (the base)
11 ruriš to bend in the sides
12 gizųc to weave (the hi’ų)
13 gisge  to weave (the hi’ų)
14 hi’u the lateral strips
15 hirowariš same as hi’ų, but thicker
16 hų̄ną the handle
17 ną̄cawa the ears (if it’s a swing handle)
18 haicak to braid it
19 wiagax to pawn
20 wiruwį to sell
21 hok’u to give
22 put in the hirowariš
   
mą̄xoro to peel
?  mą̄šgoc to notch
   
rušoroš shape the basket while weaving
(ho)xąwą make the strips damp (put them under canvas to keep them damp and pliable)

When you’re looking for noixga, don’t get ones that are near pine trees because they will be brittle. Look for noixga in a swamp. Some people just cut them down, but to keep the bottoms from being shredded, notch them all around and then saw them. When you’re notching them, remember that the north side of the tree will have thick bark and the south side is real thin; try to make your notching even all the way around.

When you're pounding, do it real even so you can get long strips. You'll have a chip that you use as a marker, so that you don't pound in a place you've already pounded. As you move up the tree, keep moving that chip up to mark where you've been. You can't just hit it – you have to hit it so that it (the axe head?) doesn't bounce and turn. You can't hit it too hard, or the strips will pull apart later. You can't hit it too soft, either.

When you're getting ready to ha[ki]ruxara, you notch it first so you can pull apart the layers.

When some people pound it with the bark on, they make one cut down the length of it and then put their hands in there and peel the whole bark off to use for canoes. In springtime, the tree will be so full of sap you can just slide the whole bark off after one cut. They also used to use this bark for containers and bird houses.

I used to take the scraps and make little bark canoes. I'd put my bark pieces with the noixga, where it was being kept damp, and when they were soft enough I'd make my canoes, using leftover scraps of noixga to bind them. The I'd sell them in the Wisconsin Dells for pop money!

Myrtle Funmaker (with help from Bert Funmaker the night before) and Phillip Mike (Pēcta’ehiga), Mąįną’ųwira 6, 1996.