Bentwood boxes were made with cedar logs. They were also made with natural materials and they are still made today. A wooden plank is split from a ceder log. It is then cut to make four squares,but the cuts do not go all the way through the wood. A steaming pit is made on the beach. It is filled with hot rocks from a fire and wet seaweed. The cut plank is put into the pit and finally sanded. After the plank has steamed for a while,it is taken out to be bent. Quickly, it is bent along the three cuts of the box. The side of the bent box is then pegged or sewn with cedar root. The top and bottom pieces are fitted and attached with pegs. Finally, the box is painted. The people of the nothern part of the coast, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and Bella Bella design their boxes in a special way.

Check out these web pages for more information about Bentwood boxes.

Grand Hall tour Bentwood boxes

Treasures Gallery Bentwood storage boxes

If you would like to try to make one, then here is what you need:

a ruler

a needle

hole puncher

long peices of yarn

heavy paper

pencil

1. Get your heavy paper and measure a five by twenty inch rectangle. Use your ruler to divide the rectangle into four segments.Then make another five by five inch square for the bottom.

2. Cut out the outside of the rectangle and the bottom of the box.

3. Make Tlingit designs in each of your five inch segments .

4. Get the hole puncher and punch five holes on each side.

5.Get your rectangle and fold it on the lines.

6. Then sew in the bottom and the rectangle together with the needle and thread.