This project was conducted in response to a need of the Connecticut Archeology Center and Connecticut Museum of Natural History, to inventory, Photograph, research and document the Marie and Virginia Soules collection of Native American Baskets. This catalog contains the one hundred and ten Native American ethnographic items in the collection. These items represent Native American basketry of the Northwest, Northwest Coast, California, Nevada, the South west, Louisiana, Florida, and North Carolina. A brief section on basketry techniques as well as some Native American quotations are included to provide a starting point for wall and panel text in the event that the collection is to be exhibited and to provide an understanding in how these works of art are made. The baskets are prime examples of the basketry skills of the Attu, Tlingit, Thompson River, Salish, Skokomish, Makah, Klickitat, Wasco, Hupa, Hopi, Klamath, Maidu, and Chitimacha and several others. Their craftsmanship is outstanding, and the photographs show each intricate weave. The collection was given to the Connecticut Archeology Center and Connecticut Museum of Natural History in 2006, by the Bridgeport, Connecticut Public Library, who received it in 1936, when Marie Soules passed away. Very little was known about the Soules family; however, through archival newspapers a short history was ascertained, providing background on the family.Several of the baskets have their original tags from the Frohman Trading Company, one of the companies which was in the basket trade at the time the collection was assembled. The gathering of this material and the photographs of the Native American baskets will provide a resource for the Marie and Virginia Soules Collection.
