Burden baskets were originally ordinary gathering baskets used to collect food or kindling.  Women wore the baskets across their shoulders and body. At the end of the day the basket was hung outside the entrance to their home, essentially leaving the troubles and the burdens of the day behind.

Starting in the 1880s women made baskets to trade, these baskets were highly decorated but avoided religious or traditional cultural symbols.  Apache women still weave the traditional burden baskets, for both use and as a commodity.

The baskets are made from cottonwood or willow tree fibers. Women strip the bark from the wood and use the inner bark for weaving. The fibers are soaked in water for flexibility and then dyed. The burden basket in this exhibition features a deer motif and is trimmed with soft yellow tanned hide. It is a modern adaptation and made to sell to collectors.