It takes approximately ten hours to gather enough birch bark to make 20 baskets (½ hour is added to the making of each basket). During this process, one has to travel on the highway or river for sometimes two to three hours searching for the right stand of birch trees, one that has plenty of birch trees that are straight and have few knots. Each tree is tested to see if it has the right thickness and is pliable. Peeling a small amount of the bark off the tree will determine this. Once enough birch is gathered, it brought back to town and prepared.

To make one large basket:

**These hours are based on an experienced craftperson making the basket. For a beginner it would take considerably longer.