How did Northwest Coast peoples make waterproof baskets for cooking?

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Hohokam pottery — Native American art Pottery created by the Hohokam people, made of buff clay and painted with red designs.

To create waterproof baskets for cooking, Northwest Coast peoples and other groups in northwestern California utilized highly skilled twined basketry techniques. These baskets were woven so tightly from long, flexible splints—typically split from spruce roots—that they were capable of holding liquids.1

Once the basket was filled with water and food, the cooking process was achieved by dropping hot stones directly into the liquid to bring it to a boil. This method of stone boiling allowed these tightly woven containers to function effectively as pots for preparing soup or potage.12