Birchbark is steamed, bent and stitched with spruce roots to form containers for a variety of chores, such as collecting berries and plants, and cooking. When a dish had to be waterproof, spruce gum or fish oil glue was used to seal the seams.

To cook food in a basket, the container was first filled with water. Then, stones heated in a fire were carefully placed inside the basket, until they cooled and cracked. Once these initial stones had cooled, they were replaced with new stones from the fire. This process was repeated until the water had come to a boil and food could be cooked.