Traditionally, Nipmuc people would have make baskets for their own family use, but European colonization and the fur trade changed the way Nipmucs had to support their families. With the growing dependence on European goods and a cash economy through the 1700’’s and 1800’s many families chose to earn money making and selling splint baskets.

Baskets were easily made with metal tools that Natives bought from European. Hand gauges, made of small metal blades or wires set into a wooden handle, were used by both Native and European basket makers to cut splints into even widths. As Natives traded more with Europeans, it made the job of preparing splints for baskets easier. By the 1700’s when more and more splint baskets were being made, but other traditional craftwork, such as stitched birch bark baskets were becoming quite rare. Splint baskets were more time and money-saving; a single ash tree could yield a hundred baskets or more, while a birch tree might only produce a dozen.