Birch bark is one of the most common materials in the traditional Khanty household. It accompanied a man during all his life: babies slept in the birch bark cradles, and the deceased people were wrapped in birch bark at the burial.

Birch bark is the upper layer of birch tree bark. People take birch bark from fallen and dried trees, they don’t harm living birch trees. Despite the fact that the tree could be already rotten, the birch bark remains intact and durable for a long time. This happens thanks to the top layer of the birch bark, which contains a special substance, betulin. It is betulin that colors the trunk in white and protects the bark from external influences.

Nowadays, people know that betulin has antifungal properties. In the old days, of course, this was not known, but women of different nations in the territory of modern Russia noticed that milk, sour cream, butter, meat, and fish could be stored in birch bark vessels for a long time. Bread remained fresh and soft for a long time, and there were no bugs in the flour and cereals. The Khanty also made pots, cylindrical bast baskets and bowls from birch bark.

People also used this material to make baskets and boxes, they were distinguished by their impressive size. The Khanty used such containers for collecting wild berries. For example, two or three buckets of cranberries could fit in one basket.

Unlike homemade wooden and ceramic dishware, birch bark utensils remained in everyday use of the Khanty until the 1960s and the 1970s.