Why this word is great
WATAP — [Noun] The root of the spruce, and sometimes also of the pine, split lengthwise into strips and used in the construction of baskets and canoes. From Ojibwe wadab ("a spruce root"). Unlike "wicker" (which refers to woven plant material generally) or "basswood fiber" (which denotes inner bark for cordage), watap is the hidden sinew of the forest, pulled from the earth and made supple by skilled hands. It is the dark, fibrous ribbon coiled in a basket-maker’s palm, the silent lattice binding birchbark into a vessel, the unseen stitch that holds a canoe’s ribs against the current—proof that strength often lies not in the trunk, but in what grows beneath.