MATERIAL CULTURE OP THE INDIANS OF SAMANA 57 



The hammocks used by the natives of Haiti were of woven cotton 

 cloth, both as to warp and woof, rather than of looped openwork 

 netting. They constitute the one striking example of textile develop- 

 ment widely used among a people who wore little clothing and 

 possessed but little cloth, although possessing the South American 

 weaving technic as brought to the West Indies by the island Arawak. 



Basketry. — We know very little of the basketwork of the Tainoan 

 or the Ciguayan Indians of Samana. It must have been of good 

 quality and have been used for a variety of purposes. The handling 

 and storing of food such as cassava entails the use of a variety of bas- 

 ketry forms. This we know from contemporary studies of modern 

 South American tribes. Baskets used as water carriers have been 

 reported from Haiti. These baskets must have been carefully woven. 

 The pattern was double, one layer of woven grommets of Heliconia 

 stems being placed within another and the intervening space filled 

 in with leaves as a seizing. Double basketry weaves are also known 

 from northeastern South America. 



Strings and cordage for nets and other purposes were obtained 

 from the leaves of a plant which was soaked for several days in 

 water. The leaves (henequin) were then stretched and dried in the 

 sun, beaten with a flail, and the fiber retted. The fiber was then 

 twisted and beaten again to make it more pliant. In the West Indies 

 basketry was woven of fiat splints, not sewn or coiled. West Indian 

 baskets were plaited in openwork weaves (hexagonal weave), as also 

 in more compact forms of simple weaving, as from the southeastern 

 United States. Matting was fashioned by tying canes together. 



A peculiar form of decorative design in crosshatching, apparently 

 formed by the imprint of a basketry fabric on earthenware, is illus- 

 trated in 6 and 7, in Plate 18. The design must have been formed by 

 pressure of the basketry fabric against the soft earthenware paste 

 before firing. The impression of the basketry fabric appears only 

 above the shoulder of the vessel and extends upward to the incurved 

 rim. There is a slight resemblance to the check stamp pottery 

 designs from the Gulf States, but the resemblance is only apparent 

 because of the reticulated effect of the basketry imprint. The use of 

 a form of basket as a receptacle for ancestral skull zemis has previ- 

 vously been referred to. The form of twilled or herringbone weave 

 in two or more colors w^as also common to the West Indies. 



Objects of wood. — The few specimens of wood carving which have 

 survived reveal with what facility the Tainoan carver handled his 

 material. The surfaces of the better preserved specimens of carvings 

 on hardwoods are covered Avith decorative patterns in incised lines 

 and curves. Many figurine carvings in wood and the few decorated 

 seats from the island of Haiti preserved in museums are superior 

 in their craftsmanship to modelings in clay. 



