ABORIGINAL AMERICAN BASKETRY. 187 



Abydos, ill luiildlc Ejij;vpt. I'hey are tlio oldest thut 1kiv(! y«^t boon 

 found in the world. El Arniah dates back to tlie earliest ••new rac(\" 

 throuo-h the entire middle period down to the late prehistoric in 

 Eg-ypt. Far up the Nile the type persists. It will l)e seen in abun- 

 dance at Aden, and it exists in much more elegant mat(M-ial in Hin- 

 dustan. This proves the pcn'sistenee of a single tyi)e througii six 

 thousand years. Long ago caravans took it into the heart of Africa. 

 and the reader must not be surprised further on in discovering at 

 least a limited sphere of intluence for it in America, where the descend- 

 ants of tlie Moors who invaded Spain left them. 



The Greek word for basket is kaneon, or kanastron, from kanna. a 

 reed, whence our cannister, through the Latin canistra. Or. (o come 

 closer to our theme, basketry was made long ago in the warmer coim- 

 tries of the Old World, as they are now in the New, from cane. In tlie 

 time of Homer this word was applied frequently to receptacles of 

 clay, bronze, and gold. Doubtless, in earlier ages the Oreek women 

 were nimble-tingered l)asket makers. ]>ut tiie forms are not presei'\ cd. 



Wherever civilization has come in contact with lower races, whether 

 in Britain, Africa, Polynesia, or America, it has found the woman 

 enjoying the most friendly acquaintance with textile plants and skill- 

 ful in weaving their roots, stems, and leaves into basketry, matting, 

 and other similar products Avithout machinery. Basketry was well- 

 nigh universal throughout the Western Hemisphere before the dis- 

 covery, while at least one-half o^the area was devoid of pottery. 



Ancient cenieteries, mounds, caves, ruins, and lake dwellings gave 

 evidence of the high aiiti([uity of the art in both continents. The 

 researches of Holmes and A\'illoughby on mound pottery; of Yarrow 

 and Schumacher in southwestcn'n California; of Cushing, Fewkes. and 

 Hough in ancient pueblos; of Nordenskjold and Pepper in the clill' 

 dwellings of the southwest; of G. O. Dorsey, of the Field Columbian 

 Museum, and many European ex])lorers in Peru, demonstrate that no 

 cBanges have taken place in this respect, either in the variety of the 

 technical processes or the fineness of the workmanship. Thi'i'c is an 

 unbroken genealog}' of basket making on the Continent, running back 

 to the most ancient times. 



For a time cheap patented ware made from veneering threatened to 

 o})literate the ancient plicated basket, but at the same time the latter 

 became exalted to a pastime and a fine art, and there >vere never so 

 many genuine lovers of the handicraft as at present. 



In the past few years a sympathetic spirit has been awakened in the 

 United States to keep alive this charming aboriginal art and to pre- 

 serve its precious relics. In every Stat*^ in the Union will be found 

 rich collections, l)oth in })ul)lic and prixate museums. People of 

 wealth vie with one another in owning them. It almost amounts to a 

 disease, which might l)e called ''canastromania.'" They resemble the 



