ABORIGINAL AMERICAN 15A8KETIIY. 1 *)7 



Wrapped ireft. — Basket Avork in which the phiin or twint'd weft is 

 T»\ r:i|)[)('(l witli .soft decora! i\(' material. 



\y<it< rprooliiKj, -Kcsiii of the piiu>, and iiies<(uite foi- coxcriiiii- and 

 linino- basket I'ars, rendering them waterproof. 



![>>.>/: —See Weft. 



^'<^^/v^— Fillers twisted together, as in receptacles made from native 

 hemp. 



Zigzag, — A broken line of equal angular j)ortions a])})li(Ml to sti'uc- 

 tur(^ or dcM'oration iji basketry. 



II. MATERIALS FOR BASKETRY 



Miiil is oiii' world, ;mil liath anotluT to-attfinl liiiii. — Emk.rsox. 



In the manufacture of their baskets the Indians have ransacked 

 the three kingdoms of nature — mineral, animal, and vegetal. For 

 the lirst named Cushing has shown how the Ilavasupai Indians line thi^ 

 inside of a basket with clay in order to render it fireproof. A great 

 many of the paints or dyes with which the baskets are colored are 

 drawn from the mineral kingdom. In the decoration of l)asketry 

 beautiful stones and the mineral shells of mollusks are employed, 

 either whole or cut into beads and pendants. (See Plate 3.) 



Besides the beautiful shells, teeth, wings of insects, and other hard 

 animal su])stances used for added ornament, softer parts enter into 

 the very texture of l)asket work. In a few localities the tril)es have 

 relied on them largely. It will be seen that wool of goat, sheep, and 

 llama are treated in preciseh^ the same manner as splints of wood. The 

 imdressed skins of smaller mammals, notably the rabbit, are cut into 

 strings and twisted; and dressed hides into babiche to sei'V(» as weft in 

 woven baskets and bags. Sinew thread was employed in making coiled 

 basketry about the Great Lakes and farther north. But the most 

 serviceable animal substance for basketry was the feather, its j)Iume 

 for decoration and its quill for hard work as well as ornament. Por- 

 cupine quills were likewise split and worked into coiled l)asketrv, in 

 addition to their embellishment of birch-bark utensils. The multitude 

 of uses for feathers in this art will be described later. 



The chief dependence, however, of the l)asket maker is upon the 

 vegetal kingdom. Nearly all parts of plants have been used by one 

 tribe or another for this purpose — roots, stems, bark, leaves, fruits, 

 seeds, and gums. It would seem as though in each area for purposes 

 intended the vegetal kingdom had Ijcen thoroughly explored and 

 exhausted above ground and under ground. Is it not marvelous to 

 think that unlettered savages should know so nuich botau}- ? Mr. Ches 

 nut, in his Plants used by Indians of Mendocino County, California, 

 calls attention to the fact that in our advanced stat(^ we are yet liehind 

 these savages, not having caught up with theui in the discoverv and 

 uses of some of their best textile materials. 



