ABORIGINAL AMEKICAN BASKETRY. I'jy 



PLANTS USED IN ];ASKETRY 



By Frederick V. ('o\ii,i.f.. 



While some of the. materialis used by Aniefican Indiiui trihcs in 

 their hjisketry have long' been known, by far the hirger nuinhcr had 

 not becMi identihed with precision ])rior to tlie beo-inning of the [)ast 

 decade. Most students of Indian phints had ))een satisfied with casual 

 names ap})lied ])y themselves or given to them by botanists after (he 

 examination of fragmentary specimens. Since the yeai- Ls'.Mi u few 

 ])()tanists, notably Mr. V. K. Chesnut, of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture, have turned their attention t(j the plants used by the aborigines 

 and have made new records with detinite identifications of the })lants 

 concerned, covering among other sul)jects of Indian activity that of 

 l)asketry. When, therefore, after Professor Mason's in\ it-.ition to 

 prepare a chapter on the subject, the compilation of existing records 

 was begun it was found that the earlier pu})lications contained much 

 that was indelinite, c()nsideral)le that was incorrect, and a little that 

 was })oth correct and exact. The nota])le exception to the general 

 ruh^ was the puljlications of Dr. Edward Palmer, Avhose work as a 

 })otauical collector in the western United States and Mexico extended 

 from the late sixties of the last century to the present time, lender 

 the circumstances it was determined to admit only such matter as was 

 capable of veritication, based, first, on the writer's own ol)ser\ation; 

 second, on published records that seemed to come under the last of 

 the categories mentioned above; and, third, on the collections of the 

 United States National Museum. A few unverified statements have 

 been admitted for the purpose of bringing them to the attention of 

 those who may be in a position to ^'erify them. In the case of state- 

 ments which did not originate with the writer a parenthetic rc^ference 

 indicates the source of the information and, if published, the year of 

 its publication. The work as here presented is recognized as by no 

 means complete, but it is .oli'ered as a substantial ])asis for future 

 investigation. 



Acer macropliylluni. Orejjon Majile. 



Pa!-sun^-slu (Ynki). 



The Indians of Mendocino C^ounty, California, particularly the Con- 

 cows, who now occupy a reservation there, use the white inner bark, 

 preferal)ly gathered in spring, in making baskets. (V. K. Chesmit, 

 190:>.) Froip its inner bark the Indians of the Pacilic slope mak(^ 

 baskets so closely woven as to hold water. (J. T. Rothrock, IStJT.) 



Adiantum pedatum. Maidenliair Fern. 



The slender, black or dark-brown, shining stems, after splitting, are 

 used by the Indians of Mendocino County, California, in the orna- 



