ABORIGINAL AMERICAN HASKETUV. 2(U 



Khmiatli Indians of ()ro_i>'()ii oftiMi woavo a stout l)i-ancli. jx'clcd or not 

 peeled, into tlu^ rims of their laro'e coarse baskets to still'eu and 

 -I icnetlieii tlnMii. 



Apocynum caimabinum. Indian Ilcniii. 



Tlie well-known Indian hiMiip, inclvidino- a nniiil)er of jjlaiit forms 

 once referred to Aixxijinn}! cannul)! mi m ^ but now treated as belono-- 

 ino- to several species, occurs from the Atlantic to th(» Pacific coast and 

 was and still is wicUdy used by the aborioine.s in the making of uiany 

 kinds of cordage articles. It is commonly cit(^d as an Indian basket 

 material, and althoug'h it has not been possible to s(H'ur(> a veritial)le 

 record of its use in a basket, it is altogether probable that some of 

 the string's and cords so frequentl}' used in beginning a basket, or in 

 making the carrying loops, are twisted from Ww iiuier bark of this 

 plant. (See illustration in Chesnut's Plants used l»y the Indians of 

 Mendocino County, California/') 



Artemisia ludoviciana. Worm wood. 



Hantj-al (Coahuilla). 



In that portion of the Colorado Desert of California known as the 

 Cal)eson Valley the Coahuilla Indians make from the stems of this 

 plant the large granary baskets in which they store seeds and other 

 dried vegetable foods. (D. P. Barrows, lOOO.) The plant was identi- 

 fied by W. L. Jepson. 



Arundinaria tecta. Cane. 



The split outer portion of the stems of the cane was the favorite 

 basket material of the Southern Indians, including the Choctaws, 

 Chickasaws, Cherokees, Creeks, Seminoles, and other tribes from 

 Texas and Arkansas to the Carolinas, and it is still in use among the 

 remnants of these peoples. The handsome ))askets of the Chetimacha 

 and Attakapa Indians of Louisiana are made from split cane. 



Berberis nervosa. Oregon Grape. 



.Vmong the Hupa Indians of northern California a yellow dye is 

 obtained by steeping the twigs and bark of one of the species of 

 evergreen barbeny, or Oregon grape. (Mary H. jNIanning. letter.) 

 Leaves of scjuaw grass {Xerophyll urn. tena;e) d ved with this are some- 

 times used in the 3^ellow patterns occasionally seen in the Hupa hat 

 baskets. The same material and dye are used in the huckleberrj^ 

 baskets of the Snohomish (C. M. Buchanan, letter) and Klikitat 

 Indians of western Washington. The particular species used has been 

 definitely identified in one instance as Berherln ncrvom. Another 

 species, £. aqulfolhivt, is undoubtedly used also. 



« U. S. National HerV)arinni, VJI, p. 879, fig. 75. 



