SOC) REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1902. 



cedar bark or grass. Governor Dagget, writing of the Indian women 

 on the Hupa reservation in northwestern California, uses ahnost pre- 

 cisely the same language with reference to making a d3^e pot of their 

 mouths. The processes of weaving there are in twined work and sug- 

 gest connection with the Washington state tribes. 



The Navaho Indians, according to Washing-ton Matthews, employ 

 native dyes of yellow, reddish, and black. In their blankets they have 

 also wool of three different natural colors, white, rusty black, and gray. 

 The black dye i ; made from the twigs and leaves of aromatic sumac 

 {RJtKS i/'ilohata ). Thc}^ put into a pot of water leaves and branches of 

 the sumac. The water is allowed to boil live or six hours. Ocher is 

 reduced to a hue powder and slowly roasted over a fire until it assumes a 

 light-brown color. It is then combined with an equal quantity of Finon 

 gum {PinuH edulis)^ and again the mixture is placed upon the tire and 

 stirred. The gum melts and the mass assumes a mushy consistency. As 

 the roasting progresses the mass is reduced to a tine black powder. 

 When it has cooled it is thrown into the decoction of sumac, with which 

 it forms a rich^ blue-black fluid. This is essentially an ink, the tannic 

 acid of the sumac coml)ining with the iron of the ferric oxide in the 

 roasted ocher. The whole is enriched ])y the carbon of the calcined 

 gum. 



Ileddish dj^e is made from the bark of the AT mis tenui folia and 

 the bark and root of Cercocarpus jparmfolius^ the mordant being fine 

 juniper ashes. These dyes are now applied b}- the Navaho. The 

 so-called Navaho blankets are in three colors. 



For yellow^ the fiow^ering tops of Chrysotliainnus graveolens are boiled 

 about six hours, until a decoction of deep yellow is produced. The 

 dyer then heats over the fire some native alunogen (native alum) 

 until it is reduced to a pasty consistency. This she adds to the 

 decoction and puts the whole in the dye to boil. From time to time 

 a portion is insi)ected until it is seen to have assumed the proper 

 color. The tint produced is nearly lemon yellow. 



Julian Scott makes the statement that the Coconinos or Havasupais 

 in northwestern Arizona use only black in the ornamentation of their 

 basketry, while the Apaches and Wallapais use black and red also. 



(c) By overlaying. — This process of ornamentation consists in lay- 

 ing a strip of prett}^ grass, dyed or in the natural color, on the out- 

 side of one or both the strands in woven or coiled weaving. It is 

 virtually furnishing a dull-brown strip of root with a bright-colored 

 bark. B3" this ingenious cond)ination beauty and strength cooperate 

 in the result. The weaver has it always in her power to twist the 

 strand so as to hide this bark side or bring it into view. The Hupa 

 Indians especially, but many other tribes in northern California and 

 northward, do the weft of their beautiful twined weaving in somber 

 materials. The men are most adept in lining the backs of their bows 



