332 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1902. 



tendency to spiral and zig'zag patterns, and the well-nigh universal 

 practice of putting- but a single design on a basket. 



Plate yiJ, hg. 1, is a Washoe basket Si inches high, 12 inches wide, 

 and 6 inches across the opening. There are 80 stitches to the inch. 

 Colors, red, black, and brown. Weight, 1(5 ounces. The legend is 

 named " Migrating," or "When the l)irds leave their nests and fly away 

 we shall move." The lower left-hand basket, fig, 2, is 7 inches high, 

 Hi- inches across, and inches over the opening, with 30 stitches to the 

 inch. The ])ody is light-gold color, and the ornamentations are in 

 red and l)lack. Weight, 15 ounces. The legend is, "Rays of the 

 sun ascending," An attempt to imitate the radial appearance of the 

 light at sunrise. The lower right-hand l)asket, fig, 8, is 7 inches high, 

 6 inches across the opening, and 11^ inches in diameter, with 30 

 stitches to the inch. The body is light-gold color and the decorations 

 are in red and black. Attention is invited to the intricate combina- 

 tion of squares and triangles, stepped patterns, and rhombs to form 

 the total desion on the surface. These symbols relate to the different 

 ranks or degrees in the chieftancj" of the tribe which they are entitled 

 to receive by inheritance. This information is based on the studies of 

 A. Cohn, of Carson City, Nevada. 



Plate 83 is a Tulare bottle-neck, collected on Tule River, Tulare 

 County, California, and is in the collection of C. P. Wilcomb. The 

 material and sewing are similar to those in other Tulare baskets. 

 The ornamentation deserves especial attention. The bands of rhombs 

 on the body and the part on the upper border which resembles the 

 shaftment and feather of an arrow are common to the region. On the 

 middle of the body, however, is a band of ornamentation which 

 resembles the Egyptian ankh. It is useless to speculate on the origin 

 of this symbol, since the Indians in this part of California have been 

 in touch with the Latin-American race for centuries. In this Inyo- 

 Kern-Tulare subarea Dr. C. Hart Merriam finds the crenellated 

 design to be associated in sjmibolism with the spasmodic flight of the 

 butterfly as it flits among the flowers (see Plates 41, 188, 192, 194) 

 and calls attention to the dispersion of the symbol as far north as 

 southeastern Alaska, 



Designs were found by Dr. George H. Pepper" on the ancient 

 basketry from the caves of southeastern Utah. He refers them to 

 s3'mbols as they are now understood among living tribes, but recognizes 

 that such forms do not stand for the same object always, even in the 

 same tribe. The designs given are the butterfly of the Maidu, water- 

 fowls, mountain, and sun. A glance at the beautiful workmanship 

 and the designs on Dr. Pepper's specimens at once places them not 



«The Ancient Basketmakera of Southeastern Utah, Guide Leaflet No. 6 of the 

 American Museum of Natural History. 



