ABORKilNAL AMERICAN BASKETRY. 353 



IN MORTUARY CUSTOMS 



The ba.sket is intimately associated with Indian life in the " last act." 

 Not onl}' fa])rics woven in basketry technic were wrapped a])out the 

 dead and used to protect the bod\', but on the sentimental side exam- 

 ples of the finest workmanship were either (le]iosited or burned with 

 their makers. Phite lo4 is taken from Pepper's account of the basket- 

 making- Indians of Utali, and is interesting as exhibiting the method of 

 burial among the ancient tribe of southeastern Utah in the canyon 

 country. These old people must have lived long in these curious 

 retreats, ft)r on top of their graves are found deposits made by later 

 tribes. The corpse was placed in tlie hollow of a rock, covei'ed with a 

 rabbit-skin robe made in twined weaving. On top of all was turned 

 upside down a coiK'd basket. The plate shows the method of admin- 

 istering the l)lanket and the ])asket, and the lower figure of the plate 

 declares the type and style of weaving used by these ancient ])asket 

 makers. The foundation is of three-rod type. The four figures on 

 the surface near the margin are like the butterfly design seen on some 

 modern ware, but the symbol is not known. Horatio N. Rust tells of 

 a young Indian girl who was dying of consumption. She wore on her 

 person a small l)ask(>t of ))eautiful workmanship and gave it to a young- 

 American, begging him to have her buried in a coffin and the little 

 basket placed within. 



Another Indian, Roherio ))v name, living in the southern California 

 country, tells of his wife, who, when dying, called him to her and said: 

 Take my basket cap, which I have always worn since 1 have been 

 3'our wife, and burn it, with everything that is mine. He obeyed her 

 and burned two truidvs full of personal property. 



Clarence King describes vividly, in his Mountaineering in the Sierra 

 Nevadas, a cremation scene: 



In tlie opening between the line of Iiuts a low pile of dry logs had Ijeen carefully 

 laid, upon which, outstretched and wrapped in her blanket, lay the dead form of 

 "Sally," the old basket maker, her face covered in careful folds. Upon her heart 

 were the grass-woven water bowl and her latest jiapoose basket. The flames slowly 

 lapped over, consuming the blanket, and caught the willow papoose basket. When 

 the husband saw this the tears streamed from his eyes; he lifted his hands elo- 

 quently, looking up at the sky and uttering heartliroken sobs. All of the Indians 

 intoned in pathetic measure, " Himalaya, Himalaya," looking first at the mound of 

 fire and then out upon the fading sunset. 



The desert region of Peru was favorable to the preservation of 

 delicate textiles, and it is in the cemeteries of this region that large 

 quantities of basketry in every style of weaving here descriV)ed have 

 ])een found." (For lace work see Plate 105.) 



"For basketry (coiled and twined) from graves in Peru, see Eleventh Annual 

 Report of the Peabody Museum, pp. 280-292. 



NAT MUS 1902 23 



