ABORIGINAL AMERICAN BASKETRY. 857 



bearers, or chorus, iiiid the basket throwers, or Lahme 'tucoHis. The 

 only man participating is a priest called the Lal'one fal-a. 



The costumes of the participants, the method of holdini;- and throw- 

 ino- the baskets, and the struggles of the men for the specimens are 

 all carefully described by Dr. Fewkes." 



In archaeological studies at the Chevlon ruins, al)out 15 miles cast 

 of Winslow, Arizona, a large amount of l^asketry was found in the 

 graves. Much of it had the form of plaques like those still used in 

 Oraibi and the Middle Mesa. The inhabitants of the old pueblos at 

 Chaves Pass were also clever basket makers, and had the same beliefs 

 as their descendants concerning the kinship and close relationships of 

 life between spirit beings and men. 



With reference to these basket dances. Dr. Hough says the baskets 

 used are shallow, circular trays, either coiled or wicker, invariably of 

 Hopi manufacture and all decorated in colors. The designs on the 

 Lahd-oiiti ])askets are various, and there seems to be a greater use of 

 symbolic ligures than in those specimens commonly offered for sale. 

 In some examples the designs are conventionalized merely to the 

 extent of adapting them to the held of the basket and the exigencies 

 of the weaving. In most cases, however, the design is in the last 

 stages of convention and the original motive is lost. 



Plate 110 shows the portion of the Hopi Lalakontl ceremony in 

 which the baskets are introduced by the young ^vomen. 



The uses of baskets of the plaque type by the Moki may throw light 

 on the reason for their occurrence in the '■'l)asket dances.'"' In the 

 household these plaques are devoted to various purposes; ground 

 meal is heaped upon them in high cones l)y the grinders, or dry food, 

 such as piki bread or dried peaches, is served in them. A basket being 

 difficult and la))orious in construction and high priced, besides being 

 easily soiled and unsuitable for the uses to which pottery is put, is 

 emplo}^ed in cases of nicety, or, one might say, of luxury. Wh(Mic\ (m- 

 presents are exchanged it is proper to carry them on })asket trays. 



Baskets form an important part of the paraphernalia of the religious 

 fraternities, being used to at least as great an extent as pottery for 

 containing sacred meal, the prayer-stick offerings, etc. Usually new 

 plaques are prepared for sacred use upon the altars and in the service 

 of the fraternities, notably the Lalahjiifl. It may be found that 

 plaques are almost entirely of ceremonial import. 



Sometimes baskets are placed on the walls of rooms as a decoration. 

 This was observed at Sichomovi, where a frieze of Cohonino baskets 

 decorated a room in iho house of Wa lu tha ma. 



The use of baskets in religious ceremonies ))y the Navaho Indians 

 is described in Dr. Matthews's paper, The Mountain Chant, a Navaho 



tf J. Walter Fewkes, Journal of American Folk-Lore, XII, 1899, ]jp. 81 and 96. 



