360 REPOET OF NATIONAL MUSELTM, 1902. 



IN CARRYING WATER 



Nearl}' everywhere throughout the ^\'estern Hemisphere the Indian 

 was encamped near springs of water, and in his journeys about for 

 hunting and other purposes knew always wliero to obtain it. An 

 exception to this is the arid region of the western portion of the United 

 States. 



Among the Shoshonean tribes and in the pueblos, seeking out, car- 

 rying, and storing water was the chief industry and most of the relig- 

 ious ceremonies and prayers were with reference to rain. 



The canteen and the larger carrying jar among the sedentary tribes 

 was of pottery, but w ith the Utes, Apaches, and other unsettled tribes 

 these vessels were of water-tight basketry made with round or conical 

 bottom, so that in settling on a level the center of gravity would bring 

 the vessel into an upright position and thereb}' keep the water from 

 spilling. (Plates 32, 33.) 



The transportation and storage of drinking water is one of the 

 functions of pottery. A(iuarius, the water beai'er of the sk}", is repre- 

 sented with a jar in his hands, and the spirits that haunt the springs in 

 classic mythology are all of them friends of the potter. The Indians 

 of the Atlantic area were well supplied with water and had vessels of 

 clay. The Eskimo made bottles of sealskin; so did the tribes of the 

 Pacitic coast as far south as the Columbia. But in the interior Basin 

 of the ITnited States, Indians of the Shoshoean, Athapascan, and Yuman 

 families substitute basketry for pottery in their canteens, jugs, pitch- 

 ers, and small tanks. These are made in coiled or twined ware, and 

 sealed with pine tar in the north and asphaltum in the south. It is 

 probabl}^ owing to the unsettled life of these tribes that they out and 

 out invented this ingenious substitute for fictile ware. There is no 

 lack of clay, for pueblos in the midst of the region are the last strong- 

 holds of Keramos in America. And there was in pre-historic times no 

 lack of pottery there, as the supply of charming whole pieces and 

 precious fragments bear witness. 



The most interesting connection of hydrotechny with basketr}- was 

 discovered in a cliff-dwelling 3 miles north of White River Agenc}^ 

 on tiie A\'hite Mountain Apache lieservation, Arizona, by Charles L. 

 Owen, of the Field Columbian Museum, Chicago. On the floor of the 

 cavern baskets were built without bottoms. The warp was of willow 

 shoots with the leaves on. The weft was in juniper and willow twigs 

 in twined weaving or wattling. The interstices were filled with pud- 

 dled clay, to make them useful for receptacles of water, which had to 

 be transported from the canyon 300 feet below. An example l)rought 

 away, No. (58876 in the Field Museum, measures 4 feet 10 inches in 

 diameter and is 1,5 to 20 inches in height. (See Plate 102.) 



The occurrence of basketr}^ water receptacles is a good problem in 



