396 EEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1902. 



treatment is precise!}" the same as in those of Aleutian Islands to l)e 

 described, l)ut the Eskimo wallet is of coarser material and the weav- 

 ing- is far more rudely done. Quite as interesting as the wallets is the 

 matting. (See Plate 136.) 



At Chuwuk, on the Lower Yukon, Nelson saw a woman making one 

 of thes(^ mats and watched the process she employed. A set of three 

 or four straws was twisted and the ends turned in, forming a strand, 

 a number of which were arranged side by side with their ends fastened 

 along a stick, the primeyal loom, forming one end of the mat and 

 hanging down for the w^arp. Other strands were then used as woof. 

 By a deft twist of the lingers it was carried from one side to the other, 

 passing aboye and below the strands of the warp; then the woof strand 

 was passed ai'ound the outer strand of the warp and twined to repeat 

 the operation. The strands were made continuous ])y adding straw\s 

 as necessary, and with each motion the strands were twisted a little so 

 as to keep them lirmly together. By this simple method a variet}^ of 

 patterns are produced. 



Grass bags are started from the bottom where the strands of the 

 warp, consisting of two or more grass stems, are fastened together 

 and extend vertically downward. The woof is formed by a double 

 strand of grass, each of which is twisted about itself and both twined 

 with the strands of the warp inclosed in the turns; both are continually 

 twisted as the weaving progresses. In coarsely made bags the strands 

 of the woof are spaced from an inch to two inches apart, and those of 

 the warp at intervals of from a quarter to half an inch. These bags 

 have a conical bottom, which slopes from, the center to the sides. At 

 the mouth the ends of the w^arp are braided to form a continuous 

 edge." 



The lower figures in Nelson's group of Alaskan basketry (Plate 136) 

 show plainly the matting, the closely woven twined wallet, and the 

 openwork. Plates 137 to 145 in this paper are all excellent illustra- 

 tions of the ware here described. The specimens are in the U. S. 

 National Museum. 



Plate 137 will show better the detail, bod}' and bottom, of one of 

 the twined wallets of the Norton Sound Eskimo. The warp and the 

 twining of the bottom are of a very coarse, rush-like grass. The 

 bottom is in openwork and oval. In this example the warp is radi- 

 ating from a median line; in others the strands are laid parallel, so 

 that they form a rectangle. At the boundary line between the bottom 

 and the body of the wallet there is a row of three-strand weaving, the 

 rows running in opposite directions, as will be seen in the drawing. 

 The body is of rush color: the spotted lines on the cylindrical portion 

 are in black, produced by the insertion of rags and bits of hide. This 



" Eighteenth Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1900, pi. lxxiv. 



