400 REPOET OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1902. 



deer hair taken from between the hoofs are modernly used in orna- 

 mentation, just as the California women catch the stems of feathers 

 under their stitches as they sew. 



Figs. 185 and 136 will illustrate this rude type of coiled basket of 

 the Plskimo about Norton Sound. It is quite certain that the art of 

 basket making is not an old one with these people. They have not 

 learned how to begin the work from the center of the foundation, and 

 always leave a circular space, either vacant or to be tilled with some 

 other substance. In the example here shown a piece of hide 4 inches 

 in diameter and irregular in outline constitutes the starting point. 

 Holes are punched around the edge of this, as shown in the detail 

 drawing (tig. 135), and the foundation of grass stems and leaves is 

 sewed immediately to this with strips of the same material, not with 

 any regularity or neatness. The basket has a cover, which is also 

 interesting in its leather hinges, fastening, and handle. It must be 

 admitted, however, under the stimulus and demands of trade, that the 



art is improving. Specimens are at this 

 date brought home that are vastly better 

 made than any of the old pieces in the 

 National Museum; charming cloud effects 

 are produced in sewing by using straws of 

 different tints. 



This ;jpecimen. Catalogue No. 38469, in 

 the U. S. National Museum, was collected 

 by E. W. Nelson. 



' Catalogue No. 127891, in the U. S. Na- 

 tional Museum, is a small jar-shaped coiled 

 basket from the Kowak River region, north 

 of Boring Strait, Alaska, collected by Lieut. George M. Stoney, U. S. 

 Navy. The foundation of the coil is a small numl)er of slender grass 

 stems. The sewing is in material of the same kind. The special char- 

 acteristic of this specimen is that, in the sewing, the grass filament is 

 wrapped once around the foundation and on the next turn is locked in 

 the stitch underneath. This is an economical method of working, but 

 it weakens the basket. The work on this specimen is slovenly done. 

 It has a small piece of leather in the center of the foundation. Height, 

 If inches. This example is a waif. It comes from the Arctic Ocean 

 area, and most of the pieces in the Museum from near by are Tinne 

 and gotten by the Eskimo in trade. More curious still is the extra 

 wrap about the foundation every time a stitch is taken. The rafia* 

 coiled baskets made in some of the schools are similar. 



Catalogue No. 35962, U. S. National Museum, is a basket jar of the 

 Eskimo at Kushunuk, Alaska. The flat bottom is in open-twined 

 weaving of grass stems. The sides are in coiled work of the same 

 material, the outline being rectangular, with rounded corners. The 



Fig. im. 



DETAIL OF ESKIMO COILED BASKET. 



