ABOKIGINAL AMERICAN BASKETRY. 407 



aresene, or what is here called false embroideiT, that is, only halfway 

 through, g'ivino- the most varied effect on the outside, while the inside 

 shows only the plain colors and the red and black V)ands. Wild rye 

 straws {Elyinu.s) for coarse work and hair grass {iMsc/iat/ij/sia) on tine 

 work are used in this second operation, in plain rich golden color or 

 dyed, being whipped over and over along the outer threads of the 

 luiderlying woof. Other grasses for false embroidery are Panlcularia 

 nervata^ Cahiniagrodis langsdorfli^ Cinna latifolia, and Broinussitchen- 

 sk. (See Plate 1-1-5.) 



No more attractive form and ornamentation are to be seen than 

 those produced ])y the Indians of this Tlinkit stock. 



The Tlinkit recognize tive styles of weave, not including the tish- 

 trap, the false embroidery in grasses and plant stems, and the plaited 

 l)orders. These are all in twined weaving, the progress of the woi'k 

 being from left to right and the outer woof strand sloping downward. 

 Lieutenant Emmons gives the native name of each as follows: 



1. Plain close-twined weaving, Wush tookha r-kee ('"close together 

 work''), which is perfectly water-tight and is the standard weave of 

 fully three-quarters of all baskets made. It consists of the simple 

 twining of two woof strands around each successive thickness of 

 warp splints. The regular weave produces the vertical ridge-like 

 appearance in the line of the warp, the polished exterior surface of 

 the root forming the outside or ornamental face of the work. 



An openwork work ])asket in this plain twined weaving is known 

 as Khart ("a strainer,"" literally, " will not hold water"). It is used 

 in trying out tish oil and in cooking and straining l)erries. 



'2. Twined and checker weaving, Khark gheesut ('Mietween," "in 

 the middle of"), from the introduction of a single woof strand in 

 checker or wicker weaving between the lines of the regular twined 

 stitch. It gives a broken, irregular effect from the exposure of the 

 warp along the line of the single weft, as well as from the dull, ffljrous 

 surface of both of these strands, which are of the coarsest inner sec- 

 tions of the root. This weave is of a later origin; the plain weaving 

 has been l)orrowed from the mainland and from the more southern 

 people. It is characteristic of the cedar-bark work from Frederick 

 Sound to the Straits of Fuca. It is wanting on the oldest specimens 

 of Yakutat baskets. Its use is conlined to the coarser work, such as 

 the plaque-like berry, sewing, and workbaskets of the woman, the 

 bottoms of the 1)askets and the unexposed tops of the covered basket. 

 It is in gi-eat favor among the C'hilkat, who make many large baskets. 

 It is used for economy, l)oth in the (piantity and the (piality of the 

 material, as one woof strand is saved in every three and in the more 

 valued exterior root section the saving is one-half. But its disadvan- 

 tages are loss of strength, rigidity, and closeness of texture, and it 

 does not admit of the embroidery in grasses and plant stems, which is 

 the characteristic feature of Tlinkit basketry. (See tig. 1-iO.) 



