ABORIGINAL AMERICAN BASKETRY. 427 



beautiful patterns are made from the three tlifferent colors. The red 

 d^^e was obtained from the bark of the alder tree, and the dark stain 

 was obtained l)y soakinj^ the roots" in Inack slime or mud, or from the 

 root of a fern (Franz Boas). 



Dr. G. M. Dawson, in his " Notes on the Shuswap people of British 

 Columbia,'' tells us that these baskets were made from roots of the 

 spruce, and Dr. Boas, in his report on the Shuswaps, informs us that 

 the basketry of the Shuswaps and N'thika pamuq always used the 

 root of the cedar. As the N'tlaka pamuq were preeminent in ])asivet 

 making, it is possible that the information oained by Mr. Hill-Tout 

 may be accepted as correct, although the cedar {Thuja) is not abun- 

 dant in the Thompson River country.''' So skillfully did the women 

 make these l)askets that they would hold liquids without trouble. \i\ 

 preparing food two kettles were used, one containing water for wash- 

 ing otf any dirt that jnight adhere to the heated stones, and the other 

 for holding the food. In ]>oiling salmon for eating, the tish were tied 

 up in birch bark to prevent ))reaking and falling to pieces. 



The Washington or southern imbricated ware is far more true to 

 the old type than the northern, as exaiuples will show. It may be 

 divided roughly between Salishan and Shahaptian. (See Plate IHS.) 



The Klikitat or Shahaptian basket (Plate 158, tig. 2) is thus made: 

 The foundation consists of the roots of young spruce and cedar trees. 

 TheyMire macerated and split or torn into shreds and soaked for a long 

 time. The materials for the ornamentation are thus prepared. Most 

 of it is of s(|uaw grass {X<i'<>plujUiiiii tenn.t-). It grows on the east side 

 of the Cascade Mountains and can ])e gathered only during the late 

 summer, when the snow has melted and the grass has matured. The 

 broad leaves are split into the recpiisite width and if they are to retain 

 their natural color are soaked in water only. To l)e dyed they are 

 soaked in nuid and charcoal for black, in a dye from willow bark for 

 brown, and a long time in water for yellow. In some cases cedar l)ast is 

 dyed black instead of the grass, but it is not so dui'al)le, or willow bark 

 takes the place of the grass. l)ut the surface shrivels. AMth the three 

 elements of structure around her, the Klikitat l)asket maker makes up a 

 roll of root splints for the beginning of her foundation, which she wraps 

 at one end for an inch with sewing splint. Doul)ling this she begins 

 her over and over sewing, splitting, sometimes with exquisite taste and 

 care, the wood of the stitch underneath. The ornamentation covering- 

 more or l(\>^s the surface of every Klikitat basket, called imbricated 

 work, is laid on in the process of manufacture. The woman (1) catches 

 the end of a strip of grass or bark under a stitch, (2) bends the strip 

 forward to cover the stitch, (3) bends it back on itself, leaving about 



« According to Dr. Boas the black dye was oV)tained fi-om the fern root. It is pos- 

 sible it was gotten in both ways. 



'' Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Wcience, 1899, p. 511. 



