AEORIOtINAL AMERICAN BASKETRY. 437 



The lower figure i(> an open wtiUet of the Chinook Indians, Chinoolvuii 

 family, oceupyinu- formerly both sides of the Columbia River from 

 the mouth to The Dalles, a distanee of t^OO miles. Aceording to Lewis 

 and Clark most of th(nr villages were on the northern bank. To this 

 family also ])elong the Clatsops and Wascos, to be mentioned later. 

 The wallet illustrated in the plate is made of root in twined weaving 

 with crossed warp. The ])ottom ov foundation is a reetangidar struc- 

 ture, al)out 4 inches square, made of double splints of root, securely 

 lashed together backward and forward. From this central portion the 

 splints spread out and the twined weaving ])egins. Additional warp 

 elements are added from time to tiuie as the structure widens. A 

 coarse form of ornamentation is produced by overlaying some of the 

 warp elements with squaw grass. The fastening otf of the ui)per l)order 

 is peculiar and on the outside imitates precisely a three-ply braid, but 

 on the inside the structure is at once revealed. A strip of root is laid 

 along the top of the warp elements and these are ])rought ovei' in 

 buttonhole stitch and tucked ]>ehind the strip, then cut oti', making a 

 a very rough appearance. It will be noticed that in the weaving of 

 this wallet the half turns of the twine do not go around the crossings 

 of the warp elements. ]>ut jiist below the crossings, so as to include 

 (^acii Avarp separatelv. On tlie outside of the warp splints here and 

 there a strip of grass is regularly overlaid. 



Catalogue Nos. 151447 and 151118 in the U. S. National ]Museum 

 were collected by Dr. Franz Boas. 



The Nez Perce Indians of the Shahaptian family, i)rior to the advent 

 of the whites on the Pacitic coast, made heavy and l)eautiful blankets 

 of the wool of the Rocky Mounttiin sheep and of the hair of animals 

 killed in the chtise, dyed in dillVrent colors. The })atterns are all 

 geometric, and are, in fact, Avoven mosaics, each figure being inserted 

 separately by twisting two woof threads backward and forwai'daroimd 

 the warp strands. Scarcely ever does the twine extend in stripes all 

 the way across the l)lanket in a direct line. 



The same Indians at present weave l)ags from the bast of the Indian 

 hemp {ApocyniiDi <-(t}ui(il>! tnoii) and from grass stems siiredded. The 

 ligurc^s are produced by overlaying the regular warp strands with 

 corn husks or colored grass in false embroidery. In some examples 

 (see fig. 161) the entire surface is covered with geometric figures; in 

 others they are only partially covered. The Nez Perce are in the 

 same family as the Klikitat and Yakima, l)ut they make no indjricated 

 baskets. 



Fig. 161 is a twined wallet of the Nez Perces. The body weaving, 

 both warp and weft, is of Indian hemp. In the process of manufac- 

 ture a suificient number of warp strands were joined together in the 

 middle ])y a row of twined weaving and pr()l)ably sus])ended, the ends 

 hanging doAvn. The weaver tilled this warp with the ordinary twisted 



