ABORlOINAL AMERICAN BASKETRY. 448 



Asdepias criocarpa, Go to la (Little Lakes); Bo ko (Concow); Machal and Chaak 

 ( Yuki) , i)oieonous milkweed. The inner ])ark is used by the Eel River, Concow, 

 Potter Valley, and Little Lake Indians for strings, nets, and other textiles. 



Bntneria occidentalism Sai ka le (Ponio), spice bush or calycanthus. Both the wood 

 and the bark from fresh shoots are used in basket work. 



Care.r, Tsu wish (Pomo), blackroot sedge. Used by the Porno in their coiled 

 basketry for decorating in black. 



Carex sp. The long, tough rootstocks of several and perhai)s most of the sedges 

 (saw grass) in ]\Iendocino County, California, are used by the basket makers. Great 

 patience is exercised in tracing these from 2 to 5 feet through sand and mud and in 

 preparing the splints. The baskets made from them are called "root baskets." 

 Sedge rootstocks are the most important underground matei'ial, ami the Ijaskets 

 made from them are the strongest, most dural)le, and most costly. Special char- 

 acteristics belong to the different species. 



Care.v hnrbarac, Dewey, Kahum, (Pomo for water-tight baskets). The rootstocks 

 furnish the splints for the white or creamy groundwork of most Pomo baskets. They 

 are dug out with clam shells and sticks aiding the hands and feet." One end of the 

 stock is grasped l)y the first and second toes, the clam shell serves for scraping away 

 the soil, and the stick for j)rying out stones and loosening the ground. A woman 

 will secure 15 to 20 strands a day. They are placed in water over night to preserve 

 the flexibility and to soften the scaly bark, which is removed in the morning by the 

 women. The end of the stick is chewed until the bark is separated. The wood is 

 then held by the teeth, the other end of tlie stock is held taut l)y the first and second 

 toes, and the bark is scraped away, leaving a tough white or tan-colored strand al)out 

 one-half the original thickness. These are done up in small coils and carried by the 

 women to the camp. Mr. Coville draws attention to a bit of primitive agriculture in 

 this connection. The Pomo women insist that the toughest and finest roots can be 

 obtained only at certain spots. Unconsciously they have been making this true by 

 means of their digging sticks and clam shells, during all the years loosening the 

 ground and removing weeds. 



Caret; sp. , Ta tet el (Wailaki), sea grass or sedge. The njots and leaves used in 

 basketry, especially for hats and cheap semiflexible baskets. 



CeanotJins iniegerrimu)<. The Concow squaws gather the young and flexible shoots 

 of the California lilac, Hibi, for the warp of their baskets. 



Cenyis occidentalis. The Ijark and the wood from sprouts of the redliud, C!ha-l)a, in 

 Yuki; Mula, in Little Lake; Kala-a-kala, in Yokaia; and Dop or Talk, in Concow, 

 are used in finer baskets as foundation, as weft in twined ware, and as sewing 

 material in coiled work. The Indians produce a variety of results in Cercis. The 

 stems are sometimes cut in winter and early spring to insure material for the next 

 fall. The color of the bark is then slightly red, which may be darkened by exposure 

 to smoke and blackened by soaking in dirty water, in water and ashes, or in a decoc- 

 tion of oak bark to which scraps of iron have been added. The bark to be used in 

 sewing coiled baskets is separated Ijy steaming. In twined basketry some of the 

 white wood is left adhering to the bark, in which case designs in two colors are pro- 

 duced, since the willow and carex are both much darker. 



Corylus californica. The slender stems of the Hazelnut, Olmani, in Yuki; Goni he 

 ni, in Concow; Ch' ki, in Wailaki; Cha-ba, in Little Lake, are commonly used in 

 place of willows in Round Valley for coarse sieves and fish traps and as warp in saw- 

 grass baskets. A baby-carrying basket at Ukiah was made from the same material. 

 The Calapooias make the finest openwork twined basketry of hazel sticks. 

 The Coos and Roque river ware resembles the Shasta, the latter produce excellent 

 work in hazel stems (Mrs. McArthur). 



"J. W. Hudson, Overland Monthly, XXI, 1893, pp. 561-578. 



